Continental Prep Tips

Food Processor Tips

My Top 10 Ways to Use the Food Processor

1. Puréeing Soups and Sauces:

This was actually the top reason why I got a food processor in the first place.

2. Preparing Dips, and Spreads:

With all the fine chopping and grinding required for these kinds of recipes, a food processor really makes the job a lot easier.

3. Grinding Meat:

Grinding meat yourself is cheaper and safer (I feel). I just cut whole pieces of meat into chunks, freeze them until the edges are stiff, and then pulse them in the food processor until coarsely ground.

4. Grinding Nuts:

Forget chopping nuts by hand — when I want a few cups of finely-chopped nuts for a dessert recipe, it’s all about the food processor.

5. Making Pasta Dough:

I didn’t believe this would work until I finally tried it, and now I will forever more make my pasta dough in the food processor. SO easy.

6. Making Homemade Mayonnaise

Yet another example of the food processor acting as my third arm in the kitchen.

7. Making Nut Butter:

And if you keep grinding nuts a little more past that floury stage, you’ll eventually have homemade nut butter!

8. Grinding Whole Grains into Flour:

This isn’t as perfect as an actual grain mill would be, but it works fine for small batches of specialty flours.

9. Making Bread Crumbs and Cookie Crumbs:

really like how finely the food processor is able to cut my bread and cookie crumbs for things like topping mac and cheese or making a cheese cake crust.

10. Shredding Cheese:

This is actually one of the few times I get out one of the other blades. If I have to shred whole blocks of cheese for a casserole or similar recipe, the food processor gets it done in a fraction of the time.