Can I Use a Blender Instead of a Food Processor?

With so many appliances out there with the same functions, it’s quite difficult to get a hold on which is used for what. Blenders and food processors are one of those. You may think these appliances are used for the same purpose; but these two, in fact, have different and specific uses around the kitchen. However, with some techniques, you can interchange their utilization.

When you want to use your blender as a food processor, you might want to check some points before starting your procedure. Firstly, you’d have to understand the type of food you’ll be making and its texture. Secondly, analyze the quality of your blender. And finally, check if your blender comes with any additional attachments that may work to replace a food processor. 

Hence, to answer your question “can I use a blender instead of a food processor?”- I’d say, yes you can! Although, as mentioned, blenders and food processors are designed differently to have specific outcomes, so you might have to settle with substandard quality of food. To know more about this, and how you can make the best use of your blender, keep reading! 

The Basic Difference Between the Appliances

First off, blenders are used for liquefying food. With high speed and dull blades, it causes the particles to mush and creates a watery texture. The vortex after you turn a blender on would drag anything you put in it, and create a smooth paste. You don’t get the option to chop, slice or break ingredients.

On the other hand, food processors are slower than blenders and have sharper blades. With a wider surface (the jar), it creates a chopping effect. It can also be used for grating and slicing.  It’s great for making dough for bread and mixing cake ingredients. However, it wouldn’t give you fine textured products like a blender.

Things to Consider While Choosing a Blender Over a Food Processor 

While swapping the uses of these two appliances, if you keep some things in mind, you can achieve almost the same results. Blenders work better with ingredients that have high water content, while food processors work best with dry ingredients. This is the basic rule you need to remember. Apart from this, the list below will be your guideline.

What Are You Making? 

Let’s assume, you’re making a cheesecake; hence, you need to mix some ingredients with the cream cheese and crumble the graham crackers. While typically it’s done by a food processor for its low-speed settings, you can substitute its use with your trusty blender as well. All you need to do is, hit the pulse option! 

So, depending on what you are making, you can switch the uses of food processors with your blender. Crushing nuts, shaving ice can also be done very easily. However, you should never attempt to make cauliflower rice, pie dough, pizza dough or even hummus in your blender, as it simply would never work. 

The Food’s Texture 

Food is the world’s greatest joy. It’s also one of the things you can mess up pretty easily. Flavor and texture are the two basic elements of any dish. If one of them is butchered, it’s near impossible to retrieve the dish’s original form. So, you have to very carefully analyze what your food’s texture is going to be. 

If you want to make a textured salsa, blenders might over chop it, and make it into tomato juice. Hence, for these sorts of food items, you should avoid blenders.

Keep in mind, blenders work better with watery ingredients. Whereas, if you choose a food processor here for textured salsa, you’d end up with beautiful chopped ingredients, and no juice. 

Quality and Power of The Blender 

The quality and power of your blender matter greatly in terms of how much you can use it as a substitute. Your blender should have ‘pulse’, and ‘low-speed’ settings to achieve what you want.

Several high-end blenders in the market can be used as a food processor without any problem. So if you want to achieve the best of both worlds, you can invest in one of those. 

Additional Attachments 

Food processors often come with extra blades that are built specifically for chopping and making dough. A blender is not going to cover all those work for you. 

Again, blenders are best for juicing, pureeing, and powdering ingredients. A food processor will take hours to finish doing these. 

Tips for Your Blender to Work as a Food Processor 

I’m sure after reading the previous points, you understand what to expect when you decide to use blenders. So now, let’s see some techniques on how you can use it properly for best results.

Use minimal Setting 

When you have to chop some vegetables finely, or slicing for salad, use the minimal setting of your blender. Use the pulsing option, and keep an eye on it. 

The pulsing will leave you with big chunks at first. You can manage the power, depending on how fine you want your ingredients to be.

Use Less Liquid  

Putting ingredients that have less water content and avoiding additional water while blending them would work perfectly. It would leave your food textured just like a food processor. 

Using less liquid would also ensure your blender doesn’t over blend the food, and make a puree out of it. So, make sure you put just enough water to get it going. 

Small batches

You should always avoid putting big batches of food into your blender because it will blend it all into mush. Always go with small batches of ingredients. 

It would take a longer time to get the work done but it will make it easier for you to follow the process. So, if you make any mistakes, you can redo them in the next batch. 

Foods You Can Process with Your Blender 

With practice, you’ll be able to ace all recipes with a blender. So, analyze which settings of your blender work best to replicate the works of a food processor. Here are some of the basic ones! 

Solid Food: Bread crumbs, Ice Shaves, Shredded Cheese 

Break some stale pieces of bread, and put in in your blender with the minimal to medium setting. Pulse blend it, and do not add water. 

Do the same with the ice shaves, and shredded cheese. Cut your cheese into 5-7 inches chunks and pulse grind it. Keep an eye because cheese breaks easily. 

Liquid Food: Soup Puree, Pesto, Hollandaise 

Put any base ingredients you like in your blender (raw or boiled). Add some water and blend into a fine paste. That is going to be your soup base. 

To make pesto, you’d have to use less liquid and pulse grind it till you get the texture you like. Hollandaise sauce needs to be blended with the highest power, to achieve the creamy texture.

Baby Food: Mushy and Chopped 

If you have a baby at home, a blender would save your life. You would not have to spend hours preparing your kid’s food by hand. 

All you need to do is, steam vegetables and put them in your blender. Add some vegetable stock or bone broth, and blend it till you get the consistency suitable for your kid’s age and liking. 

Conclusion

You can always substitute these two appliances, with some additional tricks to replicate their uses. Even if you don’t get the exact results, you’d still be close enough.