The Best Mandolines to Julienne Like an Expert

Best Overall: Benriner Mandoline Slicer

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What We Love: Easy to store, four sharp blades, what professionals use

What We Don't Love: Impractical handguard

A Benriner is a given in a professional kitchen. In fact, Joel Reiss, chef/owner of Who’s Jac W.? in New York City, cites Benriner mandolines as his favorites, saying that it features the highest “blade quality and slicing precision.” The Benriner Mandoline Slicer is economically priced, tough, and easy to use. The handle doesn’t stick out, and it doesn’t take up a lot of space—in fact, it stacks nicely on a shelf or in a tub, making it a good pick for small kitchens.

Made from BPA-free plastic, this can slice basically anything that a mandoline would slice, from fresh tomatoes to daikon. It does straight, fine, medium, and coarse cuts, and can handle smaller items with its handguard (though many find the handguard lacking and use a clean kitchen towel instead). This is a reliable and efficient performer, provided you’re aware of the risks and use it mindfully. "I've had my share of Benriner run-ins (and witnessed countless others) while working in kitchens," says our tester, Lindsey.

According to Reiss, the Benriner’s best quality is the fact that its "blade is actually a razor and can slice ingredients really exactly." To use it safely, you’ll want to keep the stainless steel blade sharp or replace it after a few months of heavy kitchen use, ideally when you notice it struggles to cut cleanly. The nonskid rubber base works well with stainless steel counters, and it’s wide at almost 4.5 inches. Throw it into the dishwasher when you’re done, or just rinse it off and dry it thoroughly.

Dimensions: 12.75 x 4.45 inches | Weight: 7 ounces

Best Overall, Runner-Up: Oxo Good Grips Chef's Mandoline Slicer 2.0

4.3

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What We Love: Four blades, multiple thickness settings, dishwasher safe

What We Don't Love: Slightly difficult to switch out blades, handguard is clunky and doesn’t work well

This OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer is a best friend for the high-volume cook, but it also handily churns out neat, versatile cuts for the occasional one. When opened, it's propped up at an angle which helps with leverage, and the holder keeps your fingers safe.

This OXO mandoline comes in four settings–1.5, 3, 4.5, and 6 millimeters–and comes with four blades, including straight slice, french fry, crinkle cut, and julienne. In between cuts, the blades are stored inside the runway. This makes the mandoline somewhat clunky when folded down, but the advantage is, you won’t be fumbling around your kitchen looking for the other blades because they’re tucked inside. The included handguard, which resembled an air hockey puck, was a disappointment in the home kitchen. It was clumsy to hold and caused some veggies to fall apart.

Since slicing softer foods like boiled eggs, tomatoes and persimmons can be tricky with a regular straight-blade mandoline, you’ll want a v-blade mandoline. It guides the soft food into the slicer, providing two entrance points for cutting. The OXO mandoline also had the finest setting of all the ones we tested, churning out paper-thin radish slices with ease.

You should hand wash the blades, but the rest of the mandoline is dishwasher safe. We love that this has a textured surface that makes it harder for food to stain or cling to it though, which means you won’t have to scrub it prior to the dishwasher. Overall, for comfort, price, and durability, this mandoline is a star, once you get used to switching out the blades.

Dimensions (LxWxH): 15.5 x 5.5 x 6 inches | Weight: 2.5 pounds

Best Budget: Kyocera Advanced Ceramic Adjustable Vegetable Slicer Set

3.9

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What We Love: Durable ceramic blade, four thickness settings, useful handguard

What We Don't Love: Small handguard caused veggies to fall apart when sliced

It can definitely be scary the first time you use a mandoline slicer. For the uninitiated, many mandolines are just an extremely sharp blade housed in plastic, and you can easily cut your hand without a handguard. While Kyocera’s mandoline offers a slicing guard, it’s unfortunately too small for the job. When testing it on a radish, the slices came out messy and uneven. To get the thin, even slices that a mandoline promises, I had to ditch the handguard. I’m not a novice, and I almost got cut when using this one. Still, I’d recommend it as a starter mandoline.

First, Kyocera's mandoline was the most comfortable to hold. It also has some helpful safety features, like corner notches that secure on top of a bowl, meaning the mandoline is less likely to slip while you’re using it, and an easy-to-use, if small, handguard. The ceramic blade is made in Japan from Kyocera's proprietary zirconia material that stays super sharp for longer than steel blades and is resistant to acids.

Our favorite feature, though, is the adjustable dial that lets you choose from four different thicknesses for your slicing: 0.5 millimeters, 1.3 millimeters, 2 millimeters, and 3 millimeters. The thinnest setting yielded uneven results during testing, but as we went up in thickness, this mandoline performed more consistently. 

Dimensions: 11 x 4 inches | Weight: 3.8 ounces

Related: The Best Vegetable Peelers

Best for Kids: Joie Mini Mandoline Slicer

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What We Love: Lightweight, thin slices, can be used by teens, easy to pack

What We Don't Love: Only one setting

Tiny top chefs who are just donning their toques should consider the Joie Mini Mandoline Slicer. For smaller hands, a smaller tool is a wise choice. This lightweight, mini mandoline has a holding handle for the veggies, so your child’s hand will never actually come close to the blade.

Made of aluminum and super compact at only 2.5 inches wide, the Joie Mini Mandoline really works, but be aware that larger veggies like huge cucumbers and daikon radishes won’t work on this little version. The slices come out paper-thin, but there's only one thickness setting. In a pinch or on a camping trip (trust us, a mini mandoline is easier than packing a cutting board), an adult can use it, too.

Dimensions (LxWxH): 8.5 x 2.5 x 2 inches | Weight: 3 ounces