Handheld Mandoline is a stellar choice. Known for its thoughtful design and ergonomic comfort, this tool bridges the gap between professional slicing capability and home-kitchen convenience.
Unlike the standard handheld version (which typically only offers 3 thickness settings), the Precision model stands out with greater versatility, including a julienne option and expanded thickness controls.
Is the new OXO Good Grips Precision Handheld Mandoline the secret weapon your kitchen is missing? We dive deep into the features, safety, and performance of this essential tool.
If you have ever spent thirty minutes trying to slice potatoes into perfectly even rounds for a gratin, only to end up with a pile of jagged, uneven wedges and a cramped hand, you know the struggle is real. The difference between a restaurant-quality dish and a mediocre home meal often comes down to one thing: consistency. While professional chefs spend years mastering knife skills, the modern home cook has a shortcut that delivers better results in a fraction of the time. Enter the oxo handheld mandoline slicer, a tool that promises to transform your vegetable prep from a chore into a satisfying, rapid-fire task.
This isn’t just another gadget that will gather dust in your junk drawer. The OXO Good Grips Precision Handheld Mandoline represents the evolution of kitchen efficiency, specifically designed for the American home cook who values speed, safety, and storage space. Unlike bulky, terrifying French mandolines that cost a fortune and require a degree in engineering to assemble, this handheld unit is streamlined, intuitive, and incredibly sharp. In this extensive review, we will break down exactly why this specific model is currently dominating the market, how it handles everything from delicate cucumbers to stubborn sweet potatoes, and why it deserves a prime spot in your utensil crock. “Check today’s price on Amazon”
Before we dive into the specifics of the oxo handheld mandoline slicer, we must address the elephant in the room: prep time. Research shows that the number one reason Americans order takeout instead of cooking at home is the perceived effort of preparation. Chopping, slicing, and dicing are labor-intensive. Moreover, using a knife often results in slices of varying thickness. When you bake potato slices that vary from paper-thin to half-an-inch thick, the thin ones burn while the thick ones remain raw.
A mandoline solves this instantly. It provides a fixed blade and a runway, ensuring that every single pass yields a slice identical to the one before it. This uniformity ensures even cooking, better texture, and a presentation that looks like it came from a professional kitchen. However, many mandolines are dangerous or difficult to adjust. This is where OXO’s “Good Grips” philosophy steps in to bridge the gap between professional performance and home safety.
OXO built its empire on the concept of Universal Design—creating products usable by as many people as possible. The oxo handheld mandoline slicer is a masterclass in this philosophy.
The first thing you notice when picking up this tool is the handle. It features OXO’s signature soft, non-slip material. Even if your hands are wet from washing vegetables or oily from a marinade, your grip remains secure. This is a critical safety feature; slippage is the primary cause of kitchen accidents. The handle is ergonomically angled, allowing you to hold the slicer comfortably over a cutting board or hook it securely over a bowl.
At the base of the unit, there is a rubberized, non-slip foot. When you place the mandoline on your countertop or inside a mixing bowl, this foot anchors the device. You can apply downward pressure to slice a dense potato without the unit sliding out from under you. This stability gives you the confidence to slice quickly, which is where the real time-savings kick in.
A subtle but brilliant feature is the clear surface of the runway. As you slice, you can look through the body of the mandoline to see your pile of veggies growing below. This prevents over-slicing and helps you gauge exactly when you have enough ingredients for your salad or casserole without having to constantly lift the tool.
The “Precision” in the product title isn’t just marketing fluff; it refers to the upgraded adjustability of this model compared to its predecessors. The oxo handheld mandoline slicer is equipped with a hardened stainless steel blade that is razor-sharp right out of the box.
Unlike older handheld models that offered perhaps one or two vague thickness options, the Precision model gives you distinct control. You get five precise thickness settings ranging from paper-thin (perfect for radish carpaccio) to substantially thick (ideal for apple tarts or tomato slices).
