How to Choose the Best Spiralizer for Zoodles and More

Now I’m the first to admit, vegetables and I don’t get along that well.  There’s just something about the texture of them that doesn’t work for me.  That’s why when I heard about the idea of spiralizers, I was curious.  Could this be a way to get the fussy eater to get some of these highly healthy foods down her throat?  So I thought I would do some into the best spiralizer and what kind of dishes I can make with them – here’s what I found.

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What is a spiralizer?

If you are like me and haven’t tried the world of the spiralizer yet or don’t even really know what they are about, let’s start with an introduction.

The idea of a spiralizer is that it makes imitation pasta or noodles from a vegetable – hence the nicknames such as zoodles for zucchini noodles.  The idea is that you can enjoy dishes that seem like pasta or noodles but don’t have as many carbohydrates in them.  Plus you are getting all that five-a-day type goodness.

How to choose the best spiralizer

As with any kitchen gadget, the best for you depends on two things – what you want to do with it and how much you want to spend on it.  The good with these gadgets is that some of the best spiralizers are very low price, handheld gadgets that will do a good job and cost very little.  And even if you want to go for a more comprehensive, electrical version, they are less expensive than most mid-range blenders.

Handheld spiralizers

Handheld spiralizers are the starter models that cost around £5-15 and are ideal if you are a little unconvinced by the whole idea or don’t know if you are going to like them.  Some of them look like a giant pencil sharpener while others are aimed more at some of the skinny, tall veg like carrots and courgettes.

The main thing to remember handheld models is that you have to do the spiralizing (if that’s the word) – you have to manually turn the gadget to produce the noodles.  So if you have trouble with grip, then these might be a little hard work.

The OXO Good Grips Handheld Spiralizer is a great starter spiralizer from OXO that makes uniform curly noodles from fruits and vegetables.  It has an open design that means it works on round food like potatoes as well as long ones like courgette.  It also has a handle, so the food is easy to push through the blade while keeping your hands safe out of the way.

I’m a fan of the Joseph Joseph range and their Spiro Handheld Spiralizer is another cost-effective way to try making vegetable noodles.  It has a coarse and a fine spiralizer blade plus a rotary grating blade while the container collects the food as you cut it.  It has an easy to use, self-aligning design that makes it very simple to use and has a soft grip handle.

Horizontal spiralizers

Horizontal spiralizers are the next size of zoodle makers that has a rotary handle with spikes or grippers at one end to hold the vegetable in place.  This kind of gadget can spiralize most types of vegetables and some of the models have different blade options from thin to wide ribbons.

The main thing to consider with this was that you will have a little bit of vegetable left at the end, normally around 1cm.  And like the handheld models, you are the power, so you need to remember that you are turning the vegetable and need the grip to do this.  If you don’t get the pressure right, you might find you get uneven results.

The Lurch Super Vegetable Spiralizer is an example of a horizontal spiralizer that can cut a range of fruit or vegetables into strips and also spirals.  There are three different blades; spaghetti fine, spaghetti coarse and a tornado blade.  The last one is adjustable too, giving you even more options.

Vertical spiralizers

Vertical spiralizers feed in the veg from the top of the gadget rather than the side and therefore are less prone to letting the food slip out.  For people with grip problems, these can be a good solution as they need less pressure on them than the horizontal models.

These types can handle most vegetables but due to the layout of the elements, you do sometimes need to cut them into shorter pieces to then cut.  This does mean it can take a little longer to make your spirals.

The Tower Health Vertical Spiralizer is an example of this type and has a simple twist action that also has an adjustable slide width including 3mm, 6mm and full slice spirals.  It has a container below to catch the noodles that you make and has non-slip feet to keep it in place on the kitchen bench.

Electric spiralizers

The last category of spiralizers is the most expensive but also the one that needs the least effort – electric vegetable spiralizers.  Vegetables can be tough, and these gadgets take the work out of making those zoodles – they work a bit like a food processor where you press a button and the machine does the hard work.  My kind of gadget!

Obviously, these do cost more than the manual models and you will need a place to plug them in.  Some models need you cut the veg to a certain size or shape to fit in and some of them don’t have as many different blades as some of the manual models.

The Morphy Richards Electric Spiralizer is a vertical style of spiralizer that has two interchangeable blades for spaghetti or ribbons and a detachable bowl to collect the food.  It has a compact design that means it doesn’t need a lot of room in the kitchen cupboard (which is a good thing, because we are running a bit short) and quickly cuts the vegetables for you.

If you are really serious about your spiralizing, then the NutriBullet Veggie Bullet is the gadget to consider.  It is a lot more expensive than the others but it is more of a vegetable preparation system than just a spiralizer.  This gadget shreds, slices and spiralises vegetables as well as fruit and even cooked meats.  It has a 500-watt motor and non-slip rubber feet to keep it on the bench.  There’s also a 70 recipe cookbook with it in case you don’t have Pinterest!

What can you make?

These are some of the best spiralizer gadgets that I found while looking into the subject – I’m probably going to start with a manual one until I see how much I use it but some of the electric ones are also impressive.

While zucchini noodles or zoodles have got a lot of top billing at the moment, there is a lot you can do with a good spiralizer.  Courgetti, for example, is spaghetti style courgette – their popularity has seen the number of courgettes we eat increase dramatically.  You can also use sweet potato, carrot, celeriac, beetroot and butternut squash.  In fact, anything firm enough to hold its shape is ideal for the job.

For inspiration, here’s a simple butternut squash noodles recipe: