Grana Padano is a hard, granular Italian cheese from the grana family — the same broad category as Parmigiano-Reggiano — produced across a wider geographic area of the Po Valley in northern Italy under generally less restrictive production rules and a shorter minimum aging period than its more famous relative. This makes Grana Padano typically milder, slightly less complex in flavour, and more affordable than Parmigiano-Reggiano, while still delivering the same essential hard, crumbly texture and savoury, umami-rich character that makes grana cheeses so useful in cooking. Aged a minimum of 9 months (compared to Parmigiano-Reggiano's 12), Grana Padano remains one of Italy's most widely produced and exported cheeses by volume. Nutritionally, it stands out for exceptional protein density and calcium, with virtually zero carbohydrate. Adjust the slider for your serving size.
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Serving size:20g
77Calories (kcal)
0.0Carbs (g)
6.6Protein (g)
0.0Fibre (g)
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📊 Full nutrition facts — per 100g
Nutrient
Amount
% Daily value
Level
Calories
384 kcal
19%
Carbohydrates
0.0g
0%
Protein
33.0g
66%
Total fat
28.0g
—
Saturated fat
18.0g
—
GI
0 — Zero
—
Calcium
1155mg
116%
Vitamin B12
1.6µg
67%
Phosphorus
660mg
66%
Zinc
4.0mg
33%
Sodium
700mg
—
Vitamin A
270µg
30%
Based on Australian NRV. Source: FSANZ Australian Food Composition Database.
📈 Glycaemic index (GI)
0
Glycaemic IndexLow GIGrana Padano has a GI of approximately 0 — effectively zero. As an extensively aged hard cheese, virtually all residual lactose has been consumed during the fermentation and maturation process, leaving negligible digestible carbohydrate and no meaningful blood glucose impact.
0 · Low (<55)Medium (56–69)High (70+) · 100
💊 Key vitamins & minerals
Calcium
1155mg/100g
116% RDI — exceeds daily needs
Protein
33.0g/100g
6.6g per 20g serve
Phosphorus
660mg
66% RDI per 100g
Vitamin B12
1.6µg
67% RDI per 100g
GI
0 — Zero
No effective carbohydrate
Zinc
4.0mg
33% RDI per 100g
✅ Health benefits
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Exceptional calcium — exceeds 100% of daily needs per 100g
Grana Padano's calcium content (1155mg/100g) is among the highest of any food covered on this site — a standard 20g grated serve provides approximately 231mg, over 23% of the daily requirement from a small garnish quantity, reflecting the concentrating effect of its extended aging.
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Outstanding protein density — 33g per 100g
At 33.0g of protein per 100g, Grana Padano is among the most protein-dense cheeses in this guide — a 20g grated serve provides over 6.6g of complete, highly bioavailable protein, delivered even in typical small culinary quantities.
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Strong vitamin B12 — 67% of daily needs per 100g
Grana Padano provides 1.6µg of B12 per 100g, supporting nerve function and red blood cell formation, matching parmesan's excellent B12 density despite Grana Padano's shorter aging period.
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Zero lactose and zero glycaemic impact from extended aging
With effectively zero carbohydrate, Grana Padano has no measurable GI, and its minimum 9-month aging period means virtually all lactose has been consumed during fermentation — making it well tolerated by many people with lactose intolerance who may struggle with fresher dairy.
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⚠️ Who should limit or avoid
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Moderate-high sodium — 700mg per 100g
A 20g grated serve of Grana Padano provides approximately 140mg of sodium — meaningful but generally lower than Parmigiano-Reggiano and considerably lower than most blue cheeses, given its shorter aging process requires somewhat less salt for preservation.
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Significant saturated fat relative to typical serving intensity
At 18g of saturated fat per 100g, Grana Padano's fat content is meaningful, though because typical serving sizes are small (a tablespoon of grated cheese is roughly 5g), the practical saturated fat contribution per use remains modest — around 0.9g per tablespoon.
