Are you looking for new ways to experiment with vegetables? Or, maybe you are trying to find healthier alternatives to noodles in your pasta dishes? I had the same problem. Ever since my dad started growing zucchinis in his summer garden, and we always had an overabundance of them, we were in need of trying out new ways to eat them. Last summer, I bought my first spiralizer to try out the “zoodle” (zucchini noodle) trend to see what all of the hype was about and to see if it would solve our problem. After my first experience with a spiralizer, that led me on a journey to find the best vegetable spiralizer.
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Table of Contents
What is a Spiralizer & Why Should You Use One?
A spiralizer is a kitchen gadget that turns your vegetables into noodles. The spiralized noodles have become so popular that they are now included in cookbooks and in restaurant dishes. You can buy the spiralized noodles in the produce or freezer section at the grocery store, but with a spiralizer at home, they are really easy to make at a fraction of the cost.
A spiralizer is a great gadget to have for households that eat a lot of pasta dishes, so that they can substitute the vegetable noodles for the processed noodles, as well as households that like to continually experiment with new flavors and dishes. The spiralized noodles allow you to do that, while keeping your meals healthy.
Benefits of Using a Spiralizer
- Healthier Meal Options – Instead of using processed noodles, you can use fresh vegetable noodles to add to your dishes.
- Quick and Easy to Make – With any type of spiralizer (including all three mentioned below), the spiralizing process is very quick and easy to do, and your noodles will be ready in no time. (*Cleaning time not included!) They are also just as quick, if not quicker, to cook compared to traditional pasta noodles.
- Multiple Vegetable Noodle Options – Just because “zoodles” (zucchini noodles) are a popular type of spiralized noodle, that does not mean that you cannot experiment with really any type of harder vegetable. This includes potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, etc.
- Diet Friendly – If you are following along with one of the many diet trends out there, such as gluten-free or paleo, the spiralized noodles can be substituted for the processed noodles and still follow the guidelines of your dietary restrictions.
- No Wasted Vegetables – When you spiralize any vegetable, you can use the entire vegetable without any having to go to waste. You can also spiralize (and then cook) aging vegetables, so nothing needs to go to waste.
Different Types of Spiralizers
There are three main different types of spiralizers, including:
- Handheld Spiralizers – Handheld spiralizers are typically smaller, more compact spiralizers, and they require you to use your hands to spiralize the noodles.
- Hand-turning Spiralizers – Hand-turning spiralizers (I am not sure that I am using the correct term to describe these) are somewhere in the middle of handheld and automated spiralizers. You are still required to use your hands to turn the wheel to create the noodles, but you are not yet to the point where the machine is plugged into the wall.
- Automated Spiralizers – Automated spiralizers and electronic and plug into an electrical outlet. These are the most “high-tech” option, but they also speed up the process and make it a lot easier to spiralize noodles for the harder vegetables (e.g., potatoes, butternut squash).
The 3 Spiralizers that I Purchased & Reviewed
- OXO Good Grips Handheld Spiralizer
- Spiralizer Ultimate 7-Blade Vegetable Slicer
- Veggie Bullet Electric Spiralizer & Food Processor
1. OXO Good Grips Handheld Spiralizer
The OXO Good Grips Handheld Spiralizer is what I would refer to as a good starter spiralizer. It comes with three different blades to make different styled noodles. It is all handheld, which becomes a little bit more difficult when you try to make noodles out of harder vegetables or when you are making noodles to feed a lot of people. I became fatigued with the handheld version after about three zucchinis.
Pros
- Price – This spiralizer will only run you about $15.
- Handheld – No outlets are needed. All you need is the vegetable, the handheld blades and you spin the vegetable until the desired noodles are created.
- Storage Space – All four parts can be combined for storage and take up very little room. They easily fit into a kitchen drawer.
Cons
- Lots of Readjusting – When I use this spiralizer, I just cut off the ends of the zucchini and start spiralizing. Some readjustment is needed as the noodles progress. When looking at the product reviews, I can see that others cut down the zucchini and zoodle smaller pieces. Also, there is another piece that comes along to hold the end of the vegetable so you do not have to, but it does not work.
- Ease of Use – This is practical for making noodles for a small family dinner. However, there is no way that you could spiralize harder vegetables for a large group, unless you were really in the mood for a good workout!
- Difficult to Clean – This was my main issue with the product. No matter how much I tried to clean it or ran it through the dishwasher, the blade always seemed to have some residue left over. If you have a small brush, you will have better luck with cleaning this product because if you try to use your fingers, there is a good chance you will cut yourself. Throughout further product research, a lot of other spiralizers come with a small brush to aid in cleaning. But again, you are getting what you pay for with this product.
If you are looking to make noodles a few times a year, this product is satisfactory. I would look for a fancier version if you plan on making vegetable noodles more often or for larger groups.
