How To Use A Food Processor for Easier and Faster Meal Prep

Last Updated on January 10, 2023

A food processor is a common appliance found in thousands of homes across the globe. With so many varieties out there, it can be not easy to navigate them. What’s more, each model is different and boast different functions, buttons, and attachments.

To help you understand your kitchen appliance better, we have created this handy guide on how to use a food processor in the hopes you can get the most out of it. In this way, you will be able to create delicious meals and get creative with new ideas.

What Can A Food Processor Do?

A food processor is a great machine that everyone should have in their kitchen while cooking any food. This versatile machine can complete the function of several different appliances, thereby saving you money as well as countertop space!

Use It to Blend

One job that a food processor can do is blend. A recipe for sauces will be a great excuse to use food processors. This is especially true if these sauce recipes call for hard vegetables to be used.

Differently from a blender, a food processor may not create a smooth consistency, but it’s perfect for salsa, pasta sauces, or soups.

Great for Grating

One job that food processors can do is grated. Recipes for grating carrots, such as baking a carrot cake, will be a great excuse to use food processors. This is because carrots for carrot cake need to be in thin strips.

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Ideal for Chopping

Food processors are great at chopping hard ingredients into crumbs. Recipes for nuts, such as toppings for ice cream, will be a great excuse to use food processors. This is because a traditional blender would turn the nuts into a flour-like consistency which would be too messy to put on top of ice cream.

Use to Grind Food

Grinding is another function to make the most of your food processor. Recipes for ground meat, such as for a burger, will be a great excuse to use food processors. This is because meat for a burger needs to be ground to be formed into a patty. If you try to use chunks of meat for a burger, forming a burger patty will result in meat crumbs.

Can be Used for Slicing

One job that food processors can do is slicing. A recipe that calls for sliced potatoes, such as in scalloped casserole, will be a great excuse to use food processors.

Great for Shredding

Your food processor also has a shredding function. A recipe such as hash browns will be a great excuse to use food processors. Potatoes and onions will need to be shredded for a successful hash brown, and your food processor is a great way to do this. This is also great for making coleslaw too.

Use to Mix Ingredients

Food processors can also mix. A bread recipe will be a great excuse to use a food processor. This is because bread dough needs to have all of its ingredients, whether butter or flour or something else, combined fully for the recipe to be a success.

Using A Food Processor

A food processor can do many different jobs. However, how can all of this be done with one machine? This is how a food processor works.

Choosing the Attachment

The first step to using your processor is to select the right blade to use. To choose the right blade, consider what you want your food processor to do. Most food processors will come with a range of attachments including, but not limited to;

• Slicer
• Grater
• Dough hook
• Grinding blade
• Shredder
• Spice mill
• Whisk

Using the right attachment is key. Therefore, you should check and read your food processor handbook to determine what each blade is used for. Once you have picked the right blade, you need to insert it into your processor.

The main part of your processor is the base. It is a stand with a motor inside of it. There’s a bowl that sits on top of the stand. Be sure all these are locked in place.

Open the lid of the bowl. Take your chosen blades and place them in the bowl. There should be a small screw in the centre. This attachment is where the blades are supposed to go. All the blades from your processor should fit snuggly on this attachment.

Add Your Ingredients

After this, put your ingredients inside the bowl. Depending on the recipe, you may need to add them in one at a time, while for others, you can add them all at once.

Whether you are using butter, cheese, vegetables, oil or anything else, once your ingredients are inside the bowl, put on the lid and lock it in. Make sure the lid is secure. Many processors won’t work unless everything is locked in place.

Pulse the Processor

Once this is done, pulse the processor. Repeatedly pulse the processor until the right consistency is achieved. When doing some chopping, grating and shredding, pulse the processor only a few times. To make dips or a healthy sauce, pulse for a longer time. Some handbooks will give some brief guidelines on how to get the best results.

Cleaning Your Food Processor

Once you are done using your food processor and have finished cooking your food, you will inevitably need to clean your food processor.

Dishwasher Safe Processors

Some models will be dishwasher safe. Cleaning them is as easy as taking the pieces apart and putting them into your washer.

Non-Dishwasher Safe Processors

If it’s not dishwasher safe, you can fill the bowl with some soapy water, switch it on and watch the mess disappear. The force of the water swirling around your processor will push the food remnants off of the sides and make cleaning easier.

Clean the Interior

Once this has done a sufficient job, you can pour out the water and remove the attachment. If you leave the blades in for the next step, you could hurt yourself. After everything has been removed, wipe down the inside with a soft cloth. Be sure to get into the corners where stubborn vegetables or dough may stay. Many foods will also splash up to the lid, so rinse it in your sink and wipe it down using the same process.

Clean the Exterior

Be sure to clean the exterior of your food processor to make sure to avoid a build-up of any grubby fingerprints or leaked foods. Maintaining your food processor will not only improve its longevity but will also keep your kitchen looking in great shape! Use a damp cloth for cleaning. Don’t use anything corrosive or that could damage the outer surface of your appliance.

Storing Your Food Processor

If you are forward-thinking, you will choose a food processor that will stack easily and comes with ingenious storage solutions, so you don’t have many pieces to find space for. Many people leave them out of the countertop, while others may opt to keep them out of sight in a cupboard. However, this will depend on how much cupboard space you have and how big your food processor is.

Create Delicious Dishes

It is important to know how to use a food processor to make the most of your appliance and get the best results every time. Once you learn about the different attachments and which functions to use, the possibilities are endless.

From pies to falafel, or pesto for your pasta, you can whip up a delicious meal for your family in no time with a food processor. Be sure to check the manual, maintain it by cleaning it regularly, and store it safely, and your food processor will assist you in endless culinary masterpieces.

What do you use your food processor for? Share your recipes with us below.