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Chop, dice and slice with ease

Chop, knead, mince… you name it and chances are, a food processor can do it. Owning one is like having a personal sous chef or second pair of hands in the kitchen and once you’ve got one, you won’t want to go back.

Not all food processors are created equal, though, with each bringing different skills to your countertop. We’ve put 50 models to the test to find the ones that will make the most helpful investments.

If you’re ready to buy, here are our best tried and tested food processors:

It’s all about the blades; food processors tend to have sharper ones than blenders. This means that processors will cut up your food and keep it in a solid form, while blenders will create liquids. Take a carrot, for example, a blender would make juice, whereas a food processor would dice it into cubes, retaining its texture and weight.

If soup and smoothies are staples in your diet, then a blender would be a good fit, but if you’re looking for something a little more versatile, it’s worth spending more on a food processor.

The bowl size of the food processors we’ve tested range from 1.9 litres to 3.7 litres and the bigger they are, the more features the appliances tend to have. Equally, a food processor that boasts lots of features will likely take up much more space than one that’s limited to chopping, grating and puréeing. Generally, a food processor with a 2.5-litre capacity will be big enough for most cooking.

We’ve broken down the features worth considering when you’re shopping around for one of these multi-tasking machines:

Most models come with a grating disc, slicing disc, chopping blade and dough blade as standard. These accessories are up to most everyday tasks, but there are a few other add-ons to watch out for, including alternative slicing discs, thick and thin grating sizes, spiralizer discs or dicing blades.

A pulse function is great for controlling your chopping and avoiding any accidental puréeing, which can happen at full-speed. All the models featured below have this function.

It’s vital that a food processor is stable on a countertop because of the speed their blades spin at. All the models below have non-slip or suction-cup feet to limit movement.

This tends to feature on more advanced models; choose between set modes like puréeing, kneading or pulsing and leave your food processor to work while you focus on the next bit of food prep.

We put each food processor to the test across a range of kitchen skills. We look at how it grates carrots, cheese and chocolate, how it slices cucumbers and how it chops onions, bread and whole hazelnuts. We even mince beef.

Then we whip cream and blend homemade mayonnaise before mixing pastry dough and cake batter to see how well the processor kneads and mixes. Lastly, we bake both to analyse the texture of the finished product.

Here are the winners of our rigorous testing:

This impressive machine scored almost perfect marks in our grating, slicing and chopping tests and left behind minimal food waste, unlike many others we tried. It comes with two different-sized bowls and our testers loved the adjustable slicing disc, spiralizing disc and dicing attachment too.

The cakes it whipped up were light and airy and all the controls were pleasingly responsive. It boasts two speed settings and a pulse button, and all the equipment is dishwasher-safe. Overall, it’s a great bit of kitchen kit.

Key specifications Capacity: 3 litres Power levels: 2 Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Yes Included attachments: 0.95L bowl, 3L bowl, small chopping/mixing blade, large chopping/mixing blade, dough blade, adjustable slicing disc, grating disc, dicing kit with cleaning tool, spiralizing kit for spaghetti or ribbons, storage case Size: 40(H) x 20(W) x 25(D) cm

Another high scorer, this powerful food processor scored top marks for slicing, puréeing and emulsifying, and wasn’t far behind in our other tests either. Its grating discs couldn’t be beaten – they powered through four carrots in just three seconds. It has an enormous 3.7-litre capacity too, which meant it tackled heavy ingredients like beef and bread dough with ease. 

This processor also has a peeling attachment that lets you tackle several potatoes at once, making roasties a breeze. The dicing attachment is similarly impressive, dicing vegetables in a matter of seconds. This processor is remarkably simple to use and comes with a handy storage box. It only has one power level, but that's its only setback. 

Key specifications Capacity: 3.7 litres Power levels: 1 Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Yes Included attachments: 12mm dicing kit, peeling disc, micro-serrated S-blade, reversible shredding disc, variable slicing disc, julienne disc Size(cm): 28.2 x 22.6 x 45.6 cm

Cook in relative calm with this KitchenAid, which is the quietest on test - a result that surprised us given it excels at processing heavier ingredients. It scored top marks in our beef mincing test, as well as in our bread and pastry dough tests where testers found its extra-wide feed tube particularly helpful. 

It has plenty of other clever design features too, including finger holes in the slicing disc and a choice of two slicing thicknesses. Its controls are responsive and there are two speed settings to choose from, as well as the standard pulse button.

Key specifications Capacity: 3.1 litres Power levels: 2 Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Yes Included attachments: Slicing disc, grater disc, whisk, dough blade, egg whip, small blade, large blade Size: 41.5(H) x 28(W) x 26(D) cm 

Bakers, this Magimix is for you; it scored full marks in almost all our dough and pastry tests. If you opt for the “premium” model, you’ll also get a selection of bonus accessories including an egg whisk, citrus press and soft spatula that will take your cake-making to the next level.

Our testers loved the three space-saving nested bowls (coming in sizes 1.2, 2.6 and 3.6 litres) and were impressed by the dicing attachment that cut up even cubes of vegetables every time. Again, we were hard-pressed to find a downside other than it only has one speed setting, which may not work for everyone.

