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A good food processor should be able to chop, mix, shred, slice, and puree to your liking. We purchased 11 of the most compelling models and put them each on the chopping block. Our testing team conducted over 30 side-by-side assessments, such as chopping onions, shredding cheese, slicing veggies, mixing dough, pureeing chickpeas, whipping up homemade mayonnaise, and even cleaning.
The machine that came out on top in this round of testing is the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro, which is a highly versatile machine that excelled in pretty much every test we threw at it. On the other hand, if you already own a Vitamix blender, you should take a look at the Vitamix 12-Cup Attachment. It is a relatively affordable way to turn your powerful Vitamix motor into a multitasking food processor.
Anyone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen understands the value of having quality kitchen appliances and gadgets. If you just want a smoothie in the morning and you're not sure you need all the capabilities of a food processor, a blender may be more your speed. Similarly, if you are more of a baker, a top-rated stand mixer can help you mix up bread dough, cookie dough, or buttercream frosting. We do all of the grunt work of pitting these products against each other to make your decision process easier.
Editor's Note: We updated our food processor review on December 9, 2024. Changes include removing two discontinued products from our lineup, adding one new model, and adding a new section outlining how we tested these machines.
Fending off challengers since 2019 and once again earning our top overall performance, the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro is easily our favorite food processor. This top-of-the-line kitchen appliance performed well across all of our tests, effortlessly slicing through produce and completing even the most challenging processing tasks. We appreciate that the slicing disc is adjustable up to 8mm, while other models like the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup have fixed discs that can only slice one width between 2mm-4mm. The Breville impressed our testers when chopping onions, with one of them noting the results as “excellent. Almost all the onion is one uniform size.” When shredding carrots, our team said the vegetable came out in “nice, even, crisp pieces” after being passed through the grating plate. Its 1200-watt motor mixes dough, slices veggies, and shreds potatoes effortlessly. Out of our entire test fleet, this processor is also one of the most convenient models to use and one of the easiest to clean.
SPECIFICATIONS
Time to Make Nut Butter
10 min
Largest Bowl Size
16 cup
Motor
1200 Watt
Decibels at 3 ft
67.5 dB
Accessory Storage Case
Yes
Unsurprisingly, such high performance also comes with the highest price out of all the contenders in our review. The Sous Chef 16 Pro is a phenomenal food processor, and we highly recommend it for enthusiast chefs, but it can put quite a dent in your wallet and take up a decent amount of valuable countertop real estate. It's an excellent option for an avid home chef or folks who will use it frequently, but it can be a little more machine than the casual cook may need or want. If you're willing to sacrifice a little bit in chopping performance to get a better puree, the Magimix 4200XL is another one of our favorites that you shouldn't miss. But if you are looking for the crème de la crème when it comes to choppers, this Breville machine is our first pick.
A close runner-up, the Magimix 4200XL is an excellent premium food processor that is an ideal choice for those seeking bleeding-edge performance and a solid assortment of included accessories. Chopping, mixing, pureeing, shredding, and slicing, the Magimix does it all and does it all well, earning itself an Editor's Choice Award after being thoroughly tested. Our tester commented, “This is a powerful and versatile unit that can handle any task you throw at it.” The 950-watt motor powered through all of our testing tasks without showing any signs of slowing down, proving itself by making nut butter in a mere three minutes. For reference, the next fastest machine, the Vitamix 12-Cup Food Processor Attachment, took double that time. The processor's convenient bowl-stacking design allows you to process three different items before needing to wash and clean its components. When it comes to cleaning, things couldn't be easier with this appliance being well-designed with no hard-to-reach crevices to trap food and thoughtfully fashioned blades that can easily be handled safely.
SPECIFICATIONS
Time to Make Nut Butter
3 min
Largest Bowl Size
12.5 cup
Motor
950 Watt
Decibels at 3 ft
62.5 dB
Accessory Storage Case
Yes
Although we feel that the Magimix offers a great bank for your buck, it is also one of the most expensive food processors we reviewed, rivaling the Breville Sous Chef in terms of price. If you're looking for a buy-once-cry-once opportunity, then look no further. If you're on a tighter budget but still looking for high performance, the Cuisinart Custom 14 should be on your shortlist, boasting excellent puree performance and a whopping 14-cup capacity. However, the 4200XL is a capable appliance that will grow with you as you continue your pursuit of achievement in the kitchen or if you're already a kitchen professional looking for a reliable appliance to add to your arsenal.
