By Heather Nicholds
Blender vs food processor – which one is better? For some reason, people shifting to a healthy eating plan feel like they need one or both to make things work.
Well, the first thing I want to say is that having a blender or a food processor is not required to build healthy eating habits.
You can do just fine without pureeing or making smoothies. It’s just fun to have the different texture sometimes.
I find that using a machine – especially my food processor – saves me time in the kitchen.
It can also save you time in chewing, although you should really still chew most foods to help them digest properly. But again, not necessary – just helpful.
I do have quite a few recipes, especially recent ones, that are pureed.
But if you don’t have a blender or food processor, and don’t want to get one, you can either mash the ingredients up for a bit chunkier result – or just make the recipe without pureeing.
The ingredients in a creamy squash soup would also be delicious floating loose in broth. And you can just eat fruit instead of making it into a smoothie.
Changing the texture of food is just a way to get variety in your meals, it doesn’t make it healthier.
That said, I love to make pureed soups, smoothies and dips!
I love the smooth creamy texture, and it’s a fun way to camouflage certain not-so-popular vegetables.
I almost always puree cauliflower in squash soup, zucchini in bean dips and fresh sprouts in smoothies.
So here are my thoughts on how the different types of blenders and food processors stack up on my two main jobs – smoothies and bean dips…
{jumi [files/includes/youtube.php] [ECMw04–JBM]}
Blender vs Food Processor: Smoothies
When you’re making a smoothie, or something with more liquid, a blender is the best tool.
You can get blenders anywhere from $10 to $500.
The more expensive ones usually have better motors, meaning they’ll last longer and make a smoother consistency.
The cheapest are usually immersion blenders, or hand blenders.
They’re great for pureeing soups, and can make good smoothies as long as you have a tall cup so they don’t splash.
I like that you can move the blender up and down, so you don’t have to stop and shift greens down to the blade.
They’re best for small quantities.
A regular blender is a great way to get started making smoothies for yourself.
They’re pretty cheap, and you can see if you like making smoothies before investing hundreds of dollars.
If you can find one with a glass container, it will last longer since it won’t get scratched like plastic. It’s heavier though.
Single-serving blenders, like a Magic Bullet, are great if you’re just making smoothies for yourself.
It’s also multi-purpose, since it comes with different blades that you can use for blending or for grinding nuts and seeds.
I got my Magic Bullet to replace an old coffee grinder that burnt out grinding flax seeds.
I also like using it to make smaller pureed things, like avocado dip.
High-powered blenders make the ultimate smoothies. I haven’t invested in one yet, but Blend-Tec and Vita-Mix are in a different league than ordinary blenders.
They’ll puree anything to be super-smooth, and have powerful motors that can turn dry nuts and seeds into butters.
They’re expensive and really loud, but they last for a long time and if you find yourself sick of chewing bits of green in your smoothies you might want to step up.
Blender vs Food Processor: Bean Dips
For bean dips, where you don’t want too much liquid, blenders aren’t the best tool.
Food processors can handle a thicker puree because the blade is longer. A blender won’t be too happy unless it has enough liquid to keep things moving.
Food processors are also great for chopping and grating vegetables.
Mine saves me so much time when cutting up a squash or grating carrots.
And not just time, but it saves the tension in my jaw when I grate or chop for too long…
You can get different sizes of food processor, and the best is to use one that’s appropriate for the amount of food you have.
If you use too big a bowl for your food, it won’t get processed properly.
When you’re chopping or grating vegetables, the bigger the bowl the better! Or you can just empty it when it gets full.
Food processors are usually more expensive than blenders, but I find I use mine a lot more often.
It’s more multi-purpose, and it will make a fairly good smoothie. Just not quite as smooth as a blender.
If you can’t afford a new one, you can usually find a food processor at thrift stores, or on websites like craigslist.
If they don’t come with a chopping/grating blade you might be able to order one online from the manufacturer’s website.
So, what do you think? Do you use a blender? A food processor? Both?
