The Unique Strainer That Gets Me to Actually Cook Pasta on Lazy Days
I'm a bigpasta girl. Whether I'm in the mood for macaroni, ramen noodles, gnocchi or anything in between, you'll find me in my tiny kitchen making pasta at least once or twice a week.
So nearly 10 years ago, my brother gifted me a small kitchen device designed to help save a few steps when cooking pasta: a clip-on strainer. I immediately fell in love, and I still use it nearly every time I make noodles. Read on to learn more!
Related: The Tiny Pampered Chef Kitchen Tool That My Family's Had Since the Early 2000s
How Does a Clip-On Strainer Work?
For the winter holidays in 2016, my brother gifted me a clip-on strainer, also known as a "snap n' strain."
Made of silicone, a clip-on strainer is essentially a sliver of a colander with two spring-loaded clips. It's designed to easily clip onto a pot, allowing you to easily strain water from your pasta.
Here's how I use it: after I make pasta or gnocchi, I turn off the stove and then clip the strainer onto my pot. (In my experience, this strainer has worked with pots of all different sizes, thanks to silicone's flexibility.)
Then, I carefully pour the pot out over the sink, letting all the water run through the snap-on strainer, leaving me with a pot full of hot noodles.
Why I Love My Clip-On Pasta Strainer
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I love the snap-on strainer for a few reasons. For one thing, using it saves me the step of having to pour the pasta back into the pot from the colander. It's also much smaller than a full colander, which makes it easier to wash.
Additionally, I have a pretty small kitchen sink - just a few dishes and bowls in there makes it feel full. So using my snap n' strain means I don't have to clear out the sink to make room for a colander - I can just tip the hot water into the corner of the sink.
My clip-on strainer quickly became my default strainer every time I made pasta, and a decade later, I'm still using it at least once a week. Plus, a few years later, in 2019, I got one for my brother for his birthday, and he loves it, too. Our exact models were discontinued, but you can find a similar one on Amazon for $7.98 - and I would recommend it to any fellow carb lover.
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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 7:01 PM.