We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. What to Buy Kitchen Tools The 6 Best Cheese Graters, According to Our Tests We found top performers to handle every texture and type of cheese, from Asiago to Zamorano. By Christa Glennie Christa Glennie Christa Glennie is a former restaurant professional who has logged nearly two decades as a writer and editor covering people and trends in food, drink, dining, and agriculture. She's the food editor of Buffalo Spree magazine and has published work in Food & Wine, USA Today, Feast and Field, and more. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on February 27, 2024 In This Article Expand In This Article Our Top Picks ReviewsOur Favorite Cheese Grater How We Tested Cheese Graters Factors to Consider FAQ Other Cheese Graters We Tested Our Expertise Photo: Food & Wine / Kimberly Holland It would be a lie if we said cheesy recipes weren't always on our minds. Cheese is one of the most versatile ingredients, capable of contributing a wide variety of flavors and textures. But for many recipes, prepping enough cheese can take time and effort. We all love homemade pizza, but when you're having guests over and need enough Pecorino Romano for a crowd, the task can be daunting, not to mention seriously wrist-straining. The cheese grater is here to help. This must-have kitchen tool can transform cheese into piles of feather-light shavings. And it has other uses, too. Cheese graters can double as a citrus zester, shred fruits and veggies, make decorative chocolate curls, grind spices, and more. To determine the best cheese graters, we tested more than 20 options with multiple types of cheese. Here are the picks that shredded the competition. Our Top Picks Best Overall: Microplane Specialty Series 4-Sided Box Grater at Amazon ($43) Jump to Review Best Rasp-Style: Zyliss Smooth Glide Dual Grater at Amazon ($22) Jump to Review Best Value: Spring Chef Professional Box Grater at Amazon ($14) Jump to Review Best for Zesting: Microplane Classic Series Zester at Amazon ($14) Jump to Review Best Rotary: Vivaant Cheese Grater at Amazon ($30) Jump to Review Best with Storage Container: KitchenAid Gourmet 4-Sided Stainless Steel Box Grater at Amazon ($17) Jump to Review Best Overall Microplane Specialty Series 4-Sided Box Grater PHOTO: Amazon $43 at Amazon $45 at Williams-Sonoma $44 at Walmart Pros This grater conquered all of our tests with ease. Cons It's the most expensive model we tested. In all three of our test kitchen tests, the Microplane Specialty Series 4-Sided Box Grater was simply the best cheese grater. It's so easy to use! We just had to lightly swipe cheeses across its blades to get piles of uniform shreds, even with soft mozzarella. The medium grater works in both directions, which makes shredding large amounts much easier. It can also be used to make curls of chocolate, or long ribbons of carrot, potato, and radish, similar to the veggie shapes created by some spiralizers. The fine side of this box grater features the same blades as Microplane's rasp-style zester, which means it'll also zest an orange, lemon, lime, or other citrus effortlessly, and you can even use it to grate fresh garlic or ginger. The fourth side of the box grater is a single slicing blade that works like a mandoline. As a useful feature, the slicing blade removes completely from the grater for easy cleaning. This grater is super versatile — a perfect one-size-fits-all tool for anybody's kitchen. Because of the rubber feet and rounded handle, it's comfortable to use and has a unique look. Not to mention, it's dishwasher safe. Whether you're grating a whole block of fontina for a full pot of mac and cheese or just looking to sprinkle some Parmesan on top, this grater is functional and accessible for any cook. It's the most expensive grater we tested, but not by a huge margin, and we think Microplane's long-lasting quality is well worth the cost. Dimensions: 10.25 x 5.12 x 3.12 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Blades: Ultra-coarse, fine, ribbon, removable slicer | Dishwasher-safe: Yes Food & Wine / Fran Sales Food & Wine / Fran Sales Food & Wine / Fran Sales Best Rasp-Style Zyliss Smooth Glide Dual Grater PHOTO: Amazon $22 at Amazon $23 at Wayfair Pros Sharp blades and a well-designed handle make this a 2-for-1 grater at a great price. Cons For a rasp-style grater, it's rather bulky. With an ergonomic handle for extra comfort, the Zyliss SmoothGlide is a user-friendly rasp-style grater that offers two different textural options. The large blades yield thick shreds of cheese, with delicate, string-like pieces coming from the smaller ones. We got good results using both hard Parmesan and softer mozzarella, with fully separated pieces and no clogging of the blades. We were pleasantly surprised to find that smaller blades tackled mozzarella while maintaining the cheese's bouncy