If you're not comfortable paying such a premium price tag for top-end performance, look no further than the Cuisinart Custom 14. This reliable kitchen appliance earns recognition for its above-average performance across the bulk of our tests, all while providing outstanding value with a more reasonable price tag than the highest-end models we tested. It slices vegetables and fruits evenly, and our testers mentioned the “nice clean cuts; there were some missed cuts where there are some super thin pieces, but overall, the slices are pretty uniform.” Our team noted that the Custom 14 especially excels at making purees and turned out velvety-smooth dips and spreads, and “made quick work of the apple sauce,” according to our lab testing team. The 14-cup bowl size is also quite large, so it is a good option if you like to make large batches of food all at once. The Cuisinart Elemental 13-Cup also has a larger bowl size and has adjustable slicing discs not found on the Custom 14.
SPECIFICATIONS
Time to Make Nut Butter
19 min
Largest Bowl Size
14 cup
Motor
720 Watt
Decibels at 3 ft
61.5 dB
Accessory Storage Case
No
The disadvantage of this machine is that the shredding and slicing blades aren't adjustable, so you'll need to purchase additional blades if you aren't happy with the size of the ones included. Additionally, its 720-watt motor isn't quite as powerful, and this shows when mixing denser doughs. If you want a machine that truly excels at everything, the powerful 1200-watt motor of the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro does not disappoint, but you will have to pay for it. On the opposite end of the budget spectrum, the Ninja Professional Food Processor is another affordable machine that offers average slicing, shredding, chopping, pureeing, and mixing power. All things considered, we still think the Cuisinart is a terrific option for those searching for a great, all-around food processor without shredding the budget.
If you're shopping for a new food processor that won't take up a ton of room in your kitchen or your budget, then we highly recommend the Ninja Professional Food Processor. This appliance's performance in our tests thoroughly impressed us, especially given its bargain price tag. This model did a good job uniformly chopping veggies and incorporating ingredients when mixing dough. However, this appliance truly shined in the shredding and slicing tests, creating even slices and shreds without leaving large chunks of waste — a rarity for budget models. When looking at the results, one member of our testing team said, “The slices were over 90% even,” and the machine had “overall really solid performance” in this metric.
SPECIFICATIONS
Time to Make Nut Butter
7 min
Largest Bowl Size
9 cup
Motor
850 Watt
Decibels at 3 ft
80 dB
Accessory Storage Case
No
When tasked with mixing pizza dough, the 850-watt motor on this machine sounded like it was working pretty hard. Making smaller serving sizes of things like homemade mayo can also be challenging due to the 9-cup bowl size and dual-blade shape. Furthermore, the dual-blade system can be more difficult to clean by hand. With all that in mind, we still think this is a great option for shoppers searching for a compact food processor that won't break the bank. Excelling at pureeing, the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup beats out the Ninja Professional by just a hair and comes at a fraction of the cost. Just note it can be leaky and loud, but can handle processing 10 cups at a time.
If you want to spend the bare minimum and still get decent performance, then the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup is your best bet. This inexpensive model can hold its own for pureeing dips and spreads, managing to make nut butter in just 10 minutes. Its shredding, slicing, and chopping performance isn't too shabby, either. The 8.5" x 10.5" base takes up very little real estate on your countertop, especially when compared to the monstrous 18" x 8" footprint of the Breville Sous Chef 16, and it has an equally light impact on your budget.
SPECIFICATIONS
Time to Make Nut Butter
10 min
Largest Bowl Size
10 cup
Motor
450 Watt
Decibels at 3 ft
96 dB
Accessory Storage Case
No
Where this model falls short is mixing. Mixing heavy dough with the weaker 450-watt motor is a struggle and causes the entire unit to shake somewhat violently. Additionally, we experienced leaking during our water test. We recommend opting for another model like the Cuisinart Elemental 13-Cup if your recipes are mostly liquid ingredients. And if you have a few more bucks to put towards performance, consider the Braun TributeCollection, which touts excellent performance for mixing and shredding. Despite these shortcomings, the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup is our top choice for those on a strict budget.