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Traditional rennet — not suitable for strict vegetarians
Like Parmigiano-Reggiano, traditional Grana Padano is made using animal rennet, making it unsuitable for strict vegetarians despite sometimes appearing on vegetarian menus by oversight. Vegetarian-rennet hard cheese alternatives are available in Australia and should be specifically sought out by strict vegetarians.
✅ For most healthy adults, Grana Padano used in typical small culinary quantities is one of the most nutrient-dense foods available per gram — delivering exceptional calcium, protein and B12 with low overall caloric and sodium cost, at a generally more accessible price point than Parmigiano-Reggiano.
⚕️ General nutritional information only — not a substitute for professional medical or dietary advice.
🛒 How to select & buy grana padano
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Grana Padano vs Parmigiano-Reggiano — genuine but sometimes overlooked differences
Grana Padano: produced across a wider area of the Po Valley, minimum 9 months aging, generally milder and slightly less complex flavour, more affordable. Parmigiano-Reggiano: production restricted to specific provinces of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy, minimum 12 months aging (often much longer), more intense, complex flavour, higher price. Both are genuine DOP-protected grana cheeses and work well in cooking; Grana Padano offers excellent everyday value while Parmigiano-Reggiano suits dishes where its more concentrated flavour is the star.
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Reading age indicators
Grana Padano is often sold at different aging stages, typically labelled by months (9, 16, 20 months or more) — longer-aged versions develop more pronounced crystalline texture (tyrosine crystals, a genuine maturity marker) and more concentrated flavour, similar to the aging pattern seen in Parmigiano-Reggiano, though generally reaching peak intensity at somewhat shorter aging periods given Grana Padano's typically milder overall flavour profile.
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Block vs pre-grated — the same freshness principle applies
As with any hard grana cheese, grating fresh from a block just before use delivers noticeably better flavour than pre-grated versions, which lose aromatic intensity once packaged and exposed to air. For everyday cooking use where cost matters, Grana Padano's generally lower price point compared to Parmigiano-Reggiano makes buying a whole piece for fresh grating more accessible.
🇦🇺 Australian tip: Grana Padano DOP is widely available at Australian supermarkets and delicatessens, generally priced somewhat more affordably than genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano at approximately $4-8 per 100g, making it a popular everyday grana cheese choice for Australian households and restaurant kitchens wanting authentic Italian hard cheese flavour without Parmigiano-Reggiano's premium price point. Melbourne and Sydney's extensive Italian-Australian community and specialty delicatessens stock a wide range of Grana Padano at different aging stages, and it's increasingly available even in mainstream supermarket cheese sections given its broader production volume compared to the more restricted Parmigiano-Reggiano.
🧊 Storage tips & shelf life
Refrigerator (whole/block)
6-8 weeks (wrapped properly)
Wrap in baking paper, then foil or wax paper
Wrap cut Grana Padano first in baking paper, allowing it to breathe, then in foil or wax paper, avoiding airtight plastic directly on the cut surface. Store in the least cold part of the fridge. Any surface mould can be trimmed away with at least 1cm margin if the rest of the cheese smells and looks normal.
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Freezer (grated)
Up to 6 months
Freeze pre-grated in small portions for direct use
Grana Padano freezes well when pre-grated — texture becomes slightly more crumbly but works perfectly for cooking use straight from frozen. Not recommended for freezing whole blocks intended for shaving or fresh eating, as thawed texture becomes uneven.
Grana Padano's history traces to the same medieval monastic cheese-making tradition that produced Parmigiano-Reggiano, with Benedictine and Cistercian monks in the broader Po Valley region of northern Italy developing hard, long-aging cheeses from at least the 12th century onward as a practical way to preserve milk surplus without refrigeration. Over subsequent centuries, cheese-making techniques and traditions across this wider geographic area — extending well beyond the specific provinces that would later become associated with Parmigiano-Reggiano's protected designation — developed into what became recognised as Grana Padano, a related but distinct grana cheese produced across a considerably larger geographic footprint with generally less restrictive production requirements than its more famous, more geographically limited relative. This broader production area and shorter minimum aging requirement made Grana Padano naturally more scalable and accessible than Parmigiano-Reggiano from its earliest development, a distinction that persists in the two cheeses' relative production volumes and market positioning today.