texture. Zesting required more work, but we ultimately achieved both ribbons and delicate flakes of orange peel, offering you the best of both worlds. The angle between the two sets of blades looks rather shallow, but it's the right shape to avoid running a piece of food (or your knuckles) across one side while trying to use the other. The disadvantage of the angled shape is that it makes this tool wider and thicker than a normal rasp grater. It takes up some drawer space, though it's still more compact than a box model. Dimensions: 11.22 x 3.74 x 1.18 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Blades: Coarse, medium | Dishwasher-safe: Yes Food & Wine / Perri Kressel Best Value Spring Chef Professional Box Grater PHOTO: Amazon $14 at Amazon $15 at Walmart View on Springchef.com Pros This inexpensive, sizable grater makes short work of shredding lots of cheese. Cons It was less effective with finer grating and citrus zest. A classic box grater if there ever was one, the Spring Chef has the standard coarse, medium, fine, and slicing blades on its four sides. But its rounded shape and flared bottom give you extra surface area and more room to hold shreds, for a family-sized round of grilled cheese sandwiches. The handle is comfortable to hold, and the rubber base keeps the grater solidly in place on the counter or cutting board. Plus, the base piece comes off for cleaning so no food can get stuck inside. We got the best results in testing with the coarse blade, which shredded right through soft and hard cheeses. The medium side, however, mashed and broke the mozzarella a bit, and the grated cheese tended to stick to the inside. We had a similar problem zesting oranges on the fine side; it tore the skin apart more than slicing it cleanly, giving us poor yields and a mushy texture. Despite these issues, the Spring Chef's low price makes this extra-large grater worth it. Dimensions: 9.88 x 5.59 x 5 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Blades: Coarse, medium, fine/zest, slicer | Dishwasher-safe: Yes Food & Wine / Fran Sales Food & Wine / Fran Sales Food & Wine / Fran Sales The Best Panini Presses for Sandwiches, Grilling, and More, According to Our Tests Best for Zesting Microplane Classic Series Zester PHOTO: Crate & Barrel $14 at Amazon $17 at Walmart $18 at Sur La Table Pros This razor-sharp rasp was born to shave hard cheeses and zest citrus fruits perfectly. Cons Softer cheeses can get stuck in the small holes. It's become a modern-day kitchen essential, but the original Microplane was born as a woodworking tool. Its many tiny teeth are razor-sharp to remove paper-thin shreds, whether it's from a block of pine, a wedge of cheese, or a piece of fruit. This is the grater for you if you're looking to turn Parmesan and similar hard cheeses into piles of fluffy powder. It was also a real pro with citrus in testing. We were able to remove all the zest from an orange with almost no effort and without bruising the skin. (In fact, this is our overall favorite zester, period.) It's even sharp enough to grate small amounts of spices, for a cinnamon or nutmeg topping on hot chocolate. However, the Microplane Classic Series is designed for fine grating only. Its small holes got clogged up when we tried to grate soft mozzarella. You simply may need a separate tool for shredding. Thankfully, the Microplane rasp is not expensive and will stay sharp for years, assuming you store it in the included plastic guard, which protects the blade in the drawer. Dimensions: 12 x 1.31 x 1 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Blade: Fine | Dishwasher-safe: Yes Food & Wine / Katie Akin Best Rotary Vivaant Cheese Grater PHOTO: Amazon $30 at Amazon Pros This tool makes lots of feathery shavings with ease, plus it includes a coarse blade and storage containers. Cons You need both hands at once to operate this grater. One of the things that makes Olive Garden famous is its hand-cranked Parmesan graters, which rain feathery shreds down onto your pasta until you say to stop. The official O.G. model is a Zyliss, but it finished in second place in our testing to this Vivaant, which offers more versatility. This tool made mountains of airy Parmesan with minimal effort, and it was even able to shave mozzarella into thin, bouncy strands using its fine blade. But in a big advantage over competitors, it includes a second coarse blade better suited to shredding softer cheeses. You also get a couple of storage containers that attach directly to the mouth of the grater and include sealing lids. The cost is a few dollars more, but we say it's worth it. The disadvantage of a rotary grater is that you need both hands to operate it — one holds the food in place with a clamp, while the other turns the handle. It's not extraordinarily difficult, but it is more complicated to use than a box grater and could offer problems