Food Processor vs. Blender: When to Use Each Tool

Although both have clear containers, sharp spinning blades and powerful motors, food processors and blenders aren’t the same. Don’t believe us? Just try to make soup in a food processor or slice carrots in a blender, and you’ll see what we mean!

Deciding whether a food processor vs. blender is the right tool for your kitchen can be confusing, but we’re here to help. As a professional product tester, I’ve used dozens of food processors and blenders, and I know firsthand that they excel in different areas. Using my experience and insights from Taste of Home culinary producer Josh Rink, we’ve put together a guide to help you select the proper appliance for the cooking task. Here’s what you need to know about each appliance, and which foods to make in them.

When to Use a Food Processor vs. a Blender

Despite seemingly similar forms, food processors and blenders excel in different areas. If you’re an avid cook, it’s often worth having both tools in your kitchen—despite the storage space they will take up.

The best tasks for a blender

When debating whether a blender or food processor is the right tool for the task at hand, think about the shapes of the two appliances. “A blender’s pitcher narrows at the bottom, helping to funnel the ingredients to the base,” Josh explains.

As such, blenders work great for foods with high liquid content, such as soups, smoothies, milkshakes and other blended drinks. “If a recipe calls for processing a thick, creamy soup (like tomato soup) in batches, then a blender should work just fine,” he says. Blenders are also ideal for emulsifying ingredients and can be used to make things like an Italian vinaigrette, a creamy Caesar dressing or a frosty strawberry shake.

Here are a few other things to make in a blender:

Soups
Dressings
Milkshakes
Smoothies (We love making them in a portable blender!)
Blended drinks (Hello, pina coladas!)
Homemade butter

The best tasks for a food processor

On the other hand, a food processor’s wide, flat base and large blade work best for drier ingredients. “It’s perfect for processing things like graham crackers, cookies or wafers into crumbs for the crust of a cheesecake,” Josh adds. “Trying to do the same in a standard blender could be pretty frustrating.” You can also use a food processor to quickly cut butter into pastry dough or chop hard ingredients like nuts.

Food processors are also good for chopping vegetables—a blender would pulverize them into mush—and are frequently used to make salsa. Many also come with cool attachments, such as a slicing and/or dicing disc, which makes it quick and easy to prep vegetables, fruit and even hard cheese. “Obviously, a blender cannot duplicate these functions,” Josh says.

The following are just a few of the foods to make in your food processor:

Cookie, graham crackers and other crumb crusts
Nut butter (like this creamy cashew butter)
Pesto and hummus
Chopped veggies
Salsa recipes
Shredded cheese
Pastry dough

What to Consider When Buying a Food Processor

Cuisinart Pro Custom 11 Cup Food Processor — TASTE OF HOME

If you’ve weighed your options and decided a food processor is the right tool for your kitchen, there are a few factors you’ll need to look at when comparing different models:

Capacity: If you use your food processor for meal prep, bigger is better. Large food processors can hold up to 16 cups of ingredients in their bowls, but these oversized models take up a lot of counter and storage space. On the other hand, you can get away with a smaller food processor for an occasional onion chop or homemade dressing. Small models often just hold a few cups and are much lighter to move around.
Blade: Ideally, you want a sharp blade that reaches every piece of food within the work bowl and chops uniformly. Some food processors with large bowls even have dual-layer blades, making it easy to process large batches of ingredients.
Attachments: Most of the best food processors come with discs for shredding and slicing. More high-end models, such as the Breville Sous Chef, even allow you to adjust the thickness of your slices for more granular control over your food prep. Attachments increase the versatility of your food processor, but keep in mind that they also take up more storage space.
Price: While even the most expensive processors don’t cost as much as a high-end blender, there’s still a wide range of prices. A high-quality food processor can cost anywhere from $20 to $300.

Still deciding? We go into more detail in our food processor buying guide.

What to Consider When Buying a Blender

Vitamix Blenders Peanut Butter Test — TASTE OF HOME

On the other hand, if you’ve chosen to buy a blender, there are four key components to keep in mind:

Size: Are you planning to blend for just one or two people? Or an entire family? Since blender capacities range from 3 to 14 cups, keep size in mind while shopping. This metric also impacts how much storage space you’ll need!
Speed and power: A blender with between 3 and 10 settings and a 500-watt motor will meet most people’s needs. If you want extra power for crushing ice, making nut butter or other difficult tasks, consider a blender with a more powerful motor. In particular, Vitamix blenders are known for being extremely powerful and able to process tough ingredients, and the best blenders for smoothies are well-suited for crushing ice.
Special attachments: Some blenders double as coffee grinders or come with single-serving to-go jars. Take note of any special attachments you may like, but remember that extra tools often increase the blender’s overall cost and will take up more space in your kitchen.
Price: Blenders can cost anywhere from $30 to several hundred dollars. However, we’ve found that the best blenders generally fall in the $100 to $400 range.

If you need more in-depth guidance, check out our blender buying guide.

On Sale