5 Genius Ways to Use a Food Processor

It’s time to learn what your food processor is really capable of. If you’ve taken up valuable counter space for a food processor and mostly use it for chopping vegetables or blending spreads and sauces like hummus or pesto, you might be amazed at how much more this single appliance can handle in your kitchen.

Some descriptions of a food processor compare it to a very fast, very powerful knife. This is true; it works by chopping ingredients at an incredibly high speed, but it overlooks the capabilities that a food processor offers beyond just finely slicing: This machine’s blade moves so quickly that it can emulsify fats with liquids or whip air into ingredients. 

Even if you’re familiar with a wide array of tasks your food processor can accomplish, a few of these hacks might surprise you. And if you’ve only used this machine for a handful of cooking scenarios, a whole new world is about to unfold. You may even get rid of your blender or stand mixer.

Knead bread and pizza dough

Relying on a food processor to make pie crust is a common technique. The blade is able to cut butter into small pieces quickly, without the natural heat of your hands, which prevents it from melting as the dough comes together. However, you should also turn to the food processor to save yourself some serious elbow grease when making more glutinous doughs, such as for pizza or bread.

Because it’s more powerful than a blender, a food processor can effectively knead dough. This means you don’t need to buy an expensive stand mixer or use your arm strength for kneading. The only tricky part is that a food processor’s power can easily overdevelop the gluten in dough, yielding a tough final product. 

Pulse the dough for short intervals and check its texture regularly to see if the gluten structure is sufficiently developed, so you can stop as soon as it’s ready and avoid overworking.

Grate cheese

This hack isn’t just for cheese — any carrots, zucchini, potatoes, or other ingredients can be grated with a food processor — but shredding blocks of cheddar is, at least in my kitchen, one of the most common scenarios where you’ll wish you didn’t have to grate everything by hand.

You will need a shredding disk to do this (often called a grater plate, grater disc, or shredder attachment), and most food processors come with one. If yours doesn’t, you can still buy the attachment separately. It’s worth it to save money on pre-shredded cheese, and your freshly grated ingredient won’t have anti-caking agents coating it.

Whip cream

Start piling clouds of homemade whipped cream on top of a pie in about two minutes by whipping cream at lightning-fast speed in your food processor. (As an added bonus, some chefs note that the whipped cream you make with this appliance is more stable.) 

There’s no special process or equipment required. Simply pour heavy whipping cream into the processor, along with vanilla and powdered sugar if desired, and blend on low speed briefly before increasing to high speed until stiff peaks form. 

Stop the food processor and check the whipped cream as soon as you think it’s close to being done, then proceed with short pulses if it needs a little more whipping. You don’t want to over-whip it, but if you do, you can always switch to just making a batch of homemade butter.

Emulsify mayo

Making mayo from scratch is all about speed. Quickly whisking oil into egg yolks and lemon juice or vinegar creates tiny fat droplets that stay suspended in the water-based liquid. You can do this by hand with a whisk, but it requires considerable effort, and it can be difficult to get the ingredients to emulsify.

An immersion blender is a popular choice for easily making homemade aiolis, but you don’t need to buy one if you already have a food processor.

After adding egg yolks and acid to the food processor’s base and blending them, slowly stream in oil while the machine runs. In just a few minutes, you’ll have rich mayo ready for sandwiches, dipping, and whatever else your heart desires.

Grind meat

If you’re stressed about the price of ground meat or worried about what’s actually in the more affordable options at the store, you can grind your own in the food processor.

There are three key tips if you want to try this at home: First, cut your meat into medium-sized pieces, instead of trying to grind a whole cut at once. Second, freeze the pieces of meat for about 15-30 minutes before processing them, which will help the final texture stay separate and minced as opposed to becoming puréed. 

Finally, pulse the food processor instead of letting it continuously run, which will also prevent mushy results. One of the benefits of grinding your own meat is that you can blend aromatics, herbs, and seasonings directly into it, creating custom flavor profiles.

Whether your goal is to save some time, money, or physical exertion in the kitchen, it’s safe to say your food processor can probably help.