for someone with mobility issues. Left-handed cooks won't have trouble, though, as the crank can turn in either direction. Dimensions: 7.4 x 3.9 x 4.2 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Blades: Coarse, fine | Includes: 2 (2.5-ounce) storage jars with lids | Dishwasher-safe: Yes Food & Wine / Kimberly Holland Best with Storage Container KitchenAid Gourmet 4-Sided Stainless Steel Box Grater PHOTO: Amazon $17 at Amazon $17 at Wayfair View on Perigold.com Pros This traditional box grater shredded soft and hard cheeses nicely, and it includes its own storage container. Cons It didn't do a very good job removing zest from citrus. The box grater is an effective way to do lots of shredding at once, but if you get a little overzealous, you can end up with chunks of cheese and vegetables all over your counter. The KitchenAid box grater's killer feature is the included storage container, which fits right on the base to collect every last bit. It can hold 3 cups, it's microwave- and freezer-safe, and it has a snap-on lid. In testing, the KitchenAid performed magnificently with cheese, making large shreds of mozzarella and small ones of Parmesan. It didn't do such a great job zesting an orange, however. The blades on the fine side stick out a little more than in other models and dig deeper into the bitter layer of pith beneath the skin. Dimensions: 6.3 x 6.3 x 9.6 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Blades: Coarse, medium, fine, slicer | Includes: 3-cup storage container with lid | Dishwasher-safe: Yes Food & Wine / Taysha Murtaugh Food & Wine / Taysha Murtaugh Food & Wine / Taysha Murtaugh Our Favorite Cheese Grater The Microplane Specialty Series 4-Series Box Grater is the ultimate cheese grater, with razor-sharp blades on all four sides and a variety of useful design features. For a more affordable model that'll still shred mountains of cheese with ease, try the Spring Chef Professional Box Grater. How We Tested Cheese Graters We tested 23 top-rated cheese graters side-by-side in our lab. These models included nine box graters, nine rasp-style graters, and five rotary models. Hard cheese tests: We grated firm Parmesan cheese with each grater, starting on the fine blade but also testing out coarser blades for models with multiple options. We noted how much cheese was grated and how quickly, as well as whether the shreds came out in a consistent size and if the blades sliced the cheese cleanly or tore it into chunks.Soft cheese tests: We performed the same kind of tests as above, only using mozzarella and focusing first on the coarse shredding blade. We looked at consistency and whether the blades were sharp enough to slice rather than tear the cheese. With finer blades, we also looked at whether the softer cheese got stuck in and clogged the holes.Zesting test: To test the graters' ability to remove only the flavorful outer layer of citrus peel, we grated a navel orange on the finest available blade. We looked at how much zest was removed and how easily, as well as whether the blade sliced too far into the fruit and reached the bitter white pith. (We only did this test on the box and rasp-style models; rotary graters aren't meant for zesting.)Cleaning tests: Between rounds of testing, we thoroughly washed each grater, both by hand and in the dishwasher when allowed. We paid attention to whether cheese stuck to the blade or became lodged in inaccessible areas, and if the cleaning process felt safe for hands and fingers. After a trip through the dishwasher, we looked for signs of dulling, rust, or other damage. After performing all of our other tests, we revealed the retail prices of the graters to consider value for money. The models we included ranged from $6 to $43 at the time of testing, with an average of $23. Box and rotary graters generally cost more than rasp models, but they also offer more versatility. Food & Wine / John Somerall Factors to Consider Grater Style The simplest type of cheese grater is a rasp, with one long, straight surface lined with shredding blades. A rasp-style shredder is flat and compact to store, but most only give you one texture option. A box grater, on the other hand, has different grating surfaces on each of its four sides. This takes up more space but lets you fine-grate hard cheese, coarse-shred soft cheese, and even make thin slices of vegetables for homemade potato chips. While you move the cheese up and down against the stationary blade of a rasp or box grater, a rotary grater works by spinning a round blade against a stationary piece of cheese. You can get more shreds with less effort, but a rotary grater is limited in capacity by what can fit inside its chamber. Shred Size Cheese graters can have different sizes of blade best suited for different purposes. Coarse shreds are great for situations where you want a lot of cheese to melt evenly, as with