When I was first introduced to the spiralizer, it was by my mom. She made me this raw vegan dish and I loved it. When I came home that night with her spiralizer (I took it!), I definitely felt “overwhelmed” at first.
What should I make? How long should I cook the noodles for? What other veggies and meats pair well with zucchini? What else can I spiralize? Will Lu like it?
The first night I spiralized, I wanted to make something super easy, so I went with this shrimp dish. Thankfully, it worked and I was hooked from that moment (well… obviously!)
Today, I’m listing my top spiralizer recipes for beginners – with tips!
If you’ve just bought a spiralizer (congrats!), then these recipes are a great starting point. If you’re trying to convince a friend to get a spiralizer, show them this post. If you’re already Inspiralized, then add these recipes to your “quick and easy” list.
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EASY, BEGINNER RECIPES
All of these recipes use zucchini, because that’s where you should start. Zucchini is easy to spiralize and easy to cook. Mastering zucchini will help you understand the nature of spiralized vegetables and give you the foundation to spiralize other vegetables and try my recipes or create your own.
If you haven’t already, check out this video on how to spiralize a zucchini:
1. Start with a raw zucchini noodle. This is just a great way to incorporate spiralized veggies into your current diet without taking the plunge into a full-fledged meal.
Recipe: Crunchy Zucchini Noodle Wrap with Avocado and Feta
2. Explore more with the raw zucchini noodle. This dish is all about assembly – you make everything separately and combine it in the end. The zucchini noodles are actually raw, but the avocado-basil sauce gives it a strong flavor and softens the noodle slightly.
Recipe: Avocado-Basil Zucchini Noodles with Chili-Lime Shrimp and Corn
3. Use simple ingredients for your first cooked zucchini noodle dish. This recipe is easy and packs a lot of healthy flavors. The salty feta with the hearty chicken make this an easy dish to ease into cooked spiralized veggies – it tastes delicious and the cooking method is a simple sautee.
Recipe: Zucchini Noodles with Chicken, Feta and Spinach
4. Try adding multiple meats without a sauce. Cooking zucchini noodles with a sauce can be tricky, so keep trying with simple sautee method. This dish has so much flavor and comes together in mere minutes.
Recipe: Bacon Shrimp Zucchini Noodle Scampi
5. Cook your noodles with a tomato sauce. Use this easy puttanesca to start off cooking with sauces. This light sauce doesn’t drown the noodles. When you make this, take note of how much moisture that the zucchini releases. To avoid the excess moisture, check out these tips.
Recipe: Puttanesca with Zucchini Noodles
6. Try out the ribbon noodles. Spaghetti is everyone’s go-to noodle with the spiralizer, but switch things up and use Blade A (find out what that is here). This dish is a great way to start.
Recipe: Broccoli Rabe with Sausage and Zucchini Noodles
7. Incorporate cheese into your noodles. Cheese can be a bit tricky, since it can get watery with the zucchini noodles. It’s important to fold in the cheese, remove the noodles from heat and then transfer the noodles with pasta tongs into your plate, to let any excess moisture drip out.
Recipe: Bacon Cacio e Pepe
8. Make a soup. Zucchini noodles can easily be added to soups. You won’t believe how flavorful this simple soup is.
Recipe: Ginger Scallion Egg Drop Soup with Zucchini Noodles
9. Make a thick, heavy sauce with your zucchini noodles. Now that you’ve mastered the art of the zucchini noodle, throw it in with a heavy meat sauce. Remember everything you learned along the way.
Recipe: Bikini Bolognese
10. Your next recipe? Something with…. sweet potatoes! Try out a couple of these easier sweet potato recipes:
– Shaved Asparagus and Sausage Sweet Potato Noodles
– Garlic Sweet Potato Noodles with Baby Spinach and Pancetta
Now, I hope you’re ready to conquer your spiralizer. I’m always available via e-mail if you ever have any questions. I want everyone to love spiralizing like I do, so never hesitate to reach out!
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