Grated Parmesan: Cups to Grams

1 US cup of grated parmesan weighs about 100 grams.

Three quarters of a US cup of grated parmesan is about 75 grams (12 tablespoons).

2/3 of a US cup of grated parmesan is about 66.7 grams.

Half a US cup of grated parmesan is about 50 grams — half of the 100 g in a full cup.

A third of a US cup of grated parmesan is about 33.3 grams.

A quarter US cup of grated parmesan is about 25 grams (4 tablespoons).

1 tablespoon of grated parmesan is about 6.3 grams (a cup is 16 tablespoons).

1 1/4 US cups of grated parmesan weigh about 125 grams.

1 1/2 US cups of grated parmesan weigh about 150 grams — one full cup (100 g) plus half a cup (50 g).

2 US cups of grated parmesan weigh about 200 grams.

100 grams of grated parmesan is about 1 cups.

250 grams of grated parmesan is about 2.5 cups (at 100 g per cup).

500 grams of grated parmesan is about 5 cups.

100 grams for a level US cup of finely grated parmesan — the figure on King Arthur Baking's ingredient chart (1/2 cup = 1 3/4 oz = 50 g) and USDA FoodData Central's measured cup (#171247). That is the canister-style fine grate. Grate a wedge yourself and the same cup holds less: about 57 g from a Microplane or 85 g from the medium holes of a box grater, by America's Test Kitchen's yields. When a recipe gives a weight, use the weight.

50 grams — this is the exact row on King Arthur's chart, 1/2 cup = 1 3/4 oz = 50 g. Half a cup from the Kraft shaker (2 tsp = 5 g on the label) works out to 60 g, and half a cup of fluffy Microplane-grated parmesan to only about 28 g, so the "right" answer depends on how fine the cheese is. On a scale, 50 g is 1/2 cup of the fine grade most recipes assume.

25 grams — a quarter of the 100 g cup. Grams are grams on both sides of the Atlantic; what changes is the cup: a US cup is 236.6 mL and a 250 mL metric cup (UK, Australia, NZ) holds 26.4 g in its quarter. If you are reading a US label instead, Kraft's finely shredded and Sargento's fine-cut parmesan both print 1/4 cup = 28 g, and 4 tablespoons at the label's 5 g each is 20 g.

About 33.3 grams grated fine (100 g per cup ÷ 3). From the Kraft shaker it is 40 g, and a third of a cup of Microplaned parmesan about 19 g. Notice that America's Test Kitchen's rule makes 1/3 cup of medium-grated cheese exactly 1 oz (28.3 g) — a handy round number if you grate from a wedge on a box grater.

125 grams at 100 g per cup. The same 1 1/4 cups is 150 g from the Kraft shaker, 140 g by the 1/4 cup = 28 g shredded-parmesan labels, or roughly 71 g if you Microplane a wedge. For 1 1/2 cups use 150 g, for 2 cups 200 g — the converter above takes any amount.

Call it 5 to 6.3 grams. Every US label — Kraft, BelGioioso, 4C — prints 1 tablespoon = 5 g (Kraft's shaker says 2 teaspoons = 5 g, which is 7.5 g per tablespoon), and USDA lists the same 5 g spoon. Divide this page's 100 g cup by 16 and you get 6.3 g. USDA's own record carries both numbers, and 16 × 5 g is 80 g, not 100 g: a tablespoon is filled loosely and a cup settles as it fills. For a sprinkle it does not matter; for a sauce or a dough, weigh it.

Because the canister's fine, dry, evenly milled parmesan packs denser than a home-grated cup: 2 tsp = 5 g is 7.5 g per tablespoon and 120 g per cup, about 20% above the 100 g of King Arthur and USDA. So a cup scooped from the green can is 120 g and half a cup 60 g. If a recipe was written with shaker cheese in mind, it also has far less flavour per gram than a Parmigiano wedge, so weigh generously rather than skimp.

Neither USDA nor King Arthur publishes a cup weight for shaved parmesan, so treat any figure as an estimate. Shavings are the loosest-packed form of all — broad curls that trap large air gaps — so a cup will land at or below the fluffy Microplane figure of about 57 g, often nearer 40–50 g when the curls are large. Shaved cheese is almost always a garnish, so the practical answer is "a good handful"; for anything cooked, weigh the cheese before shaving.

By America's Test Kitchen's yields, 1 oz of hard cheese gives 1/2 cup on a Microplane, 1/3 cup on a medium box grater or 1/4 cup on the coarse side. So a 4 oz wedge (113.4 g) makes about 2 cups Microplaned, 1 1/3 cups medium-grated or 1 cup coarse; an 8 oz wedge doubles that. At this page's fine 100 g cup a 4 oz wedge is 1.13 cups, and a 100 g piece is exactly 1 cup. The weight never changes when you grate — only the volume does.

Not per cup. The pre-grated canister products are milled fine and dry, so they pack: Kraft's shaker label implies 120 g per cup, the refrigerated shredded tubs (Kraft, Sargento, 1/4 cup = 28 g) 112 g, and the King Arthur / USDA fine grate 100 g. A wedge grated at home on a Microplane weighs about 57 g per cup, or 85 g on a medium grater — a fresh cup can hold half the cheese of a canister cup. Recipes that say "1 cup grated" almost always mean the fine, 100 g cup; if they say "finely grated on a rasp", weigh out 57 g per cup.

About 420 kcal in a level 100 g cup, using USDA's 420 kcal per 100 g for grated parmesan (#171247), with 28.4 g protein and 27.8 g fat. A label tablespoon (5 g) is about 21 kcal, which Kraft, BelGioioso and 4C round to 20. Parmesan is also very salty: USDA lists 1804 mg sodium per 100 g, so a cup carries about 1.8 g of sodium and 853 mg of calcium.

For the scale, yes: any hard, dry grating cheese — Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, domestic "parmesan", Pecorino Romano — weighs about the same per cup at the same grate size, so every figure on this page applies. The difference is legal and culinary. Parmigiano Reggiano is a PDO product made only in Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and parts of Bologna and Mantua, aged at least 12 months (most of what is sold is 24–36 months), and even the grated version must be grated inside the region with 25–35% moisture and no more than 18% rind. Because it is drier and more crystalline than young domestic parmesan it tends to grate finer, which is one more reason to weigh.

100 g is exactly 1 cup finely grated on this page's figure, and 200 g is 2 cups. Grated on a Microplane the same 100 g fills about 1.76 cups, and from the Kraft shaker 100 g is only 0.83 cup. A typical 120 g UK tub of grated Parmigiano Reggiano is therefore about 1 1/4 cups fine, and a 4 oz (113.4 g) US shaker just under 1 cup by its own 5 g-per-2-tsp density (0.94 cups).

Close, and lighter: 100 g against 113 g for a cup of shredded cheddar, jack, mozzarella or Swiss (the 4 oz-per-cup rule). Softer cheeses shred into thicker strands that pack heavier, while parmesan is drier and grated finer, so the same cup holds about 12% less. For the whole family — crumbled feta at 150 g, cream cheese and ricotta near 227–232 g — see the cheese equivalents section of the dairy conversion chart, linked below.