2. Spiralizer Ultimate 7-Blade Vegetable Slicer
The Spiralizer Ultimate 7-Blade Vegetable Slicer is just that! It comes with seven different cutting blades, and is as compact as it can be. There is less use of your hands with this spiralizer, but it is definitely not an automated process.
Pros
- Multiple Noodle Options – There are seven different types of blades that can be used to create seven different styled noodles.
- Storage Space – This product was created strategically so that all 7 blades can be stored in a small space. Three of the blades are stored in the stand and the other four come with a container that fits all of them and can fit into a kitchen drawer.
Cons
- Ease of Use – This spiralizer setup is easier to maneuver than the handheld spiralizer (above). However, there is still the need to manually spiralize the vegetables. Also, if your cut is not completely level between the two sides, it is hard to keep the vegetable in the machine while spiralizing.
- Grip – When I tried the spiralizer for the first time, I could not get the machine to grip to my counter. This caused some issues while trying to spiralize and hold the machine down at the same time. However, I think this just takes practice because I tried again later and was able to get it to grip.
- Multiple Noodle Options – Although there are seven different blade types, they do not all work on the harder vegetables. When experimenting with zucchinis, sweet potatoes and butternut squash, only four of those blades worked on the sweet potatoes and butternut squash.
- Machine Set-Up – The actual noodle formation can be really messy because as the machine moves with the vegetable that is being converted into noodles, it prohibits the formed noodles from being able to fall into a dish. Instead, they fall on the machine and onto the counter.
- Cleaning Brush – This spiralizer comes with a cleaning brush, but it does not work. You are better off using a basic kitchen brush or even a toothbrush to get a good clean.
- Clean-Up – If you are planning on using all seven blades during the noodle formation process, you will be spending a lot of time washing all of the pieces!
For someone who is not very particular about noodle type, this spiralizer was almost too much for me. It does work to create the different noodle types and is more practical if you are making noodles for a larger group.
3. Veggie Bullet Electric Spiralizer & Food Processor
The Veggie Bullet Electric Spiralizer was the only automated spiralizer that I tried. Surprisingly, there are not a lot of automated options. However, I tried this version because it had the best reviews online, I am a fan of the sister product (the Magic Bullet), and I wanted to see if the added bonus of chopping vegetables really worked!
Pros
- Automation – It is automated, so all you have to do is put the vegetable piece into the machine and it creates the spiralized product. The only work that is needed is that you have to cut the vegetables into pieces that can fit into the machine. For the spiralizer portion, it was easier with the thinner pieces (thinner than the two other spiralizers).
- Recipe Book – When the box came in the mail, there were two recipe books that were mailed along with it in the box. One book was a hard cover book that went into specific details about the Veggie Bullet, and how to position the blades for certain recipes. There was another, smaller book that was more focused on just recipes.
- Multi-purpose – You can use this machine to do more than just create spiralized vegetable noodles. This machine can cut and chop your vegetables for you as well. And this function worked even better than the spiralizing option! I put some sweet potatoes in there to test it out and the cut pieces shot out immediately. That is a huge selling point.
- Grip – This machine had a great grip to the counter, so there was nothing to worry about there.
- Clean up – Even though this machine is bigger, there are less pieces and less smaller blades to clean after spiralizing.
Cons
- Storage Space – This product takes up almost as much space as a food processor! With the spiralizing and chopping options, there are two large separate blades and plastic contraptions that require a lot of storage space.
- Lack of Noodle Style Options – Although this is a multi-purpose gadget, it does not provide multiple options for noodle creation. Unlike the 7-blade spiralizer (above), there is only one option that comes with this machine. There are other blades that you can purchase, but you are already paying a lot for this gadget.
- Set-Up – Everything was pretty straight forward on the machine, except for one thing. I had a really hard time trying to fit the plastic contraptions onto the motor. It took me a few minutes each time to try to be able to lock them in. It might be initial user issues, but after about five times, I have still not been able to master this.
- Magic Bullet Carry Over – I was really excited because I thought that you might be able to use the motor for your Magic Bullet blending cups as well, but the puzzle pieces do not fit.
- Price – This spiralizing machine is the most expensive. If you do not need or want the chopping capability, you are paying a lot more to spiralize.
This spiralizer was my favorite. I had a few issues initially with the spiralizing portion, but I was happy with how the noodles came out and was even more impressed with the vegetable chopping option.
Spiralizer Comparison Video
I have included a summary video below, showing how each spiralizer actually works.
Conclusion – What is the Best Vegetable Spiralizer?
Out of the three options, my honest opinion is that I would skip option #2 (Spiralizer Ultimate 7-Blade Vegetable Slicer). My suggestions are to purchase and use:
- OXO Goodgrips Handheld Spiralizer – If you are looking to make spiralized noodles every so often for small groups.
- Veggie Bullet Electric Spiralizer & Food Processor – If you plan on making spiralized noodles often and for large parties, and if you have extra storage space because it is on the larger side.
Please leave a comment below if you have any further comments/suggestions to add on the topic!
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