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The Best Julienne Peelers

What’s a julienne peeler and do you need one in your kitchen to prep vegetables?

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Published May 19, 2023.

The Best Julienne Peelers
See Everything We Tested

What You Need To Know

Julienne peelers are simple tools that can be used to cut rectangular strips called matchsticks from any firm vegetable or fruit, such as carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, daikon, papaya, beets, apples, and more. After we tested several models, our winner was the OXO Julienne Prep Y-Peeler, which met all our criteria: It quickly and smoothly cut crisp, neat, uniform matchsticks from a variety of produce with maximal ease and minimal waste. We also highly recommend the Kiwi Pro Slice Peeler—made in a style that’s common in Thailand—for its sharp, wavy blades, as well as its sturdiness and comfortable grip. It readily produced elegant, extra-long julienne that didn’t quite have edges that were as crisply squared as the OXO’s matchsticks, but this wasn't ultimately a detractor. It also made waffle- and wavy-style decorative cuts. The only downside is that its julienne pieces sometimes remained lightly attached lengthwise and had to be gently pulled apart.

What You Need to Know

The julienne (aka matchstick) cut is a classic knife technique that chefs learn in culinary school. Vegetables and fruits cut this way—in long, slim, uniform, squared-off strips that resemble wooden matches—are perfect for slaws and salads, garnishes, and stir-fries; as vegetable noodles; or for making shoestring potatoes and hash browns. In the test kitchen, we also use julienne cuts in recipes when steaming or baking vegetables with fish en papillote, in Japchae and Javaher Polo, and in the classic Thai green papaya salad called som tam.

There are a few ways to produce julienne, and a specialty peeler is just one of them. Even if you lack expert knife skills, we have an easy, modified julienne technique for carrots using a chef’s knife. You can also use our winning mandoline, which works beautifully and quickly but is more expensive and somewhat more dangerous and takes more time to set up and clean up. Julienne peelers promise distinct advantages: They’re very inexpensive and compact, work fast, and require no skill. They also take just seconds to clean.

How It Works

You’ll typically need to peel produce first with a regular vegetable peeler. Then you use the julienne peeler, drawing it along the length of the vegetable to cut long, narrow strips. 

Julienne peelers come in two styles; we tested both. Most models are Y-shaped, with dual blades like a typical vegetable peeler—the first blade travels over food and determines the depth of the peeling cut made by the second blade. There’s a key difference with a julienne peeler: In the United States, typical models have a second blade composed of a complicated series of folded metal po...

Everything We Tested

Good : 3 stars out of 3.Fair : 2 stars out of 3.Poor : 1 stars out of 3.
*All products reviewed by America’s Test Kitchen are independently chosen, researched, and reviewed by our editors. We buy products for testing at retail locations and do not accept unsolicited samples for testing. We list suggested sources for recommended products as a convenience to our readers but do not endorse specific retailers. When you choose to purchase our editorial recommendations from the links we provide, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices are subject to change.
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Reviews you can trust

Reviews you can trust

The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.

Lisa McManus

Lisa McManus

Lisa is an executive editor for ATK Reviews, cohost of Gear Heads on YouTube, and gadget expert on TV's America's Test Kitchen.

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