Food Processor Substitutes – What You Can Use Instead
Food Processor is an all-rounder product that you can use in the kitchen for cutting and chopping vegetables, blending juice, or even grinding meat. So, obviously, this is a product of your dreams.
Now, even though it makes your life easier, what if your food processor suddenly stops working? In this case, you need some alternatives that can help cut down on tie and effort spent in the kitchen.
So, what is the best food processor substitute? Multiple products can be used instead of a food processor like a mixer, blender, grinder, chopper, mortar and pestle, knives, grater, rolling pin and a bag, food mill, and food slicer.
Read the article to know more about these products and for what purpose you can use them!
What Is A Food Processor?
A Food Processor is a versatile product, as it can help in shredding, chopping, cutting, mincing, and grinding various food items available in your kitchen.
It comes with numerous lids and attachments which can perform the above-mentioned processes.
Some food processors also come with various blade attachments that you can change according to the product you are mixing.
A food processor consists of a bowl, a feed tube through which the food is passed on to the bowl.
Then, the blades help in shredding, chopping, and cutting the product. Finally, a pusher with the help of which food is pushed down the feed tube.
Best Food Processor Substitutes
Food processors are the need of the hour but it is important to know some of the alternatives in case there is an emergency!
Given below is a list of various alternatives that you can buy:
1. Mixers
A mixer can be your best friend while baking or making doughs for bread and cookies. It comes with various attachments which you can choose depending upon what you are making. You can get mixers in two varieties:
Stand Mixers
A stand mixer is usually very expensive but it helps more as you can do other work in the kitchen as well. You can put a greater quantity of food items in it.
These stand mixers come with a bowl that is fixed underneath the attachment. So, there is no risk of spilling as well! Note that it covers a lot of space and is not easily portable.
Some great brands include Cuisinart and Hamilton Beach.
Hand-Held Mixers
A hand-held mixer is easy to use and is less expensive. It is portable and does not occupy a lot of space in the kitchen as well. But it has to be supervised as you basically have to hold it for a long period of time till you reach the desired result!
A heavy-duty stand mixer or a hand-held electric mixer, both serve the same purpose. It entirely depends upon how much you want to invest.
Mixers provide the best alternative to food processors as they mix solids and liquids together. So this product can help you in saving a lot of your time!
2. Blenders
With its blade operations, a blender can help you in making purees, juices, or anything about liquid.
It’s summer and you want a smoothie? Put the fruits in the blender and you are good to go with a fresh and healthy smoothie. You can make a pasta sauce, puree some veggies, or even make a perfect cold coffee in a blender.
A stick blender or a hand blender does the same job as a stationary blender. The hand blenders are also known as immersion blenders as you can immerse them in any liquid product and blend it.
You can go for Mueller blenders if you want the best-quality ones!
Note that you can use blenders for limited quantities instead of countertop blenders, which can help blend larger quantities.
The blades do the main job in a blender as it helps in cutting up veggies and fruits to puree them. Even though this is the best option for all things liquid, you might want to go back to the mixer for making the dough.
3. Grinders
Grinders are best to grind nuts, herbs, or even meat. Grinders come in a variety of shapes and sizes depending upon the quantity you want to put in them.
The small grinders have a blade that can help chop the nuts and make a dry powder out of them. You can basically make powder out of any solid item like rice or sugar or even spices.
The large, heavy-duty grinders are used for mincing meat which you can, later on, use for your spaghetti and meatballs dinner or make patties for burgers. These grinders are tough and can break about the hardest piece of meat and mince it.
Grinders are also available in two varieties:
- Electric Grinder – In this, the meat is placed in a funnel and it has to be pushed down. The meat is then minced and it comes out of the grinder easily.
- Manual Grinder – The process is similar to the electric grinder but in this, an element is placed on the side which has to be rotated time and again to get the minced meat. This process is more tedious and difficult as compared to the electric grinder.
4. Choppers
Chopper is one of the main components of the food processor but in its absence, an independent chopper does the work properly.
Chopper helps in chopping and dicing the veggies which can, later on, be used for purees and curries. Choppers are a must-have in the kitchen with their sharp blades as you can get free of cutting the veggies by hand.
Again, choppers come in two varieties:
- Manual Chopper – In manual choppers, the food product has to be pushed down to get the produce almost like a food slicer.
- Electric Chopper – The food is just placed inside the container in an electric chopper, press the button, and voila! It is done. This product saves time and occupies very little space in your kitchen. Chopper is a must-have in the kitchen if you are looking for something easy and less pricey alternative.
Mortar And Pestle
Mortar and Pestle were invented in the Stone Age and these are basically the precursors to the blenders and grinders of modern-day technology.
Made up of two items, a mortar is shaped like a bowl and a pestle is like a club-shaped object which helps in grinding the product. These are usually made up of granite and stone and are used in Asian households a lot.
Mortar and Pestle can grind and blend about anything. From spices to herbs, you can use this to pack flavors in anything!
