I’m sure many of you are familiar with spiralizer machines – famous for turning vegetables like zucchini into spiraled, curly, pasta-like strands. I first had zucchini “pasta” a few years ago at a raw food restaurant and I couldn’t get over how similar it was to regular pasta noodles. A spiralizer machine has always been in the back of my mind since then!
I found myself at Kitchen Stuff Plus last week and asked a sales person if they sold spiralizer machines.
“No, I’m sorry we don’t, but we do sell julienne peelers.”
Julienne peeler?? My ears perked up.
How did I not know about this amazing invention? I immediately bought both brands of julienne peelers they carried – you know, just in case one was a dud. And one of them WAS a dud, but the other – Zyliss brand – worked fantastically. I was literally yelling, “Yay it worked!!!” to Sketchie who was trying his best to ignore me in his Sketchie Shell (formerly known as the “cat tent”).
Meet my new Zyliss Julienne Peeler:
UPDATE: I now use this julienne peeler by Kuhn Rikon.
As soon as I got home I made a huge bowl of pasta-like veggies using a green zucchini, yellow zucchini, and a large carrot.
To make it, grab zucchini or carrots and peel away like you would a normal peeler. There is no need to cook the vegetables beforehand, but feel free to heat the veggie “noodles” up in a skillet very briefly just before serving. Sometimes I eat it cold and other times warm, it just depends on my mood.
I was quite impressed with how thin it cut the strands! It gets trickier to peel as you get close to the bottom, so I usually chop up the remaining piece and either throw it in or save it for a stir fry later on.
I’m sure using julienne peelers for this purpose is old news to many of you, but it’s new, exciting news to me. Don’t you love when you find out a cool trick?
Naturally, I’ve been julienning/spiralizing my little heart out. So far I’ve tried zucchini and carrots, but I’m wondering if it works on other veggies or fruit. I’m sure beets would work, although it would be messy. I’m pretty sure it will work on potatoes too. Butternut squash? Let me know below if you have any ideas and I will be sure to try it out.
The first thing I made was a mix of green & yellow zucchini, and carrot “pasta” topped with my 15-Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta sauce. It was lovely!
Avocado pasta sauce tip – if you are looking to cut down the oil, sometimes I sub half the oil (1 tbsp) for 1 tbsp water and it’s never missed.
For some protein, I added tofu on the side. Easy, fun to eat, refreshing, and perfect for a hot summer day.
Another fun meal I made is this yellow zucchini pasta dish with White Linen Collection Marinara Sauce, hummus, a crumbled veggie burger, basil, and Herbamare.
Promptly INHALED!
If you are interested in a cheap way to “julienne/spiralize” zucchini, carrots, etc – I highly recommend trying out a julienne peeler. It only takes a few minutes, the clean up is minimal, and if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself upping your veggie intake substantially.
This looks awesome. I have been wanting to make zuchinni noodles forever! Thanks for the tip.
Omigosh I love this!! I was so convinced that I immediately went on eBay and bought one for $10. I am always looking for new ideas to make vegetable dishes. I’ve been vegan for about 6 months and I use Oh She Glows as a resource almost exclusively :) I am so thrilled at the way my journey has started and I don’t intend to look back! So this is a little belated, but: Thank YOU!!! :D
I figured this out about 6 months ago when I found a julienne peeler at Cayne’s in Toronto. I’m curious which brand your dud was though because mine isn’t great. I got the OXO brand and find that at the very top when I start peeling, the teeth don’t catch so the strands are all stuck together at the top and I have to separate them myself, which is pretty annoying.
It is funny you posted about this tool today because I just inherited one! I have wanted a spiralizer for a while now, and on my Grandmother’s recent trip to Italy, her cousin was using a spiralizer and she thought it was the greatest thing ever! She couldn’t find one but she purchased a few of these julienne peelers and gave one to me. I can’t wait to try it out!
How funny – I posted about my julienne peeler just last week! It is an awesome, useful tool that doen’t take up much room (but is a lot of fun). I call noodles made out of vegetables “voodles”, and you can read more about them and a recipe I made from the Blissful Chef (avocado dijon dressing – yes please!) on my blog. I imagine the julienne peeler is really useful for making veggie sushi. Daikon voodles tossed with toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, Braggs, and ginger juice and topped with sesame seeds is delicious.
I have a gadget similar to that but it never worked for me. I tried to push firmly into say a zucchini and it would really slice. It just dinged up the zucchini but never made strands. So for 29.99 I do love my spiralizer or even an old fashioned peeler to just make ribbons. Your gadget looks nicer than mine – I think I need yours!
What a great invention!! Definitely need to purchase one!!
& I love your avocado sauce! It looks like it would be delicious on the zucchini noodles!!
Just added this peeler to my wishlist on Amazon!! ;) I am so inspired now!
Thank goodness my mother works at a kitchen store! This is fabulous, and definitely beats my struggle with a cheese grater! :)
Cucumber is another great vegetable to use for spiralizing. It goes really well with the avocado sauce.
You can also use a regular peeler to create wider, more substantial noodles.
This is awesome! This post made me laugh because when I first moved out on my own, I accidentally bought one of these peelers thinking it was a regular peeler. For years (seriously, years!) I attempted to peel potatoes and other veggies with it, only to get frustrated by my “screwed up” peeler. I just grew accustomed to peeling things with a knife, or not at all. Eventually I learned, and bought myself a new peeler. But I still have my julienne peeler way back in my cooking supplies drawer, and now I finally have a use for it!!
PS – I make at least one of your recipes a week. You clearly put so much time and effort into your recipes and posts, and I thank you for all the work you do! Cheers :)
Oh my GOD!
I just bought the same one, brand and everything, off amazon after seeing this post. Thank you so much Angela :D Best idea ever!
Ps, the yellow courgette mid peel photograph is fantastically executed. Kudos.
A julienne peeler is a great idea! Love these raw noodles with the avocado sauce. :)
I loveeee this!!! I am now planning a detour to bed, bath, and beyond on my way to the grocery store. Also, loving the avocado sauce. Something I need to make asap. Thanks for sharing :)
Haha! I’ve never actually heard of a ‘spiralizer’ but have always wanted a jullienne peeler! I love the colors of using all the different veggies… will have to do that! Just as soon as I get my hands on one of those peelers… ;)
Is this something I can order on Amazon from your wish list? I can go find it myself too, but I figured if you get to benefit from it too, that would be awesome :) Thanks for this great post. I was just contemplating an expensive spiralizer…
Thank-you! I’ve been wanting some zuchini ‘noodles’ but can’t afford a new machine. I’ll have to look out for that brand :)
I know what you should julienne! Kohlrabi! I’ve actually been looking for a julienne peeler but haven’t found one near me yet, so I’ve just been slicing my veggies very thin (and of course, this takes forever!) for a bunch of kohlrabi, carrot, and radish slaws lately! If you’ve never tried kohlrabi before, do so! It’s delicious and so are the greens. I have a ton from my garden!
I’ve just ordered one of these I did not even know they existed, Nor did I know you could make zuccini pasta so I’m going to give that a go.
I’ve been really impressed with Zyliss gadgets, I have their garlic press and it’s by far the best garlic press I’ve ever come across.
Brilliant! Definitely picking up one of these!