The overall best food processor for vegan recipes is the Breville Sous Chef 12-Cup Food Processor.
Now, before we dive into the specifics of why that food processor is the best and what the runner ups are, it’s important to note that you don’t need the best food processor for vegan recipes. In fact, you don’t need any food processor for vegan recipes.
It’s completely possible to be vegan and cook often without a food processor. That said, a quality food processor can be an amazing kitchen tool for those who are vegan (and for those who aren’t).
I’ve been vegan for more than 7 years and rarely use a food processor anymore. It’s nice for making hummus and 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies, not to mention making nut butters and pulsing dates. Even so, it’s not necessary and is definitely more of a luxury item. Personally, I use my Vitamix for most things, but if you’re looking for something to tackle the nut butters and those vegan recipes you just can’t get by with a blender for than a food processor is a great choice.
The Best Food Processor For Vegan Recipes
The Overall Best: Breville Sous Chef 12-Cup Food Processor
This machine is a top performer. It features a micro-serrated S blade, 24 settings for a variety of cuts and slices, and an incredibly powerful motor. We chose this processor as the best food processor for vegan recipes because it works great to make nut butters, pulse dates, and puree hummus, while also doing a beautiful job at prepping vegetables.
It costs $250.99 on Amazon and $299.95 on the Breville website.
Runner Up: Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor
Being a top-rated food processor on Amazon, this machine easily earns the title of runner up. It offers comparable features, with slightly lower performance.
It costs $229.95 on Amazon.
Most Affordable Food Processor: Hamilton Beach 10 -Cup Food Processor
The neatest feature on this is the blade scraper feature. All the food that usually gets stuck under the blade can be easily scraped free. However, it’s good to note that sometimes you pa for quality and a food processor is one of those times. While this processor should work ok and do the job, it may result in some frustrations while cooking and have a shorter life than the higher quality options.
It costs $44.99 on Amazon.
What’s A Food Processor Good For?
Food processors make preparing meals simpler. When you’re vegan especially, you’ll probably find yourself spending more time in the kitchen cooking – a food processor can save you a lot of time
A quality food processor can professionally dice vegetables, mince herbs, pulse dates, make nut butters, and even slice tomatoes, all with the push of a button.
Beyond that, food processors can puree soups, crush nuts, seeds, or spices, and can even knead bread.
They’re basically like a combination between a blender, a standup mixer, and a slicer.
What Size Food Processor Is Best?
In our opinion, the larger food processors are generally the better, more versatile choice. The best food processor for vegan recipes (the Breville Sous Chef 12-Cup Food Processor) is 12 cups. It’s the low-end of the large size, which allows for a fair amount of space, without pushing into commercial sizing.
The reason that we prefer the larger sizes is that they allow you to make larger batches of food. Batches of hummus, nut butters, sliced vegetables, etc., would be frustrating to make in a smaller sized food processor. I’ve used the larger ones in my personal kitchen exclusively because even when I’m prepping food for just 1-3 people, the larger size is still necessary. Small food processors are best purchased if you have a very specific (and small) use for it, like exclusively making a small amount of your favorite salad dressing or something like that.
Large Food Processors
Large food processors are generally between 12 to 16 cups and are the most versatile and flexible option.
They usually have wide chutes which allow you to work with bigger items and make bigger batches of food.
Medium Food Processors
Medium food processors are generally between 7 to 11 cups. This is a fine size for most people, especially on the higher end (10-11 cups).
Generally, medium-sized food processors have slightly weaker motors compared to the larger sizes, but they should be able to handle all the same tasks.
For vegan cooking specifically, I’d opt for a large over a medium just because the extra few cups makes a huge difference in terms of batching foods that you don’t want to make regularly (like nut butters or freezer bars with dates, etc.,).
If you’re wanting it primarily for chopping vegetables and plan to use it on a day-to-day basis with minimal batching, then a medium may be the perfect size for you.
Small Food Processors
Small food processors are 1-7 cups and often referred to as mini choppers. As you can guess by the name, their primary use is for chopping.
Small food processors don’t really compare with the large and medium sizes, but they are great in their own way. They can be quite useful for making daily batches of baby purees or doing quick minces of garlic and onions. They’re even handy to quickly whip up salad dressings or sauces.
Conclusion
Overall, the best food processor for vegan recipes is the one that works for your lifestyle. It doesn’t matter if you have the best piece of kitchen equipment, if you don’t use it then what’s the point?
The Breville Sous Chef 12-Cup Food Processor is a quality machine with extensive features and it’s our top pick. However, if you think you’ll only be using it for salad dressings, then opt for a cheap mini chopper. Ultimately, use your knowledge of how you use the kitchen and what foods you like to make and go from there.
Do you have a favorite food processor? Let me know in the comments!