It’s a good workout to use a mortar and pestle but definitely worth the effort for the fragrant and delicious punch they provide in any food item.
5. Grater
A grater usually has different sides and can be used for about anything in the kitchen. It can help in shredding veggies to different shapes and sizes depending upon how you want the food item to be.
You can use a grater can to shred cheese, carrots, or even for lemon and orange zest.
Although a great product for achieving uniform thickness, it can get a bit tricky to use. It is because if you mishandle it even slightly, then it can lead to a cut or injury on the hand!
A grater comes in different varieties such as:
- Box Grater – Box grater usually has four sides with different hole sizes. It can be used to grate cheese slices and veggies.
- Spice Grater – A long rod-like structure with holes in between it, this product helps in grating spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and star anise.
- Rasp Grater – These small graters occupy less space and are more feasible while grating something in the food plate itself. These are perfect to grate the zest of lemon and oranges as well as grating parmesan cheese directly into the dish.
Food Slicer
A food slicer is the best thing in the kitchen as your vegetables and fruits can be cut in any shape and size. It comes with different attachments.
So, you can dice the food item into perfect squares, round shapes, or even in the shapes of fries. It can even slice an egg in any shape you want.
Food slicers are similar to choppers but are much better because of the various attachments. They are cheaper as compared to a chopper and occupy very little space in the drawers and cabinets of your kitchen.
Food slicers are definitely an excellent alternative to a food processor at times. It can make your life easy and finish the work in literally seconds.
Knives
A good old knife can solve any problem in the kitchen. It can cut, chop, dice any food item and is a good alternative to the food slicer and chopper.
Although cutting and chopping with a knife is a slow process unless you have professional skills, a knife can still help you out in any situation.
It can even help you out in making a puree by finely chopping the veggies but it takes a lot of time. Still, it can be an alternative to a food processor, chopper, and food slicer if you want to invest time while making a dish.
Buy sharp knives to make the process a bit easier for you. Then, cut the food items on a chopping board so as not to degrade the quality of the knife as well. Lastly, be careful while using a sharp knife as it can cause a cut very easily.
Rolling Pin And A Bag
An unconventional method, but useful if you want to crush something or even make a paste out of it. You can put dry food items like biscuits or nuts in the plastic bag or even tomatoes, garlic, and ginger to make a paste.
Ensure that the plastic bag is properly sealed with no air inside or it can tear and explode.
Place the food items inside the plastic bag and slowly roll over the pin to achieve the desired result. Then, you can smash with the rolling pin if you want to create a powder of biscuits, nuts, or spices!
This can also be one of the alternatives to a food processor for certain items.
Food Mill
Food Mill is another unconventional product but it can help in the processing of soft food items. For instance, you can put the boiled potato in the food mill and it can mash the potatoes to a good consistency.
Food mills can either be electrical or used by hand. It gives a creamy texture to any soft food item. So, you can use food mills for soups and sauces.
After mashing the product, a sieve is attached underneath it which helps in sifting the unwanted materials like the tomato seeds or pulp from fruit too!
Related Questions:
If you have any more questions regarding food processors, read on!
Is a Food Processor Any Different From a Blender?
A food processor and blender have almost similar functions but they differ in their application and working.
A food processor is usually used for chopping, mixing, mincing, and grinding dry ingredients.
A very little amount of wet ingredients is required in a food processor. Whereas in a blender, various wet ingredients can be blended together.
Blenders are efficient for making smoothies, juices, or broths. A food processor can easily help you in making dough as well. So, both of them aren’t exactly the same but you can use one for the other.
However, it is good if you can invest in both the products since their properties are different.
Should You Invest In A Food Processor?
Yes, definitely. Here are a couple of reasons why you should invest in a food processor:
Saves Time
A food processor saves a lot of your time as it is more efficient than any other product or alternative in the market. You can go about doing your chores while working with a food processor.
Saves You From Injury
As compared to a mortar and pestle or grater, this product saves you from any injury as it is easy to use.
The bowl protects the blades to touch your hand and the lid overall does not let the content spill out. A food processor also comes with a safety option.
If you have not correctly placed your bowl, the food processor won’t be able to spin. So this product is completely safe for you!
Cleaning and Storage
You can take apart a food processor and clean it easily. Then, you can remove the blades too so you don’t have to worry about putting your hand deep inside to clean like you have to do in a blender and chopper.
The storage space gets a bit tricky as it occupies a lot of your space in the kitchen cabinets.
Keep in mind that it is better to have one product that is versatile than to have all the other alternatives which perform one function.
The alternatives are suggested if in case the food processor stops working and you have to resort to different products. Otherwise, your best buy would be the amazing food processor, such as Hamilton Beach or Ninja brand.
Final Thoughts
A food processor is an important part of the kitchen utilities and must be used to avoid investing in different products. This one product does the job of all the products mentioned above.
If in case the food processor is not working, the best way is to use the alternatives and make your food creation with no problems.
With this list, we hope you get an understanding of the alternatives needed instead of a food processor.
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