Food processors brands


Best food processor 2023: expertly tested models from the best brands

The best food processors make life easier when you're cooking for a crowd or simply prepping for a meal for one. They effortlessly blitz through dicing, slicing, grinding and kneading.

We've thoroughly tested a wide range of food processors from leading brands, such as Ninja, KitchenAid, Cuisinart, NutriBullet, and Magic Bullet. Our tests put the best food processors through their paces, judging their functionality and efficiency through performance, cleaning, and ease of use. 

If you want to double up your food processor with one of the best blenders, we've also included models that come with blending cups to make smoothies as well as dips or sauces. 

The best food processor deals

Why you can trust Homes & Gardens Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

NutriBullet NBP50100 7-Cup Food Processor | was $119. 99, now $96.74 at Amazon
A versatile addition to your kitchen, the NutriBullet NBP50100 7-Cup Food Processo is voted our best food processor for attachments. This model comes with blade and disc attachments for chopping, slicing, shredding, spiralizing and kneading dough, it also features three precision speeds: high, low, and pulse.

KitchenAid Cordless 5 Cup Food Chopper KFCB519 | was $99.99, now $79.99 at Amazon
Available in seven different finishes, the KitchenAid Cordless 5 Cup Food Chopper is voted our best cordless food processor. A lightweight, portable design that can be easily transported round the kitchen, enjoy a saving on this versatile, 5-cup design.

GE 12-Cup Food Processor with Accessories| was $159.99, now $99. 99 at Best Buy
This GE food processor has a generous 12-cup capacity and comes with a variety of stainless steel attachments including a Grating disc, French fry disc, Dough blade, and an Emulsifier disc. It also comes with a mini-chopping bowl for smaller portions and a Spatula so hands never need to go near the blades.

Bella Pro Series 8-Cup Food Processor | was $79.99 now $39.99 at Best Buy
The Bella Pro Series 8-Cup Food Processor is a Best Buy exclusive with A 500-watt motor and reversible shredding disc. 

Best food processor 2023, according to our experts

(Image credit: Future)

1. Cuisinart Core Custom 10-Cup Food Processor

The best food processor you can buy

Specifications

Power: 500W

Capacity: 10 cups

Programs: Low, high, pulse

Cleaning: Dishwasher safe

RRP: $179. 95

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Sealed work bowl 

+

Easy, neat storage

+

A range of colors available

+

Two sizes of pushers

+

Optional added attachments

Reasons to avoid

-

No way to tell if it's switched on

Why you should buy it: Effective; easy to use and store; lightweight; versatility: base can be used for other accessories.

The Cuisinart Core Custom 10-Cup is our top buy and we think you will be hard-pressed to find a better food processor. Our tester Camryn found that it was lightweight, but felt secure, with a bowl that fully seals to prevent any messes while mixing liquid ingredients. 'I think this appliance is worth the splurge if you’re going to use it regularly,' Camryn reports. 'Details like the sealed work bowl make this appliance easy and enjoyable to use, plus you can buy additional attachments to use on the same base.' 

One of our favorite things about this food processor is that everything can be stored inside the main mixing bowl. That includes the blade (which comes with its own protective cover) and the reversible shredding and slicing discs. You can also expand its capabilities by investing in a blender jar, juice extractor or dicing accessory.

The controls are on the simple side, you can either mix on low or high, or pulse. However, we didn't find that this food processor lacked power when we made everything from energy bites to guacamole. The removable parts are all dishwasher-safe, and you can even choose from a range of colors when you buy. 

Our Cuisinart Core Custom 10-Cup Food Processor review has more details

(Image credit: Nutribullet)

2. NutriBullet NBP50100 7-Cup Food Processor

The best food processor for attachments

Specifications

Power: 450W

Capacity: 7 cups

Programs: Low, High, Pulse

Cleaning: Dishwasher-safe

RRP: $119. 99

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

In-bowl storage

+

Dishwasher-safe design

+

Comes with a spiralizer attachment

Reasons to avoid

-

Food opening is quite small

Why you should buy it: Versatile; in-bowl storage; lightweight.

