Best Food Processors

Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor (DFP-14BCNY) sits at #1 in the S tier of our consolidated board, ranked across independent research runs over current expert reviews. The long-term ownership winner: a proven 720W motor, minimal electronics to fail, parts still available, and endorsement from Wirecutter, Bon Appetit, and the BuyItForLife crowd alike.

Breville Sous Chef 16 Peel & Dice Food Processor ranks #2 (A tier). The best-performing processor in current testing (Serious Eats, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine), held from the top spot by its short base warranty and higher complexity.

Our research places KitchenAid 3.5-Cup Food Chopper (KFC3516), Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap 4-Cup Mini Food Processor, Cuisinart Core Custom 4-Cup Mini Chopper, Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap 12-Cup Food Processor, Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus 3-Cup Food Processor (DLC-2ABC), Hamilton Beach Bowl Scraper 10-Cup Food Processor (70730), KitchenAid Go Cordless 5-Cup Food Chopper in the bottom tiers (D/F). A durable, well-supported mini, just edged by the Core Custom on capacity and chop quality.

Chopping, slicing, shredding, grating and kneading. A food processor uses a wide bowl with an S-shaped blade for chopping and pureeing, plus flat discs for slicing and shredding vegetables and cheese. Most full-size models can also mix pie dough or bread dough. Some, like the Breville Sous Chef 16 Peel & Dice Food Processor and the KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor with Dicing Kit (KFP1319), add a dicing kit that cuts even cubes.

Only for wet jobs. A blender needs liquid to pull food down onto its blades, so it makes smoothies, soups and sauces well but turns dry ingredients into an uneven mush or stalls. A food processor works dry: it chops onions, shreds cheese, slices cucumbers and cuts butter into flour, none of which a blender can do properly. If you mostly make drinks and soups, buy a blender. If you prep vegetables and dough, buy a food processor. Our board covers food processors only.

Twelve to fourteen cups for a household that cooks regularly, since that bowl handles a batch of dough or a whole head of cabbage. Our top pick, the Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor (DFP-14BCNY), and the Magimix 5200XL 14-Cup Food Processor are that size. For one or two people, or a small kitchen, a seven to nine cup machine like the KitchenAid 7-Cup Food Processor (KFP0718) or the Breville Paradice 9 Food Processor is easier to store and still does full prep. Three to four cup choppers such as the Cuisinart Core Custom 4-Cup Mini Chopper are for garlic, herbs and nuts, not meals.

Cuisinart, on the evidence our board has. The Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor (DFP-14BCNY) has a decade-plus track record and a following among people who buy things to last, and even the small Cuisinart motors have a long history of surviving years of use. Magimix is the other durability name: the Magimix 5200XL 14-Cup Food Processor carries a 30-year motor guarantee and commercial-grade French build. Breville performs best in testing but ships a short base warranty. Hamilton Beach sits at the bottom of our board on durability.

A well-built one lasts a decade or more. The Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor (DFP-14BCNY) has a decade-plus record on its motor and parts are still sold for it, and the Magimix 5200XL 14-Cup Food Processor is guaranteed for 30 years on the motor. Budget machines are a different story. Our research found the Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap 12-Cup Food Processor reviews fine in week one and disappoints in year two, and the KitchenAid Go Cordless 5-Cup Food Chopper carries a battery that degrades and becomes the failure point.

Plastic bowls, lids and latches break before motors do. The Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap 12-Cup Food Processor has a plastic bowl and lid that are common breakage points and a motor that strains on dough and hard cheese. The KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor with Dicing Kit (KFP1319) draws mixed long-term feedback on its lid and latch. Electronics are the other weak spot: the Breville Sous Chef 16 Peel & Dice Food Processor has more accessories and electronics, so more places to fail, than the simple Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor (DFP-14BCNY). Buy a machine whose parts are still sold separately, which is why the Cuisinart and the Magimix 5200XL 14-Cup Food Processor rank where they do.

Yes, if your jobs are small: garlic, herbs, nuts, a cup of salsa or a batch of pesto. On our board the Cuisinart Core Custom 4-Cup Mini Chopper is the mini to buy, with a reversible blade, dishwasher-safe parts and a tested win at Food & Wine. The Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap 4-Cup Mini Food Processor is the cheapest credible option and Serious Eats' favourite mini. Do not buy a mini expecting to slice vegetables or knead dough. It has no discs and the motor is not built for it.

It can, but badly. The S-blade chops beans into uneven pieces rather than grinding them, so you get dust and chunks together, which brews bitter and weak at once. The oils also cling to the plastic bowl and flavour the next thing you chop. Use a burr grinder for coffee. A food processor is fine for coarser dry jobs like breadcrumbs, nuts and oats.

Rinse the bowl, lid and blade straight after use so food does not dry on, then wash in warm soapy water or the top rack of the dishwasher if the maker says the parts are dishwasher safe. Handle the S-blade by its hub, never the edge. Wipe the motor base with a damp cloth and never submerge it. Check the lid seal and feed tube, where food collects and goes unnoticed. The Cuisinart Core Custom 4-Cup Mini Chopper is one of the easiest on our board to clean, with dishwasher-safe parts and a simple bowl.

Three things. Avoid low-wattage full-size machines: the 450-watt Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap 12-Cup Food Processor strains on dough and hard cheese. Avoid gimmick features that replace a tool you already own, like the built-in scraper on the Hamilton Beach Bowl Scraper 10-Cup Food Processor (70730), which a spatula does better. Avoid battery-powered choppers such as the KitchenAid Go Cordless 5-Cup Food Chopper, because the proprietary battery is a consumable with a food chopper attached. A short one-year warranty on a premium price, as on the Ninja Professional Plus Food Processor (BN601), is also a warning sign.

People who mostly make smoothies and soups, who should buy a blender instead. People who cook for one and rarely prep vegetables, who will find a full-size bowl more to wash than it saves, and should look at a mini such as the Cuisinart Core Custom 4-Cup Mini Chopper or skip the purchase. And anyone without the counter or cupboard space for a fourteen-cup machine, who should consider the KitchenAid 7-Cup Food Processor (KFP0718) or the Breville Paradice 9 Food Processor before buying nothing.