A mandoline (not to be confused with the instrument of a similar name) is one of those kitchen tools that home cooks sometimes avoid. They’re sharp and scary, and who really needs to slice up paper-thin pieces of radish to decorate a plate of crudo at home? Leave it to the chefs, you might think. But a good mandoline does have its practical at-home uses, too: slicing cucumbers or julienning carrots for salad; shaving thin pieces of potato for gratin; slicing radishes for tea sandwiches; or cutting up zucchini for a provincial tian.
In past testing, we focused on mandolines under $50 (give or take a few bucks). This time, we expanded the lineup to see if the mandolines selling for higher prices were any better. We reviewed a selection of eight mandolines, ranging from $19 to $113, and included handheld models as well as those with stands. We sliced potatoes, lemons, and tomatoes (and an extraneous cucumber because, why not?) to find a mandoline that was sharp, easy to use, and a cinch to clean.
The Winners, at a Glance
The Best Overall Mandoline: OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer
This was our winner in our previous testing, and it's stood the test of time. It cleanly and effortlessly sliced (almost) everything, and we never felt like we’d cut ourselves using it. The only time it struggled a little bit was with slicing potatoes into french fries, but it still produced perfect batons.
The Best Safety Mandoline: Dash Safe Slice Mandoline
This safety mandoline looked like quite the complicated contraption, but it was actually easy to use (even if it did kind of work like a guillotine!). We had no issues slicing tomatoes, lemons, and potatoes into paper-thin slices—and we felt safe doing so. It also did a solid job of slicing potatoes for fries, though they were a bit stumpy.
The Best Handheld Mandoline: Microplane Adjustable V-Blade Mandoline Slicer
This was a sharp, no-frills mandoline that got the job done, easily slicing potatoes, tomatoes, and lemons. And, if you need to julienne produce into thin matchsticks, it does that, and it does it well.
The Tests
- Slice Potato Test: We sliced Yukon gold potatoes into thin, medium, and thick slices using each mandoline (half the time we used a cut-resistant glove, and the other half we used the mandolines’ hand guards if they had them). If the mandolines were scary to use (read: the potatoes got stuck on the blade) during this test, we discounted them from further testing.
- Slice Tomato Test: Since tomatoes are tricky to slice thinly with a knife, we wanted to see how the mandolines fared when slicing them into thin rounds. We only used mandolines that made it through the first round of testing.
- Slice Lemon Test (Winners-Only): We used each of our favorite mandolines to thinly slice lemons into rounds.
- Cutting French Fries Test (Winners-Only): After swapping out the blades or turning the adjustment knob to the thick julienne setting on our favorite mandolines, we used them to slice up potatoes into french fries.
- Cleaning and Usability Tests: We examined how easy each mandoline was to assemble (including switching out blades) and use, as well as if it was difficult to clean. We also washed applicable mandolines in the dishwasher and noted any damage.
What We Learned
A Sharp Blade Was Key
As with a sharp knife, a sharp mandoline blade made cutting foods effortless, with no food catching on the blade edge. This was also true for cutting french fries, which adds vertical blades to the mix (i.e. more things for your food to catch and get stuck on). What was scary was when whatever food we were trying to slice (mostly hard foods, like potatoes) got stuck on the blade—this puts you in a dangerous situation where you have to decide whether to continue to push the food through, or try to wiggle it back up out of the blade. We had this issue with half of the mandolines, namely the OXO Handheld Mandoline Slicer, OXO Chef's SteeL Mandoline 2.0, OXO Good Grips Chef’s Mandoline Slicer 2.0, and Börner V Power Mandoline. Since they felt unsafe to use—and also produced raggedly cut potatoes—we disqualified them from further testing.