If it's a versatile food processor you're looking to use on a daily basis, the NutriBullet NBP50100 7-Cup Food Processor is it, thanks to its do-it-all attachments, which include a dough hook, a chopping blade, two reversible slicing and shredding discs (one thick, one thin), and a spiralizing insert, which our tester Camryn was particularly impressed with: it was very easy to get set up and produced long spirals of carrot and potato. There are three speeds: low, high, and pulse, and Camryn used all to make everything from shakes to the dough. 'After weeks of testing, I think it’s an ideal everyday food processor for any household,' she reports.

Despite this huge selection, the attachments can be easily stored in the bowl – other than one disc, which doesn't fit inside. This is important to note since food processors that don't allow for in-bowl storage take up more valuable storage space. At just six pounds, the Nutribullet 7-Cup Food Processor is also very lightweight – a need to know if you are not storing it on the countertop. 

Camryn also found it easy to clean: most of the removable parts are dishwasher-safe and the plastic is BPA-free. As with a lot of Nutribullet products, it comes with a comprehensive recipe book that is great to get you started using the machine. 

Our Nutribullet 7-Cup Food Processor review has more details

(Image credit: Breville)

3. Breville Sous Chef 12 Food Processor

The best premium food processor

Specifications

Power: 1000W

Capacity: 12 cups

Programs: On, Pulse

Cleaning: Hand-wash advised

RRP: $299. 95

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Huge range of attachments

+

5-inch wide feed chute

+

Quality results

+

Variable size slicing

Reasons to avoid

-

Hand-washing is recommended

Why you should buy it: huge capacity; excellent, consistently good results.

The Breville BFP660SIL Sous Chef has the standard 12-cup capacity we see in many of the best food processors. Our tester Camryn found the controls very intuitive, and was able to get started as soon as she took it out of the box. The very powerful motor breezes through chopping larger and more dense items, and Camryn found it delivers some of the most consistent results of all the machines she tested. 

Worth noting: the chute is very wide, so you can turn food on its side and slice in different sizes, ideal for julienning; the shredding disc is also reversible, and the slicing disc is fully adjustable with 0. 3mm to 8.0mm in size – overkill for some, perhaps, but if you take great pride presentation, it's a brilliant feature. 

'It screams quality,' Camryn says. 'While it costs a cool $300, it outperformed many other models that I’ve tested, delivering consistent results with minimal effort. I especially love the adjustable slicing disc and multiple chute sizes, which make it extremely versatile.' 

The biggest downside? It's big, which may make storage tricky if your space is small.

Our Breville Sous Chef 12 Food Processor review has more details

(Image credit: Ninja)

4. Ninja Professional 9-Cup Food Processor

The best food processor for easy cleaning

Specifications

Power: 850W

Capacity: 9 cups

Programs: Chop, puree, dough, disc, pulse

Cleaning: Dishwasher

RRP: $119.95

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Not too expensive

+

Very powerful

+

Plenty of programs

+

Easy to clean

Reasons to avoid

-

Only one food bowl

Why you should buy it: Great entry level; easy to use; affordable.

The Ninja Professional 9-Cup Food Processor has a range of intelligent programs and handy attachments, all for under $100. It can chop, puree, dough, and dice, and has a reversible disc for slicing, too. Our tester Camryn found it particularly good at shredding vegetables and used the double-layered dough blades to make cookie dough, which, she reports, came together a lot quicker than many of the best stand mixers (though she did have to scrape down the sides of the cooking bowl). 

Other features Camryn loved include its lightweight, locking lid for safety and the quad chopping blade, which doesn't simply slice what's at the bottom of the bowl. She found it less effective on hard ingredients, however.

Overall, Camryn was impressed with the versatility and high quality of the Ninja, especially considering the price. 'If you frequently process large batches of food, you may be better off with a high-end model like the Cuisinart Custom 14 (below), which has a huge 14-cup capacity, or if you want something more compact, the Nutribullet 7-Cup Food Processor (above) has a fairly small footprint,' she says.