The Vitamix 12-Cup Attachment comes as an attachment, making it an option for anyone who already owns a Vitamix base unit. It shines brightest while pureeing, slicing, and mixing dough, making it an excellent choice for pizza lovers. You can mix up your pizza crust, pull it out, and let it cool while you whip up some homemade sauce, and then efficiently slice up any toppings you like. When making pizza dough, our tester mentioned that “the design of the blade/shaft is nice. It mixed basically everything in there without leaving weird, super sticky parts.” While we had pizza on our minds while testing this model, that's not all it is good for. The mostly even slicing does wonders on easy-to-bruise fruit and vegetables, like tomatoes, and the stellar pureeing makes buttery smooth hummus and dips. It was able to make nut butter in just 6 minutes, a time only beaten by the Magimix 4200XL. Although it relies on a previous investment in a Vitamix base, it is easy to clean but won't clean out your bank account.
SPECIFICATIONS
Time to Make Nut Butter
6 min
Largest Bowl Size
12 cup
Motor
N/A
Decibels at 3 ft
80.5 dB
Accessory Storage Case
Yes
The Vitamix 12-Cup is a high performing food processor, but note that you'll need to already own (or be prepared to purchase) the Vitamix blender motor. This product is just an attachment, and while it's excellent at slicing and pro at pureeing — its chopping, shredding, and mixing (aside from pizza dough) capabilities are nothing to write home about. They get the job done but often require an extra pulse or two. The chopping and shredding also offer somewhat inconsistent sizes. For those that need a processor that can shred and chop well, look to the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro instead. That said, the Vitamix attachment is a great option for anyone who already owns a Vitamix blender and is seeking a well-rounded processor.
This attachment is a convenient accessory if you already own a Vitamix base unit.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Compare Products
Some of the best food processors you can get today.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
How We Test Food Processors
We've tested nearly 20 different food processors since 2017. In this review, we subjected each of these devices to over 30 individual tests to rate their performance. The chopping, mixing, and pureeing tests made up the bulk of each processor's score. All told, we've spent close to 200 hours testing and evaluating these food processors and mini-choppers side-by-side. We created numerous batches of fresh hummus, mixed up tons of pizza and pie crust dough, chopped dozens of onions and tomatoes, made mayonnaise from scratch, and shredded a silly amount of cheese. Don't worry; zero food went to waste during our testing. Our panel of judges rated the quality of the food produced by each food processor. Finally, we awarded points based on the ease of cleaning each product between tests. As always, GearLab purchased all of the products we tested at retail price; we do not accept any freebies from manufacturers.
Our testing of food processors is divided into six rating metrics:
Chopping tests (20% of overall score weighting)
Mixing tests (20% weighting)
Pureeing tests (20% weighting)
Shredding tests (15% weighting)
Slicing tests (15% weighting)
Cleaning tests (10% weighting)
For more details on our testing, check out our How We Test article.
Why Trust GearLab
Leading this most recent round of food processor testing is Lesley Robinson. She started out as a self-proclaimed easy-bake oven enthusiast and eventually graduated with a degree in food science from California Polytechnic State University. She has spent more than ten years in the food and supplement industry and brings a keen eye for food quality to our team. Lesley is joined by veteran testers Austin Palmer, Hayley Thomas, and Genaveve Bradshaw, who combined have tested and reviewed over two hundred kitchen appliances over the past several years. In addition to their expertise, we consulted with home chefs and bakers to get additional input and feedback on our testing and scoring process.
The Magimix 4200XL making quick work of slicing up a zucchini in our testing.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
How to Pick the Best Food Processor for You
While reviewing many of the best food processors on the market, we found a wide range of prices, accessories, and capabilities among all the different appliances. Our buyer advice section aims to help break down the mountain of information we've accumulated throughout our testing and research and help you determine which food processor is best for you and your kitchen. No matter your use case we feel confident that if you're in the market for a food processor, we can help you find the right one for you.
Price
One of the biggest factors in almost any choice that any of us make is price. Depending on your budget, there are different options with different capabilities available. We evaluated food processors starting at $40 and going up to well over $400. While we found some of the cheaper ones performed surprisingly well for how much they cost, you definitely open yourself up to a higher quality product with more features, power, and capability if you are able to spend a bit more. Consider first what you'll be using your food processor for and what capabilities it will need. Then, check out some of our options that fit within your price range to see if they can keep up with you in your kitchen.
