A few years ago I discovered an awesome kitchen tool called a spiral slicer. I very rarely write a whole post about a single object, but I’ve used this one so much
This awesome tool lets me make “noodles” with vegetables, which is a great way to sneak in some extra nutrients and a fun way to mix up vegetables for the kids. Any round or semi-round vegetable can be made into “noodles” with this tool!
I use vegetables that are typically cooked to make noodles for hot/cooked dishes and vegetables that are served cold to make beautiful salads.
Mine came with three blades so I can make thin noodles, thicker noodles and long slices.
Some of our favorite vegetable noodles are:
- Zoodles – Zucchini noodles
- Poodles – Parsnip noodles
- Swoodles – Sweet Potato Noodles
- Toodles – Turnip noodles
- Coodles – Carrot Noodles
- Sqoodles – Squash noodles
- Boodles – Broccoli Stem noodles (peel stem first)
Some of my favorite ways to use vegetable noodles are:
- Make sweet potato curly fries with sweet potato noodles
- Make a broccoli salad with broccoli stem slices, raisins, homemade mayo, a dash of honey and some bacon
- Make parsnip lo mein with parsnip noodles
- Make zucchini noodles and use in place of regular pasta for spaghetti
- Use them in this Chicken Pad Thai
- Use carrot noodles on top of salad to brighten it up
- Roast root vegetable noodles (parsnip, turnip and sweet potato) with some curry seasoning for a hearty side
- Add sliced veggies to soups as “noodles”
- This also works great for fruits like apples or firm kiwi (the regular “slice” blade works better than the noodles one for kiwi)
Don’t Have A Spiralizer?
The spiralizer is definitely the easiest way to make vegetable noodles, but not the only way.
This stainless steel Julienne Peeler works the same way but creates straight noodles by hand instead. It is less expensive and takes up much less room so it is a great alternative for many people. I used this for years before getting a spiral slicer.
If you don’t even want to get a Julienne peeler, a regular vegetable peeler works great too, it just takes a little more time.
Ever made vegetable noodles? What is your favorite variety?
May be a silly question but how do you cook the “NOODLES” afterwards? Do you boil, steam them like normal?
I steam the zucchini noodles for 2-3 minutes so they are warm but not soft. I use a Vegetti and do zucchini, squash, and sweet potatoes all the time. I roast the sweet potatoes drizzled with melted coconut oil.
Just was at a resturant and they had done the same thing with a sweet potatoes and then roasted it some (it was crunchy) and used them as a topping for a salad….I think they used oil and maybe salt and some spices, it was not as crisp as a chip…but I good idea I may steal 😉
Best kitchen investment is my Spiralizer! I use it several times a week and add zucchini to my teen’s spaghetti…she doesn’t mind!!
Great little tool that spiral slicer; I may just have to pick one up myself!
Really cool. This might be a silly question but does this same method work for spaghetti? I’d love to be able to eat it again without my body suffering afterwards, as long as the noodles absorb the sauce well and don’t fall apart too much.
aak: I’m sure you could. You could also use spaghetti squash. That’s what I do. I have made it several times, and each time I love it more. I usually make it and serve with pico and homemade pesto sauce, but last week I made it with the usual meat sauce, since I, too, miss regular spaghetti!
Re this post: I have made spaghetti using zucchini as well, and it is good. I used the peeler for awhile, but decided to splurge on the spiralizer since I was doing it so often.
I watch a TV cooking show, and recently, they highlighted this product, saying it was very “IN” right now!!!
I’d be interested in this answer too. Gluten-free pasta is made with corn and rice, both of which make me feel terrible. I just don’t do well with grains. I have tried, and like, spaghetti squash for pasta, but am always interested in new ideas. Spaghetti squash is good, but it is very flimsy and tends to kind of disappear when you douse it with sauce.
The best pasta replacement in my opinion is the zucchini. I leave mine raw.It holds together really well. when you add your sauce. I tried cooking it once but it gets to watery.
Try just blanching it for a minute, and then cool the noodles off. Works well!
Have you tried spaghetti squash? You just throw it in the oven whole. When it’s baked, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds then use a fork to break/peel away the flesh from the peel. It breaks up into spaghetti shaped strands. Then just top with whatever sauce you like.
I think I bake it about an hour at 350…I’m a pretty casual cook and it is pretty forgiving.
Katie
can get a really good deal on ebay here in Australia:)
Like you I have a large family, just thinking doing something by hand will take a while, is there a blade you can buy for food processors to do the same job?
I love zucchini noodles! But they’re really the only ones I’ve tried. How would you prepare say the carrot or sweet potato noodles to make them yummy to kids? (my oldest isn’t fond of the zucchini)
I have a spiralizer but it doesn’t work at all. I guess I got the wrong kind.
I am just learning about fermenting foods and it seems that the two most used processes are either with a culture starter mix or with whey. I then read that you need to use the whey within a day or so of straining. Have you had any experience with this? I have 3 types of whey in my fridge but its been several weeks since I strained them.
Thank you in advance,
Paula
i don’t know how long whey lasts in the fridge. i think it’s probably ok for longer than a few days (but i’m no expert!). also i think it would smell bad if it went off. for long-term storage, i freeze whey in icecube trays. when it’s frozen i store the cubes in gallon baggies. i think standard cubes are 2 tbsp, so it’s easy to measure them out for ferments.
I use Vegetti. I love zucchini, carrot and, of course, sweet potato curls.
Hi there, I have and love my vegetti but have only make zucchini noodles. When I tried carrots – they were too hard and just broke Do you blanch your carrots first?