Grana Padano received its own Italian Denominazione di Origine Protetta status, formally establishing its production standards and geographic boundaries as legally distinct from but related to Parmigiano-Reggiano's own protection, with Grana Padano's considerably larger designated production area across the Po Valley making it, by volume, one of Italy's most produced and internationally exported hard cheeses — in fact generally exceeding Parmigiano-Reggiano's total production volume specifically because of this larger permitted production area and shorter aging requirement. In Australia, Grana Padano has become a genuinely accessible and widely available grana cheese option, offering authentic Italian hard cheese flavour and cooking properties at a more everyday price point than Parmigiano-Reggiano, making it a practical choice for Australian households and restaurant kitchens wanting genuine grana cheese character for regular cooking use, while Parmigiano-Reggiano remains reserved by many as the premium choice for dishes specifically wanting its more concentrated, longer-aged flavour intensity.
Grana Padano is actually produced in greater volume than the more internationally famous Parmigiano-Reggiano
Despite Parmigiano-Reggiano's generally higher international name recognition and premium reputation, Grana Padano is actually produced in greater overall volume, a direct consequence of its considerably larger permitted geographic production area across the Po Valley and its shorter minimum aging requirement (9 months versus Parmigiano-Reggiano's 12), which together allow for greater overall production scale and a somewhat faster production cycle, making Grana Padano one of Italy's most produced and exported hard cheeses by volume even though it's often perceived as the 'lesser known' of the two related grana cheese styles.
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Grana Padano and Parmigiano-Reggiano share the same medieval monastic origins, developing from the same broader Po Valley cheese-making tradition
Both grana cheese styles trace their origins to the same general medieval period and geographic region, with Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries across the Po Valley developing hard, long-aging cheese-making techniques from at least the 12th century onward as a practical solution for preserving milk surplus without refrigeration. Over subsequent centuries, this shared tradition gradually differentiated into the two related but legally distinct protected cheese styles recognised today, with Parmigiano-Reggiano's production area eventually becoming more geographically restricted and its aging requirements more extensive than the broader, somewhat more flexible standards that came to define Grana Padano.
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Grana Padano's shorter minimum aging period — 9 months versus Parmigiano-Reggiano's 12 — is a defined, legally regulated production standard, not simply a quality shortcut
The 9-month minimum aging period that distinguishes Grana Padano from Parmigiano-Reggiano's 12-month minimum is a formally defined, legally regulated production standard under each cheese's respective Denominazione di Origine Protetta rules, not an informal quality shortcut — both cheeses undergo the same essential aging and quality-control production process, just calibrated to different minimum timeframes that reflect each cheese's own distinct traditional production standards and resulting flavour profile, with Grana Padano's shorter minimum aging contributing directly to its generally milder character.
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Like Parmigiano-Reggiano, well-aged Grana Padano develops crunchy tyrosine crystals — though generally at a somewhat later relative aging point given its milder overall character
As Grana Padano ages, the same essential proteolytic enzyme activity that creates parmesan's characteristic crunchy tyrosine crystals also occurs in Grana Padano, particularly in longer-aged versions (16-20+ months), producing the same genuine textural marker of extended maturity found across aged grana cheeses generally. This shared textural development across both grana cheese styles reflects their common underlying cheese-making tradition, even as their specific flavour intensities and typical consumption contexts have differentiated somewhat over their respective independent development as separate protected designations.
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Grana Padano's generally lower price point compared to Parmigiano-Reggiano has made it Australia's more commonly stocked everyday grana cheese in mainstream supermarkets
Reflecting its larger production volume and correspondingly more accessible pricing, Grana Padano has become the more commonly stocked grana cheese option in mainstream Australian supermarket cheese sections, with genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano more often reserved for specialty delicatessens and the premium sections of larger supermarkets. This price and availability distinction means many Australian households' everyday 'parmesan-style' grated cheese use is actually genuine Grana Padano DOP rather than either Parmigiano-Reggiano or generic non-Italian parmesan-style cheese, offering genuine Italian grana cheese authenticity at an accessible everyday price point.