It’s not uncommon to find chopping veggies with a super sharp knife to be soothing.
What’s even more satisfying is blitzing through heads of garlic, mounds of cilantro, or shards of cheese with a handy food processor.
Food processors are a vital kitchen tool that make chopping, shredding, slicing, and pulsing as easy as pie.
Whether you need sliced vegetables, chopped nuts, or sauce puree, a food processor can do it all plus everything in between.
Some food processors are better than others, but what you’ll realize is that you don’t necessarily need to splurge to get a great food processor that can do enough.
Here are our picks for the top 5 best food processors:
Best Food Processor Overall
Cuisinart 13-Cup Stainless Steel Food Processor
Cuisinart 13-Cup Food Processor Review
Cuisinart has been around long enough to make a name for itself in the blender-food processor kitchen sector. You could say Cuisinart is to food processors what Bounty is to paper towels, or Kellogg’s is to cereal.
The Cuisinart 13-Cup Stainless Steel Food Processor is our top choice for those home cooks who just can’t get enough of their kitchens.
The design of this model is straightforward, and the food processor is easy to use, whether you’re a gourmet chef or a determined beginner.
The processor comes with a 13-cup bowl and 4.5-cup bowl. The 13-cup bowl is for your larger recipes while the 4.5-cup tackles your smaller chopping, shredding, or slicing.
The blade adjusts to 7 thicknesses and even allows for fine or coarse grating. Crushing ice, chopping salad, or grating cheese is easy with this dicing kit.
This stainless steel appliance is easy to clean and the removable parts are dishwasher safe to make cooking at home that much easier.
Best Affordable Food Processor
Oster 10-Cup Food Processor
Oster 10-Cup Food Processor Review
Not all food processors are made equal, but you don’t have to splurge to get a great one!
The Oster 10-Cup Food Processor is a great option for those who are on a tight budget or just getting familiar with the kitchen. Maybe you’re not quite sure what to spend on a food processor, or maybe you simply don’t want to.
This food processor has some smart-design advantages like the pricier models do. For example, the shredding and slicing functions are combined to one blade so you don’t have to switch when you want to do one, or the other. The 10-cup capacity makes it just the right size for recipes of all sizes, without taking over the entire kitchen counter.
On the other hand, this food processor is at a lower-range price. Keep in mind that using this gizmo for pulsing thick ingredients like butter and flour to make dough is much less efficient. Locking the bowl into place is also a bit tougher than it looks, but Oster made a more-than-adequate food processor for its low price.
Best Cordless Food Processor
KitchenAid Cordless 5-Cup Food Chopper
KitchenAid Cordless 5-Cup Food Chopper Review
Cordless isn’t always better but leave it up to KitchenAid to make it just that.
The KitchenAid Cordless 5-Cup Food Chopper makes it easy to chop your veggies, puree your sauces, and mix your dips while you’re standing freehand in the kitchen or lounging by the grill.
Whether you’re running out of outlets or counter space, the KitchenAid 5-Cup Chopper is the one kitchen appliance you can rely on to get your vegetables chopped and your sauces made wherever you are.
This food processor is affordable, compact, and easy to take on-the-go. Plus, the plastic cup is dishwasher safe to make chopping, slicing, and cooking that much more fun while you’re away from home.
Best Small Food Processor
KitchenAid 7-Cup Food Processor
KitchenAid 7-Cup Food Processor Review
The KitchenAid 7-Cup Food Processor is just $10 more than our cordless option and the best thing about it is its three speeds.
This processor has high, low, and pulsing speeds that make chopping and grinding easy. Dicing a tomato, grinding some parm, and crumbling pie crust takes just a few seconds.
However, mixing a bunch of ingredients to make something like pesto is going to take longer to process on the high setting than the more powerful models out there.
The reversible slicing-shredding disc is easy to install. However, the feeding tube isn’t as large as a full-sized food processor, so you’ll need to chop your foods into smaller pieces before throwing them in.
We really enjoyed the sleek design of this processor, it looks just like our Cuisinart pick, except it’s about $120 cheaper.
Best Food Processor Blender Combo
Ninja Blender Food Processor | Ninja Mega Kitchen System
Ninja Mega Kitchen System Review
Leave it to Ninja to make a reliable food processor-blender combo that every kitchen wants! There are a few Ninja Kitchen Systems out there.
The Ninja Food Processor and Blender Mega Kitchen System is a great investment for those who want an ultimate 2-in-1 kitchen gadget. Plus, it’s not even as expensive as you may think for all it can do!
Not only do you get a food processor and blender, but you also get a personal blender attachment, and two travel cups, for those frozen drinks or morning smoothies you just can’t pass up.
The food processor bowl is 8-cups (64 oz.) while the blender is 9-cups, both perfect for large soups and drinks. Making a soup is especially easy using the Ninja Mega Kitchen System because you can prep your ingredients in the processor and finish it off in the blender.
Ninja products are generally powerful, and the blade has the power to blend, crush, pulse, and dough.
The only downside to this combo is that it takes up a decent amount of space. You’ll have to store it away in different parts of the kitchen, but thankfully, if you ever lose one of your nutri-Ninja cups, Ninja has them available for purchase separately.
If you’re looking for a multipurpose machine that’s powerful, personal, plus family-sized, the Ninja Blender and Food Processor Mega Kitchen System is the right pick for you!