pizza, grilled cheese, or a cheese dip. Coarse blades are also useful for grating hard produce like potato, sweet potato, or apple. Lighter, finer shreds are what you want when topping a pasta dish with Parmesan, as they'll melt right away, but a finer blade can get clogged if you try to use it with soft cheese. Depending on how you cook and how much space you have, you might need a big grater with multiple size options, or a smaller one with only the single blade you use most. Cleanup Cheese is a messy ingredient; it's sticky, greasy, and can find itself mushed into cracks and crevices on any tool. With cheese graters, the handle and base tend to be places where bits can collect, so make sure you give them a close look and a spray or scrub if necessary. Whether your grater is dishwasher-safe or not, it's a good idea to wash it soon after you use it — cheese that dries in place is much more difficult to remove. Frequently Asked Questions What's the difference between a zester and a grater? A zester is a type of grater with very small holes, designed for removing the zest — the outer layer of citrus peel. "Zesters are used mostly for citrus, whereas graters are more multipurpose in their potential uses," says food blogger Sapna Dalal, AKA The Vegetarian Tourist. While you can use zester on hard cheese like Parmesan or pecorino, most are too fine for softer cheeses. How do you clean a cheese grater? Dalal keeps cleanup simple. "I prefer to use a brush for cleaning cheese graters." This removes the bulk of the cheese that might get gunked up in the little blades. The brush also keeps your fingers away from the sharp blades. If the grater is dishwasher-safe, it is still best to use a brush to remove cheese bits before running it through the machine. What can you use a cheese grater for besides cheese? Dalal loves to use her grater for the traditional Gujarati dishes of her family. "Cheese graters often work well on vegetables. I have used a cheese grater to grate cucumbers for raita, a spiced Indian yogurt, and to grate opo squash for handvo, a savory lentil cake." Any time you want small, even shreds of hard fruits and vegetables — think apple, potato, carrot, cabbage — a cheese grater is perfect. And in a hack for pie crusts and biscuits, you can also grate frozen butter into easy-to-incorporate shreds. Other Cheese Graters We Tested Strong Contenders Zwilling Z-Cut Tower/Box Grater (Zwilling) This fancy grater has blades that cut in both directions, with a unique cheese-catching drawer that lets you use it vertically or lying on its side. It did a great job with cheese, but not so great that it justifies its high price. It also made a mess of orange zest, grating it too fine. Cuisipro 4-Sided Box Grater (Amazon) A series of grooves down each side of this box grater help reduce friction so cheeses of all kinds just glide along the blades. This feature, plus the ultra-sharp blades, provided good test results. But the blades might be sharper than necessary; one tester nicked a thumb on the Cuisipro, and other, safer, models performed just as well. Rösle Stainless Steel Medium Grater (Amazon) A wide version of the rasp-style grater, this gadget has feet that will hold it in place on a cutting board or counter, as well as a bent shape that can hook over almost any size bowl. That's a great option for grating lots and lots of cheese, but the downside is that there's only one blade size. For this price, there are lots of excellent four-bladed box graters available. Zyliss Restaurant Cheese Grater (Amazon) This is the same rotary grater servers at Olive Garden use to shower your pasta with Parmesan. It does a great job at that, pouring out fluffy shreds, but we prefer the Vivaant above because it includes a second blade for more versatility. What Didn't Make the List Most cheese graters look quite similar, but we found a lot of variation in how well their blades work. The main reason low-ranked graters didn't make our list was a lack of ability to cut the cheese. Dull blades make uneven shreds, require more muscle power, and often tear cheese apart. Big names including OXO and Cuisinart were among the graters that were not our favorites. Our Expertise Christa Glennie has worked as a freelance writer and food editor for nearly 20 years. She is also the author of two cookbooks and specializes in food and drink trends, agriculture, the regional foodways of Western New York, and the restaurant business. Her respect for simplicity and uncluttered counters in the kitchen ultimately fuels a desire to find and own well-designed, multi-purpose, best-in-class kitchen tools. Stacey Ballis, a freelance writer, recipe developer, and product reviewer based in Chicago, also contributed to this roundup. In addition to her cookbook "Big Delicious Life," she's written more than 10 novels. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit