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4 Easy Ways to Thinly Slice Potatoes (Without a Mandoline)

4 Easy Ways to Thinly Slice Potatoes (Without a Mandoline)

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Potatoes are something that most people keep in the kitchen at all times. People use them a lot, and you likely make several different types of dishes with them each month.

Sometimes you’re going to need to thinly slice potatoes for certain recipes. This is easy to accomplish when you have a mandoline, but it might be tough without one.

If you find yourself in the kitchen without one, don’t worry! You just need to know what your options are to get good results.

Keep reading to learn how to thinly slice potatoes without a mandoline. It’ll help you to get your dinner cooked right and you won’t have to stress so much.

1 – Use a Vegetable Peeler

Peeling Potatoes with a Vegetable Peeler

Using a vegetable peeler is probably going to be one of the best things that you can do. This is going to give you results that look very similar to what you would get done with a mandoline.

You should be able to cut very thin slices of potato with a vegetable peeler. Of course, many people commonly refer to these kitchen tools as potato peelers because of how often they’re used for potatoes.

It’s easy to do more than just peel a potato with this kitchen tool, though. It can also cut thin slices of potato for you to utilize in your cooking.

The only downside to using a peeler instead of a mandoline is that it’ll be more tedious. This might take a bit more time to do, but it’s going to give you good results.

2 – Use a Cheese Planer

Cheese Planer or Slicer

Cheese planers actually work pretty well to cut potatoes thinly, and they’re easy to use. You just need to run the cheese planer up and down the potato to get the thin slices that you’re looking for.

Some people actually prefer using a cheese planer to using a mandoline. It works well when you’re trying to get thin slices of long vegetables, and it can work just fine for potatoes, too.

You’re just going to want to secure the potato so that you can safely run the cheese planer across it. You’ll get nice thin slices of potato, and you’ll be done with everything before you know it.

One potential issue that you might have is that cheese planers aren’t necessarily the most common kitchen tool. If you don’t have a mandoline at your disposal, you might not have a cheese planer either.

3 – Using a Sharp and Thin Knife

Peeling a Potato with a Sharp Knife

Using a sharp and thin knife might be one of the best things to do when you don’t have a mandoline. You’re going to be able to use a thin knife to precisely cut potatoes.

It should be pretty simple to cut potatoes thin enough if you have a good knife that is up to the task. You just want to use a thin and sharp knife so that you’ll get smooth cuts and you’ll have an easy time getting the slices thin enough.

You will want to be careful not to cut yourself when using a standard knife to cut potatoes, though. A slip could cause you to cut your hand, and you don’t want to get injured.

This is why you should try not to force yourself to cut the potatoes too fast. Be careful and get your potatoes cut at a safe pace while you’re paying close attention.

4 – Use a Food Processor

Food Processor

This next idea is a little bit strange in some ways, but it could work okay depending on how good your food processor is. If you have a food processor that comes with a slicing attachment, you might be able to place potato chunks in there to have them sliced up.

The issue with this is that you won’t have much direct control over how thin the slices are. It makes it a less than ideal method, but it could work out okay depending on your needs.

If you have a good food processor, you might be able to cut the potatoes into slices that are fairly thin. This could work out well for the dish that you’re making, and it might be worth a shot.

When you need to cut potatoes to a very specific level of thinness, it’s going to be best to go with another method. You might wish to try a knife instead of a food processor if you’re not sure how well things will turn out with your cutting attachment.

Using a Mandoline Is Still Likely the Best

Slicing Potatoes with a Mandoline

Using a mandoline is still likely going to be the best thing that you can do when you wish to thinly slice potatoes. You can get pretty good results with the ideas mentioned above, but using a mandoline is going to allow you to consistently get your potatoes as thin as you need them to be.

It might be worthwhile to consider purchasing a mandoline if you know that you’re going to be cooking with potatoes quite often. They aren’t all that expensive, and they’re handy tools to keep in the kitchen.

You can get a reliable one for under $50, but some of the best ones might cost hundreds of dollars. It’s up to you to decide which route you would like to take.

Mandoline substitutes will be fine for a while, but you don’t have to keep on living without one if you don’t want to. You should be able to get by with a vegetable peeler or a good thin knife if you aren’t keen to spend cash, though.

Remember to Buy Cut-Resistant Gloves

Whether you’re going to be using a mandoline or not, it might be wise to buy cut-resistant gloves for the kitchen. Mandolines are somewhat dangerous because you can cut your hands if you aren’t very careful while using them.

This is where cut-resistant gloves come into play because they will give you a crucial layer of protection. If you make a careless mistake, you should be able to avoid taking a huge chunk out of your hand.

Even if you’re going to be foregoing the mandoline in favor of a sharp knife or a cheese planer, it’ll be nice to have cut-resistant gloves. Whenever you’re going to be thinly slicing any vegetables, it’ll be safer to use these gloves.

Avoid potential injuries and get gloves that’ll allow you to cut with confidence. Even people with lots of experience in the kitchen benefit from taking extra safety precautions.

Final Thoughts

Cutting your potatoes won’t be nearly as hard now that you know what your options are. If you want to thinly slice potatoes, you’ll be able to do so without a mandoline.

Granted, a mandoline is likely the best tool for the job, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use other kitchen tools effectively. A sharp knife, a cheese planer, or a vegetable peeler should do the trick nicely.

You might even be able to get solid results using a food processor with a cutting attachment. Just remember to be careful while cutting your potatoes no matter which kitchen tool you decide to go with.

If you want to be extra safe, you can buy some cut-resistant gloves. Once you’re done cutting your potatoes up, it’ll be time to enjoy your delicious meal to the fullest.

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Tuesday 6th of December 2022

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