The best food processors for 2021: KitchenAid, Cuisinart, and more

Deciding on one of the best meals processor to fit your chopping, dicing, grinding and meals prep wants could be difficult. From motor energy to capability, attachments and general worth, we’re right here to assist discover one of the best choices in the marketplace. Seems, one of the best meals processors aren’t all the time the most costly.

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With regards to kitchen countertop home equipment, a high-quality meals processor is without doubt one of the most versatile, designed to perform specialised duties rapidly within the kitchen.

A high-performance meals processor can really feel like your personal private sous chef, saving you on time and effort spent laboring over a given recipe. And it does not even need to be huge: Small meals processor and even mini meals processor choices want solely a pointy blade to get the job performed.

Relying on the attachment, a superb processor with a robust motor can simply shred onerous or gentle cheeses, grind nuts into powder, knead bread dough or pizza dough, make a pie crust, cube and slice vegatables and fruits or make butter and spreads. You may even make emulsions and soups proper within the working bowl with the assistance of a top quality meals processor in your kitchen. As with something, there are stark variations in motor efficiency, the general sturdiness and the price of the machine.

You additionally need to remember how straightforward to scrub the meals processor is. Some or all of its elements could also be dishwasher secure. Even when you must hand-wash the chopping blade, with the ability to toss the feed chute or major container within the dishwasher could also be a boon.

I examined seven, representing main manufacturers and finest sellers in keeping with Amazon, Goal and Walmart meals processor opinions. You may decide a meals processor up for as little as $25 or splurge huge on an costly professional mannequin for upward of $600. The meals processors I examined fall squarely within the center, within the $100 to $200 vary made for normal house use. There are additionally mini fashions and extra-large meals processors however these are all common in dimension — between 10- and 14-cup capacities. 

How we check meals processors

Whereas meals processors can carry out many alternative duties, I selected checks that represented the core features of a meals processor. Most individuals use these kitchen home equipment to mix, chop, puree and shred. 

Narrowed down to those key features, I selected hummus, pico de gallo, almond butter and shredding parmesan for the check kitchen duties. These recipes supply a mixture of mixing, chopping, shredding and pureeing to offer me a really feel for the efficiency of every mannequin. 

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Hummus is a good indicator of how powerful the food processor’s motor is and thus how well the appliance can blend ingredients together into one smooth dish. Pico illustrated how easy it is for the chopping blade to get a uniformly chopped dish made up of ingredients in varying textures and hardnesses. 

Almond butter allows me to test the food processor’s ability to puree something like a hard almond into a nut butter consistency. It also allows me to run the processor for an extended period of time to see if there are overheating issues or noise and vibration complaints. I used 16 ounces of almonds in each test. 

A shredding test calls for a nice big block of parmesan, one of the hardest cheeses. This tests the grating disc performance as well as the usability of the mouth’s width and the food processor’s food pusher.

I tried my hand at performing each of these in each of these food processors. Each recipe was repeated twice in each machine using the same ingredients in the same amounts across all brands. Here’s how it all shook out and my recommendation for the three best food processors available.

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Tyler Lizenby/CNET

It isn’t pretty (not even a little), but this $180 German food processor from Braun’s Tribute Collection had the best results by far when it came to blending and chopping. The hummus from the Braun food processor was the smoothest of any I made in my testing. When I used the Braun FP3020 as a food chopper to make Pico de Gallo, it came out uniform and finely chopped without leaving too much juice pooled in the bottom of the bowl.

The 12-cup bowl is large enough for families and with 15 speeds you’ll have plenty of control over your processing. The ability to fine-tune the speed came in extra handy when I grated a hard block of parmesan. On high, it was uncontrollable in most food processors, but with the speed at, say, a 6 or 8 out of 15 in the Braun, I could steady the cheese and guide it better through the feed tube while still getting a good grate.

You’ll also get seven attachments to help make being a home chef easy. The attachments are perfect for slicing vegetables, kneading dough, shredding, whipping, juicing and mixing. $180 is on the upper end of our price range, but the Amazon price at the time of this posting put it at a reasonable $164 — not too shabby for a kitchen appliance that helps in all kinds of cooking and food prep.

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Tyler Lizenby/CNET

We tested multiple Cuisinart models and this one wins for its balance of performance, value and features. This Cuisinart food processor performed well in our food processor review tests. 

Hummus with the Cuisinart FP-11SV was smooth and well-blended. Four pulses worked as a food chopper for chopping up my pico de gallo ingredients well and although getting almonds to a butter consistency took significantly longer in this model (about 10 minutes on average compared to other models), the result was a smooth and well-mixed. 

