zucchini 'noodles' -- game changer!

7elizamae
7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I used to roll my eyes at the idea of spiralized zucchini with pasta sauce.

I love it! I bought my spiralizer at Bed Bath and Beyond -- super easy to use. A new favorite lunch/dinner is a big bowl of zoodles with marinara sauce tossed with a sauteed sausage. I sautee the sausage first, add the sauce to heat it up, and then add the zoodles for a minute or two. Quick, easy, affordable, so filling and tastes fresh and delicious!

My giant portion of zoodles has only 50 calories. :) (Obviously the sauce and meat add more calories.)

You might want to give it a try.
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Replies

  • Mithridites
    Mithridites Posts: 600 Member
    I LOVE my spiralizer. Got it for $20 at Canadian Tire. Mostly use it for zoodles. They’re a great way to get full on few calories.
  • lasvegasconcertgirl
    lasvegasconcertgirl Posts: 33 Member
    Ha! That's how I felt when I first discovered spaghetti squash. It's a great feeling! Enjoy!
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
    lasvegasconcertgirl wrote: »
    Ha! That's how I felt when I first discovered spaghetti squash. It's a great feeling! Enjoy!

    I have still never tried spaghetti squash!
  • makinemjellis
    makinemjellis Posts: 91 Member
    my spiralizer has been one of the best food-related products I've purchased in a long time
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    I used to think a lot of these substitute things were dumb (cauliflower rice, etc.), but now that I've tried a lot of them, I think many of them are great!
  • deepwoodslady
    deepwoodslady Posts: 12,183 Member
    I love my zoodle marinara as well. Sometimes for a side dish I don't use the marinara or spaghetti sauce. I toss it with real butter, a little salt, pepper and garlic and it makes a great and fast side dish. I am watching both carbs and calories so this is perfect for both. (It replaces those mashed potatoes I used to eat on the side at dinner!)
  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
    I got a Vegetti for Christmas,,,its still in the box unused,,time to whip it out!
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
    Being as how I have a boat load of zucchini from my garden, I may have to try zoodles, based on the comments made here.
  • iowalinda
    iowalinda Posts: 357 Member
    What brand or type of spiralizer do you have? I tried one of the little hand ones and found it to be a pain in the butt.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,186 Member
    kgb6days wrote: »
    OK - what am I missing???? I got a spiralizer and gave it a try. Mind you I love veggies, zucchini being one of them. I was WAY under impressed. I've never been able o make spaghetti squash work for me either. If I want spaghetti, I want the real deal. It just doesn't fool me into believing that it's really spaghetti. I've even tried sautéing them with EVOO and seasonings - nope. Just doesn't do it for me. Anybody want a spiralizer?


    No thank you. I can buy the veggies "noodles" in the market. It saves me a lot of time without the need for additional gadgets. :)
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    totally side note but this thread reminded me how much i like to make curly fries with my spiralizer.....i know whats for lunch.
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
    Rocknut53 wrote: »
    Being as how I have a boat load of zucchini from my garden, I may have to try zoodles, based on the comments made here.

    You should! I was a complete naysayer -- thought the idea was silly.
    I was wrong. The zucchini noodles are delicious.
  • iowalinda
    iowalinda Posts: 357 Member
    kgb6days wrote: »
    OK - what am I missing???? I got a spiralizer and gave it a try. Mind you I love veggies, zucchini being one of them. I was WAY under impressed. I've never been able o make spaghetti squash work for me either. If I want spaghetti, I want the real deal. It just doesn't fool me into believing that it's really spaghetti. I've even tried sautéing them with EVOO and seasonings - nope. Just doesn't do it for me. Anybody want a spiralizer?

    I'd like one, if it's not the little hand held one :)
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    iowalinda wrote: »
    kgb6days wrote: »
    OK - what am I missing???? I got a spiralizer and gave it a try. Mind you I love veggies, zucchini being one of them. I was WAY under impressed. I've never been able o make spaghetti squash work for me either. If I want spaghetti, I want the real deal. It just doesn't fool me into believing that it's really spaghetti. I've even tried sautéing them with EVOO and seasonings - nope. Just doesn't do it for me. Anybody want a spiralizer?

    I'd like one, if it's not the little hand held one :)

    my little hand held one works great once i figured it out :o
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    iowalinda wrote: »
    kgb6days wrote: »
    OK - what am I missing???? I got a spiralizer and gave it a try. Mind you I love veggies, zucchini being one of them. I was WAY under impressed. I've never been able o make spaghetti squash work for me either. If I want spaghetti, I want the real deal. It just doesn't fool me into believing that it's really spaghetti. I've even tried sautéing them with EVOO and seasonings - nope. Just doesn't do it for me. Anybody want a spiralizer?

