Food processor vs blender. Which one should I get? Do I need both of them? These are the questions that we are going to try to help you answer. Although there are certain things that both of these appliances are capable of doing, they are very different appliances that can be used for very different purposes.
A blender can be used for crushing ice, blending and grinding ingredients, and it can be used to purée, emulsify, and liquefy ingredients. It can be used to make sauces and baby food and they are also commonly used to make things like iced coffee, frozen alcoholic beverages, milkshakes, smoothies etc. For a lot of people, a blender is primarily used to make beverages.
While a blender is normally used to make beverages, a food processor is used to prepare food. It is able to quickly do a lot of things that would normally take much longer to be done by hand. A food processor can thinly slice meat, cheese, and vegetables and it can also shred and grate, mince and dice and much more. A food processor does the types of things you would normally do by hand while using a knife but it makes the job a lot easier and much faster.
Both a blender and a food processor can do things like crush ice or purée fruits and vegetables and both can be used to make soups, sauces, baby food and other items with a similar consistency. That is the area where there is some crossover in what these machines can do. To decide which one you need or if you need both you need to think about the types of foods or beverages you will be preparing in your kitchen.
If you are having a party and you want to make margaritas or other frozen drinks a blender will be your tool of choice. If you are more interested in making a big salad or chopping garlic and onions then a food processor is the appliance you need. And of course some people will need both. If you are thinking “food processor versus blender, which one do I need” you might have to change your thinking to food processor AND blender because if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen you will eventually have a need for each of these useful kitchen appliances.
