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Nov 03, 2024

6 Best Food Processors of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

Chop veggies and shred cheese in no time. We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our

Chop veggies and shred cheese in no time.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

The best food processors are true kitchen essentials, handling some of the most difficult work that can come with cooking. They are tough, versatile machines that can take on everything from dicing onions for recipes to making smooth nut butters. They can also mince garlic for marinades, knead dough for baking bread, shred carrots, slice cheese and more. Using a food processor not only saves you prep work, but also time.

Experts in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab have tested more than 80 food processors over the years. In our most recent test, the Breville Sous Chef earned our pick once again as the best overall for it’s top-of-the-line performance, making even chops and slices and simple to use functions. The Sous Chef has a powerful motor, micro-serrated S-blade and adjustable slicer with 24 settings. Here’s how it performed in our Lab tests along with five other top performers — you'll also find a guide on everything you need to know when shopping for a food processor along with FAQs.

Thanks to a super powerful motor, Breville’s Sous Chef is the MVP when it comes to performance. It’s stacked with bells and whistles to give you the ultimate versatility, including a micro-serrated S-blade, an adjustable slicer with 24 settings (ranging from paper-thin to thick-cut), a reversible shredder, a dough blade and more.

This model earned perfect scores in nearly all of our tests, turning out evenly diced onions, minced (read: not bruised) parsley, perfectly ground Parmesan and uniformly sliced tomatoes in seconds. The sleek silver Sous Chef has multiple feed tubes, one of which is large enough to hold an entire tomato or one-pound block of mozzarella. Keep in mind that this food processor's accessories are not dishwasher-safe and will need extra care with cleaning.

Dimensions: 7.5" x 9.5" x 17" | Bowl capacity: 12-cup | Accessories: S-blade, adjustable slicing disc, reversible shredder, dough blade

The GE food processor is a sleek and sturdy stainless-steel workhorse that retails for under $80. It can slice, chop, blend and more. While the price for this food processor might be low, the capacity isn't, as the GE model can hold up to 12 cups. The food processor has three feed tube sizes to fit different foods and has three pulse speeds, low and high.

During testing, we noticed that chopping onions and garlic took a little bit longer to get small and even results compared to other models tested. When testing with carrots we noticed even and consistent shredding, though depending on the shape and size, some pieces didn’t shed completely but were easy to pick out of the bowl once shredding was complete.

This model is sold with and without the accessory bundle. When buying the standard set, it comes with two reversible blades for slicing and shredding along with a stainless-steel mixing blade. The full set with all accessories comes with the above and as well as a French fry disc, dough blade, emulsifier disc, mini chopping bowl and spatula, though that version retails for around $160.

Dimensions: 13" x 11" x 16"| Bowl capacity: 12-cup | Accessories: Mixing blade, reversible shredding disc, reversible slicing disc

This food processor has a solid base so it didn't move around when kneading dough, and the bowl’s straight edges made it easy to scrape and clean in our tests. It has a simple design and performs well: Our testers said it excelled at chopping onions and mincing parsley.

We particularly liked the paddle design of the buttons because they’re wide and operate by pushing down — no fussing with a touchpad. The lid has a large feed tube (for foods like potatoes and cheese) and a smaller one (for skinny items like carrots and celery). The accessories are top rack dishwasher safe for easy cleanup, too. However, we did find it slightly tricky to assemble and take apart the slicing and shredding attachments.

Dimensions: 11" x 7.9" x 14.8" | Bowl capacity: 14-cup | Accessories: Standard slicing disc, medium shredding disc, spatula

Looking for a food processor but don’t have the storage space for a full-sized model? This compact option is a smart pick for little kitchens, dorm rooms or those who tend to make small portions.

Ranking at the top of our tests, this 3-cup Cuisinart is a great do-it-all size: The chop and grind functions provide versatility to mince ingredients like herbs, onions and meat or grind spices or beans with the blunt side of the blades. It also comes in five different colors, so you can select the one that best matches your decor. Do keep in mind that you have to hold down the buttons continuously during operation or it won't operate, so it may not be ideal for those who like to multitask during food prep. If you need additional functions, this model doesn't shred, slice or have the ability to make heavy doughs like you can in full size models, so keep that in mind when shopping.

Dimensions: 7" x 9" x 5" | Bowl capacity: 3-cup | Accessories: Spatula

RELATED: The Best Mini Food Processors

If you have limited real estate when it comes to counter space, a combination blender and food processor might be the best bet for you — it allows you to get the most out of your appliances. This easy-to-use Mega Kitchen System from Ninja comes with a full blender and pitcher, a food processor bowl and single-serve blending cups.