Our Ninja Professional Plus Food Processor review has more details

(Image credit: kitchenaid)

5. KitchenAid Cordless 5 Cup Food Chopper

The best cordless food processor

Specifications

Power: Lithium ion battery

Capacity: 5 cups

Programs: 1.77in

Cleaning: Dishwasher safe

RRP: $99.99

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Perfect for indoor or outdoor use

+

Battery life is impressive

+

Easy to use and clean

Reasons to avoid

-

Small capacity

Why you should buy it: Cordless = portable; lightweight; handy for small jobs.

When our tester Camryn put the KitchenAid Cordless 5 Cup Food Chopper through its paces, it truly converted her to cordless food processing. 'Suddenly I could make sauces and dips while standing outside with the grill, and move around the kitchen with complete freedom,' she says.  

Camryn used this five-cup food processor for blitzing up onions, carrots, tomato sauce, guacamole, and even to make a delicious aioli using the mayonnaise attachment. It impressed her at every turn. 'It delivers strong processing power that can handle most tasks, and includes an awesome whisk attachment, as well as an oil drizzle basin that will come in handy for recipes like pesto or hummus,' she says, 'though it doesn’t do as good a job creating uniform pieces as larger food processors.'

Camryn loved its ease of use and cleaning: you turn it on by simply twisting the lid into place and pressing the perfectly thumb-sized groove at the top (though you need to unscrew and reattach the lid to add new ingredients), and the cup is dishwasher-safe. Of course, she points out that you will need to remember to recharge it, but the battery lasted a long time during testing and she anticipates needing to recharge every month, at most. 

Our KitchenAid Cordless 5 Cup Food Chopper review has more details

(Image credit: Cuisinart)

6.

Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor

The best large food processor

Specifications

Power: 720W

Capacity: 14 cups

Programs: On, Pulse

Cleaning: Dishwasher-safe parts

RRP: $249.95

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Generous bowl size

+

Simple to operate

+

Slices, shreds, chops and mixes

Reasons to avoid

-

Fewer smart functions

Why you should buy it: Well-made; easy to use; perfect for big family meals.

What sets the Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor apart is its large capacity: it's got five cups more than the industry standard. 'I can see this appliance being useful for someone who frequently does big-batch cooking. If you regularly double or triple the size of recipes to accommodate a large family or frequent hosting, the extra-large size of this appliance may be worth the splurge,' says our tester Camryn.

It tackled just about everything Camryn threw its way with ease: 'The pesto I made was evenly chopped and there was no need to go in and scrape any un-mixed ingredients into the sauce; my energy balls came out very well mixed and I found that it was easy to add and remove the blade because the bowl was so large,' she says.

For those who want a sturdy workhorse in the kitchen, look no further: it's outfitted with a slicing disc, shredding disc, and chopping/dough blade, and you can buy other shredding and slicing discs as well as a whisk attachment separately. Its uncomplicated design means it doesn't take up more space in the kitchen than it needs to, but it is heavy, so think twice about buying it if you'll need to transfer it from cabinet to countertop regularly. 

Our Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor review has more details

(Image credit: Ninja)

7. Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-IQ

The best food processor blender combo

Specifications

Power: 1500W

Capacity: 8 cups

Programs: Dough, blend, crush, pulse

Cleaning: Dishwasher safe

RRP: $219. 99

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

The ultimate multipurpose machine

+

Incredibly powerful

+

Personal and family-sized pitchers

Reasons to avoid

-

Large space requirements

Why you should buy it: Versatility! It operates as a portable blender, large batch blender, as well as a food processor, all on one smart base.

The Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-IQ is a great investment if you want a blender and food processor in one, its 1400-watt motor tackles everything from blending morning smoothies to chopping dough to shredding veg with ease. Worth noting: there are manual modes for low speeds, too.

Its size is a plus if you have the storage space for its bulky base and three attachments: the food processor bowl is 64oz and the large blender is 72oz, perfect for soups and large drinks. You can even prep your soup ingredients in the food processor bowl and finish them off in the pitcher. 

Included is a dough blade and two levels for larger portions. There's also a chopping blade that simply slots into the top of the bowl. I was impressed by the food processor attachment in particular, which was speedy and chopped evenly using the double-layered blades. The various Auto-IQ settings are excellently timed with differing strengths and intermediate pulsing. This was particularly useful when blending a large smoothie or soup because it meant I could leave the setting to work unassisted while I went about making breakfast. 

