13 Creative Hacks to Repurpose Your Empty Parmesan Cheese Bottles

Grated Parmesan cheese is a staple in many homes, and some of us go through quite a bit of it. If you’ve ever reached the bottom of a bottle and thought, man, what a waste to just throw out this handy flip-top container, you’re in luck. There are plenty of creative ways to repurpose the jar and appease your waste-not-want-not mindset. You don’t even need to branch out and use it for things outside the kitchen.

Empty Parmesan cheese jars are perfect for storing anything from on-the-go snacks to candy to homemade spice blends and more. Seriously, these nifty containers have a lot of potential — stop throwing them in the trash. The hacks you find below only scratch the surface too. So, if you want to make the most of them, just keep reading. And, of course, make sure to wash your empty bottles thoroughly before repurposing them for one of the handy uses you find below.

This will come as no surprise because Parmesan bottles are already used to dispense cheese, but an empty one is the perfect container for all kinds of shredded cheese — not just Parmesan. Whether you buy pre-shredded cheese or take the time to shred it yourself, transferring it to a container with a flip-top lid makes sprinkling it over a world of dishes super simple. Plus, no one will be the wiser if you didn’t do a bang-up job cleaning it first and a bit of leftover cheese flavor is left in the bottle.

The bags that pre-shredded cheese come in work fine, but depending on the size of the bag, it can be tricky to extract a small amount without using additional tools. Putting it in an empty Parmesan cheese bottle eliminates this issue. If freshly shredded cheese is more your style, I get it. It typically tastes better and, well, fresher. However, when it comes time to shred, most of us just shred a pile and then measure (if we even measure at all). This easily leads to leftovers, and if you have any extra, you guessed it, pop it in an empty Parmesan cheese bottle, stick it in the fridge, and consider the matter handled.

This next hack is perfect for smaller Parmesan cheese bottles. You know, the small 3-ounce jars or even the 8-ounce ones. Anyway, you can use empty Parmesan cheese containers just like you would a spice jar. If you think about it, many spice jars also have flip-top lids, so there’s no doubt Parmesan cheese containers will work just as well. Plus, if you are a fan of making your own spice blends, as many of us are, there’s no better way to store your creations than in what is essentially the same type of container you would buy them in from the store.

In addition to regional spice blends, seasoning salt should be on your radar. As it turns out, mixing one or more herbs into salt is a surefire way to take your home cooking skills to the next level. After all, we all know the joys of garlic salt, right? Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Lemon salt, rosemary salt, Cajun salt, and salt infused with some kind of spicy pepper are just what you need to make your dishes pop with flavor — and you’ll find ways to use them all the time. Or if you love baking, whip up a batch of vanilla salt and just wait until you make your next batch of chocolate chip cookies — it’s a game changer for sure.

Whether you actually take your trail mix on a hike or not is up to you, but there’s no denying it is a tasty snack. There’s something about the way that a good trail mix blends sweet, salty, chewy, and crunchy elements that draws in even the pickiest eaters. Okay, okay, that’s enough of our ode to trail mix, but if you’re sick of using plastic baggies to bring it on the go, an empty Parmesan cheese bottle is your friend. You may not be able to sprinkle your trail mix out of the side of the lid with holes, but there shouldn’t be any issues dispensing it from the other side of the flip-top lid.

You can buy all different kinds of trail mix at the grocery store, but mixing up your own batch is often way more rewarding, especially if you have an empty Parmesan cheese bottle to keep it in. After all, you get to put all your favorite ingredients in, and really, just about anything goes. Nuts and seeds are practically a given, but raisins, M&Ms, and pretzels are classics, too. Or, for something more unique, try adding crumbled up potato chips or waffle cones — yum.

Cheerios and Goldfish Crackers are staples of kids’ diets everywhere. Not only do children love them, but they are small enough to be convenient for on-the-go snacking. Anyone who’s ever cared for a little one knows how essential to-go snacks are, and Cheerios and Goldfish Crackers are ready to fill the void. However, if you’re tired of wasting so many disposable baggies, Parmesan cheese bottles are up for the task.