Key specifications Capacity: 3.6 litres Power levels: 1 Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Yes Included attachments: 2mm and 4mm slicing disc, 2mm and 4mm grating disc, citrus press, dough blade, stainless steel blade and geared egg whisk Size: 44.5(H) x 26(W) x 26(D) cm

Both this Magimix and the 5200XL come with a 30-year guarantee, which is an attractive offering if you like your appliances to have true longevity. This one is a smaller and quieter version of the latter and it’s easier to store, costing less as a result.

There’s little compromise on performance though; it did well in our grating, slicing and pastry tests and mixed heavier ingredients such as cake and bread mix reliably. It also has three nested bowls and a great range of blades and attachments, which come with a handy storage box.

It wasn’t quite as good on test at whipping cream as some of the other processors on our list, and if you’re after more than one speed setting, we’d suggest scrolling on.

Key specifications Capacity: 3 litres Power levels: 1 Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Yes Included attachments: 2mm and 4mm slicing disc, 2mm and 4mm grating disc, dough blade, stainless steel blade, spatula, blender mix ring and egg whisk Size: 42.5(H) x 21(W) x 26(D) cm

Another more compact and less pricey Magimix than the brand’s highest-scoring offering, this one excelled on test, getting top marks for slicing cucumbers and whipping cream. It was also near-perfect in our grating and baking tasks – our bread and pastry dough had just the right texture.

Its chopping prowess let it down, however, as it struggled with hazelnuts. Its single speed setting also made mayonnaise difficult to process and the lack of a feeding tube made it a tad messy to use. This aside, it’s a great choice if you want the quality of a Magimix for a lower price.

Key specifications Capacity: 2.6 litres Power levels: 1 Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Yes Included attachments: Mixing blade, small mixing blade, slicing/grating disk, dough blade, whisk blade Size(cm): 36(H) x 19(W) x 22.5(D)

If you only tend to use your food processor from time to time, or you’re not after anything too fancy, then this one’s ideal. It’s compact, straightforward to use and good value for money. At just under two litres, its capacity is smaller than most, but it held up well on test despite this, obtaining high marks on the majority of our tasks, especially chopping and dough-processing.

It’s fast, taking on a wide range of ingredients, but it doesn’t come with many accessories – there’s no egg whisk or dough blade, for example. There’s also no accompanying storage box for the ones that it does have. It may be no-frills but it does a top notch job on the whole.

Key specifications Capacity: 1.9 litres Power levels: 2 Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Yes Included attachments: Fine disc, medium disc, small and large chopping blades Size: 37.5(H) x 19(W) x 24(D) cm

This affordable Bosch model costs less than £100 and is ideal if you're shopping for your first food processor. We found it easy to assemble and clean, unlike many other processors, and all the parts are dishwasher-safe. 

It comes with useful accessories and it performed well in most of our tests. That said, it struggled with some of the trickier tasks like mixing cake batter and whipping cream. It's worth noting that its handle is on the right-hand side too, so if you’re left-handed this may prove frustrating.

Key specifications Capacity: 2.3 litres Power levels: 2 Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Yes Included attachments: Universal blade, kneading hook, beating disc, slicing reversible disc - thick/thin, shredding reversible disc - coarse/fine Size: 37.5(H) x 22(W) x 26(D) cm 

Want a food processor that ties in with your kitchen decor? This KitchenAid model is a real looker, and its test scores looked good too; it perfectly sliced cucumber with no wastage, grated consistently, mixed dough efficiently and even made light work of mincing beef.

While this one’s easy to set up and assemble, testers found it unstable when tackling the likes of dough and nuts, which incidentally didn’t chop up evenly either. Although there is a maximum line on the jug, we would have liked more measurement lines, especially as the manual didn’t have any information on quantities. On balance, though, it’s a solid gadget.

Key specifications Capacity: 2.1 litres Power levels: 2 Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Non-slip Included attachments: Dough blade, Thin slice disc, Medium slice disc, Thick slice disc, Multi purpose blade, 2.1L bowl Size: 42(H) x 19.5(W) x 19.5(D) cm

As if food processors aren’t multitaskers enough, this Kenwood does even more thanks to built-in scales, which testers found accurate to use. It also has a wide range of accessories – including a citrus tool – storage for them, and a manual power dial that gives you control of the operating speed.

It was easy to use, with strong non-slip feet that held up well, only becoming unstable when we used it on max power. The cap also leaked slightly when it was filled to the max liquid line. This aside, it was particularly efficient at mincing meat and we liked that the jug is suitable for handling both hot liquids and blitzing ice.

Key specifications Capacity: 3 litres Power levels: Variable Pulse function: Yes Suction-cup feet: Non-slip Included attachments: 3-litre food processor bowl, 1.5-litre ThermoResist glass blender jug, slice, grate and dice discs, Express Dice blade, Weighing tray, Dual metal whisk, Dough tool, Citrus juicer, Compact Smart Store storage bag Size: 40.0(H) x 20.0(L) x 26.5(W)