Our Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-IQ review has more details

(Image credit: Cuisinart)

8. Cuisinart Elemental 13 Cup Food Processor

The best food processor for dicing

Specifications

Power: 550W

Capacity: 13 cups

Programs: High, low, pulse

Cleaning: Removable parts are dishwasher safe

RRP: $199. 95

Today's Best Deals

Reasons to buy

+

Dicing attachments

+

Mini work bowl

+

Easy to clean

+

Attachment kit

Reasons to avoid

-

No multi-layer blades

-

Lots of storage space needed

Why you should buy it: Great for dicing.

If you take your cooking seriously, you'll know that sometimes dicing is just better than chopping for making tasty soups and the bases for stews. That's why I love the Cuisinart Elemental 13 Cup Food Processor and its dicing attachment. 

A powerful 550-watt motor keeps it on top of sizeable tasks, which is a good thing given the large size of the bowl. There is also a mini 4.5-cup work bowl that makes cleaning easier when preparing smaller dishes. The dicing attachment pushes vegetables and cheese through a grid insert and then slices the ingredients into evenly-sized square shapes.  I did find that this attachment took a bit of muscle to get through every last piece of potato or cucumber, but the results were impressively consistent. 

Although there are a lot of extra attachments to contend with, Cuisinart does provide a large storage case to keep these organized. It even has a lock to keep it away from kids. There is also a storage case that contains the multiple slicing, spiralizing and chopping inserts, so only opt for this one if you have plenty of storage space to offer. The dicing grid comes with a special tool to clean out the remaining ingredients without putting your fingers at risk. All removable parts are dishwasher-safe.

This food processor is still being put through its paces – these are our first thoughts.

Where to buy the best food processors

These are the best places to buy food processors for a breadth of choice and great deals. 

What is the best food processor?

After our extensive trials of the best food processor, the Cuisinart Core Custom 10-Cup blew us away for its overall ease of use and performance. It's also a nice bonus that all the parts neatly nest inside when not in use to not take up extra space.

Meanwhile, if you're after something absolutely premium, the Breville BFP660SIL Sous Chef is absolutely worth the splurge with its quality build and consistent results. However, it did take up more space to store.

For those after something compact, we thought the NutriBullet NBP50100 Food Processor was lightweight and easy to store, and it comes with loads of attachments for extra versatility when it comes to slicing and dicing. It's also a well-priced item that hovers around the $100 mark in price, making it a great value too.  

How we test the best food processors

(Image credit: Future)

Our food processors have been tested by me (Millie Fender), Homes & Gardens' Reviews Editor in our test kitchen, and by professional appliance tester Camryn Rabideau, in her own kitchen – more on both of us below. You can read longer reviews of each in separate guides, but know that our testing process is continuous, so you can be sure only the top choices feature in this guide. Alongside our hands-on testing, we also research online user reviews and ask experts to ensure we can present you with a balanced view of each food processor. 

If we have included a food processor in this guide, it will have a rating out of five stars and we will clearly state this in the summary of each product. You will see that some with four stars are higher up the list than those with five stars; this is because, from position two downwards, we list the product by popularity amongst you, our readers. However, we are confident that all food processors listed are really good buys.

When testing the best food processors we made sure to use every attachment on offer, meaning we will often slice, chop, grate, spiralize, and even make pizza dough. We also like to work with a mixture of personal and brand-supplied recipes. A lot of brands include recipes with their products, which can be a great way of getting to know a food processor, but it's also important that the machine will work with our own recipes. We also test each food processor for weeks, not once, to ensure we offer you more than just a first impression.

For more insight into our hands-on review process, refer to our Homes & Gardens review guidelines. 

Reviews Editor

Millie Fender is the Reviews Editor on the Homes & Gardens Ecommerce team. Millie specializes in reviewing cooking appliances, and has built up a deep knowledge of food processors, mixers and blenders in particular. Millie loves to bake, so she will take any excuse to review stand mixers and other baking essentials. All of Millie's reviews are conducted at home, meaning she uses these products in her own kitchen, the way they're designed to be used. 