We think we all know exactly how dirty little kids’ hands can get, so a flip-top lid is perfect for dispensing snacks into their tiny hands without contaminating the source. Plus, you can toss a bottle full of Cheerios or Goldfish Crackers, maybe both, into a bag and carry it around easy-peasy. As opposed to a mason jar, you can feel confident about passing the entire container off to a small child, as well. Even if they drop it, a repurposed Parmesan cheese bottle will survive, no harm done. It probably goes without saying, but it’ll definitely go way further than a baggie. Enough said.

For many of us, a blend of cinnamon and sugar evokes images of buttered toast topped with the mix, but even if it doesn’t, this drool-worthy seasoning duo has a lot of potential. So much so that keeping a jar of it on hand will serve anyone with a sweet tooth well. Fortunately, you don’t have to buy it pre-mixed, either. You can simply combine sugar and cinnamon in an empty Parmesan cheese bottle and shake until it’s uniformly mixed. It’s that easy. If you use freshly ground cinnamon, even better.

Once you have your delicious cinnamon sugar blend, you can use it for a nearly endless number of sweet recipes. Simply sprinkling it over the top of buttered toast is a no-brainer, but you can also dust french toast, pancakes, crepes, muffins, sweet breads, and so much more with it. Try dusting homemade baked donuts with cinnamon sugar and watch out! Or, simply sprinkle some on your next bowl of ice cream. Once you have a pre-mixed blend of cinnamon and sugar on hand, you might be surprised at all of the ways you find to incorporate it into your cooking.

Some breadcrumbs already come in a canister-style container with an easy-to-seal plastic lid, but others come in a large bag (which, sometimes, is also inside a box). While you may not see any need to transfer the former, the latter becomes much easier to work with when it’s given a new home in an empty Parmesan cheese bottle. After all, it allows you to sprinkle or pour hassle-free. Not to mention, the breadcrumbs will stay fresher for longer, too, thanks to the more substantial lid. A box or tied-off bag is no match for a Parmesan cheese bottle with a flip-top lid.

Homemade breadcrumbs can also be stored in an empty Parmesan cheese bottle. Although they won’t stay fresh for nearly as long as the pre-made stuff. Even so, the flip-top lid allows you to effortlessly sprinkle your breadcrumbs over salads, meat, and more. No matter what type of breadcrumbs you decide to keep in an empty Parmesan cheese bottle — homemade, store-bought in a bag or canister, whatever — the ability to sprinkle it out of a flip-top lid and keep it fresh all at the same time will serve you well.

We don’t know about you, but we often buy a bag of powdered sugar and only use a small amount. After that, it sits in our pantry and we soon forget about it. Then, we find it months later, when it is all hard and unusable. What a waste. There’s an easy fix, though. Pour that bag of powdered sugar into an empty Parmesan cheese bottle. Not only will this help keep it fresher for longer, but it’ll also make it easier to pour into a measuring cup, extract a spoonful, or sprinkle over the top of your sweet creations.

Anything from cinnamon rolls to french toast to pancakes and beyond gets an instant boost from a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Of course, it’s great in homemade icing, as well, and also makes a pretty garnish for any number of muffins and other baked goods. Heck, some say powdered sugar is the key to achieving the crispiest fried chicken, too, so keeping a jar handy has endless potential. You might even want to store it alongside your other spices so it’s in plain view. Similar to a blend of cinnamon sugar, once you do, you’ll find a ton of different ways to add it to your dishes.

For all you Costco and Sam’s Club shoppers out there who buy grated Parmesan cheese in bulk, a smaller empty Parmesan cheese bottle is the key to keeping a manageable amount on hand. Actually, it doesn’t really matter where you shop, lots of grocery stores sell bulk-sized bags and containers that, let’s face it, are way too big and cumbersome to dip into every time you need a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Buying any food item in bulk typically results in a lower cost pound for pound, or in this case, maybe ounce for ounce. We all know this, but many of us still don’t buy Parmesan cheese in bulk. However, with this nifty hack, it may seem like a more approachable purchase. Instead of somewhat comically attempting to sprinkle Parmesan cheese out of an oversized bag or container, you can simply transfer it to a smaller one. Seems obvious, but it’s super handy and it helps you repurpose one of your empty flip-top jars. Sounds like a win-win to us.

Another food that’s perfect for sprinkling is bacon bits, so, obviously, they fare pretty darn well in an empty Parmesan cheese bottle. We’re not talking about those fake “bac’n” bits either — we know they already come in a convenient flip-top bottle. We mean the real bacon bits you pick up at stores. You know, the ones that come in a bag and clearly say they consist of real pieces of crumbled bacon. Yeah, put them in an empty Parmesan cheese bottle, and you’ll be glad you did.