We Liked Mandolines with Minimal Parts
While this wasn’t a dealbreaker, two of our winners—the OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer and Dash Safe Slice Mandoline—had lots of parts and were a tad tricky to reassemble after dismantling for cleaning. The OXO V-Blade, while a great mandoline, proved particularly puzzling; we had issues reattaching the multiple parts, and the user manual wasn’t helpful (we wound up watching a video on YouTube to figure it out). The Dash mandoline was easier to assemble but also had multiple parts, including a tube where you place your food, a dish where cut foods fell into, and an insert to push food against the blade. On the other hand, our favorite handheld pick from Microplane was uber simple to assemble; for example, to switch to a julienne setting, you just flip the straight-edged blade over to the julienne side and slot it in.
Folding Stands Were a Nice Feature
The OXO V-Blade Mandoline featured a stand that swung out, so you could place the mandoline over a bowl or on a cutting board. We tended to prefer mandolines with stands since it made it easier to focus on evenly slicing your ingredients, though we did find the handheld offering from Microplane (which was sans stand) still relatively comfortable to hold while using, thanks to its grippy handle.
Clearly Marked Measurements Were Helpful
While being able to make micro-adjustments on the Benriner was useful, we didn’t really know what we were getting with each turn of the knob. Instead, we preferred mandolines with clearly marked measurements or markers, which gave us a better idea of how thick the results would be without wasting food. Our winner, the OXO V-blade, had clearly marked lock, unlock, 1/16" (1.5mm), 1/8" (3mm), 3/16" (4mm), and 1/4" (5mm) markings, making it easy to know what results we'd get. While the Dash didn’t have measurements on the adjusting knob, it did feature numbers (one to eight) that gave you a general idea of thickness, with one being the thinnest and eight the thickest.
Cutting Fries Was Challenging
Our favorite mandolines made slicing easy, but cutting potatoes into fries was a little more challenging. While our winner from OXO cut perfectly proportioned fries, we did struggle a little bit to push the spuds through the vertical blades. The Dash cut fries quite easily, though they were a little bit on the thick and short side since the chute where you place the potatoes was small, and we had to trim the potatoes to fit. The Microplane created more of a shoe-string fry cut, which wasn't what we were looking for.
While we avoided making fries with mandolines knocked out during the first round of testing, we were curious and tried an errant go at cutting fries with the OXO Chef’s SteeL Mandoline 2.0 and Benriner—both were disappointing. The potatoes immediately got stuck on the vertical blades of both mandolines, making it dangerous to push the spuds through, so we had to remove the potatoes without finishing slicing them.
The Criteria: What to Look for in a Mandoline
Our favorite mandolines were sharp, deftly slicing hardy and soft ingredients. They also were easy to adjust, with clear markers indicating thickness. Finally, while we liked mandolines that were simple to assemble and clean, this wasn’t a dealbreaker.
The Best Overall Mandoline: OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer
What we liked: This was a very sharp mandoline that cut potatoes, tomatoes, and lemons cleanly and efficiently—there was no resistance when slicing. While we did face more resistance when cutting fries, the results were the perfect thickness and had nice, clean edges. We also liked the optional fold-out stand, which made it easy to prop the mandoline up on a cutting board or over a bowl.
What we didn’t like: The biggest peeve we had with this mandoline was that it was difficult to put together after taking it apart for cleaning; for example, to slot the blade in, you have to handle it uncomfortably close to the end of its blade. We also found it slightly difficult to cut french fries, though the results were near-perfect.
Price at time of publish: $46.
Key Specs
- Thickness settings: 4
- Blade style: V-blade
- Accessories/Features: Fold-out stand, handguard
- Dimensions: 15.25 inches long; 3.13-inch-wide blade section; 1.13 inches thick
- Care instructions: Hand-wash
The Best Safety Mandoline: Dash Safe Slice Mandoline
What we liked: This mandoline had a guillotine-like setup which we were skeptical of at first, but we were surprised with how well it worked. To use it, place your food into the chute, press the insert against it, and pump the white handle attached to the blade downwards to slice. It was easy to use, and there was no chance of cutting yourself, not to mention every slice (even the thinnest) was perfectly even. It also did a surprisingly good job of slicing fries (though they were just a hair thicker than desired).
What we didn’t like: The chute and cutting areas are quite small, so you have to cut food down to fit it inside, which makes for some odd-shaped results. And while they provide a little brush for you to clean your blade, we still found it slightly difficult to clean all the nooks and crannies.
