This Cuisipro Box Grater Makes Cooking So Much Easier — Here’s How I Use It in the Kitchen

Some kitchen tools you just want to kick yourself for not buying sooner, and the Cuisipro 4-Sided Box Grater is high on that list for me. When I moved in with my boyfriend-now-husband in 2019, we had a few kitchen items that I wasn’t quite sure how they found their way into our drawers. Maybe they were things he forgot he packed up from an old apartment, housewarming gifts snuck in by his parents, or some things the previous tenants left behind. Our flat grater from an unknown brand was one such mystery possession. After years of it slipping out of my hand, falling apart, and being a general nuisance, I decided enough was enough — I was going to make the switch to a box grater.

An online search for “box grater” led me to the Cuisipro — one of the highest-rated box graters I found. I didn’t know anything about the Cuisipro brand at the time (not to be confused with Cuisinart!), but I have since learned that it’s a Canadian brand that’s been around since the 90s. Their 4-sided box grater is one of their award-winning products, and some quick Googling revealed that it ranks among the best box graters on the market. That was more than enough to sell me on the product. And from my years of usage since then, I now know first-hand why it’s such a favorite. 

How I Use the Cuisipro Box Grater

Since purchasing the Cuisipro 4-sided Box Grater in 2022, I’ve used it regularly for a wide array of savory and sweet dishes. Before, I may have avoided recipes that involved grating ingredients because my old hand grater was such a pain to use. But these days, I end up bringing out my Cuisipro box grater at least once a week. I use the ultra-coarse grating side most frequently, and I find that it’s the perfect size for shredded vegetables and cheese.

Most recently, I grated a block of cheddar for making creamy broccoli soup, and the cheese glided over the cutting edges like butter. A couple of nights before that, when a friend was visiting for dinner, I used the coarse grating side to shred a big pile of Parmesan to accompany our spaghetti bolognese. And now that my husband and I have a toddler on our hands, it’s been a fun project figuring out creative ways to incorporate more vegetables into her diet, and vegetable fritters have become our go-to. The Cuisipro’s ultra-course side does a quick job of shredding zucchini, carrots, and potatoes — and anyone with a toddler knows that working fast in the kitchen is key.

When our daughter was just starting out on solids, we also used the coarse grating side to shred apples to mix into her oatmeal. And since we don’t own a cheese slicer, my husband has also cut slices of cheese, including Edam and Old Amsterdam, with the Cuisipro’s shaver. One of his favorite ways to use the box grater though is to finely grate carrots for salad and pasta. In the past, we’ve also used the ginger grater for making ginger tea since I’ve never been a fan of the spoon technique (sorry!), and we like our tea spicier than what we get from ginger slices.

What I Love About the Cuisipro Box Grater

For me, it’s more like what’s not to love about the Cuisipro 4-Sided Box Grater. While it may be the only box grater I’ve owned, there’s honestly not much I would change to improve it. With a slight ergonomic curve on its underside, the nonslip handle has the perfect thickness, texture, and cushion for getting a good grip while grating. I’ve never experienced hand fatigue while using it either. That plus the shape and sturdiness of the grater make it extra stable, which is important for avoiding potential injury.

I like that the base attaches securely enough that it doesn’t fall apart while I’m working, but it’s also still easy to remove thanks to the indented section on the base that has an oval knob in the center. It’s a smart design that allows you to put your fingertips in, hold onto the knob, and pull without having to turn the grater upside down or totally on its side.

Performance-wise, all of the grater’s edges are ultra sharp so food doesn’t get caught, and I never have to regrate just to finish a job. This box grater is easy to clean too, even with hand-washing. It just takes some wiping with a sponge and dish soap from the bottom upwards — opposite the direction you would grate, of course. To top it all off, I love the Cuisipro’s sleek, professional design.

The Caveats

Since the ginger grater base has very fine, sharp points, it’s more effective to clean that part with a brush to remove whatever food might be stuck there. It’s made that way so that unwanted ginger fibers are left behind, and it’s not really that much trouble in the grand scheme of things. By design, a box grater is going to take up more space than a flat grater, so you will need enough room in your kitchen to store it upright or on its side in a drawer. 

Tips and Tricks

• The possibilities are really endless with this handy utensil: You can use the fine grating surface for citrus, garlic, nutmeg, and parmesan. The coarse surface is great for vegetables, butter, and chocolate. I use the ultra-coarse surface for vegetables and cheese, and with the shaver, you can get creative with ingredients like chocolate, apples, and truffles.
• Don’t forget that the removable base doubles as a ginger grater.
• Going up two corners of the grater, you’ll find measurement marks for 1 to 4 cups and 100 to 1100 milliliters to help keep track of your progress.
• The Cuisipro Box Grater is technically dishwasher-safe, but it’s really best to hand-wash it to lengthen its lifespan. 
• If you’re worried about where you’ll be able to store this box grater, it may actually fit best on its side in your kitchen drawer.

How It Compares

A unique feature of Cuisipro’s box grater is that the cutting edges are made with a photo-etching process rather than punching holes in the material, so you get super-sharp blades for top performance. This grater also features the brand’s patented Surface Glide Technology, which is the evenly spread, repeated groove pattern designed to make grating more effortless.

Cuisipro and other brands make 6-sided box graters too, but what you get in blade variety you’ll have to sacrifice in grating surface area — not to mention the product becomes bulkier to store. Personally, I think Cuisipro’s 4-sided option offers enough difference in grating size to suit basically every cooking situation, and then you can enjoy having a wider surface to work with for faster results.

If you’re not grating many ingredients when you cook and mainly want something for the occasional lemon zest or Parmesan, then the Cuisipro 4-Sided Box Grater might be overkill since you could easily get by with something like a Microplane zester. But if your potential use expands outside of that, then it’s hard to compare the comfort, ease, and results you get from a box grater as sharp and easy-to-use as this one.

The Verdict

The Cuisipro 4-Sided Box Grater passes every test with flying colors: design, performance, ease of use, and ease of cleaning. I love mine, and I have a feeling that it’s going to last me many years to come. But if one day something happens to it, I’d gladly buy the same exact model to replace it.