I’ve kept Kraft Shredded Parmesan cheese in my pantry for a couple years now. So I’ve consumed several jars of it product, and therefore, have a decent idea of what cheese products like this should taste like. Indeed, Kraft sets the taste standard.
I find this single-cheese Kraft product appetizing and delicious. My oat meal, vegetables, and pasta just would not be the same without this topping. I use Kraft Shredded Parmesan on many hot dishes, and it tastes particularly good on hot oat meal or grits. It can be used most any place that the grated Parmesan cheese products can, with only subtle differences affecting the resulting flavor.
Benefits, Pros, Advantages, and Features
- This is a virtually-pure cheese product (minus the added cellulose to prevent caking, and the potassium sorbate to preserve the fresh cheese flavor).
- This Kraft cheese product actually melts and becomes stringy when sprinkled over most any hot dish. But the meal must be really hot for complete melting to happen. However, once the melting does occur, this further augments the Italian cheese flavor this product adds.
- Kraft Shredded Parmesan Cheese contains 110 calories per 1/4 cup serving; which is a typical amount for cheese mixes like this.
- I’ve observed little caking of this product, and the clumps that do form can easily be broken up by lightly pounding the jar against a counter or other hard surface. The added cellulose works well thus.
- Since this cheese product is the Kraft brand, it’s widely available at most of the bigger grocery stores. I’ve not seen it sold in the very small shops though.
- This Kraft product keeps for several months in the refrigerator. It must be refigerated even prior to opening however. So this makes it less of a stock-pileable product since refigerator space can be sparse. Plus, its shelf life is shorter than the grated Parmesan cheese products I’ve reviewed elsewhere. But I usually have no need to keep more than one 7-ounce jar of it around anyhow, as I do not use it but once or twice a week.
- The jar is equipped with a sprinkle-or-spoon-out top, that makes dishing out the cheese mixture quite effortless.
Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns
- This single-cheese sprinkle product contains 400 MG of sodium per serving, which can sum to many hundreds (or even thousands) of milligrams when you add enough to coat a large plate of pasta rigate or spaghetti. So those monitoring their blood pressure should consume this product with restraint.
- It’s somewhat hard to get the cheese shreds to melt unless the pasta onto which you’re sprinkling this product has just come out of the boiling water. The grated cheese products however, melt more readily as I have observed.
- Indeed, this cheese topping contains additives that I wish it did not (like the preservatives and the salt). However, the ingredients list is short, and cheese comprises practically all of this product’s composition. So this Kraft cheese product is not overly processed beyond the typical processing required to make milk into Parmesan cheese.
Our Rating
In closing, I find this Kraft Shredded Parmesan Cheese excellent tasting and would thus, recommend that you incorporate it permanently into your food tool kits. I’d rate this cheese product at 92 out of 100.
Where To Buy Kraft Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Kraft cheese products in the refrigerated section at larger grocery stores, in the clear plastic jar with the green and yellow label that has the green letters. There’s a black cap to top off the jar. Enjoy!
References
Revision History
- 2015-01-25: Rearranged tag and category assignments, added whitespace, repositioned ads, added a References section, and fixed some typos.
- 2012-04-22: Originally published.