The Mega Kitchen System is one of the newest from the line, and the latest blender-food processor combo that we have tested in our Lab. The blender has simple controls that are easy to read and use, ideal for novice cooks or those who prefer simple machines. During testing, the chopping was even and consistent and the results were comparable to the XL food processor from Ninja that we also tested (more on that model below).

The only downside here is that the food processor doesn't have a chute, so the lid has to be taken off completely if something needs to be added. This model also doesn’t have slicing blades, so it is really only best for chopping and mincing. For $160 this is still a great deal, especially since you're getting two appliances in one.

Dimensions: 16" x 11" x 18" | Bowl capacity: 8-cup | Accessories: Pitcher blade, processor bowl chopping and dough blade, pitcher blade, single-serve cups with blades.

Similar to our overall top pick from Breville, the Paradice 9 has even and consistent chopping and slicing. During our most recent test, the model's adjustable slicing blade, which has 15 levels, sliced the zucchini paper thin on the lowest setting and made even and consistent slices when used on thicker settings.

The Paradice 9 has a reversible blade for shredding which received top scores during our carrot testing. It also comes with an s-blade for chopping, a dough blade, and of course blades for dicing (get it? para-dice). This model is unlike the others because of the included Paradice kit which consists of a half grid and blade that dices your food when fed through the chute. Speaking of the chute, the mouth of the chute is wide at 4.7 inches and has a 2-in-1 opening ideal for different-sized foods.

During testing, one of our favorite parts about the Paradice 9 was the internal storage caddy that holds all of the blades and accessories. The caddy and accessories are color-coded so you don’t have to wonder what goes where when adding accessories back into the caddy which sits inside the food processor, keeping all of the pieces in one place.

Dimensions: 12" x 8" x 17.5" | Bowl capacity: 9-cup | Accessories: Reversible shredding blade, adjustable slicing blade, dough blade, s-blade and Paradice kit

Vitamix 12-Cup Food Processor Attachment: For Vitamix users, this large 12-cup work bowl might come in handy — it can be attached right to your existing blender base which transforms your Vitamix into a food processor. During testing, the food processor attachment performed well when grinding Parmesan, leaving us with light fluffy cheese. Though it performed well in some tests when we julienned zucchini, the results were inconsistent, some pieces were thinner or thicker than others. A plus when it comes to the food processor attachment is that all of the parts are dishwasher safe, unlike the brand's blender pitcher.

Ninja Professional XL: This food processor from Ninja has a capacity of 12 cups — it comes with a shredding and slicing disc, a blade for chopping and pureeing as well as a dough blade. When testing the shredding function, we were able to fit three medium-sized carrots in the chute at a time, however we found that when shredding and slicing there were some uncut chunks left in the blades.

Cuisinart Continuous Feed: The Continuous Feed was one of many Cuisinart food processors that were part of my most recent tests in the Good Housekeeping Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab. This model is ideal for people who are prepping a lot at once by giving them the option to shred and slice continuously when using the side chute which can be dispensed into a bowl or dish. While the included slicing and shredding discs made even and consistent results, we found when using the side chute along with the continuous function, the surrounding area would get messy from pieces that didn’t make it into the bowl.

Cuisinart Core Custom: The Core Custom is another model tested from Cuisinart that did well in our testing. The controls are simple, and the buttons are easy to use, though we found the buttons to be bulky. The food processor comes with a storage system that can keep all of the accessories organized. When chopping onions and garlic, we noticed that the chop was even and consistent and didn’t have many large uncut pieces. On the other hand, we did notice that there were some uncut chunks of carrots and zucchini when using the slice and shred blades.

The Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab has tested over 80 food processors in the last few decades. We test food processors for consistency and efficiency and grade each on ease of use, including readability of the owner's manual, assembly, controls and more. Lab analysts test to see how evenly food processors dice onions, mince garlic and parsley, grind Parmesan cheese, shred carrots and fresh mozzarella, slice tomatoes, zucchini and pepperoni and knead dough.

We also take note of how quickly each model performed these tasks, weigh ingredients to see how much food was left unprocessed and even put ingredients through sieves to evaluate each ingredient's evenness. If a food processor has additional features like a cooking setting or spiralizing tool, we also put those to the test.

We grade ease of use, evaluating how helpful the owner’s manual is; how easy the blades, chute, and lid are to assemble, the intuitiveness of the controls, the variety of settings offered and the cleanability.

