From slicing and dicing to shredding and chopping, a good food processor can make meal prep much easier. What can you do with a food processor, exactly? Probably more than you think. Unlike blenders, which are generally meant for liquids, food processors are best for handling solid items, such as walnuts, carrots or blocks of cheese, chopping them into tiny pieces. If you can spare the counter space, a dedicated food processor combo will save you tons of time — time you could spend having cake with your family (and eating it, too).
After looking at numerous reviews, retail sites and customer comments, we've concluded that the best food processor is the Breville BFP800XL Sous Chef. It has a 1200-watt motor, lots of accessories and a solid construction. For those for whom the Breville is too expensive, we recommend the Hamilton Beach 70725A, which has a less powerful motor but is very capable for its size and price.
Breville is a mainstay brand for quality kitchen appliances, so it's no surprise that the BFO800XL is one of the best food processors you'll find on the market today. With a die-cast metal base, stainless steel construction and robust 1,200-watt motor, this powerhouse was built to last. The extra-wide, 5.5-inch feed chute makes processing faster than ever, and the variable slicing disk has 24 settings, so you can customize your food thickness to between 0.3 and 8.0 millimeters. The BFO800XL is all about precision — elegant, elegant precision.
Is it a big job or a small one? Swap out the massive 16-cup bowl for the 1-liter minibowl, which is perfect for modest chopping tasks. Breville includes so many accessories that they need their own carrying case: a micro-serrated disk, julienne disk, french fry-cutting disk, whisking disk, mini blade, dough blade, cleaning brush and plastic spatula round out the attachments.
In the restaurant world, sous-chefs are considered to be second in command, ranked below only the head chef. Breville has earned this title with the BFO800XL.
Just because you need a little extra help in the kitchen doesn't mean you need to max out your credit card. The KitchenAid KFC3516ER is a great complement to any modern scullery, and it's perfect for smaller spaces. Plus, it comes in 18 different colors, making this little chopper a great gift.
There are only two speeds, low for chopping and high for pureeing, in addition to a pulse setting; when you're done, you can use the pour spout to serve right from the mixing bowl. Sure, the KFC3516ER is on the small side, and the 240-watt motor isn't powerful enough to manage hardcore food-processing tasks. But for the casual cook, this machine is worth a look.
Miniprep processors are useful, but they have clear limitations. The midsized Hamilton Beach 70725A, however, is much more capable than any chopper — at a surprisingly affordable price. The 12-cup bowl is perfect for mincing onions, grating cheese (one block at a time, if you like), shredding lettuce, chopping nuts, mixing salad dressing and performing other common food-prep chores. The 12-cup bowl, the lid, the chopping blade and the reversible slicing/shredding disk are all dishwasher-safe, so cleanup is a breeze; the Snap and Stack design is also easy to assemble on the fly.
Hamilton Beach includes dedicated push-buttons for slicing/shredding, pureeing/mixing and pulsing, providing more user control than other food processors in this price range. The 450-watt motor is strong enough for midsize chopping jobs, but some reviewers reported so-so motor quality. If you'd like your processor to power through whole fruits and vegetables, you'll want 600 watts or more.
