10 best food processors for chopping, slicing and shredding

We put 15 food processors to the test by chopping, slicing and dicing a range of ingredients as well as making pastes, sauces and kneading doughs. Read on to find out which models came top.

Visit our reviews section and discover more than 600 practical buyer's guides offering unbiased advice on what equipment is worth investing in. Find everything from counter-top appliances such as the best stand mixers and best air fryers, through to smaller essential kit like the best mini choppers and the best spice grinders.

Jump to section:

• Best food processors at a glance
• Best food processors to buy in 2022
• Other food processors tested and rated
• What is a food processor?
• What can a food processor be used for?
• What does a food processor do?
• How we tested food processors

Best food processors at a glance

• Best budget food processor for power: Ninja Food Processor with Auto-IQ BN650UK, £74
• Best hard-working food processor: Magimix 4200XL 18473 food processor, £300
• Best 2-in-1 food processor/stand mixer: Bosch CreationLine Kitchen Machine, £299
• Best intuitive food processor : Ninja 3-in-1 food processor with Auto IQ, £199.99
• Best food processor with built-in scales: Kenwood MultiPro Express Weigh+ food processor, £149
• Best basic food processor: Cuisinart FP8U Easy Prep Pro, £119
• Best food processor for gadget lovers: Sage The Kitchen Wizz Peel & Dice, £518.95
• Most compact food processor: KitchenAid 2.1-litre food processor, £140
• Best food processor for fine blitzing: Russell Hobbs Desire food processor, £49
• Best 2-in-1 blender and food processor: Magic Bullet Kitchen Express, £69

Best food processors to buy in 2022

Ninja Food Processor with Auto-IQ BN650UK

Best budget food processor for power

Pros:

• Good selection of presets
• Measurements and markers up the side of the mixing bowl
• Powerful performance
• Compact design
• Comes with everything you’d need for everyday processing

Cons:

• Loud
• Short one-year guarantee

Star rating: 5/5

Ninja is well known for its powerful pieces of kitchen kit, and this model, despite the low price tag, delivers impressive performance with oomph.

The BN650UK is Ninja’s budget food processor offering and as such it doesn’t come with all the added extras such as blender jugs and takeaway cups. But if you’re looking for a food processor that performs basic chopping, grating, kneading and slicing tasks exceptionally well, this Ninja is a must-buy.

This model comes with four Auto IQ presets for chopping, puréeing, slicing and mixing, as well as the usual low, high and pulse manual settings. We couldn’t fault the results as this model worked its way through every test with absolute ease. For added convenience the bowl and attachments are dishwasher-safe (top rack only). Our only minor gripe was that it is rather loud.

• Wattage: 850W
• Working capacity: 2.1L
• Accessories: chopping blade, dough blade, reversible slicing/grating disc

Magimix 4200XL 18473 food processor

Best hard-working food processor

Pros:

• Robust
• High-quality efficient machine
• Great recipe book

Cons:

• On the heavy side

Star rating: 5/5

This impressive food processor from Magimix will take care of most processing jobs needed in the kitchen, from shredding and grating, to blending, puréeing and slicing. It can also handle a very good rapid-knead pizza dough and much more. This well-made machine, with a clever three-bowl system, makes it one of the most versatile on our test. The controls are simple, straightforward and so good-looking you will not want to put this in the cupboard.

• Wattage: 950W
• Working capacity: 1.3L
• Accessories: three bowls, two chopping blades, two grating discs (2mm & 4mm), two slicing discs (2mm & 4mm), BlenderMix ring (for blending), dough blade, egg whisk, spatula, storage box

Read our full Magimix 4200XL 18473 food processor review

Bosch CreationLine Kitchen Machine

Best 2-in-1 food processor / stand mixer

Pros:

• Integrated scales and timer
• Dishwasher-safe attachments
• BPA-free plastics

Cons:

• Outdated acronym in product name
• Weighs in increments of 5 grams
• Expensive

Star rating: 5/5

Multi-functional appliances make life easier in the kitchen, not least because they save you from having to buy and store multiple machines. Bosch’s MUM5XW10 kitchen machine is a unique stand mixer and food processor hybrid that backs its versatility with easy-to-use integrated scales so ingredients can be weighed directly into the bowl. The touchscreen controls are intuitive to use, its 1000W motor incredibly efficient during testing and with dishwasher-safe attachments, it earned Star Buy status from BBC Good Food experts.

