Best Food Processors to Help Prep Meals

Do you have one of the below food processors?

A food processor becomes an essential part of the cooking process once you have it.

When you’re prepping a meal, half of the time you spend cooking is often chopping, finely mincing, or blending vegetables. With a food processor, that time is cut down dramatically. Food processors can finely mince, chop, shred, and slice your ingredients for you in a matter of minutes.

If you’re not sure which food processor to add to your kitchen appliance collection or you’re looking for kitchen gift ideas, read our buying guide and our top picks.

Here are the top 5 best food processors on the market.

Editors' Choice: Breville BFP800XL Sous Chef Food Processor

Chefs, cooking enthusiasts, and food experts love the Breville Sous Chef Food Processor.

This powerful food processor takes the food processor to the next level by adding multiple functions. If you think that food processors are best for shredding cheese or chopping onions, you’ll be amazed at all this machine can do with the included blades and attachments.

The design is modern, so you won’t mind leaving it out on your counters. It comes in three colors, including a cranberry finish and a stainless steel finish.

Overall, you’ll be impressed by the many ways you can use this food processor.

Breville Sous Chef Food Processor Pros

• Accessories storage box: The box makes it easy to find the tool you need.
• Included options: The food processor comes with five multi-function disks, three blades, a 5.5″ feeder chute, and two BPA-free bowls. One bowl holds 16 cups, and the other holds 2.5 cups.
• Large capacity: This appliance holds up to 16 cups, so it’s big enough to make all your favorite recipes.
• Sleek design: The modern-looking machine looks beautiful in kitchens.

Breville Sous Chef Food Processor Cons

• Expensive appliance: This food processor is more expensive than some other models.
• Heavy machine: This food processor is heavier than most, so it’s harder to move out of the way if you need the counter space.

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Best Value: Hamilton Beach 70725A 12-Cup

You don’t need to fork over a bunch of money to have a high-quality processor in your kitchen.

The Hamilton Beach brand is both budget-friendly and reputable, and the company created an excellent food processor for your value.

This 12-cup food processor can hold enough food to prep for a large meal. It has various speeds to chop and slice your food the way you want it. Even with the 450-watt motor, it’s blades are powerful enough to knead bread dough and cut dense items.

For a processor under $100, the Hamilton Beach is the most reliable.

Hamilton Beach Food Processor Pros

• Easy assembly: You’ll be able to snap it together and start your recipe in no time.
• Excellent value: This processor isn’t expensive, but you’ll still be able to use it for anything you need it to do.

Hamilton Beach Food Processor Cons

• Less powerful: While it has enough power for most jobs, it doesn’t deliver as good of results as more expensive machines do.
• Trapped food: The machine’s design sometimes tracks food in crevices, making it more difficult to clean.

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Best Large Size: Cuisinart DFP-14BCNY 14-Cup

The Cuisinart DFP-14BCNY is another one of our top picks.

This Cuisinart will make cooking your big meals a breeze with its large feeding tube, dishwasher-safe parts, and various chopping settings. You can choose from seven functions, which makes it extremely versatile.

The Cuisinart also delivers exceptional results with its high-powered motor and precision blades. You can use it to chop or puree vegetables or even knead bread or pizza dough.

Cuisinart Food Processor Pros

• Compact size: The processor will fit on most countertops, and the accessories fit inside.
• Easy to clean materials: The parts are dishwasher safe.

Cuisinart Food Processor Cons

• Difficult assembly: The parts can be difficult to put together.

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Best Small Size: KitchenAid 3.5-Cup

If you don’t need a huge, fancy product and want something to chop small fruits and vegetables, a compact food processor might be what you need.

The KitchenAid 3.5 Processor is small in size but efficient in its results. It’s big enough to mince or finely slice an apple or onion. With the two speeds, you can choose the result you want.

The KitchenAid’s size makes it helpful for quickly whipping together a sauce or puree while you’re making a meal.

KitchenAid 3.5 Cup Food Processor Pros

• Compact size: The size is perfect for storage and small jobs.
• Dishwasher-safe parts: This feature makes the appliance easy to clean.

KitchenAid 3.5 Cup Food Processor Cons

• Two blade settings: Other processors have more.

Best Multi-Purpose: Ninja Mega Kitchen System

Ninja Mega Kitchen System

The Ninja Mega Kitchen system includes a food processor, blender, and a smoothie machine all in one.

How does it do all of this? It comes with several attachments like blades and mixing bowls that you can use based on what you need. This product is the perfect all-in-one multipurpose kitchen item that you never knew you needed. Food processors and blenders are a lot alike, so it makes sense to combine them into one tool.

The Ninja Mega Kitchen is also the strongest motor among this list, making it extremely suitable for every type of food.

This appliance comes with everything you need. You get two to-go cup attachments that make it easy to blend your smoothies or purees and go. The food processor bowl can fit up to eight cups of food, and the results are impressive.

This product is best for someone who wants to get the absolute most out of their food processor.

Plus, the blender is one of the best blenders on the market.

Ninja Mega Kitchen System Pros

• 1500-watt motor: The motor is strong enough to do any job you need it to do.
• Included accessories: This set comes with a blender, smoothie, and juicer attachments. It also comes with Nutri Ninja cups.

Ninja Mega Kitchen System Cons

• Limited warranty: Some of the products have shorter warranties.
• Small bowl: The food processor bowl isn’t the biggest.

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Food Processor Buyer’s Guide

Any kitchen appliance, whether you’re looking at air fryers or coffee makers, have a lot of things to consider before you get out your credit cards to make a purchase.

