Can You Use A Blender As A Food Processor? Answer Might Surprise You

Can you use blender as a food processor is questioned a lot in the food and restaurant world and the answer to this question is a kind of yes and no, however, we will go through in-depth in what situations it is perfectly fine to use one, and some situations where it might not work as well.

In short, you can use a blender as a food processor in some cases, however, not everything will be processed correctly. For example dough, hummus, and similar thick substances won’t get processed in a food processor.

There is much more to this question and you should definitely read more about the subject. In this article, you will find everything related to your question and you will definitely find more value down below.

Can You Use A Food Processor As A Blender?

Some people say yes while some people say no to this question. It really depends on how you play it and I’ll give a couple of examples to show what I mean.

1. Example

Let’s say that you want to make soup. So you have boiled the ingredients and all the spices are there so it only needs a good blending. If you add a reasonable batch to the processor and blend it with the lowest speed option then you usually can use a food processor as a blender. However, remember to keep common sense and you will probably notice straight away if it will work or not.

2. Example

You want to make a tasty bowl of punch for your party but your blender is broken so all you have is your food processor. You add all the liquid juices, some alcohol, ice, and maybe some berries or whatnot. The texture of the mix is way too liquidy so even if mixed with the lowest speed option it will most certainly explode and drain from all the holes and cracks and there is a huge mess to clean up.

So yes this works the other way around as well but not as well when used as a blender is a food processor. If you are about to mix something that you are really unsure whether it will work, it usually won’t.

Should I Get A Blender Or Food Processor?

Choosing between a blender and a food processor is something that many people struggle with. They serve the same purpose, but they are different tools. While both of these kitchen appliances can be used to chop or mix ingredients together, there are key differences in each product that make them more suitable for certain tasks over others. If you’re unsure which one to buy you should think more of your needs and what you are usually making.

To put it briefly, if you prepare more liquids, beverages and smoothies then a blender is best suited for you, on the other hand, if you need to slice, dice, and chop up vegetables, make thick delicacies like pesto, guacamole, or other not so easily mixed foods, then a food processor would be a better option.

If you are still unsure which one would be better for you check out the helpful video below that will give you even more information about the differences between a blender and a food processor.

I’ve also created a set of cheat sheets so you can find out which foods work best with the different appliances. These helpful notes will help ensure no more unfortunate accidents, like sauces exploding to your face after trying to mix it with a food processor. Let’s go through the food processor first.

Food Processors

Food processors come in many different sizes for a commercial kitchen but the most common is a countertop food processor.

Food processors are the best choice when you need to slice, dice, grate, or virtually do whatever quickly and easily, therefore food processors come with many changeable blades and graters.

The usual bowl size on food processors is between 9-14 cups, so there is more room to work with when compared to a blender.

However, liquids aren’t so good for food processors because they will leak if it is filled too much.

Blender

Blenders are the ultimate choice for mixing ingredients, crushing ice, pureeing, and making any kind of liquid treats.

The blender’s blade differs a lot from a food processor’s ones. There are pointy blades facing all directions, at least it seems like it and that’s why they are so powerful and will shred anything in seconds.

The reason why blenders’ can’t handle thick foods so well is the size of the blade which isn’t as big as food processors, and the design of a blender which is clearly more tall than wide, therefore the blade’s reach isn’t nearly as big.

There you have it, all the pros and cons of each appliance and in most cases, at least at home, a blender will get the job done but a food processor is an ultimate helper.

Below we have included our top affordable picks from each blender and a food processor so you can see what does a good one really looks like.

Best Food Processor: Ninja Professional Plus Food Processor

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Ninja products are adored around the globe and it’s no wonder. This specific blender has more than a dozen hundred positive reviews with a 4.8-star average rating so all the processes truly agree that this is one of the best.

When you combine the 1000 Watt motor with the changeable blades and mixers, there is very little that you can’t do with this processor!

This processor has 4 preset options to choose from which are chop, puree, dough, and disc, also if that isn’t all it comes with 3-speed options as well.

The bowl can hold up to 9cups of ingredients so there certainly won’t be any mixing problems and you can even mix the dough with one push of a button!

This affordable processor has truly the best price-quality ratio out there.

Best Blender: Ninja Professional Plus Blender

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This is our favorite blender for a couple of reasons. First, this blender has a really powerful 1400 Watt motor and you really can see it when blending effortlessly your recipes. Second, this is extremely easy to clean thanks to the removable blade.

If you are a fan of ice and frozen ingredients this blender just calls out your name, that’s the reason I love it so much. This blender also haves 3 preset options to choose from which are smoothie, ice crush, and ice cream, it also comes with 3-speed options and a pulse one as well.

However, this blender isn’t the quietest one so if that is a problem then I would look elsewhere, but all in all this blender is totally worth the affordable cost!

Conclusion

This concludes our advising article about using a blender as a food processor, we hope that you learned a lot and have now a better understanding in terms of what you should and shouldn’t blend.

You can always try different things and there is no harm in that except a little mess from time to time and the differences between all the blenders and food processors are huge so different things might work with different people. Keep blending and try not to make a mess!