Food Processor Power and Capacity
Motor
Largest Bowl Size
Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro
1200 Watt
16 cup
Cuisinart Custom 14
720 Watt
14 cup
Magimix 4200XL
950 Watt
12.5 cup
Ninja Professional
850 Watt
9 cup
KitchenAid 5-Cup
240 Watt
5 cup
Power
Power can make or break your user experience, depending on what you're processing. We found that some tasks, especially mixing large batches of dough, would load up the motor of some of the less powerful models, and they would struggle. Those we reviewed equipped with larger motors showed little to no signs of load, even in some of our toughest tests. If your use case often involves long durations of run time or mixing large batches of food, we suggest looking for a food processor with a higher-wattage-rated motor. Oftentimes, the motor wattage and bowl size are related, with larger bowl sizes fitting on top of more powerful motors that can handle long run times and bigger batches of food.
All of the included accessories with the Braun.
The 5-cup device is battery operated, has two power levels, and comes with a single blade.
Included accessories can range from maximalist to minimalist depending on your intended use.
Accessories & Features
Many of us looking to purchase a food processor are excited to use it for things we're familiar with but also know that they are very capable appliances and can open up your capabilities in the kitchen. If you're looking to purchase a food processor to learn more about food preparation and cooking, make sure to note what accessories are included with the ones you're considering. Many of the more premium offerings come with a large array of accessories that will accommodate your growing culinary skills. Many budget-friendly options are still capable appliances but often do not include accessories and are less customizable.
We spent many hours processing all kinds of ingredients.
Credit: Austin Palmer
Analysis and Test Results
To compare each food processor's performance, we chose six weighted metrics to consider during our hands-on testing: chopping, shredding, slicing, mixing, pureeing, and ease of cleaning. We recommend focusing on the metrics that most closely match your intended use and selecting a machine that excels in those areas. These are multi-purpose appliances, and while we gave awards to the top overall performers, you may personally be better served by a model that excels at the tasks you most frequently do.
What's the Best Value?
The Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro sits on the top of the pyramid in terms of performance and also in its high price. A close second is the Magimix 4200XL. Both of these high-end and high-performance offerings come with a plethora of accessories giving you the ability to fine-tune your output and use them in a wide variety of situations. The Cuisinart Custom 14 and the Vitamix 12-Cup Attachment, fall in the next pricing tier, retailing for significantly less while providing good, but not quite as good performance. However, unless you plan to use your machine to the max, these processors are adequate for most home chefs, and provide a good cost-to-performance ratio. The true value of the Vitamix attachment is for those who already own a Vitamix blender, saving you the cost and storage space of owning two separate appliances. The Hamilton Beach 10-Cup or Ninja Professional Food Processor. These appliances have their flaws but provide great value, holding their own against other products that cost significantly more.
Chopping
Chopping food is a quintessential task for these appliances and should be a standout capability of any worthy food processor. We compared each model's performance while chopping onions, carrots, and nuts and assessed the quality and consistency of the finished products. We also paid special attention to whether each model comes equipped with a pulse button and how precisely it lets you control the machine.
When it comes to chopping, the Sous Chef by Breville found itself in the top tier. In particular, we were very impressed with the speed and uniformity at which this appliance chops onions. Nipping at the heels of the Sous Chef, the Magimix 4200XL performed admirably in our chopping tests as well, only faltering with the carrots and nuts where the results were less uniform than what the Breville produced. Aside from the slight hiccup when chopping the carrots, the Magimix performed better when chopping the nuts and impressed us with the onion results.
We chopped two, quartered onions in each model and compared the results.
We chopped up onions, carrots, and nuts to test how well each food processor can chop.
The Sous Chef also made short work of the almonds, chopping them up in seconds. Even better, it didn't over-chop or grind them into dust like many of the other processors did. While its “pulse” button starts and stops the blade quickly, other models like the Cuisinart Custom 14 and the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup start and stop with more immediacy. That said, none of the models measure up to the chopping power and uniformity of the Sous Chef.
