KitchenAid KSM1APC Spiralizer Attachment, Stainless Steel, Silver

Product Information

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. 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:

Whether you use green or red cabbage, you can slice an entire cabbage for coleslaw or braised cabbage in mere seconds. If your cabbage is extra-large you may need to cut it in half, but if it’s average-size just pop on the straight blade and twirl away. Many spiralized veggies make for great healthy meal prep. Slice zucchini, carrot, onion and beets on the weekend and store in a ziploc bag or glass storage container in the fridge for various recipes throughout the week. It’s important to consider the level of effort that you’ll need to put in based on which kind of spiralizer you choose. Spiralizers are available in both manual and motorized versions. If you’re only spinning out a few spirals for a garnish or a kid’s meal, the hand-powered models are more than sufficient. If you're going to be using the spiralizer frequently for big-batch cooking, occasions, meal prep, or large gatherings, it’s going to require a whole lot of elbow grease to power you through a task like that. In these cases, a motorized version will help save you plenty of time and effort in the kitchen. When it comes to carrots, parsnips and other “narrow” vegetables, grab the largest you can find. The wider the better. To install the blades, slide them into the blade carrier from above. It’s simple and easy—as is installing the peeler, which slides in from below. The peeler has a release lever and comes out without a problem, but the blades were much harder to remove; we had to pull them so hard that leftover food flew out of them. Of course, you don’t want a blade to come out accidentally while the spiralizer is running, but we think the removal mechanism could be improved.

Vegetable Spiralizer Tips

Vegetables like peppers, small radishes, and cucumbers don’t need peeling and probably wouldn’t benefit from it. Regardless of whether or not you’re peeling your produce before spiralizing, all of your fruits and vegetables should be thoroughly washed before eating. 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. Place a bowl or plate under the spiralizer attachment, then put the food on to the fruit and vegetable skewer. Again, I use the Paderno Spiralizer (the one you see above), but if you have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, you may love the KitchenAid Spiralizer. Watch my video on zucchini noodles where I compare and contrast five different spiralizers.

With all of these options, you won’t have to break out your blender or food processor to whip up a satisfying meal. Best of all, the attachments are dishwasher safe to make cleanup easier.

Spiralized carrots are a great alternative to shredding or slicing for salads or stir fry and let’s be honest, they look way fancier. Grab the largest carrots you can find for easier spiralizing and use a fine or medium spiral slicing blade. Three cutting cones come with the spiralizer and include a spaghetti, linguini, and ribbon cutter. All of the removable parts are dishwasher-safe, and a small cleaning brush is included to help you remove vegetable debris from nooks and crannies. 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. Is this vegetable typically peeled before eating or cooking? Vegetables like beets, carrots, onions, butternut squash, and turnips are almost always peeled before use. 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?

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. Our top choice is the OXO Good Grips Tabletop Spiralizer because of how well it performed in home testing. If you're looking for a more budget-conscious product, we're also impressed by the Veggetti Spiral Vegetable Cutter. What to Look for in a SpiralizerThe 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. Zucchini is one of the most popular vegetables to spiralize since it can be made into so many creative dishes. Generally speaking, a zucchini is “spiralized” by grating it in a continuous circular motion over round slicer blades, similar to those on a boxed grater. Instead of the short cuts made with a boxed grater, the circular cutting motion of a spiralizer makes one long continuous cut, resulting in zucchini noodles that can be used for any number of dishes.