The Best Mandoline Slicers to Give Your Knife a Break

If you’re lacking confidence in your kitchen knife skills, you may be considering purchasing a mandoline slicer. A constant sight in professional kitchens, mandolines allow you to slice vegetables quickly and with a level of precision and consistency that’s just not possible with a knife. Even the world’s greatest knifesman is not going to be able to match a mandoline slicer in terms of evenness, as the latter will give you the exact thickness of your slice every time. So if you think that your kitchen could use one of these slicing and dicing upgrades, read on to discover the best mandoline slicers on the market.

What to Look for in a Mandoline Slicer

Style

There are a couple of different mandoline styles on the market that you should familiarize yourself with. Structurally, there are essentially two types: handheld and countertop. A handheld mandoline has a handle on one end that you must hold onto while slicing with your other hand. They’re more compact with fewer parts, making them easier to store and clean, but they require a bit more finesse and expertise to use properly (and safely). Countertop mandolines sit on your counter, so you don’t have to hold the machine up to use it. They’re larger and more complex but tend to be more user-friendly.

There are also blade styles to take into account. On a mandoline slicer, you’ll have a blade setup that utilizes either a horizontal blade, a diagonal blade or a V-shaped blade. A horizontal blade is sturdy and is best for harder veggies like potatoes. A diagonal blade allows for a little more room for error with soft and juicy veggies and is less likely to ruin them. A V-shaped blade, which sees two blades come together in a V-shaped pattern, is the most tolerant of soft and delicate vegetables and typically results in the most even slices. On the downside, V-shaped blades are extremely difficult, and in some cases impossible to sharpen.

Safety Measures

Many people fear mandoline slicers, and they aren’t crazy for doing so. Their blades tend to be extremely sharp, and you’re whipping vegetables against those blades with your bare hand. A slip-up can mean big trouble, so it’s important to take a few safety considerations into account. For one, you can look for a slicer that includes a food holder. This creates a barrier between your hand and the blade, reducing your risk of cutting yourself. You’ll also want to thoroughly read your instructions to make sure you’re using your device properly — many have blade locks, and you’ll want to be sure those are engaged when they should be. Finally, if you’re really concerned about cuts, it may be worth it to invest in a pair of cut-resistant gloves.

Adjustability

Most mandoline slicers allow you to do more than just create cucumber rounds. They usually offer not only different levels of thickness for your slices, but also additional blades you can swap in that allow you to julienne, crinkle-cut or even make waffle fries. Consider how you think you’ll be using your mandoline and be sure to pick one that offers everything you need.

Are You Just Better off With a Knife?

With all of these considerations to take into account, you may be wondering if you’re better off just using a knife. In most instances, the answer is probably yes. While mandolines can do a lot in theory, during our testing we found that it was almost always easier to use a knife. In reality, mandolines are really best for a few special-use cases: slicing potatoes to make chips, slicing a lot of round veggies like cucumbers and tomatoes or julienning carrots. If you do these kinds of things a lot, then a mandoline slicer may save you some time over a knife.

How We Tested

Johnny Brayson

Our team used selected mandoline slicers in our daily lives. During meal prep, at times when we would normally reach for a knife, we instead utilized a mandoline slicer whenever possible to determine how easy and effective these devices are to use on a regular basis. In addition, we also played around with all available settings and blades on our test units to ensure that we were getting the full mandoline experience — and to make sure that they did what they claimed.

The Best Mandoline Slicers to Buy

Oxo Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer

Amazon

Best V-Blade Mandoline Slicer

OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer

• $45.03 at Amazon

Pros

• Multiple blades that store within the device
• Easy to clean

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Not the best for hard veggies

This moderately-priced mandoline from Oxo is a great all-rounder. It features a V-blade design that allows for precise, even cuts with little effort, and it includes additional blades for julienne and French fry cuts that can be swapped in. These extra blades are stored on the underside of the device, which is convenient, but our tester found that changing them out had a bit of a steep learning curve. It’s not necessarily complicated, but it isn’t very intuitive either and takes a few tries before it becomes second nature. Our tester loves this slicer for softer veggies and fruits, which is where V-shaped blades excel, but he had some trouble with harder vegetables — carrots proved almost impossible to slice on the regular straight blade setting. It’s easy to clean though, and dishwasher safe, and the food holder is generously sized.