Chopping Test Ratings
Product
Onions
Carrots
Nuts
Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro
9
8
9
Braun TributeCollection
6
8
9
KitchenAid 5-Cup
5
7
8
Hamilton Beach
6
8
5
Ninja Professional
7
7
5
Magimix 4200XL
8
5
6
Vitamix 12-Cup
8
6
4
Cuisinart Custom 14
5
3
8
Cuisinart Elemental
8
3
5
BLACK+DECKER 8-Cup
3
7
5
Following the Breville and Magimix in overall chopping performance are the Braun Tribute Collection and the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup. The Hamilton and Magimix pulse buttons start and stop immediately with the press of the “pulse” button, while the Braun takes a measurable moment before the spinning seizes. The Braun does an exceptional job chopping the almonds and also performs well at chopping onions and carrots, although some of the carrots ended up with more uneven sizing. The Hamilton Beach 10-Cup, Braun, and Magimix produce comparable chopped onions, but the Breville beat them all.
The Magimix 4200XL delivers responsive control while pulsing the blade to chop up the carrots.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
While the Cuisinart models come in clutch with very responsive pulse buttons, they only deliver average results for chopping onions. However, they offer above-average performance chopping almonds, which we can't say for most options. The Ninja Professional takes a little longer to spin down when you release the pulse button, making precise control a bit more difficult. However, its onion and carrot chopping capabilities are impressive, mainly creating uniform pieces with only a few larger outliers.
The Breville Sous Chef produces a superior chop, leaving next to no nut dust floating about.
Credit: Austin Palmer
Mixing
While there is a charm in mixing your family pie crust recipe by hand with a wooden spoon, it sure is a lot easier to have a food processor do the work for you. In addition to pie crust, we also mixed pizza dough and mayonnaise in each processor.
The Magimix gave the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro a run for its money as these two top-tier models tied as the stand-out top performers. Both successfully mixing up mayo, creating high-quality pie crusts, and pizza dough. The burly Sous Chef shows no signs of struggle while mixing pizza dough but does take a little more time to complete with its smaller dough blade. During our testing, it took five pulses to achieve the desired pie crust consistency, but it was high quality and looked fantastic when we rolled it out. The Magimix 4200XL also performed well in our mixing tests with its powerful 950-watt motor mixing through everything we could throw at it. We did notice a slight sign of instability when mixing up the pizza dough with the Magimix, but nothing that warranted concern. It churned out ideal results in our pie crust dough mixing test, with no signs of chunks or poofs of flour and a cohesive texture.
It's hard work, but someone has to combine the results of all our testing and then test that result!
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
The Braun TributeCollection and Cuisinart Elemental 13-Cup closely follow the Sous Chef and Magimix. All three of these appliances make mayonnaise successfully, just about as well as the Sous Chef, but they vary a bit in their pizza and pie crust creation. The Braun vibrates like crazy when making pizza dough. When we added a second cup of flour, we thought it would vibrate right off the counter. The Elemental performs almost as well as the Breville and Magimix, although it too shakes slightly.
Mixing Test Ratings
Product
Pizza dough
Mayonnaise
Pie Crust
Magimix 4200XL
9
10
9
Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro
8
10
8
Braun TributeCollection
7
10
8
Cuisinart Elemental
8
10
7
KitchenAid 5-Cup
5
10
5
Ninja Professional
6
5
8
Vitamix 12-Cup
8
3
7
BLACK+DECKER 8-Cup
7
3
7
Cuisinart Custom 14
8
3
6
Hamilton Beach
6
3
6
Of the four top performers, the Magimix takes the cake—or, in this case, the pie, in pie crust performance. The Breville, Elemental, and Braun fall slightly behind, offering a still admirable, above-average performance. Following these four are the Black+Decker 8-Cup and Ninja Professional. While few of these perform universally well across all three of our mixing tests, most offer an above-average performance in at least one of them, so it's worth taking a closer look to see which ones will best fit your cooking style.
Aside from our top overall performers, two honorable mentions that crush the pizza crust test specifically are the Cuisinart Custom 14 and the Vitamix Attachment. The Custom does not even have a dough blade, which makes its performance that much more impressive. Both offer a decently quick and sufficient blend of the ingredients.
The stacked blades gave us mixed results in different tests.
The mixing blade installed on the Elemental.
Moving on to pie crust, we were very impressed with the Ninja Professional, which took roughly 10-15 pulses to blend all the ingredients sufficiently.
Pureeing
Like chopping and mixing, the pureeing metric accounts for a good portion of each product's final score. We conducted five separate tests with each food processor to rank and score performance, making tomato sauce, hummus, nut butter, and applesauce. We also considered leakage in this category, testing each processor by filling the bowl with water to the max fill line and turning it on full blast.
