- Food: Zucchini Noodles
- Writer: Lizzie Green
- Content-Type: Food Blog
Learn how to make 5 distinct shapes of zucchini noodles! They’re the perfect way to add extra veggies to pasta salad, lasagna, and more. They’re healthy, quick, and fun.
Spiralized zucchini noodles are widely available these days, but they taste so much better when they’re freshly cut.
Curly and long, they appear to be a natural pasta substitute, but these fresh, vivid veggie noodles are capable of so much more than just substituting for spaghetti!
I stack them into lasagna and add them to soups, salads, and pasta salads. It may appear difficult to make them at home, but with the correct tools (spoiler alert: a spiralizer isn’t always required! ), it’s simple.
Making zucchini noodles at home is also less expensive than buying them at the supermarket, plus it’s exciting to turn a veggie into your favorite pasta shape. So go ahead and get a bunch of zucchini and let’s get cooking!
Zucchini Noodles: A Step-by-Step Guide
Food: Zucchini Noodles (Source: Love and Lemons)Zucchini noodles come in a variety of forms and sizes, and they’re easy to create. This post’s purpose is to demonstrate how to produce a range of noodle forms with a number of kitchen utensils.
Below, I’ve included my five favorite types of zucchini noodles, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each approach, the tools you’ll need, and the brands I’ve had the best success with.
Use a spiralizer to make curly “Spaghetti” Zucchini Noodles.
Countertop spiralizers and the KitchenAid Spiralizer Attachment are the two types of spiralizers I’ve used. The Inspiralizer (seen above) is my favorite of the countertop spiralizers I’ve tried.
It is secured to the counter and will not move while you work. It’s also simple to clean and store due to its compact size.
Curly noodles can also be made with the KitchenAid Spiralizer Attachment.
It’s more expensive, but if you want to make sweet potato or butternut squash noodles, it’s the only way to go: it’ll cut through the tough vegetables without requiring a lot of arm power.
Using a Julienne peeler, make “Angel Hair” Zucchini Noodles.
Although julienned noodles are thinner and straighter than spiralized noodles, they have the same flavor! This choice appeals to me because julienne peelers are small enough to fit in any drawer.
They’re also inexpensive! I tried three different types so that I could suggest the ideal one for you (this one, this one, and this one). They all worked great, but this OXO Good Grips one is my favorite because it’s only $7.
There are a few drawbacks to this strategy. Because it’s a more laborious operation, it takes a little longer than spiralizing.
The peeling blades, in my experience, dull over time. Depending on how much I use it, I change my julienne peeler every year or so.
Using a mandoline and a knife, make “Fettucine” Zucchini Noodles.
I enjoy having a mandoline on hand for cutting vegetables into paper-thin slices like radishes, cucumbers, and cabbage, but you can also use one to make zucchini noodles!
With the mandoline, slice thin zucchini planks then cut those planks into fettuccine-sized strips with a sharp knife.
Please, please, please be cautious if you choose this path. On a mandoline, it’s simple to cut yourself. The Benriner Mandoline appeals to me because it is compact and easy to store.
Using a standard vegetable peeler, make “Pappardelle” Zucchini Noodles.
This approach appeals to me because it does not necessitate the use of a high-tech device. Here, I like to use smaller squash, which I peel vertically into thin strips.
You’ll have delicious pappardelle-sized noodles! My favorites are the OXO Peeler (above) and the Kuhn Rikon Peeler.
Using a sharp chef’s knife, make Lasagna Zucchini “Noodles.” Lasagna noodles, after all, are noodles!
Slice your zucchini vertically into thin planks with a sharp knife and stack them in place of noodles in your next lasagna.
How to Make Them?
If I’m cooking any of the first four types of zucchini noodles, I like to cook them in one of two ways (or neither):
- Don’t! We prefer a nice dente al bite. No actual cooking is required because a warm sauce is served over the noodles to gradually heat them through.
- This is a quick pan sauté. I add the zoodles to the pan right at the end of the cooking time when I make zoodle recipes with sautéed vegetables. I gently toss them with the other veggies and/or sauce over medium heat for about a minute, just till warmed through. If you continue to cook them, they will become soft and watery.
If I’m cooking lasagna, I bake the zucchini until it’s tender but still firm. The cooking time will be similar to, if not somewhat longer than, that of a traditional pasta lasagna.
Zucchini Noodles Instructions
- You’ll probably have some scrap pieces left over when you’ve finished producing zoodles. There’s no reason to throw them out! Extra zucchini leftovers can be used to make hummus, smoothies, creamy zucchini soup, or the “ricotta” filling in this lasagna dish. Make zucchini pesto or chop it up and add it to a frittata.
Zucchini Noodles
| 14-minute prep time 1 minute to cook 15-minute total time Serves: 2 |
Discover how to make zucchini noodles in a variety of shapes!
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini
simple serving suggestions:
- with lemon, olive oil, sea salt & parmesan
- with marinara sauce
- with pesto
- with roasted tomatoes
- with grilled or roasted veggies
Instructions
Food: Zucchini Noodles (Source: Love and Lemons)- Choose the noodle you want to produce and follow the directions for each choice listed below.
- Using a countertop spiralizer, make curly “spaghetti” noodles: Attach the spiralizer to your counter using a clamp. Remove the zucchini’s tip and place it between the blade and the spiralizer’s teeth. To make the noodles, turn the handle.
- Using a julienne peeler, make straight “angel hair” noodles: To form strips, just hold the zucchini in one hand and pull the julienne peeler across it.
- Using a mandoline and a knife, make “Fettucine” noodles: With the mandoline, make thin zucchini planks, then cut them into fettuccine-sized strips.
- To make “pappardelle” noodles with a conventional vegetable peeler, simply peel thin strips of zucchini with the peeler.
- With a warm sauce, serve the zucchini noodles raw (the heat of the sauce will gently cook the noodles without making them mushy). Alternatively, heat a skillet over medium heat, spray with olive oil, then add the noodles and heat for 1 minute, or until barely warm. Remove from the oven and top with chosen sauces and garnishes.