6 More Ways To Use Your Salad Spinner (Beyond Making Salad)

They’re not just for lettuce anymore. From leeks to zucchini – and even shrimp – we have six more ways to use this kitchen staple.

Salad spinners are useful for the usual kitchen tasks: drying your salad greens, herbs and fruits. But you can use yours six other handy ways, making it a much more valuable tool. Here’s how you can really put your salad spinner to work.

Remove excess moisture from grated potatoes

Grate your potatoes into long strands and use the salad spinner to really dry them out. This is essential is you’re making hash browns or latkes.

Defrost shrimp

Defrost and dry your frozen shrimp in your salad spinner; it’s a fast way to speed up the dinner prep when you’re running behind.

Dry broccoli florets

Don’t let water get trapped inside your broccoli’s florets. Wash and dry them in your salad spinner and they’ll be ready for anything, like a take-out-inspired beef and broccoli stir-fry.

Classic zucchini loaf. Photo, Erik Putz.

Strain moisture from zucchini

Instead of using your hands to squeeze out moisture from grated zucchini, use a salad spinner. It’s faster and more effective, which means you can start making chocolate-zucchini muffins and loaf cakes faster.

Clean leeks

Leeks can be difficult to dry after they’ve been rinsed and chopped. Use the salad spinner to dry them fuss-free, and they’re ready to use.

Drain and dry pasta

Cook your pasta as per package instruction, then drain and spin in your salad spinner. This will dry your pasta perfectly for pasta salads (the dressing will stick to the pasta rather than pool at the bottom of your bowl!).