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The 7 Best Food Processors of 2023

Some reviewers have even called them "life changing."

By
food processor
Sarah Ceniceros

Delish editors handpick every product we feature. We may earn commission from the links on this page.

Sure, some people might say Kelly Clarkson‘s first single, "A Moment Like This," was about her winning American Idol. That won’t stop you from belting that power ballad at the top of your lungs the moment you discover the beauty that is owning a food processor.

Some appliances can crush ice, purée baby food, or even grind up raw meat, but how many can do it all? Whether you're putting together a quick salsa, whipping up some pie crust, or just want to spend less time on food prep and skip straight to the good part, this multi-use small appliance will have your back.

Curious about other must-have kitchen tools you need in your arsenal? Check out these immersion blenders and blenders.

Our top picks

How we picked these products

Good House Keeping Institute Lab Tested Badge

We get it, this is a lot of information to digest all at once. Luckily, our friends at the Good Housekeeping Institute are here to help. To find the best food processors, we consulted their team of on-staff experts—which includes all types: engineers! data analysts! registered dietitians!—who rigorously put everyday products to the test (and then more and more tests) in their New York City-based labs to determine which ones you can trust. Their kitchen tech experts looked at ease of use and assembly, noise level during operation, variety of settings offered, and cleanability to determine their overall capability when performing tasks like dicing onions, shredding cheese, mincing parsley, and more. No matter what kind of model you're looking for—mini, colorful, classic, restaurant-grade—we think you’ll find your food processor soulmate here.

Best Food Processor

Breville The Sous Chef 12-Cup Food Processor

The Sous Chef 12-Cup Food Processor

Pros

  • Three feeding tube chute sizes
  • Multiple accessories

Cons

  • Only one power setting

Consider Breville’s The Sous Chef to be kinda like Bop It! for adults: You can mince it, slice it, knead it, dice it, and, in terms of easy clean-up, you can also twist it and pull it. Per the Good Housekeeping Institute, "It earned perfect scores for evenly chopping onions, mincing parsley, grinding parmesan, slicing tomatoes, and kneading dough, and was also excellent at shredding carrots and mozzarella."

There’s more to this workhorse of a food processor than just the two 8- and 12-cup mixing containers and super powerful motor: It’s also a breeze to assemble and operate, with just a single speed and three buttons (Power, Start, Pulse).

In addition to boasting a reversible shredder, micro-serrated S-blade, dough blade, and adjustable slicer with 24 thickness settings, the feeding tube comes with three chute options ranging in size from 1.5 inches to 5 inches, which is large enough to hold an entire tomato or a one-pound wedge of mozzarella.

Best Budget Food Processor

Oster Total Prep 10-Cup Food Processor

Total Prep 10-Cup Food Processor
Now 10% Off
Credit: Oster

Pros

  • Inexpensive
  • Easy to use and assemble

Cons

  • May bruise herbs
  • Lacks bonus features of pricier models

Whether you’re a casual home cook or just in the market for a cheap chopper, the Oster Total Prep is sure to meet the basic needs of you and your wallet. From assembly and operation to clean-up, everything about this food processor is easy...in part due to the lack of bells and whistles. This basic model comes with a 10-cup dishwasher-safe container, a feed tube and lid, an S-shaped chopping blade, a dough blade, and a reversible slicing and shredding disc.

The Good Housekeeping Institute's kitchen experts found it was better at shredding and chopping than gentler tasks (for example, it "left parsley slightly bruised when mincing"), but we still think this an excellent kitchen tool for the price.

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Best Splurge Food Processor

Magimix Robot-Coupe 14-Cup Food Processor

Robot-Coupe 14-Cup Food Processor

Pros

  • Recommended by professional chefs
  • Tons of features and accessories

Cons

  • Pricey

The Magimix Robot-Coupe is more than just a small appliance: It’s basically a Transformer. With accessories like a dough blade, an egg whisk, two grating discs, two metal blades, two slicing discs, a spatula, and a storage box, it’s no surprise this food processor is every chef’s dream: Even the Good Housekeeping Institute says "it has you covered whether you need to puree a small serving of baby food or knead brioche dough." Plus, it offers three mixing bowls in 6-, 12-, and 14-cup capacities and a Blendermix attachment to seamlessly transform it into a blender.

If you truly want it all, there are more impressive attachments available for purchase that can upgrade the Robot-Coupe to your go-to all-in-one appliance, including a citrus press, juicer, and spiralizer. Now, we get it, this may be overwhelming for the casual home chef, but if you want a restaurant-quality food processor with all the bells and whistles, this is the one to get.

Most Versatile Food Processor

Cuisinart Elemental 13-Cup Food Processor

Editor’s Choice
Elemental 13-Cup Food Processor

Pros

  • Easy to use and clean
  • Includes a ton of bonus tools

Cons

  • Pricey
  • Not the best at shredding hard ingredients

You’ll never need another small appliance again with the Cuisinart Elemental Food Processor, which the Good Housekeeping Institute said "was a top-performing model in our Kitchen Appliances and Technology Lab’s test, earning high scores at nearly every task." With 4.5-cup and 13-cup bowls, you’ll be able to transition from cooking for two to serving a crowd with this easy-to-use kitchen tool. Offering seamless clean-up thanks to the included cleaning tool and storage case, this baby has it all.