• Wattage: 1000W
• Working capacity: 3.9L
• Accessories: silicone whisk, beating whisk, kneading hook, continuous shredder, grating disc medium-fine, reversible disc for slicing and grating, reversible shredding disc, reversible slicing disc for an extra size, accessory bag
  

Read our full Bosch CreationLine kitchen machine review

Ninja 3-in-1 food processor with Auto-IQ

Best intuitive food processor

Pros:

• Intuitive, with fast and excellent results across the board

Cons:

• Lacks a storage box

Star rating: 5/5

The Ninja 3-in-1 combines three types of food processing into one machine, with a roomy food processor jug, sturdy glass blender and single-serve blender. This can be used for smoothies and juices to go, or to make small amounts of sauces and spice mixes.

It's a fiercely efficient machine with a 1200-watt motor that can work through ingredients (whether chopped, mixed, grated, sliced, blended or puréed) in seconds. This machine’s IQ to select the correct process for each jug used makes it stand out on our test.

• Wattage: 1200W
• Working capacity: Food processor - 1.8L, blender - 2.1L
• Accessories: Blender jug and lid, stacked chopping blades, blender blades, 700ml cup, reversible slicing/grating disc, disc adapter, dough blade, chopping blade

Read our full Ninja 3-in-1 food processor review.

Kenwood MultiPro Express Weigh+ food processor

Best food processor with built-in scales

Pros:

• Useful built-in scales

Cons:

• Confusing amount of accessories

Star rating: 4.5/5

The Kenwood MultiPro lives up to its name, as this multi-functional food processor is stacked with versatility. The 1000-watt motor packs a punch and the many chopping, grating, slicing, shredding, stirring, whisking and blending functions are quick and easy to use once you get your head around the multitude of accessories included. Our favourite has to be the accurate built-in scales, which weighs directly into the jug – this saves so much time and the need for other equipment on a busy work surface.

• Wattage: 1000W
• Working capacity: Food processor - 3L, blender - 1.5L
• Accessories: Glass blender, Express Serve and Express Dice accessories, citrus juicer, metal whisk, 2mm and 4mm reversible slicing/grating discs, extra fine grating disc, chopping blade, dough blade

Read our full Kenwood MultiPro Express Weigh+ review

Cuisinart FP8U Easy Prep Pro

Best basic food processor

Pros:

• High-quality components
• Attractive design

Cons:

• No jug attachment

Star rating: 4.5/5

This is a great food processor if you're looking for a reasonably priced machine that will do the basics with minimum fuss. The components are pared back but highly effective, working through ingredients quickly and efficiently. The materials all feel well-made, from the stylish outer shell to the strong blades.

• Wattage: 350W
• Working capacity: Large bowl - 1.9L, small bowl - 0.7L
• Accessories: Small and large chopping blades, small and large reversible slicing and grating discs

Read our full Cuisinart Easy Prep Pro review

Sage The Kitchen Wizz Peel & Dice

Best food processor for gadget lovers

Pros:

• Dazzling build quality
• innovative functions, quiet

Cons:

• Very expensive

Star rating: 4.5/5

Minimalist in design but not in stature, this is a serious hunk of die-cast metal finished to an incredibly high spec. For such an innovative and complex machine, it's actually very easy to use. One major perk is how quiet it is. While lots of food processors shriek and whine, the Sage has a pleasingly low whirr. The accessories are particularly sharp and come in a large storage case, which is worth bearing in mind if you're low on kitchen space.

• Wattage: 2000W
• Working capacity: 3.7L
• Accessories: 12mm dicing kit, peeling disc, serrated chopping blade, reversible shredding disc, variable slicing disc, julienne disc, french fry cutting disc, whisking disc, mini blade, dough blade, cleaning brush, spatula, storage box

Read our full Sage The Kitchen Wizz Peel & Dice review

KitchenAid 2.1-litre food processor

Most compact food processor

Pros:

• Small footprint
• Easy to store
• Innovative reversible stacking discs
• Quiet
• Oil drizzler

Cons:

• Not great at finely blitzing smaller quantities

Star rating: 4.5/5
The KitchenAid's style and small footprint are the first things we noticed about this machine. It's compact (about the width of a large kettle), lightweight, easy to unpack and manoeuvre, and sports handy grooves at its base. Non-slip feet keep it stable once settled.