The handy flip-top lid on an empty Parmesan cheese jar allows you to sprinkle bacon bits over foods to your heart’s content. Want to jazz up a salad, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, or a savory bowl of grits? Look no further than your new shaker of bacon bits. Need to add something extra to your omelets or avocado toast in the morning? You guessed it, bacon bits are here for the win. We recommend sticking to the store-bought stuff, though. We know leftover bacon is a rarity in most homes, but if you try to make your own bacon bits and store them in a jar, you can expect to get a greasy, congealed mess in no time.

Flour is one of those essential pantry items that many of us keep in stock at all times. It’s a building block for everything from baked goods to pasta to batter and more. However, it comes in a paper bag. While this is great for anyone who appreciates minimalist packaging, it often leads to a mess, either on your pantry shelves or while you are scooping (especially once you reach the bottom of the bag). No need to worry, though. Your empty Parmesan cheese bottles are ready and waiting to make flour storage more convenient.

In addition to helping contain potential messes, storing flour in empty Parmesan cheese containers gives it a more sufficient seal, which we all know extends the shelf life of food. It takes a long time for flour to go bad, like three to eight months, but still, most of us will take all the help we can get. The flip-top lid on Parmesan cheese jars also makes it easy to sprinkle flour on surfaces before rolling out dough of all kinds. Admittedly, sprinkling flour for dough isn’t difficult using just your hands, but a jar means you don’t have to stick your hand in the bag, something that becomes tricky if your hands are covered in dough.

Circling back to those of you who have a sweet tooth, Parmesan cheese bottles make handy storage containers for all your favorite small candies. You probably won’t be able to shake them out of the side of the flip-top lid featuring holes, unless you fill it with mini M&Ms, but that’s what the other half of the top is for. Simply pop it open, pour a handful out, and savor the sweetness. If you buy your candy in Halloween-size bags, another container is basically a must, too, so why not use your empty Parmesan cheese bottles? They are more than suitable for the task.

M&Ms of all sizes make a great choice, but Skittles, jelly beans, and so many other candies also fit nicely into an empty Parmesan cheese bottle. You could even mix a few of your favorites. Just be careful where you keep it, or you may find the container is so handy that you gobble them up much faster than you care to admit. No judgement, though. After all, you want those M&Ms to melt in your mouth, not in your hand, right?

Mixing up your own spice blends isn’t difficult per se, but sometimes buying premade seasoning packets just makes things simpler. Plus, they come in all kinds of perfectly blended flavors, like taco or even ranch seasoning, and saves you the hassle of making it yourself if you don’t feel like it. Your empty Parmesan cheese bottles are just what you need to ensure premade seasoning packets are not just easy to buy, but easy to use, as well. They allow you to buy bulk of the blends you really like too, without having to worry about storage.

Okay, back to all the ways you can use ranch powder when you have it “on tap.” You can add it to a jar of pickles, sprinkle it over deviled eggs, boost flavor in boxed mac and cheese, use it to season salmon or chicken, and the list goes on. The same can be said for other types of pre-made seasoning packets, as well.

Last but not least, on our list of handy ways to repurpose empty Parmesan cheese bottles is to fill them with baking soda. While baking soda is in fact edible, this tip doesn’t have to do so much with storing edible items, but it’s definitely food adjacent. Instead of keeping baking soda in it for baking, you can use it to make your kitchen sparkle. The flip-top lid on Parmesan cheese bottles makes it easy to sprinkle over surfaces, and it makes clean-up from a big meal a cinch.

When it comes to cleaning up grease, baking soda is your friend. Sprinkle it over the top of your stove to eliminate bacon grease, or use it on your grill and watch as the build-up disappears. Oh yeah, in case of emergencies, you can also use it to put out a grease fire — good to know. Really, baking soda will clean burnt food and stains off of any stainless steel or enameled cast iron surface. Those all seem like pretty heavy-duty cleaning tasks, and they are, but baking soda works as a gentle cleaner too, as is evident by the fact that it cleans grapes with ease when mixed with a touch of salt. Suffice it to say, baking soda is the magical, all-purpose cleaner your kitchen needs, and keeping it in an empty Parmesan cheese container only makes using it that much simpler.