Shredding cheese was a bit tricky since the mouth of this processor’s food chute is small compared to other models. I had to trim down my wedge of parmesan quite a bit to fit in the chute. However, you do get thoughtful extras like a disc with two shredding size options (fine or medium) and suction cups on the bottom of the processors to help it stay steady on your countertop.

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Tyler Lizenby/CNET

KitchenAid is a classic brand and while its stand mixers are beloved, I can’t say the same for the company’s food processor options. This 11-cup KitchenAid food processor model worked well, but it wasn’t the best performer in blending and chopping. However, you will get a lot of attachments and it’s a good food processor for shredding and slicing since it comes with multiple discs for different shred and slice sizes. 

Hummus in this model was a smooth, well-blended consistency with even flavor. Five pulses of the chopping blade did the trick as a food chopper for my pico de gallo vegetables and almond butter was easily processed, though the machine did heat up in the 18 minutes it took to process the almonds into nut butter, leaving me with questions about the motor. This KitchenAid model does have an automatic shut-off to prevent motor burnout, but that heat still made me nervous. 

Shredding and slicing is where KitchenAid really shines. There’s a reversible shredding disc option and an externally adjustable slicing disc that corresponds with a slider on the front of the base, so you can get really specific slice sizes. 

There’s also a nice storage case included, so you don’t end up throwing all those blades into your bowl when it’s not in use. It has a classic style and like any good KitchenAid appliance, it comes in multiple finishes. The price varies depending on which finish you choose. The silver model I tested has a suggested retail of $250, but the white model is currently on sale at Amazon for $160. 

Other food processors we tested

In addition to the three recommended above, we tested four other food processors in the $100 to $200 range. 

Worth considering, but not as good as the top picks above:

• Hamilton Beach Professional Dicing Food Processor: I was impressed by the design of this food processor, but it wasn’t the winner in performance and I found the button labels and noise level to be a bit bothersome. At $200, I can’t recommend it over better-performing models. 
• Cuisinart DFP-14BKSY Custom 14-Cup Food Processor: This Cuisinart model performed well enough, but you’ll only get one speed option and just one sized shredding disc. The food processors recommended above offer more for your money.

Not recommended:

• Ninja Smart Screen Blender and Processor: This kit comes with a blending bowl, processing bowl and a travel cup. With a smaller (five-cup) bowl capacity, inconsistent and underperforming results. The Ninja Smart Screen is a small food processor unit I would avoid if your priority is food processing.
• Oster Designed for Life 14-Cup Food Processor: This food processor just didn’t perform well. Hummus had multiple unchopped chickpeas in it and the gusty airflow out of the front of the machine was enough to blow around items on my countertop. Another food processor I would avoid.

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What to look for when buying a food processor

Picking the best food processor for you means considering all the features you’ll need for your favorite recipes and common home chef kitchen tasks. 

Capacity

Food processors come in many different sizes and volumes. The size of the food processor is based on the size of the work bowl. I tested models ranging from 11- to 14-cup capacity, but you can get food processors that come with mini bowl and mini chopper options and as small as three cups. For a household with two or more people, I’d recommend at least an 8-cup model and if you have the storage space, spring for a large food processor, just in case. 

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Speeds

Most recipes involving food processors specify mixing or chopping at either a high or low speed and for that reason, you’ll want a processor with at least two speeds and a powerful motor. The most common configuration is a low, high and pulse option. There are some food processors with just one speed, but that’s extremely limiting when it comes to having control over your meals so look for a food processor with at least some range of speeds.

My top food processor pick, the Braun FP3020 has 15 individual speeds on one dial. That’s much more than most people will ever need, but the option to really zero into a specific speed adds the option for precision. 

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Attachments

While your food processor is primarily two spinning blades, there are a host of other attachments that can expand your processor’s abilities. Some come with multiple attachments like discs for grating, shredding and slicing, dough blades for kneading bread dough, whipping cream and attachments for chopping nuts, juicing fruits or dicing vegetables. If you know the tasks you’ll do most often, be sure to check that your processor includes the blades and attachments you’ll need, such as the right mixing blade, chopping blade, slicing blade or citrus juicer. Some food processor models, like the Braun, come with a lot of these attachments while others must be purchased separately so depending on your food processing needs this may be something to consider. Remember, attachments shouldn’t be difficult to clean and you should definitely check if they can go in the dishwasher.

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Materials

You may also want to consider the materials from which the food processor is made. If you plan to use it often and are perhaps not the most careful chef in the kitchen consider a sturdy stainless steel food processor versus one with a plastic base which may be less expensive but more prone to breakage. Most food processor bowls are made from a hard plastic that is easy to clean and dishwasher safe but some are more sturdy than others. If you have the opportunity to touch and hold the food processor make sure the plastic bowl and its lid are tough enough to handle being knocked around without cracking.

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