If you're sick of chopping ingredients by hand and wish you could whizz up ingredients in a flash, then it's about time you invested in a food processor. Whether you're dicing vegetables, blending soup or grating cheese, a good food processor needs little or no washing up yet saves valuable preparation time in the kitchen.
If you cook large meals or batch cook dishes, a food processor will always be quicker than human hands – even if you're a one-person cordon bleu production line, a machine will always dice dozens of onions faster than you can think.
But what really counts is whether a food processor is worth bothering with for smaller dishes. If there's too much faffing around with awkward accessories and difficult to clean bowls, then a food processor is a waste of worktop space and generates washing up.
That's where our handy guide comes in. We've picked out five of the best food processors that are well worth their coveted worktop space. Use them right and you'll save time and energy. From high-end workhorses to budget models that cost little more than £50, and from simple designs to ones that double as smoothie blenders, there's something here for everyone.
How to buy the best food processor for you
How much should I spend?
Food processors from big brands start at around £40 but at the lower end you often get what you pay for. Spend up to £100 and you can expect a substantial improvement in power and a more refined design. Spend £200 or more, however, and you can expect food processors to include a variety of accessories, multiple mixing bowls in different sizes, or a space-saving footprint which leaves more of your kitchen surface free for other duties.
Pricier models also tend to be much more attractive appliances that anyone would be happy to have on display.That might sound shallow, but it's not: it's actually a very important factor if you want your food processor to genuinely save you time in the kitchen. If your processor is so ugly, or so huge, that you need to dig it out of a cupboard and rummage around for accessories before you've even started, then you're already losing valuable time that you could have spent preparing your food.
What features should I look out for?
Look out for processors which have bowls and accessories made from plastics that are BPA-free – this makes them food safe for all the family. It's also worth checking that the bowls are dishwasher safe, as this can reduce the mountain of dishes growing from your kitchen sink and save precious time.
Some food processors come with smaller mixing bowls as well as the main one. They're either interchangeable or fit inside each other like Russian dolls. These are handy for preparing small quantities or forestalling the washing up.
Food processors typically come with a set of puréeing blades and reversible slicing and grating discs. Some of the latest models even have an adjustable slicing blade, so you can change the thickness of slices at the push of a button.
Most food processors worth their salt should provide variable speeds, or one or two speed settings, and also a "pulse" button that gives ingredients a quick whizz, which is ideal for not overdoing it when you want to coarsely chop nuts or lightly beat eggs.
Do I need a food processor with a powerful motor?
The wattage represents how powerful the motor is, but don’t automatically assume that more watts is better because good design makes a big difference – and just because a manufacturer claims that its processor has a 1000 watt motor doesn't always mean that it's more powerful. If, say, you want to be able to crush ice for frozen drinks and smoothies look for a model with a blender attachment that says it's powerful enough for ice.
The best food processors to buy
Kenwood FPP 225: The best food processor under £60
Price when reviewed: £56
This Kenwood food processor has a space-saving design because the motor is below, not beside, the mixing bowl. Yet the capacity is not too shoddy at 2.1 litres. It also comes with a 1.2 litre blender which swaps in for the mixing bowl.
An "in-bowl drive" does away with the need for a spindle, which saves space and makes pouring easier.
It comes with an emulsifying tool and a reversible disc for coarse grating and slicing. And unusually for such an affordable machine, you can adjust the power as well as using the pulse button to mix in short bursts.
It's pleasantly sturdy, with four suction pads holding it to the worktop. In all, it’s a great option for smaller kitchens (just so long as you have somewhere to stash the blender attachment) and surprisingly large enough and powerful enough that performance won't disappoint.
Key specs – 2.1 litre capacity; 1.2 litre blender; 750W power
KitchenAid Classic Food Processor: The best food processor under £100
Price when reviewed: £99
Some spectacular online deals bring this KitchenAid down to a very reasonable price. This is half the recommended price and we've even seen it selling for even more in major department stores.
This retro-styled food processor looks gorgeous but at 380W it's not terribly powerful, so not worth £250 in our opinion. But at under £100 it's a steal because it does boast premium features.
Most striking is the ExactSlice system, which makes it easy to adjust the thickness of slices externally. A seven-position sliding switch on the front of the machine lets you set the thickness.
The feed tube is extra wide too. You can throw in whole vegetables and fruits. Hell, you can throw them in sideways and they’ll still fit down it. A reversible shredding disc offers small and large grating, while a multipurpose blade takes care of mixing, blending and dough duties.
Key specs – 3.1 litre capacity; 380W power
Magimix 5200XL: The best food processor under £300
Price when reviewed: £282
This triple-play food processor has three bowls at once. You can whisk a single egg or make baby food in the smaller ones, batch prepare big dishes in the largest. It also comes with all mod cons, including dough blade, egg whisk, citrus press and discs for grating and slicing.
The design is practical and space-saving in many ways, but has the disadvantage that you can't use the smaller bowls without having the big one in place. And then if your home-made mayonnaise splatters you have two bowls to wash, not one.
It's heavy, but this and its solid build quality mean that it doesn't vibrate too much and certainly won't skitter around on the worktop. The powerful 1100W motor is surprisingly not too loud.
A pricey but great-quality food processor that's perfect for foodies and families.
Key specs – 3.6, 2.6 and 1.2 litre capacities; 1100W power
Nutri Ninja Complete Kitchen System: A food processor, ice-crusher and smoothie maker all-in-one
Price when reviewed: £180
Ninja is best known for its personal blenders, which perform well and work much like a NutriBullet. This Complete Kitchen System costs quite a bit more but offers much more. As well as being a personal blender, for making a quick, healthy smoothies to drink on the go, it's a food processor and a large blender.
A combination of powerful motor and clever programs make quick work of blending ice, nuts and more. As a food processor, it's worth buying the "with chute" model which comes with two discs for grating and slicing, as well as blades for pureeing.
It’s very loud but makes quick work of everything, so at least you won’t have to endure the noise for long. It's also good and sturdy. But you will need to find somewhere to store all those lovely attachments.
Key specs – 1.8 litre food processor; 2.1 litre blender; 650ml and 500ml personal blenders; 1500W power
Sage Kitchen Wizz Pro 2.7L: The best food processor for real foodies
Price when reviewed: £270
You can always rely on kitchen electricals from Sage by Heston Blumenthal to do something a bit different, something that makes them stand out if you're a keen cook. This is no different.
It comes with all mod cons and a storage box for attachments. But what really sets it out from the crowd is its "why didn't I think of that?" adjustable slicing blade. You can cut thicknesses ranging from 0.3mm to 8mm. So it takes the place of a mandolin.
Plus the feed chute is extra wide at 14cm, which is wide enough to throw a potato in whole – ideal for making Heston's triple-cooked chips recipe. And instead of a two-blade attachment for soups and purees, it comes with a quad blade that blitzes things even faster.
The Kitchen Wizz Pro is also available as a 3.7 litre food processor, but it cost more than £100 more than this model at the time of writing.
Key specs – 2.7 litre capacity; 2000W power