In a surprise upset, the Breville was dethroned and the Magimix 4200XL and Hamilton Beach 10-Cup merited top performances, unseating the winner of the previous two metrics. Our tester remarked, “The Magimix absolutely crushed it. It produced smooth, creamy hummus in less than a minute. No signs of struggle at all.” When sampling the hummus, our panel of taste testers agreed that the texture was superb.
The Magimix 4200XL impressed us with incredibly fast nut butter production.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
The Magimix also created superb nut butter, and was one of the fastest machines to do it, taking only three minutes. The Hamilton and Vitamix Attachment are also fairly quick at this task, the Vitamix after six minutes and the Hamilton 10-Cup in 10 minutes (though the top wobbled furiously during the process). The Cuisinart Custom took almost twice as long at 19 minutes, and the final product was definitively inferior.
All of these models create perfect tomato sauce after about 30 seconds of pureeing, with the Custom receiving bonus points as it was the least messy out of every model that we tested. While the Magimix, 10-Cup, and the Custom also produced some of the highest-quality applesauce, the Vitamix Attachment fell short. Of the average performers in the puree department as a whole, the Cuisinart Elemental whips up admirable hummus, rendering a mostly smooth (albeit a little grainy) product without much shaking or scooping required.
There is a stark contrast in the leak test, with the Cuisinart Custom and Magimix doing substantially better than the Hamilton Beach 10-Cup. The Magimix is well-designed with a high-quality rubber seal that the manufacturer refers to as the “Blender Mix Ring” that allows it to fully contain liquids while processing. The Custom took about three and a quarter cups of water to reach its maximum fill line and didn't leak at all, nor did the Magimix. The 10-Cup reached the maximum fill line with two and a half cups of water and promptly leaked water everywhere after the motor switched on.
When filled to the maximum fill line with water, the Hamilton Beach leaked profusely.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Several models passed our leak test with zero leaks at all, including highly rated models like the Breville, Magimix, Braun, Cuisinart Custom 14, and Hamilton Beach Professional 14-Cup. Though it didn't leak, the Braun does not have a max fill line, so we filled it up a comparable amount to similarly sized models, about 50%.
The Magimix, equipped with its “blender mix ring,” purees applesauce quickly and smoothly.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
Shredding
Homemade macaroni and cheese or hash browns instantly become more appealing when you can simply set up your food processor rather than risking your fingertips on a sharp grater. We took the time to shred potatoes, carrots, and a large block of cheese to compare the performance of all the food processors in our lineup.
In our assessment, the Magimix and Breville delivered quality shavings, shredding through carrots, potatoes, and cheese like a hot knife through butter. Both left behind only one or two small, thin pieces unshredded, which is better than we can say for many of the other lower-scoring appliances we tested. Both of these top performers offer adjustment to the size of shreds they produce, one of the many accessories included with some of the more premium appliances we reviewed.
Shredding cheese while testing the Magimix 4200XL.
Credit: Lesley Robinson
Our runner-ups in this category, the Braun Tribute Collection and Cuisinart Elemental 13-Cup, were close competitors for the Breville and Magimix, and all delivered a stellar performance. These two allow you to choose between a fine or medium shredding size, but you are limited to a single size with the Ninja Professional, the next best-performing processor in our shredding test.
The Ninja Profesional performed well in our shredding tests, despite offering only one size option.
Credit: Laura Casner
The Braun did the best in our cheese shredding test, leaving behind only a few bits of cheese and producing uniform shreds with very few crumbles. The Elemental and the Ninja shredded all the cheese but with a slightly lower consistency than the Braun.
Shredding Test Ratings
Product
Cheese
Potato
Carrots
Magimix 4200XL
7
9
8
Braun TributeCollection
9
9
5
Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro
5
8
10
Cuisinart Elemental
8
8
7
Ninja Professional
6
7
8
Hamilton Beach
6
6
6
Vitamix 12-Cup
6
5
7
Cuisinart Custom 14
4
5
8
BLACK+DECKER 8-Cup
5
2
2
KitchenAid 5-Cup
4
1
2
The Braun and Magimix also offer a very high-quality potato shred perfect for hash browns. The Elemental and the Ninja also created uniformly shredded potatoes. however, there were a few irregularly cut pieces and some leftover chunks between the lid and the blade. The Elemental and the Braun both did average at shredding carrots, with the Elemental producing slightly more uniform pieces. The Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro performed well with carrots, creating the cleanest and most uniformly cut pieces.