    I'd like one, if it's not the little hand held one :)

    my little hand held one works great once i figured it out :o

    Mine, too! I have no trouble with it. It's this one:
    https://www.amazon.com/7TECH-Professional-Vegetable-Handheld-Spiralizer/dp/B07C3MX4W5/ref=sr_1_56?ie=UTF8&qid=1535933499&sr=8-56&keywords=spiralizer

    Best ten bucks I spent all summer! :)
  • mountainmare
    mountainmare Posts: 294 Member
    I had a little handheld one but gave it away--it just didn't fit many of the homegrown zucchini and I wanted to do squash and maybe beets. In general are the noodles in the grocery store just as good?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    7elizamae wrote: »
    lasvegasconcertgirl wrote: »
    Ha! That's how I felt when I first discovered spaghetti squash. It's a great feeling! Enjoy!

    I have still never tried spaghetti squash!

    I tried it. Once. I was underwhelmed.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    kgb6days wrote: »
    OK - what am I missing???? I got a spiralizer and gave it a try. Mind you I love veggies, zucchini being one of them. I was WAY under impressed. I've never been able o make spaghetti squash work for me either. If I want spaghetti, I want the real deal. It just doesn't fool me into believing that it's really spaghetti. I've even tried sautéing them with EVOO and seasonings - nope. Just doesn't do it for me. Anybody want a spiralizer?

    I'd take it, but predict my experience would be exactly the same as yours.

    I just eat smaller portions of real spaghetti. Sometimes with zucchini. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017463-summer-pasta-with-zucchini-ricotta-and-basil
    (Sorry, you may need to create a (free) account in order to see it.)

    Here's another thing I like to do with zucchini: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chocolate-zucchini-cake-907
  • elsie6hickman
    elsie6hickman Posts: 3,864 Member
    I have been buying the zucchini noodles in the grocery store. I do have a spiralizer, but I've never used it. But I've got some zucchini in the fridge, maybe I'll get my spiralizer out and give it a try. The thing that bothers me about buying it in the store is I'm never sure how long ago it was spiralized.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    kgb6days wrote: »
    OK - what am I missing???? I got a spiralizer and gave it a try. Mind you I love veggies, zucchini being one of them. I was WAY under impressed. I've never been able o make spaghetti squash work for me either. If I want spaghetti, I want the real deal. It just doesn't fool me into believing that it's really spaghetti. I've even tried sautéing them with EVOO and seasonings - nope. Just doesn't do it for me. Anybody want a spiralizer?

    Yeah, I think a spiralizer is a fun way to change up how you serve your veggies. But in no way are they a pasta replacement to me. I think people who think the best part of pasta is the sauce can get away with it though. For me I love the chewy, doughiness of pasta and rice, and veggies just aren't the same! It's awesome if it works for other people, or at least gets them eating more veggies :smiley:
  • Dreamyriver
    Dreamyriver Posts: 91 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    kgb6days wrote: »
    OK - what am I missing???? I got a spiralizer and gave it a try. Mind you I love veggies, zucchini being one of them. I was WAY under impressed. I've never been able o make spaghetti squash work for me either. If I want spaghetti, I want the real deal. It just doesn't fool me into believing that it's really spaghetti. I've even tried sautéing them with EVOO and seasonings - nope. Just doesn't do it for me. Anybody want a spiralizer?

    Yeah, I think a spiralizer is a fun way to change up how you serve your veggies. But in no way are they a pasta replacement to me. I think people who think the best part of pasta is the sauce can get away with it though. For me I love the chewy, doughiness of pasta and rice, and veggies just aren't the same! It's awesome if it works for other people, or at least gets them eating more veggies :smiley:

    It definitely is a fun way to serve up vegetables, and, like you, I need to have pasta with my pasta dishes :D

    But I have found I can reduce the amount of spaghetti I need in my bowl if I mix it with some zucchini noodles too, or even just bulk up my allotted serving size of pasta. (I have type 2 diabetes so have to count carbs)

    I used to look askance at people enthusing about cauliflower rice... but it is rather incredible as a spicy "rice" stirfry... just doesn't keep me full me long enough, but it's ideal for a lunch. Next time we have chilli/curry, I might sub out some of the rice with cauliflower rice, see how that goes.
  • confidenceinrain
    confidenceinrain Posts: 104 Member
    We often make zoodles and love them! Often mixed with real spaghetti if I have the calories. If not, just zoodles with sauce. Love them.
  • 2018gettinghealthy
    2018gettinghealthy Posts: 6 Member
    iowalinda wrote: »
    What brand or type of spiralizer do you have? I tried one of the little hand ones and found it to be a pain in the butt.

    I purchased a Paderno 3 blade spiralizer and really like it. They sell it with more blades (different shapes/sizes) but I tend to use the same blade. https://www.amazon.com/Paderno-World-Cuisine-Spiralizer-Counter-Mounted/dp/B0007Y9WHQ/ref=asc_df_B0007Y9WHQ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167123558869&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3256281082210034388&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021442&hvtargid=pla-138647009355&psc=1

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