Tons of brands offer similar products. Therefore, you should know the ins and outs of food processors to help you pick the best option for you.

Here are some things to consider when you’re shopping for a food processor.

Cleaning and Maintenance

A dirty food processor may seem like a hassle, but it shouldn’t be.

You should be able to clean your processor and its attachments without

If you have a dishwasher, look for a food processor that has dishwasher-safe materials. These materials save you take because you don’t have to hand wash the various parts.

However, we do recommend hand washing blades so that they last longer.

Don’t let your processor sit with food in it for longer than a few hours. When you’re done using your processor, soak the parts in warm water and rinse them out before you place them in the dishwasher.

If your product is not dishwasher safe, soak the product to get all of the extra food off of it, then wash the food processor with warm water and soap.

Durability

Nobody wants to deal with a food processor that burns out after a few months. Regardless of how much you spend, it’s a waste of money and frustrating to buy a new machine.

Buy a food processor from a brand that is known for its durability. A high-quality food processor should have a powerful, efficient motor that lasts many years.

When you buy anything with a motor, research how it works in the long run. Read reviews from experts and users to see how the machine you’re looking at will last over time.

The durability depends on the build and how you maintain the product. If you follow the included instructions for cleaning and maintenance, your food processor should last for years.

Motor Wattage

The motor wattage is the amount of power the motor has.

A higher wattage helps handle items with dense textures like dough. If the motor wattage is low, the machine will likely slow down under the density. When the wattage is high, the product shouldn’t have a problem.

One way to test your motor is to put in a dense item like stiff dough or carrots and turn on the food processor. If some product gets stuck at the bottom under the blades, the motor can’t handle difficult textures.

If you have a food processor with lower wattage, you might get uneven pieces when you try to chop vegetables. Some pieces will be finely chopped, and others will be huge chunks.

To avoid performance or motor burnout, stick with a motor of at least 600 watts for a nine-cup size food processor.

Number of Attachments

Food processors are a multipurpose gadget, meaning that they have multiple functions.

Most food processors come with multiple attachments that you can switch out to get different outcomes. The number of accessories depends on the brand, the quality, and the price of the processor.

Some of the budget-friendly processors may come with a few attachments. Some of the high-end brands have several options.

You can expect your food processor to have attachments and accessories ranging from mixing bowls to blades to pushers.

Attachment Storage

Where do you put all of these extra accessories that come with your food processor?

One of the downsides to all of these extra perks is that not all food processors come with a storage compartment. Some food processors come with 10+ attachments but nowhere to put them. I

To minimize this problem, make sure you’ll use these fancy attachments before you buy one. If so, get a food processor that has storage space inside the appliance or separate storage that comes with it.

If you can’t find one with enough storage space that comes with it, make sure your cupboards have room.

Dough Blade

A lot of people use their food processors to knead their dough while they prep the rest of the meal, especially if they don’t have a bread maker to do it automatically.

If you want to knead any dough in your food processor, pick one with a high power wattage that can penetrate denser material.

It’s also wise to get a processor that offers dough blades. These dull blades can knead bread dough for you.

Feed Tube

In addition to your feed tube, you may also get a second or third feed tube of a different size.

These other feeding tubes are to accommodate different food sizes. For example, a wide feed tube allows you to fit in things like a potato or zucchini. A smaller feed tube is for blending nuts and grains or shredding carrots.

Juicing Attachment

Many food processors come with a juicing attachment. The juicing attachment works in conjunction with a speed setting to juice your fruits and vegetables with minimal mess.

Pusher

All food processors come with a “pusher,” which is the tool that fits into the feed tube. The tool gets the food in without harming your fingers.

This piece is essential for when you’re adding in bigger chunks of food, and it also serves as a lid.

Some brands come with both large and small pushers.

Shredding and Slicing Disk

Food processors come with a shredding and slicing disk, but some have different adjustable slicing disks to select.

If you’re a seasoned chef and want a machine that is more professional level, you should find one with several blades. This will expand the types of food you can put in it and the thickness and shape you will get.

Size and Capacity

Food processors range from the spacious standard sizes to smaller, mini-processor sizes. There is something out there for any cook whether you want to chop a vegetable or feed a family of four.

In general, you want to make sure that the food processor has enough space to make a full meal. Most chefs recommend starting with a food processor that holds up to 11 to 12 cups, which is the standard size.

If you don’t have the kitchen space and don’t need 12 cups of space, try a mini processor. This size usually ranges from 3-6 cups.

Mini food processors or choppers can chop vegetables or nuts that aren’t too dense. Because of the size, they are portable and easy to clean. If you only need a processor for chopping onions or mincing herbs, consider a smaller size.

A small processor will still slice tomatoes or other vegetables. The only difference is how much it can hold at once.

Food processors come in a wide variety of sizes. You can get almost any amount of cups you want.

Warranty

When you purchase any household appliance, it should come from a reputable company with a decent warranty policy.

Machines break, malfunction, or stop working for many reasons. If yours doesn’t work correctly, the manufacturer should repair or replace your device under warranty.

The average warranty lasts up to a year, but this varies from company to company. Check the warranty policies on any option you’re considering. Some companies have additional protection on the motor for up to ten years.

Some kitchen appliances (like waffle makers or ice cream makers) only have a set use, but the options are nearly unlimited with a high-quality food processor.

Use our buying guide and our top picks to help you find a machine that will work for kneading bread dough, shredding mozzarella, or getting you perfectly minced parsley.