✔️ Versatility: A top-performing food processor should be able to blitz whole or large pieces of fresh produce — like onions, carrots, herbs or potatoes — into uniform dices or minces in very little time. It should be able to take on tasks like grinding hard cheeses, pureeing soups or sauces, making emulsions like mayo and even kneading dough for bread. When shopping, look for a model that can slice and/or shred foods like tomatoes and cheese.

✔️ Accessories: All food processors come with a work bowl for chopping and pureeing — the best ones will include a slicing and shredding disc as well. Other accessories to look for are a smaller work bowl and blade for finer tasks, a dough blade, a dicing accessory and even a blender attachment for smoothies. Most are top-rack dishwasher safe.

✔️ Settings and speeds: Many food processors have just one speed, but some can have high, medium and low speeds. One must-have: a pulse setting. Pulsing lets you incrementally chop food and control the blade to limit your risk of overprocessing. It’s also great for getting an even chop: The stop-and-go motion allows unprocessed items from the top to fall onto the blade to be processed. Otherwise, items close to the blade just continue to be processed making the bottom more fine than the top.

✔️ Weight: A heavier base helps in terms of performance, but heft doesn't necessarily relate to more power. Lighter materials make food processors more affordable and easier to move around and store. Details like suction cups help keep the base from moving around on the countertop.

✔️ Warranty: Food processors are known as an investment, but some people boast that they have had theirs for over 30 years. Before you splurge, take a look at the brand's warranty: The length often varies for motor and accessories.

Looking for more ways to make meal prep a breeze? There are also mini food processors and vegetable choppers for the small home kitchen. Consider the types of tasks you'll be using your food processor for and choose your capacity from there:

While food processors and blenders can do similar tasks, they have different strong suits. Food processors are great for chopping, pureeing, kneading dough, slicing, shredding and even dicing or spiralizing — while a blender is meant primarily for soups, smoothies or frozen drinks.

You can use a lot less liquid with a food processor than with a blender and while both can chop and mince ingredients, a food processor will do it more evenly, without bruising ingredients. Food processors can also come with slicers and shredding attachments, giving versatility that blenders lack. Can't decide? Opt for a blender-food processor combo.

You will have great results with a food processor that costs around $200, but expensive food processors are worth it if you are looking for a model that can perform additional tasks compared to a standard food processor. For example, the Breville Paradice 9 on this list is expensive, but offers an assortment of accessories and capabilities: The Paradice 9 comes with six different blades and attachments that are color coded and fit neatly into the mixing bowl — everything can be stored in one place. It also has a dice function which many cheaper models don't have. Some expensive food processors also have longer warranties, which help provide some peace of mind.

While there are so many food processor brands on the market, there are some brands that have stood out to us for strong performance and ease of use over 20 years of testing: Cuisinart and Breville models have had strong Lab testing results and positive consumer feedback, making them industry standouts.

Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab Director Nicole Papantoniou oversees all of Good Housekeeping's content and testing related to kitchen appliances, tools, gadgets and gear. She's been testing kitchen appliances professionally since 2013.

For this article, she worked with Reviews Analyst Eva Bleyer, who has professionally tested all kinds of kitchen equipment, from oven ranges to juicers to kitchen scales to blenders. Eva has tested many food processors and food processor attachments in her time at the Good Housekeeping Institute. As a trained cook with a background in health-supportive cooking, she also has years of experience using both commercial-grade and home food processors for everything from whipping up creamy hummus to shredding pounds of onions (unfortunately, a few tears were shed).

Raena Loper is a contributing analyst and writer for the Good Housekeeping Institute. Raena has tested everything from large air fryers to pressure cookers and more. Under the supervision of Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab Director Nicole Papantoniou, she conducted the most recent Lab test on food processors.

Eva (she/her) is a reviews analyst in the Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she tests kitchen gear, home appliances and culinary innovations. She graduated from NYU with a bachelor of science in food studies, nutrition and public health and is a trained chef through the Natural Gourmet Institute. Eva has more than 10 years of experience in the food industry, working as a food stylist, personal chef and marketing manager.

Nicole (she/her) is the director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she has overseen content and testing related to kitchen and cooking appliances, tools and gear since 2019. She’s an experienced product tester and recipe creator, trained in classic culinary arts and culinary nutrition. She has worked in test kitchens for small kitchen appliance brands and national magazines, including Family Circle and Ladies’ Home Journal.

Raena Loper (she/her) is a fashion journalist and product analyst based in New Jersey whose work has appeared in Forbes, Good Housekeeping and O, The Oprah Magazine. Raena is a graduate from Montclair State University where she earned a degree in fashion studies as well as gender, sexuality and women's studies. In her free time, she enjoys sewing, cooking BBQ and spending time with family.

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