Picture perfect zucchini slices from some of our slicing testing.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Slicing
For this portion of our rigorous hands-on testing, we sliced zucchini, tomatoes, and potatoes. We also considered how easy each device is to set up and how much control it offers regarding slice thickness. In terms of key processor capabilities, we consider slicing equal in importance to shredding.
The top scores in the slicing metric were earned by a trio of processors, the Vitamix Attachment, Magimix, and Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap. The runner-ups in this category are Breville Sous Chef, Cuisinart Custom, Hamilton Beach 10 Cup, and the Ninja Professional. The Breville's thickness is very easy to adjust when slicing, as the numbers correspond to millimeters. The Cuisinart Custom includes a four-millimeter disc for slicing, but other thickness discs are available for purchase. The Magimix cut through food with ease without much waste and included two different sized slicing options. These models did a great job creating even tomato slices.
The Breville's sliced tomatoes were on par with the top scorer, but the quality dropped when it came to slicing potatoes and zucchini.
The Hamilton Beach partially destroyed the tomatoes when slicing them.
The Braun completely obliterated the tomatoes when slicing.
Tomatoes can be somewhat finicky to slice neatly, which is why we included them in our testing. The Magimix 4200XL shines brightest while slicing tomatoes. Most of the options require you to take some time to understand how to use them, but this model had the best first run of all the processors, showing almost no mangling due to inexperience. The Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro, the Cuisinart Custom 14, and the Vitamix 12-Cup also showed some of the best and most consistent tomato slices.
Slicing Test Ratings
Product
Tomato
Potato
Zucchini
Vitamix 12-Cup
9
7
8
Magimix 4200XL
9
7
8
Cuisinart Custom 14
9
9
5
Ninja Professional
5
9
8
Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro
9
7
5
Cuisinart Elemental
9
5
5
Hamilton Beach
4
4
8
BLACK+DECKER 8-Cup
5
3
4
Braun TributeCollection
1
5
2
KitchenAid 5-Cup
1
1
1
The Ninja Professional only offers a single slice thickness setting but still does surprisingly well. The potatoes it produces are very uniform, and the zucchini and tomato slices are above average. The feed chute on this model is relatively small, so larger produce must be pre-cut to fit. This design leaves some messier slices with larger tomatoes or zucchini, but smaller items are cut very cleanly.
Chute size can affect ease of use and also affect how easy it is to clean your machine.
Credit: Laura Casner
Cleaning
Our review process's final rating metric considers the amount of effort it takes to clean out each food processor once you're done using it and how well all of the components are designed to facilitate easy, safe washing. We washed each bowl, blade, and cover multiple times during our testing process, both in the dishwasher and by hand. We awarded points to the products that were the fastest and easiest to clean. We paid special attention to details that made it easy to clean without accidentally getting cut by the blades or leaving leftover food behind to rot.
The Breville again earned the top spot in this final metric, barely edging ahead of the Magimix with the easiest blade, bowl, and lid to clean in the whole group. The blade has a longer shaft that makes it a breeze to clean without accidentally slicing fingers, and there were very few nooks and crannies in the bowl or lid where food could get caught. This is followed closely by the Magimix with its simple and sleek design, which makes clean-up easy, and similar to the Breville, all the cutting attachments are thoughtfully designed in a way that they can be easily handled safely while cleaning. The lack of sharp corners or crevices made cleaning efficient, though a bottle brush helps.
The clean and thoughtful design of the Magmix 4200XL makes it easy to clean.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Our runner-ups are the KitchenAid 5-Cup and Vitamix 12-Cup. Though it was not stated that pieces of the KitchenAid are dishwasher safe, the blade is, and its simple design makes it easy to clean. The Vitamix is dishwasher safe, and the gear is easily separated from the bowl for hand washing. The only tricky part about washing this model is the plunger. This section is much easier to clean with a bottle brush.
Some of the test models that we tested side-by-side.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Conclusion
We believe this review can help you pick the perfect new food processor for your kitchen. Whether you are a culinary enthusiast looking for a full-size workhorse appliance or seeking a mini-chopper to speed up prep and make it a little less mundane, this impressive lineup has something for everyone.
—Lesley Robinson, Genaveve Bradshaw, Austin Palmer, and Hayley Thomas
