Ever hear of zoodles — aka zucchini noodles?
The concept of spiralizing vegetables really intrigued me — thanks to pinterest. I had a mandoline in the house (from my inlaws and tried it). While I liked it, it was time consuming and frankly, a little dangerous. I didn’t love the julienne pieces.
I wanted the spirals! I researched a little and then decided just to buy one on Amazon.
Once I got my spiralizer (I ordered the Paderno World Cuisine Spiralizer), it took minutes to set up.
Literally screw the hand crank on. Just wash and peel your veggies, I used zucchini, but carrots, cucumbers, butternut squash and sweet potatoes are a great place to start.
Put in the spiralizer. Select a blade (the one I bought came with three blades) and pop it right in the unit. Secure your veggie and start cranking. It really is that easy. So easy that my 9 1/2 year old son could do it.
Place a plate on the other side to catch all the veggie spirals. Two zucchini will yield what you see below. Plan on around 1 – 2 zucchini per person if you want to substitute for a serving of pasta.
The spiralizer washed easily.
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You can boil your zoodles, but I didn’t really like the taste when I did that. However, when I sauteed them with a little extra virgin olive oil and some garlic, the zoodles were delicious!
Note, it will shrink down. If you want it a little firmer, make your zoodles before you need to cook them and salt them to get some of the water in the zucchini out.
I topped my zoodles with a little parmesan cheese, but you can put marinara sauce or different toppings on.
Note: The spiralizer is a manual machine — non-electric and really works well.
It isn’t that big either — I live in an apartment and have a space problem, so this was a joy to see that it wasn’t taking up that much room. If you want something smaller, you could get a handheld julienne peeler like the Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler or the Veggetti Spiral Vegetable Slicer 
Buy the Paderno Vegetable Spiralizer on Amazon
This is not a sponsored post, but does contain affiliate links.
I don’t peel my zucchini for zoodles, just scrub them well. They taste better that way. Also, if you don’t want to have watery zoodles, dry-fry them for no more than 3 minutes, stirring constantly. You can also use summer squash for this, and definitely don’t peel it! With the Paderno, try the wider blade for zucchini “fettucini” or ribbons. I’ve steamed those briefly over boiling water or even used them cold in salads. Don’t peel.
Thank you for the tips! I will try it out. What’s dry fry? No oil?
I’m so glad you loved it as much as I do! It makes it such an easy and fun way for the kids to eat veggies too!