One of the standout features of the oxo handheld mandoline slicer is the integrated julienne capability. Usually, handheld mandolines only do straight slices. If you wanted matchsticks for a salad or shoestring fries, you had to buy a separate tool. This model changes that. With a simple adjustment, vertical blades pop up, allowing you to shred carrots for a salad or potatoes for hash browns in seconds. This two-in-one functionality adds immense value to the price point.
We analyzed how this tool performs across a variety of common American kitchen tasks to see if it truly lives up to the hype.
Slicing a ripe tomato is the nemesis of dull blades. A dull blade will crush the skin and squash the flesh. The oxo handheld mandoline slicer glides through ripe tomato skin with shocking ease. You can produce sandwich-ready slices in seconds without turning the tomato into a frantic mess of seeds and juice.
Sweet potatoes are dense, hard, and difficult to cut. Many flimsy plastic mandolines flex or crack under the pressure required to slice them. The rigid body of the OXO Precision model holds up impressively. The blade bites into the hard tuber immediately, and the non-slip foot keeps the unit steady on the counter. You can process a whole sweet potato into toast-sized planks or chips in under a minute.
We all hate crying over onions. The speed of the oxo handheld mandoline slicer is your best defense here. Because you can slice an entire onion in about 10 seconds, the exposure to the irritants is minimized. Plus, you get perfectly even rings that caramelize beautifully for burgers or soups.
Making coleslaw with a knife takes forever. With this mandoline set to a thin setting, you can shave a quarter-head of cabbage into wispy, deli-style slaw strands rapidly. The width of the runway accommodates standard vegetable sizes comfortably, making short work of leafy layers.
Safety is the number one concern for anyone buying a mandoline. We have all heard the horror stories of fingertip injuries. OXO addresses this with a robust safety system.
Included with the oxo handheld mandoline slicer is a large food holder that grips the vegetable. It has a wide rim that acts as a barrier between your fingers and the blade. As you slice, the plunger pushes the food down, ensuring you can use almost the entire vegetable without ever exposing your skin to the cutting edge. Using this holder is non-negotiable; it is the key to safe operation.
When you are finished slicing, the adjustment tab allows you to set the blade to a “locked” position. In this state, the blade is flush with the runway, meaning you cannot cut yourself if you reach into the drawer to grab it. This is a vital feature for households with children or for those of us who rummage through drawers hurriedly.
The cleanup factor is often the dealbreaker for kitchen gadgets. If it takes longer to clean than it saves in prep time, you won’t use it. Fortunately, the oxo handheld mandoline slicer is completely dishwasher safe.
The body is designed without deep crevices where food can get trapped. A simple rinse under the tap immediately after use usually clears away any vegetable starch, and then you can toss it on the top rack of your dishwasher for a deep clean. The stainless steel blade resists rust and corrosion, ensuring the tool stays sharp over hundreds of wash cycles.
Pro Tip: While it is dishwasher safe, hand washing the blade area with a brush is often safer for your fingers and can prolong the absolute razor-edge sharpness of the steel.
The market is flooded with slicers, from cheap dollar-store knockoffs to expensive French imports. Where does the oxo handheld mandoline slicer fit in?
The Benriner is a favorite in professional kitchens because it is sharp and simple. However, it can be intimidating. It usually lacks a comfortable handle and has a narrower runway. For the average home cook, the OXO is superior because of the “Good Grips” ergonomics and the wider slicing surface, which accommodates larger American produce like Russet potatoes and beefsteak tomatoes more easily.
Food processors are great for bulk tasks, but they are a pain to drag out of the cupboard, assemble, and clean just to slice one cucumber. The oxo handheld mandoline slicer offers “grab-and-go” convenience. For daily meal prep—like making a quick salad for lunch or slicing toppings for taco night—the handheld mandoline is significantly faster and less hassle than a heavy electric machine.
Even if you have decent knife skills, you cannot beat the consistency of a mandoline. To get potato chips that are all exactly 1.5mm thick with a knife requires immense focus and time. The mandoline does it mechanically. It frees up your brain to focus on the cooking, rather than the mechanics of cutting.
In the United States, kitchen trends are shifting towards “smart minimalism.” We want tools that do the job well but don’t take up the footprint of a microwave. The oxo handheld mandoline slicer fits perfectly into this ethos. It is compact enough to fit in a standard utensil drawer, yet powerful enough to handle Thanksgiving prep.