Dash Safe Slice Mandoline

Amazon

Safest Mandoline Slicer

Dash Safe Slice Mandoline

• $39.99 at Amazon
  $49.99 (20% off)

Pros

• Very safe — it'd be hard to cut yourself on this
• Simple to use for mandoline newbies

Cons

• Food gets stuck inside and it's hard to clean
• Not ideal for finer slicing work, as you can't get close to the blade

If you like the potential convenience offered by a mandoline slicer but are too afraid of cutting up your hands, then Dash’s innovative device is an interesting alternative. More like a hybrid food chopper/slicer than a traditional mandoline, this device sits upright at an angle and has you move the blade via a plunger as you feed the food down a chute. Our tester found the setup easy to use, and notes that cutting yourself with this mandoline would be extremely difficult to do thanks to the way it’s engineered — you would basically have to try to cut yourself. He also appreciated the strength of the suction cup feet, as they keep the slicer very secure on a countertop. But there is one major flaw in the way Dash has kept the blade inaccessible for safety’s sake: it’s very difficult to clean. Our tester had bits of onion and garlic that were embedded within the device, even after running through a dishwasher, so he would only recommend this for larger slicing if you want to keep cleanup simple.

Kyocera Ceramic Mandoline Adjustable Slicer

Amazon

Best Handheld Mandoline Slicer

Kyocera Ceramic Mandoline Adjustable Slicer

• $27.51 at Amazon

Unlike the stainless steel blades found on most mandolines, Kyocera’s option uses a Japanese-made ceramic blade. Given that mandoline blades can be difficult to sharpen, ceramic is a smart choice since it will stay sharper, longer — though we would be a little worried about it chipping on harder veggies. The adjustability on this device is also a winner, as there is a bar on the bottom that you simply rotate a quarter-turn to adjust the thickness. On the downside, you’re limited to straight slices only here — there are no julienne or crinkle blades — and while a handguard is included, it’s rather flimsy compared to the competition. This is a mandoline that requires a steady hand.

Progressive International PL8 Professional Mandoline

Sur la Table

Most User-Friendly Mandoline Slicer

Progressive International PL8 Professional Mandoline

• $86.00 at Sur la Table

While many of our recommended mandolines offer lots of versatility, they tend to make you jump through hoops to make the most of what they offer. Not so with the PL8, which boasts a design that’s so easy to use I wish every other mandoline copied it. On the side of the slicer, you’ll find two dials and a slider. Closest to the handle is a dial that adjusts the thickness — nothing too novel about that. Next to that is a slider, which allows you to switch to a julienne blade. Finally, a twist of the third dial swaps in a waffle blade. There are no blades to physically swap out, making this supremely easy to use. The food holder is also quite solid, with different holders integrated for differently-sized ingredients. Perhaps the only downside is that no replacement blades are offered, so once they’re spent, it’s time to buy a new mandoline.

Oxo Good Grips Handheld Mandoline Slicer

Amazon

Best Affordable Mandoline Slicer

Oxo Good Grips Handheld Mandoline Slicer

• $18.00 at Amazon
  $18.95 (5% off)

If you just want to dip your toe into the world of mandoline slicers, then this handheld option from Oxo is a great place to start. For under 20 bucks, you’re getting a sharp diagonal steel blade, a rubber handle for a confident grip and a pronged food holder for added safety. With just three thickness settings and no blades other than straight, you’re pretty limited in what you can do with this slicer. But if you’re just looking to save some time here and there on your veggie-slicing duties, this compact, dishwasher-safe option makes for a nice kitchen addition.

de Buyer Swing Plus Mandoline

Williams Sonoma

Best Splurge Mandoline Slicer

De Buyer Swing Plus Mandoline

• $99.95 at Williams Sonoma

Admittedly, this is crazy expensive for a mandoline slicer. But if you think you’re going to be using yours a lot and want the same kind of quality you’d get from a mandoline in a French restaurant’s kitchen, then de Buyer is the brand for you. The high-end French cookware brand has been around since 1830, and they’ve pretty much cornered the market on professional mandolines — some of their options run north of $400. The Swing Plus isn’t quite that extreme, but it’s plenty capable. The combination of a spring-loaded food pusher with an ergonomic grip and rotation control system means it’s practically fool-proof to use, and it’s capable of doing every kind of slicing under the sun with its assortment of included stainless steel blades that store inside the slicer. It does have a lot of plastic for the hefty price though, and the exposed sharp blades make this one of the riskier mandolines to use if you aren’t using the food holder.

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