Though it may seem pricey compared to the average food processor, consider the fact that you’re getting a variety of tools—including a dough blade, dicing disc, chopping blade, reversible shredding disc, and an adjustable slicing disc—in one adaptable gadget, so you can do everything from kneading dough for a baking bonanza to pulsing salsa for game day. Worth it.

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Best Mini Food Processor

KitchenAid 3.5-Cup Mini Food Processor

3.5-Cup Mini Food Processor

Pros

  • Small footprint
  • Tons of fun colors

Cons

  • Limited tools and accessories

Despite its compact size, the KitchenAid Mini Food Processor packs a powerful punch if you’re a home chef in a small space (college dorms and shoebox apartments, we’re looking at you) or don't want an arm workout every time you lug a bigger food processor out of the cabinet.

Equipped with solely a single chopping multi-purpose blade, the Good Housekeeping Institute's lab testers found this dishwasher-safe model wasn't "able to slice tomatoes or cucumbers in this model, but we found the lack of attachments made it a breeze to use."

With two pulse speeds (chop and puree) and even a hole in the lid to easily add ingredients to your mixture, there’s nothing “small” about this petite appliance’s capability. Plus, it comes in a variety of fun colors to match your kitchen decor, not to mention an included storage compartment for the cord.

Best Food Processor for Large Groups

Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap 12-Cup Food Processor

Stack & Snap 12-Cup Food Processor
Now 29% Off
Credit: Hamilton Beach

Pros

  • Easy to assemble
  • Dishwasher-safe accessories

Cons

  • Unable to prepare dough

Is your home the go-to spot for friends and family for holidays, watch parties, and game nights? Secure your status as the host with the most with Hamilton Beach’s Stack & Snap. Three is certainly a magic number with this food processor, which features a trio of blades for shredding, slicing, and chopping, as well as three functions for pureeing/mixing, slicing/shredding, and pulsing.

In addition to easily operating with the push of a few buttons, this is perhaps the simplest to assemble out of all the models on our list, thanks to its double-latch locking lid. "Because the lid locks on with two latches, you don’t have to fuss with the typical lining-up-and-twisting-the-lid-into-place routine," says the Good Housekeeping Institute.

It may not be able to make dough, but you’ll be able to do a variety of tasks with this versatile gadget, from evenly chopping mirepoix to grinding a block of Parmesan. Oh, and did we mention the blades, bowl, and lid are also dishwasher-safe?

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Best Food Processor Blender Attachment

Vitamix 12-Cup Food Processor Attachment with Self-Detect

12-Cup Food Processor Attachment with Self-Detect

Pros

  • Smart features ensure a proper consistency

Cons

  • Only compatible with Vitamix Ascent or Venturist models

Whether your kitchen counters are cramped enough as it is or you don’t want to shell out extra cash for an appliance you’ll only use intermittently, if you own a Vitamix Ascent or Venturist, this Vitamix Food Processor Attachment will be the answer to your food prep prayers. This super-smart accessory features a base that communicates to your blender when it’s in use, so you don’t have to worry about ending up with an onion smoothie.

It currently comes equipped with a 12-cup bowl, a large and small pusher, two reversible slicing and shredding discs, an S-shaped multipurpose blade, and a slim storage case, but if you need more accoutrements, you can also pick up a julienne disc or a reversible fine shred and slice disc.

The Good Housekeeping Institute's experts were also impressed with its capabilities, saying that it excelled "making smooth hummus" and "chopping fine parsley".

Are a blender and a food processor the same?

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In theory, both a food processor and a blender can chop up your food. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you can do it well. If you’re looking to liquify your ingredients, a blender is your best bet, but if you actually want your ingredients to keep some texture and weight (after all, who wants to sip their coleslaw through a straw?), a food processor boasts sharper blades to get the job done. And while blenders can come with extra attachments to make more than just smoothies and milkshakes, food processors are so versatile they can perform menial tasks like shredding cheese or take on all the hard work that goes into kneading bread dough. If you already own a blender and don’t have enough storage space, you can invest in a food processor attachment rather than deny yourself the luxury of having all your food chopped, sliced, and diced at the press of a button.

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Why should I get a food processor?

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Whether you made a commitment to eating healthier this year or you want to save some cash by making restaurant-quality meals in the comfort of your home, a food processor will serve as your own personal sous chef. With a variety of features like mincing and pulsing, you can have more control over your food’s ingredients and texture while saving yourself valuable food prep time. Fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese: You name it, a food processor can handle it.

What should I look for in a food processor?

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Size: You heard it here first: Size actually does matter. By taking into account how often you cook at home and how many you typically cook for, you can potentially save yourself some valuable storage space, not to mention extra cash. Sure, if you regularly cook for a crowd, go for that bigger model, but if you live alone or don’t plan on using your food processor regularly, you may be able to get away with something like a mini chopper.

Storage: In addition to a food processor’s size options, you should also consider its storage capabilities. If you’re still searching for that long-lost Tupperware lid, a container in which you can safely store all your food processor’s accessories in one place might be of value to you. Other compact options may include bonus features like a compartment in the base to stow away the cord or the ability to stack all the accessories inside one another to maximize your minimal storage space.

Features: As your mom always said, you get what you pay for, and the same goes for shopping for a food processor. The higher the price tag, the more nifty the functions. However, if you can’t see yourself bringing your food processor along on every culinary adventure you take, you’re probably better off with a more basic model without all those extra bells and whistles. That being said, there is one feature you absolutely must look for: Pulsing. Typically used for chopping or mincing ingredients, the pulse function can also help safeguard against over-processing.

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