The rise of vegetable-forward diets, such as Keto, Paleo, and Veganism in the USA, has also driven the popularity of this tool. When vegetables are the star of the show, the cut matters. A zucchini noodle or a perfectly sliced beet carpaccio makes healthy eating feel indulgent. This tool removes the friction from eating fresh produce, making it easier to stick to health goals.
To get the most out of your oxo handheld mandoline slicer, follow this simple workflow:
Yes. In fact, it is surprisingly sharp. New users often underestimate the blade. Respect the tool, use the guard, and you will be amazed at how little force is required.
While primarily designed for produce, the oxo handheld mandoline slicer can handle semi-firm cheeses like cheddar or Swiss if they are cold from the fridge. However, it is not a cheese grater; it is a slicer.
The high-quality plastic used by OXO is resistant to staining. However, highly pigmented foods like turmeric or beets should be rinsed off quickly to maintain the pristine clear and white aesthetic.
At its price point, the oxo handheld mandoline slicer offers an incredible return on investment. Think about the time you save. If it saves you 10 minutes of prep time three nights a week, that is 26 hours of your life reclaimed over a year.
Beyond time, it upgrades the quality of your cooking. Uniformly sliced roasted veggies cook at the same rate, meaning you don’t have burnt edges and raw centers. Salads become texturally pleasing rather than chunky chores to eat. The durability of the stainless steel and the high-quality ABS plastic construction means this tool will survive the rigors of a busy American kitchen for years.
It eliminates the need for bulky appliances for small jobs and is safer than trying to speed-chop with a knife. For the price of a few takeout coffees, you get a tool that essentially upgrades your hands to professional chef status.
The oxo handheld mandoline slicer is not just a gadget; it is an efficiency engine for your home. It bridges the gap between the food you want to cook and the time you actually have to cook it.
By combining safety features like the food holder and blade lock with performance features like the 5-setting precision adjustments and julienne mode, OXO has created the definitive handheld slicer. It respects your time, protects your fingers, and elevates your food.
If you are ready to stop wrestling with your knife and start enjoying the process of cooking again, this is the tool to buy. It is a small purchase that makes a massive impact on your daily culinary life. Don’t let another dinner prep be a struggle—slice through it with precision.
Is the oxo handheld mandoline slicer dishwasher safe?
Yes, the entire unit is dishwasher safe. However, placing it on the top rack is recommended to prolong the life of the plastic components, and hand washing the blade can help retain its razor-sharp edge for longer.
Can this mandoline cut waffle fries?
No, this specific “Precision” model focuses on straight slices and julienne cuts. Waffle cuts usually require a specialized wavy blade which is found on larger, more complex mandoline units. For standard fries, shoestring potatoes, and rounds, this model is perfect.
How many thickness settings does the oxo handheld mandoline slicer have?
This updated Precision model features five distinct thickness settings, plus a julienne setting. This offers significantly more versatility than older handheld models that often only had three settings.
Is it safe for beginners to use?
Yes, OXO is known for safety. The inclusion of a sturdy food holder (handguard) and a locking position for storage makes the oxo handheld mandoline slicer one of the safest options for beginners. Always use the food holder to protect your fingertips.
Can I sharpen the blade on the oxo handheld mandoline slicer?
The blade is not designed to be removed or sharpened by the user. However, it is made from hardened stainless steel engineered to hold its edge for a very long time with normal household use.
Does it have a julienne blade?
Yes! The Precision model includes a julienne setting. You simply adjust the tab, and vertical blades pop up to create matchstick cuts, perfect for salads, stir-fries, and garnishes.
Where is the food holder stored?
The food holder snaps securely onto the underside of the mandoline body. This ensures you never lose the most important safety component and keeps the unit compact for drawer storage.
Can the oxo handheld mandoline slicer cut sweet potatoes?
Absolutely. The blade is sharp enough and the body rigid enough to handle dense root vegetables like sweet potatoes, turnips, and beets without bending or breaking, provided you use a steady motion.