Price at time of publish: $50.
Key Specs:
- Thickness Settings: 8
- Blade Style: Angled
- Accessories/Features: Fold-out stand
- Dimensions: 12 inches long; 3-inch wide blade section; 1.75 inches thick
- Care instructions: Hand-wash
The Best Handheld Mandoline: Microplane Adjustable V-Blade Mandoline Slicer
What we liked: This handheld blade was sharp, sturdy, and shaved consistent results. It’s a great option for someone who might not need a whole mandoline getup and just wants to thinly slice a few things now and then.
What we didn’t like: The thickest setting isn’t very thick, meaning if you want to use this mandoline to make french fries, you’ll get shoestring fries. The adjustment knob is also unmarked, so you’re more in the dark on what thickness your results will be.
Price at time of publish: $40.
Key Specs:
- Thickness settings: NA (continuously adjustable)
- Blade style: V-blade
- Accessories/Features: Handguard
- Dimensions: 14.25 inches long; 3.8-inch wide blade section; 0.8 inches thick
- Care instructions: Dishwasher-safe (though we recommend hand-washing anything with a blade)
The Competition
- OXO Good Grips Handheld Mandoline Slicer: While this handheld mandoline cut cleanly and without any resistance, the bottom plastic part wasn’t flush with the bottom of the blade. So, every time we sliced, whatever we were slicing hit that ridge.
- Benriner Mandoline Slicer: While this was a fantastic mandoline for cutting paper-thin slices of, well, anything, it wasn’t easy to adjust; sometimes the plastic part that moves up and down got stuck. It also did terribly when trying to cut potatoes into fries—the potato got stuck, and the resulting fries had frayed edges.
- OXO SteeL Chef's Mandoline 2.0: This pricey mandoline performed poorly, and it took a lot of effort (and nerves of steel) to push a potato fully through the blade. The same thing happened when we gave a go at making fries with it.
- Börner V Power Mandoline: This was a clunky mandoline that couldn’t cut potatoes without them getting stuck on the blade.
- OXO Good Grips Chef’s Mandoline Slicer 2.0: Almost identical to the OXO Chef’s SteeL Mandoline, this one performed just as badly; it was scary to use, and potatoes got stuck on the blade.
FAQs
Can you sharpen the blades on a mandoline?
Some of the mandolines we tested do offer the option of sharpening their blades, namely the Benriner. If you have this mandoline and are interested in sharpening the blades, we recommend getting it done by a professional sharpener. Our winning offering from OXO doesn’t offer the option to sharpen its blades, but you can buy replacements.
What is a mandoline good for?
Mandolines make slicing fast and accurate, and they’re great for keeping your cuts consistent. We like using them to slice up vegetables for salads, fruits for desserts (think thinly sliced apples for invisible apple cake), and eggplants for eggplant parm. Not to mention they are great for slicing up potatoes to make homemade potato chips or potato gratin.
What is the best mandoline?
Our favorite mandoline was the OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer, which was sharp, easy to use, and consistent (it also did a great job slicing potatoes into fries). We also liked the Dash Safe Slice Mandoline, which kept our hand far away from the blade while still producing consistent slices, and the handheld, no-frills Microplane Adjustable V-Blade Mandoline Slicer.
What is the safest way to use a mandoline?
If you’re new to using a mandoline, we recommend investing in a cut-resistant glove—it can’t hurt to be extra safe as you learn. Another option for safe cutting is using the guard that often accompanies a mandoline, though we often found them a bit clunky. During our testing, we also found that a sharp blade makes slicing less dangerous—dull blades caused foods to get stuck, which meant we had to apply more pressure to push food through the blade, increasing the chance of our hand slipping and cutting ourselves.
What is the best way to clean a mandoline?
Most of the mandolines we tested were not dishwasher-safe, and we recommend careful hand washing (you don’t want to cut yourself!) with warm, soapy water before drying. If your mandoline is dishwasher-safe, you can go that route, though we recommend washing any parts with blades by hand to ensure their longevity.
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