Cookbook author Donna Currie is also a product tester and writer for The Spruce Eats. She loves the cost-effectiveness and DIY nature of making her own veggie noodles. Having reviewed nearly half the tools in this roundup, she appreciates a spiralizer that is easy and comfortable to use—and gives bonus points if it's also fun. Today, I’m sharing some of the best vegetables to spiralize and the ones I spiralize most frequently. Of course, there are many more options than these and I’d love to hear in the comments below what your favorites are. Below each vegetable I’ve also listed a little spiralizer recipe inspiration on Downshiftology to boost your creativity in using that spiralized vegetable. Zucchini does not need to be peeled before spiralizing, and many people enjoy the crunchiness it adds to the noodles. When judging whether your produce needs to be peeled before spiralizing, take the following questions into consideration: On the topic of this manual, we felt that its setup instructions were straightforward and included helpful illustrations. It also included tips for food preparation, like cutting off one end of your vegetable (so the flat end fits most easily against the skewer) and limiting the length of the food so that it fits in the attachment.

We were curious about what the spiralizer would do with an onion and its concentric rings. We removed the papery peel from the onion, then speared the root end. We chose a slicing blade and ended up with a spiralized onion as it separated at its rings. Then we did the same thing with the large spiralizer blade and we ended up with short curved pieces. Just for amusement, we tried an onion speared at the equator rather than the root. While the onion was cut successfully, the results weren’t culinarily useful. Next, we spiralized a large Idaho potato, peeling it at the same time. Our first spud went into a frittata, and a second one met its fate in an air fryer. One downside became obvious with our larger potatoes, which were just about the maximum length the spiralizer could handle. Longer foods, like larger zucchini, had to be trimmed or cut in half to fit the machine, but it was still simple. When it comes to carrots, parsnips and other “narrow” vegetables, grab the largest you can find. The wider the better. While not on this list (because it’s the middle of summer and I couldn’t find one), my favorite winter vegetable to spiralize is butternut squash.Pull the release lever, then push the blade carrier towards the stand mixer to align the blade core with the centre of the food.

We tested the four-blade model, which has the same design without the versatility of three extra blades. The thinnest angel hair blade had trouble with softer produce during our tests, though the other blades cut equally well on all the produce. Since this is a hand-crank unit, it takes a little bit of effort and a little practice to get the right rhythm to produce uniform noodles, but it’s not strenuous work. This unit is dishwasher-safe, but also easy to clean by hand. The blades are stored in a separate case, which attaches to the spiralizer for storage. These blades are also different bright colors for ease in telling them apart, and let’s face it, it’s just more fun than an all-white gadget. For stable cutting, this has one large suction cup on the bottom that attaches firmly to smooth countertops. This unit is dishwasher-safe but also easy to clean by hand; use a small brush to clean the blades. When spiralizing vegetables and fruit for salads or pasta dishes, you’re rarely only prepping produce. Usually, you're also blending together a sauce or dressing for the meal as well. This electric spiralizer and hand blender combination tool helps you accomplish all of that without the use of additional equipment.To prepare your fruit or vegetables before spiralizing, wash them first, then remove stems, cut the ends off squarely, and remove any eyes, if applicable. Perfect for those who don't like a lot of clutter in the kitchen or prefer a more minimalist approach to prep work, these mason jar spiralizer lids are budget-conscious, simple, and functional. The set comes with three vegetable slicer blades (for small, medium, and large spirals) that each fit on top of any wide-mouth mason jar that you probably already have in your cabinet. It also comes with one stabilizer lid to hold the produce steady as you spiralize and the spirals go straight into the mason jar at the bottom. KitchenAid mixers have a power hub that connects their motors to other attachments (including food processors, ice cream makers, cheese shredders, and more). The spiralizer attachment, which we tested here, lets you spiralize, slice, and peel fruits and veggies without the need for a separate device. You can spiralize almost any vegetable that is dense enough to hold its shape when being sliced. What does that include? Most popularly, it includes zucchini and carrots, but also most squashes, root vegetables, peppers, shallots, onions, beets, turnips, and potatoes. Fruits can be spiralized easily, as long as they’re denser fruits, like apples and pears. How do you spiralize zucchini?

The spiralizer (5KSM1APC) peels, cores and slices fruit and veg for healthy, creative dishes. Discover how to attach it to your mixer: How to attach the spiralizer to your mixer: Since it’s small, this gadget stores easily. The blades are recessed into a cup-like section, and there’s a handle that grips the food, so fingers can stay away from the blades during use. Plus, the handle acts as a cap for the spiralizer during storage, keeping the pieces together and the blades protected. We also appreciated that the tool didn't leave a lot of waste behind during testing. Since it’s powered by the mixer, there’s not much effort required aside from putting fruits and vegetables onto the unit. Longer foods, like larger zucchini, had to be trimmed or cut in half to fit the machine during testing, but we still found it super simple to use. Keep in mind also that a small “core” of the fruit or vegetable is left uncut at the end, as well. The blades are dishwasher-safe; the body should be wiped down by hand.This can attach to your stand mixer or food processor; just make sure it is compatible with the appliance you own before purchasing. By securing said attachment onto your appliance, you now have a motorized setup to spiralize your ingredients. This setup is best if you're going to be spiralizing frequently and prepping large volumes of vegetables. It’s also ideal if you already own a KitchenAid stand mixer or Ninja food processor so that you don’t have to make an additional investment. There is a wide variety of blade options for stand mixers, and most food processors offer a two-blade setup. Not to mention, the attachments are rather compact, so they don’t take up a ton of storage space. Of course, each spiralizer is built slightly differently. While you’ll get a similar product with most machines, it’s best to learn which machine works the way you’re comfortable with. Zucchini is the go-to vegetable when it comes to spiralizing and that’s for good reason – it’s soft and easy to spiralize with a neutral flavor that adapts well to many traditional pasta dishes. I leave the peel on for added nutrition (after giving it a good wash), but don’t forget to include yellow squash in your zoodle repetoire as well. A crank spiralizer would also be a great way to take some of the strain out of your hands, but would still not be as efficient as motorized. That said, regardless of the model, pretty much all spiralizers require vigorous and diligent cleaning. Even though some are dishwasher-safe, you’ll likely still need to get into the blade with a brush. There are two main versions in the realm of manual spiralizers. First, there are compact handheld spiralizers. These are typically dishwasher-safe and come with a few blade options that you can switch out. They require the most elbow grease of any model, so they’re best for a person that is going to be spiralizing a small amount of food pretty infrequently. They are also not very forgiving when it comes to the size of the vegetable, so you may need to trim it before you can send it through the blade.