Each component and accessory feel quality-made and built to last. This is a step-down in size from the 3.1L KitchenAid, so better suited to those who don't want to bulk-blitz ingredients, but do want a practical machine for everyday use.

• Wattage: 250W
• Working capacity: 2.1L
• Accessories: Dough blade, chopping blade, reversible slicing and grating blade, julienne disc, refrigerator lid, whisk accessory

Read our full KitchenAid 2.1L food processor review

Russell Hobbs Desire food processor

Best food processor for fine blitzing

Pros:

• Dishwasher-safe bowls and attachments
• 1.5-litre jug blender
• 2.5-litre food processor bowl
• Non-slip feet, cord storage

Cons:

• 1.5-litre usable capacity within the 2.5-litre food processor bowl

Star rating: 4.5/5

At around £50, this 2-in-1 food processor and blender set offers great versatility for the price. Despite only having one reversible slicing and shredding disk, it over-performs. The simplicity of this model actually plays in its favour.

• Wattage: 600W
• Working capacity: Food processor - 1.5L, blender - 1.5L
• Accessories: chopping blade, slicing/shredding disc, dough blade, creaming disc

Read our full Russell Hobbs Desire food processor review

Magic Bullet Kitchen Express

Best 2-in-1 blender and food processor

Pros:

• Small
• Compact and fierce

Cons:

• No storage for all the bits and pieces

Star rating: 4.5/5

The Magic Bullet Express is a compact, multi-use processor and blender all in one machine that takes up little space. The sturdy machine comes with a generous work bowl for its size, plus a separate small blender attachment that neatly fits onto one of the two tall cups for smoothies using the to-go lid. The processor also has a reversible slice or shred disc. Packed with a powerful 250-watt motor, this is not only a versatile machine, but a pretty ferocious one, too.

• Wattage: 250W
• Working capacity: Food processor - 0.83L, blender - 0.8L
• Accessories: Chopping blade, reversible slicing and shredding disc, blender blade, two travel cups

Read our full Magic Bullet Kitchen Express review

Other food processors tested and rated

• Kitchenaid 1.7-litre food processor, £119
• Lakeland Mini food processor, £49,99
• VonShef 1000W food processor, £59.99
• Russell Hobbs Retro cream food processor, £59.97
• Kenwood FPM810 MultiPro Sense food processor, £314

What is a food processor?

A food processor is an appliance designed to act as an extra pair of hands in the kitchen. One key benefit of a food processor is that it's a multitasker, often coming with various accessories and functions. Almost all use a rotating gear to turn their various accessories, which will typically include extra discs for slicing or grating, alongside the main blade arrays for chopping or mixing.

Some food processors come loaded with additional blender accessories, so you can tick two appliance boxes with one purchase.

Before choosing the best food processor for you, you need to ask yourself which functions you’d like it to perform. All food processors will come with a chopping blade as standard. This can be used for most tasks, including making hummus, cauliflower rice, even homemade tomato sauce. And then there are other attachments to consider. Some of the most common attachments include:

• Dough blade: looking not dissimilar to the chopping blade, this is often made from plastic with a dull edge and shorter arms. As the name suggests, it can be used to knead all kinds of dough.
• Shredding disc: this has teeth like the kind you have on a grater. Ideal for grating cheese, carrot and chocolate while keeping your knuckles safe
• Slicing disc: for super-even slices. On some models only one thickness of slice is available – on higher-end models you’re able to adjust the thickness

The more expensive, premium food processors often come with these additional extras:

• Dicing and French-fry attachments: to produce perfect cubes of hard ingredients or batons for French fries
• Different-sized bowls: an additional small bowl that fits inside the main bowl makes life a lot easier if you’re only looking to process a small quantity of food

You should also consider how much of a technical challenge you are willing to tackle. As a rule, the more functions a food processor has, the more complex it will be to assemble and use correctly.

What can a food processor be used for?

Many of the food processors on this list come with a whole host of attachments. But the majority, as standard, will come with attachments for slicing, grating, chopping and kneading. Some models will come with additional blender or mini chopper attachments, which offer an added level of versatility, but even the core accessories render the humble food processor a truly multi-functional appliance.

