Eggs & dairy · Hard cheeses
Parmesan
Hard, granular aged Italian cow's-milk cheese grated over pasta, risotto, soups and salads.
Also called: parmigiano reggiano, parmigiano, grana padano
A kind of cheese
What it is
Parmigiano Reggiano is a protected cheese from northern Italy, aged for at least a year into a hard, pale-gold wheel with crunchy crystals and a deep savoury taste. Grana Padano is a similar, usually milder and younger cheese; generic 'parmesan' outside the EU may be either style. Pecorino Romano is sheep's milk and sharper and saltier.
How it’s used
- Grated over pasta, risotto and minestrone
- Shaved on salads and carpaccio
- Pesto and Caesar dressing
- Parmesan crisps (frico) and crusts for chicken
- Rinds simmered in soups and sauces for depth
Characteristics
- Taste
- Savoury, nutty, salty and deeply umami.
- Texture
- Hard, dry and granular with crunchy crystals.
- When cooked
- Melts into sauces when finely grated and added off the heat; clumps if the liquid is too hot. Bakes into crisp lacy wafers.
- Sold as
- fermented, ground
- Cooking uses
- Usually eaten raw, Commonly cooked, Suitable for baking, Used as a garnish, Mainly a seasoning
- Common in
- Italian, Mediterranean, French, American
Storage
Refrigerated. Wrap wedges in waxed or baking paper and keep in the fridge; grate fresh for best flavour. Freeze rinds to add to soups.
Diet, allergens and safety
Contains Milk.
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
- Soy-free
- Caffeine-free
- Contains milk (allergen).
- Traditional Parmigiano Reggiano uses animal rennet, so it is not vegetarian.
Nutrition per 100 g
- Energy
- 392 kcal
- Protein
- 35.75 g
- Carbohydrate
- 3.22 g
- Fat
- 25 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
- Sugars
- 0.11 g
USDA FoodData Central: Cheese, parmesan, hard.
Substitutes
Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.
- Pecorino Romano — 1:1 but use slightly less salt elsewhere; sharper flavour.
- Grana Padano — 1:1; a little milder and less complex.
Related ingredients
Recipes with parmesan
See all 50
Ají de gallina
Peruvian · 1 h 5 min · 553 kcal
Arancini
Italian · 3 h 20 min · 285 kcal · Contains egg
Bacalhau com natas
Portuguese · 1 h 30 min · 506 kcal
Baked ziti
American · 1 h 30 min · 487 kcalCaesar dressing
American · 10 min · 200 kcal
Caesar salad
American · 23 min · 492 kcalCheese soufflé
French · 50 min · 333 kcal · Contains eggChipa
Paraguayan · 50 min · 395 kcal · Contains eggCourgette frittata
Italian · 40 min · 264 kcal · Contains eggCrni rižot (black cuttlefish risotto)
Croatian · 1 h 2 min · 642 kcal
Eggplant parmigiana
Italian · 2 h 15 min · 415 kcal · VegetarianEscondidinho de carne moída
Brazilian · 1 h 30 min · 687 kcal
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