How To Grate Cheese When You Don't Have A Cheese Grater

Sometimes you might find yourself making a new recipe and be forced to hunt around the kitchen for a basic tool — that you soon discover you don't have. While that can make life a little harder, there are actually some really easy hacks that can help to replace a few seemingly key kitchen tools. And, yes, that includes grating cheese without a cheese grater. In fact, depending on what you need the cheese for, some of these methods are potentially easier and more time-efficient than grating your dairy by hand.

The first method for grating cheese without a grater is perfect for low-tech kitchens without a blender or a food processor. This technique is more time-consuming, but you'll still get good results. The only thing you need is a sharp kitchen knife or chef's knife. According to The Cheese Knees, you will slice cheese into smaller pieces, then cut those pieces into matchsticks much like you would with some types of vegetables. You can then finely dice those pieces if necessary. Another low-tech solution is to swap in a microplane grater for a larger cheese grater, assuming you have one handy. Both require some time and elbow grease (and the microplane will need some meticulous cleaning afterward), but will certainly do the trick in a pinch.

Those who are lucky enough to have a food processor or a blender in their kitchen can also use those speedy kitchen stalwarts to grate cheese in a flash. Most food processors come with a disc that fits at the top of the bowl that comes ready with grating holes in it. You can use that attachment, feeding cheese into the food processor to shred it (via Wide Open Eats). For a chunkier texture, try simply adding small chunks of cheese to the bowl with the regular blade and process or pulse them until the desired texture is reached.

According to The Kitchn, you can also use a blender for a similar effect. Just like you would with the regular blade of a food processor, place 1 to 2-inch pieces of cheese in the blender. Set the speed to about halfway and blend for 15 to 30 seconds, until the cheese has reached the desired texture.