• Achieve uniform results with the slicing attachment; you can make: crispy garlic and rosemary slices, boulangere potatoes, dauphinoise potatoes, butternut dauphinoise, fennel dauphinoise, pickled red cabbage, potato and radish salad, coconut chicken with cucumber salad
• Whizz through laborious grating tasks with the grating attachment, make: honey, parsnip and coconut cake, rosti fish cake, walnut and almond muesli with grated apple, grilled corn with garlic mayo and grated cheese, chocolate courgette cake, easy creamy coleslaw, oven-baked rosti cake
• Knead a variety of doughs with the dough blade: homemade pasta, pizza dough, edible cookie dough, vanilla shortbread dough, iced buns with cream and jam, raspberry and almond traybake
  Some caveats: we recommend running the food processor on low to avoid being too aggressive with the dough. You’ll likely have to use a smaller quantity than the original recipe as processor bowls have smaller capacities than stand mixers, for example.
• The chopping blade is the most versatile of all the attachments and will likely be the most-used. These sharp blades are great for everything from chopping to pureeing. Make: Thai green curry paste, Tom Kerridge’s madras curry paste, chocolate and hazelnut thumbprint cookies, cauliflower rice, frozen tropical fruit yogurt.

There are countless uses for a food processor, a small selection of which have been detailed above. The action of the machine is modified by switching between attachments – so you might set it up with a disc attachment to chop some ingredients, then switch to a blade to mix those ingredients into a sauce or paste. Food processors are multifunctional and multipurpose, and are useful for making sweet and savoury dishes alike.

What does a food processor do?

Depending on the attachment used, a food processor can be used to chop, grate, knead and slice a whole host of ingredients, making them one of the most versatile kitchen appliances. But what’s the difference between a food processor and a blender?

As the table shows, although both appliances have the ability to chop and blend, they are two very different bits of kit, and as such are not mutually exclusive. Think of a food processor as an extra pair of hands in the kitchen, the tool you pass off your prep work to or use for chunky dips, purees, as well as dry processing tasks. Choose your blender when you need to achieve smooth liquid results, think: soups, smoothies, cocktails and crushed ice.

How we tested food processors

We tested a variety of different food processors that ranged in price from budget buys to pricier blowout models. We also tested basic models that performed simple chopping and slicing tasks to behemoths that come with a vast variety of different attachments and accessories. To put each food processor to the test we tested each of their attachments as well as their ease of use, ease of cleaning, as well as other factors like how sturdy they were on the kitchen counter and how much noise they made.

As well as grating and slicing a range of produce (carrots, potatoes, herbs, nuts, onions, breadcrumbs) we also made a pasta dough to put the dough blade to the test, and a Thai green curry paste and classic pesto to test the slicing blade at two different speeds.

We tested the food processors using set criteria and scored each one on the following core areas out of five. The average of all determined the overall star rating they achieved:

• Ease of use: we looked for easy to assemble blades and bowls. We noted whether the food processor was suitable for left and right handed users, depending on what side the handle sat on, the bowl and lid needed to lock into place with ease without being too loose either. We also looked for intuitive controls.
• Performance: after making each dish or preparing each ingredient we checked that the results were what we were looking for. The pasta dough needed to be smooth with a slight spring back, both the curry paste and pesto needed to be processed to a smooth texture with no chunky, un-chopped bits, and we looked for even and consistently sliced and grated ingredients.
• Value for money: we asked whether the performance, ease of use, additional attachments and accessories, and quality of the food processor justified the price.
• Ease of cleaning and upkeep: each food processor needed to be easy to clean, with no difficult-to-access dirt traps. We liked models that offered the added convenience of dishwashing.
• Overall quality of materials: a sturdy, well-weighted base, robust bowl and equally hardy accessories all scored well. If any of the elements felt as though they could easily break or strained when testing, these were marked down.
• Sustainability: we wanted to see food processors arrive with recyclable packaging. We looked for long warranties, and a manual with clear information about spare parts as well as how to easily recycle the food processor after use.

Find out more about how testing works at BBC Good Food by heading over to our how we test page.

Food processor reviews

Cuisinart Easy Prep Pro food processor review
VonShef food processor review
Sage The Kitchen Wizz Peel & Dice review
Salter Prep Pro Mini food processor review
Russell Hobbs Retro food processor review
Tefal DoubleForce Pro food processor review

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