Contributing Editor

Camryn Rabideau is a product reviewer who has been testing small kitchen appliances (as well as other home goods) for several years. She’s tested everything from toasters to oil infusion machines, and as an avid baker, she loves trying out any gadgets that promise to make her creations more delicious or easier to bake, especially food processors. Camryn does her product testing from her small homestead in beautiful Rhode Island. 

What size food processor is best

Our advice is to never buy something your kitchen can't accommodate. Yes, it's tempting to buy the largest and most impressive food processor out there, but if it won't fit onto crowded counters or in kitchen cupboards, you'll grow to resent it very quickly.

Not all food processors take a lot of space though. Both of the KitchenAid options in our guide have a small footprint, even though there's a 9-cup model that will cater to even large families. 

Often it's the motor found in the base of a food processor that makes it so space-consuming, so opting for a mighty Ninja food processor could be costly in terms of space, but worth it for the high-powered functions. 

(Image credit: Future)

Food processor vs blender: what's the difference?

If you've ever tried to make a smoothie in a food processor or chop veggies in a blender, you'll know they're very different machines. Because food processors have flatter bowls they're best suited to chopping dry ingredients, whereas the vertical design of a blender's pitcher means you'll have perfectly smooth drinks in seconds.

If you're trying to choose between a blender versus a food processor, there's always the option of buying the best food processor blender combo in our guide, the Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-IQ.

How much does a food processor cost?

The best food processor doesn't have to cost much. In fact, the models in our guide start at around the $100 mark, which really isn't bad for a powerful kitchen appliance that will last you for years. As they get smarter though, food processors also get more expensive. The typical food processor could cost as much as $250 for a truly multi-functional and high-end model. 

Round up of today's best deals

Nutribullet Food Processor

£29. 99

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Ninja Professional 9-Cup Food Processor

£79.99

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KitchenAid cordless 5 cup food chopper

£135.50

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Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor

£483

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Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System

£199. 99

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9 Best Food Processors 2023

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

This story was updated in September 2022 to ensure all picks previously tested and vetted by the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab were available and in stock.


Using a food processor is like having your own personal sous chef — it will save you from having to do tons of tedious and tiring prep work. A great food processor is able to dice, mince, grind, knead, puree, slice and shred. Whether you want to knead a pizza dough, grate potatoes and slice onions for latkes or puree a pesto, a trusty food processor will make the task faster. There are even blenders with food processor attachments or food processor–blender combos, which will help accomplish more in the kitchen with less equipment or having to decide whether to purchase a blender or food processor.

In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab we test food processors for consistency and efficiency — we also grade each on ease of use, including readability of owner's manual, assembly, controls and more. Out of over 75 food processors we’ve tested over the years, our top pick of 2022 is the Breville Sous Chef. It's top-of-the-line when it comes to performance, featuring a super powerful motor, a micro-serrated S-blade, an adjustable slicer with 24 settings (ranging from paper-thin to thick-cut), a reversible shredder, a dough blade and more. It aced every test, dicing onions, mincing parsley and uniformly slicing tomatoes in seconds. These are the best food processors you can buy:

Our top picks

You can read more about how we evaluate food processors in our Lab and consumer tests — plus everything you need to know to shop for your new sous-chef — at the end of this guide. Looking for more ways to make food prep a breeze? Check out out guides to small kitchen appliances and the coolest kitchen gadgets any foodie would love.


Breville BFP660SIL Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor

Breville BFP660SIL Sous Chef 12 Cup Food Processor

$300 at Amazon

Credit: Breville

Thanks to a super powerful motor, Breville’s Sous Chef is the MVP when it comes to performance. It’s stacked with bells and whistles to give you the ultimate versatility, including a micro-serrated S-blade, an adjustable slicer with 24 settings (ranging from paper-thin to thick-cut), a reversible shredder, a dough blade and more.

This model earned perfect scores in nearly all of our tests, turning out evenly diced onions, minced (read: not bruised) parsley, perfectly ground Parmesan and uniformly sliced tomatoes in seconds. The sleek silver Sous Chef has multiple feeding tubes, one of which is large enough to hold an entire tomato or one-pound block of mozzarella.


