making courgetti and squoodles – an OXO Good Grips spiralizer review

When I was pregnant with Luca I felt constantly hungry and found myself reaching for starchy carbohydrates to fill me up and calm the acid reflux that fired as soon as I ate anything vaguely wholesome.  7 months on from birthing my 9lb something boy I’m breastfeeding, sleep deprived and carrying him back and forth on the school run so I haven’t been too careful about what I’m eating and make poor food choices when I’m tired (which is most of the time!)   My  baby weight is creeping up rather than down so I’ve resolved to rely less on sugary foods to get me through the day and get back to a healthier way of eating.
I’ve been trying to use vegetables more to replace lazy bread and pasta options.  I was using a vegetable peeler to make courgetti but finding the result rather mushy.   A cheeky plea to my friends at OXO Good Grips to try their 3 blade spiralizer has since resulted in this divine dish;  made in minutes from just a few simple ingredients (a friend’s home grown squash, spinach, sunblush tomatoes and parmesan cheese).  What’s more E was able to help make the ‘squoodles‘ and I found they were better for being made ahead and left to dry out a bit (which was just as well after spiralizing every vegetable in the house created enough noodles for 3 meals).

The OXO Good Grips spiralizer comes with 3 different blades for two sizes of noodles and one for slicing.  It’s really simple to set up and has a suction pad underneath to help secure it to the table.  I felt happy to let E use it alongside me as the vegetables felt securely attached and it’s operated by turning a handle so small fingers and sharp blades are kept well apart.  We did find that half way through it tipped and lost suction and moved but this may have been due to our technique with E’s body weight coming at it from a different angle than a standing adult would.

We worked our way through courgettes, squash, cucumber and carrots and there’s a video here for other vegetables to try it out with (onions, apples even cauliflower to make a low carb alternative to rice).


We also tried the OXO Good Grips hand held spiralizer which is brilliantly simple to use and clean and takes up hardly any room in the drawer.  It’s much more affordable at £15 but a bit more work than the £40 three blade spiralizer.

Although the pictures suggest it can be used for harder vegetables like carrots and beetroot I didn’t find it as good.  I think spiralizers are the sort of products where the cautious among us would opt for the cheaper hand held version and not be disappointed by it’s effectiveness but also not realise the endless possibilities and ease that comes with buying the table top spiralizer.  I vowed to only keep one so will be passing on the hand held one to a friend.

Tonight’s spiralized butternut squash for squoodle bolognese..

Disclosure: I was sent the spiralizers to try. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.