Oster 2-Speed 10-Cup Food Processor

Oster 2-Speed 10-Cup Food Processor

$80 at Amazon

Credit: Oster
Pros
Cons

Of the food processors we evaluated, the Oster Total Prep was one of the easiest to use. This no-frills black model comes with an S-shaped blade for chopping, a dough blade and a reversible shredding and slicing disc. The lid and feed tube are super simple to assemble. And for quick cleanup, all parts and accessories are dishwasher-safe. In our tests, it evenly processed diced onions and shredded carrots — though it did leave parsley slightly bruised when mincing, this shortcoming is offset by the great price.


Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor

Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor

$250 at Amazon

Credit: Cuisinart
Pros
Cons

This food processor has a solid base so it didn't move around when kneading dough, and the bowl’s straight edges made it easy to scrape and clean in our tests. It has a simple design and performs well: In our tests, it excelled at chopping onions, mincing parsley and grinding Parmesan cheese, as well as slicing pepperoni and tomatoes. We particularly liked the paddle design of the buttons because they’re wide and operate by pushing down — no fussing with a touchpad. The lid has a large feed tube (for foods like potatoes and cheese) and a smaller one (for skinny items like carrots and celery). The accessories are top rack dishwasher safe.


Magimix Food Processor 14-Cup Chrome

Magimix Food Processor 14-Cup Chrome

$450 at Williams Sonoma

Credit: Magimix
Pros
Cons

Magimix’s food processor with technology from Robot-Coupe (a brand primarily used in restaurants) brings a professional tool to your home kitchen. Featuring 6-cup, 12-cup and 14-cup mixing bowls, it has you covered whether you need to puree a small serving of baby food or knead brioche dough. It comes with two metal blades, a dough blade, two grating disks, two slicing discs, a Blendermix attachment, an egg whisk, a spatula and a storage box. If you want to upgrade this food processor there are additional attachments for purchase that will transform this food processor into a juicer, citrus press, spiralizer and so much more.


Cuisinart 13-Cup Elemental Food Processor

Cuisinart 13-Cup Elemental Food Processor

Now 11% Off

$199 at Amazon

Credit: Cuisinart
Pros
Cons

This Cuisinart food processor includes interchangeable 13-cup and 4.5-cup work bowls — so you can use it to prep salsa or coleslaw for a large party or just for two. It comes with an adjustable slicing disc, a reversible shredding disc (for medium or fine consistency), a dough blade, a dicing disc, a versatile chopping blade, a cleaning tool and a storage case to hold your accessories. In our tests, this machine earned high scores at nearly every task, including kneading bread dough and shredding mozzarella cheese.


Vitamix 12-Cup Food Processor Attachment with SELF-DETECT™

Vitamix 12-Cup Food Processor Attachment with SELF-DETECT™

$187 at Amazon

Pros
Cons

Already own a Vitamix blender and don’t want to purchase another piece of kitchen equipment? The Vitamix 12-Cup Food Processor Attachment is a great solution. This attachment comes with a base that lets the blender know you’re using the food processor attachment, a 12-cup work bowl with lid, two food pushers (one large, one small), one S-shaped multi-purpose blade, two reversible slicing/shredding discs and a slim disc storage case. It made smooth hummus and chopped parsley well in our tests. Even more attachments can be purchased for it, including a julienne disc and reversible fine shred and slice disc.


Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

$40 at Amazon

Credit: Cuisinart
Pros
Cons

Looking for a food processor but don’t have the storage space for a full-sized model? This compact option is a smart pick for little kitchens, dorm rooms or those who tend to make small portions. Ranking at the top of our tests, this 3-cup Cuisinart is a great do-it-all size: The chop and grind functions provide versatility to mince ingredients like herbs, onions, and meat or grind spices or beans with the blunt side of the blades.


Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-iQ

Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-iQ

Now 18% Off

$180 at Amazon

Pros
Cons

The Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-IQ is a great option when looking for a food processor–blender combo. You can switch from blending a frozen margarita to chopping salsa just by switching the work bowl. This food processor and blender combo comes with a pitcher, two single-serve cups with spout lids, pro extractor blades, a 64-oz processor bowl, a chopping blade and a dough blade. One thing that we were missing from a traditional food processor was a shredding/grating disc. Reviewers love the suction cups on the bottom of the base for steady blending and that this machine can replace at least 3 pieces of kitchen equipment: full-sized blender, personal blender and food processor.


Thermomix Thermomix® TM6™

Thermomix Thermomix® TM6™

$1,499 at thermomix.com

Credit: Thermomix
Pros
Cons

The Thermomix TM6 offers food processor functions like chopping, grating, crushing, mincing, grinding and milling — all controlled by its touchscreen and large knob. It also offers steaming and sauté functions, as well as unique features like sous-vide and fermentation. There are numerous components that come with the Thermomix like a mixing knife for chopping onions and mincing herbs, a spatula, a butterfly whisk for whipping cream and eggs, a splash guard, a Varoma basket (for steaming), a simmering basket and a mixing bowl. It features an integrated scale for weighing ingredients, a heating system and a touchscreen control panel.

We found that the Thermomix has a larger learning curve than most food processors, but with that came a lot of useful culinary techniques. The biggest downside to the Thermomix is the large price tag, but it can replace about 10 appliances in your kitchen, and the brand offers a complimentary 1-hour introductory tutorial so you can learn how to get the most out of your Thermomix right out of the box. It’s also equipped with thousands of recipes designed specifically for Thermomix via the Cookidoo app. Its smart, connected technology allows for over-the-air software updates that introduce new programs, like bread proofing, and one of its latest innovations is being able to order groceries right through the machine.


How we test food processors

The Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab regularly tests food processors for how evenly they're able to dice onions, mince parsley, grind parmesan cheese, shred carrots and mozzarella, slice tomatoes and knead dough. We also take note of how quickly each model performed these tasks and how much food was left unprocessed.

We grade ease of use, evaluating how helpful the owner’s manual is; how easy the blades, chute, and lid are to assemble; the intuitiveness of the controls; the variety of settings offered and the cleanability.


What makes a great food processor?

✔️ Versatility: A top-performing food processor should be able to blitz whole or large pieces of fresh produce — like onions, carrots, herbs or potatoes — into uniform dices or minces in very little time. It should be able to take on tasks like grinding hard cheeses, pureeing soups or sauces, making emulsions like mayo and even kneading dough for bread. When shopping, look for a model that can slice and/or shred foods like tomatoes and cheese.

✔️ Accessories: All food processors come with a work bowl for chopping and pureeing — the best ones will include a slicing and shredding disc as well. Other accessories to look for are a smaller work bowl and blade for finer tasks, a dough blade, a dicing accessory and even a blender attachment for smoothies. Most are top-rack dishwasher safe.

✔️ Settings and speeds: Many food processors have just one speed, but some can have high, medium and low speeds. One must-have: A pulse setting. Pulsing lets you incrementally chop food and control the blade to limit your risk of overprocessing. It’s also great for getting an even chop: The stop-and-go motion allows unprocessed items from the top to fall onto the blade to be processed. Otherwise, items close to the blade just continue to be processed making the bottom more fine than the top.

✔️ Weight: A heavier base helps in terms of performance, but heft doesn't necessarily relate to more power. Lighter materials make food processors more affordable and easier to move around and store. Details like suction cups may seem cheap, but they help keep the base from moving around on the countertop.

✔️ Warranty: Food processors are known as an investment piece, but some people boast that they have had theirs for over 30 years. Before you splurge, take a look at the brand's warranty: The length often varies for motor and accessories.


What size food processor should I get?

Consider the types of tasks you'll be using your food processor for and choose your capacity from there:

✔️ 2- or 4-cup models are for very basic small tasks like chopping herbs, making hummus, pureeing baby food and whipping up dressing or mayo.

✔️ 8-cup models are best for beginners: They're not too big, and not too small. Keep in mind that while they can be used for pastry dough, it would be tough to make bread in this size.

✔️ 12- or 14-cup models are our recommendation for most households. They're versatile and large enough to handle bread dough, and they often come with a second small work bowl for smaller tasks and an assortment of accessories too.