The 3 best mini food processors — compact choppers tested and recommended by a kitchen tech expert | Tech Radar

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The 3 best mini food processors — compact choppers tested and recommended by a kitchen tech expert

Compact but powerful food processors to make light work of veggies, cheese, nuts, and much more

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A food processor is a fantastic labor-saving device, handling all your chopping, shredding, and grating needs – but if you have a small kitchen, you might be hesitant about buying one. After all, they're not the prettiest of appliances, and if you don't have sufficient cupboard space then it will have to sit out on your (already cluttered) countertop. That's where mini food processors come in — and the latest ones are a lot more powerful and versatile than you might expect.

As Tech Radar's Homes Editor, I test new kitchen tech every month, and I've been truly impressed by just how much you can do with a compact food processor. These are tiny appliances with real chopping power, taking the time-consuming knifework out of preparing vegetables, cheese and breadcrumbs, when you're cooking from scratch.

Here I've put together a list of the top three mini food processors I recommend for your kitchen, including a model that's particularly powerful, one that's super compact, and one that also functions as a blender, so you can turn your freshly diced veggies into a creamy soup. Let's get cooking!

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You might only have room for a mini food processor in your bijou kitchen, but that doesn't mean you have to settle for an appliance with a weak motor that can barely shred a cucumber. The Cuisinart Flex Prep 1.1L is small, but its motor and blades can power through tough ingredients.

This is the smallest version of Cuisinart's Flex Prep, and upon opening its box, we were surprised by just how compact it is. It's also super versatile: where most mini food processors (including the other two in this list) arrive with just one blade, this comes with several. There's a reversible shredding disc with fine or medium options depending which way up it's fitted; a whipping disc for eggs and cream; and a chopping blade for all your slicing and dicing needs.

During our tests it made light work of chopping vegetables and making breadcrumbs, and could handle making pastry, too. The two-sided grating disc was excellent for shredding carrots and zucchini as well, and didn't feel like it was pulling the ingredients through the feed tube too quickly. Making nut butter didn't go quite so well, though – the nuts at the bottom of the bowl weren't blended as smoothly as those higher up.

The bowl, lid and attachments can be safely put into the top rack of your dishwasher for easy cleanup, and the whole bundle is super affordable with a list price of just

However, note that the Cuisinart Flex Prep does take up a little more space than the Kitchen Aid Food Chopper; its bowl is slightly larger, and its more powerful motor means its base is a tad taller, too. I'd still place it in the petite category, though, offering a great balance of size and power.

Kitchen Aid's Food Chopper has an even smaller bowl than the Cuisinart Flex Prep above, with a capacity of just 3.5 cups, or 830ml. It has a more compact base, which makes it even easier to tuck into a tiny kitchen cupboard. The tradeoff is that it isn't as powerful as its Cuisinart counterpart – nevertheless, it's still an handy little food processor for light tasks. In the words of our reviewer, Cesci Angell: "it chops things, and it chops them well".

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You only get one blade here, but it's perfectly capable of handling everyday prep such as mincing garlic, chopping onions, and making breadcrumbs. It was effective at slicing vegetables, too (something not all mini choppers can do), and we appreciated the fact that it has a dedicated "puree" mode (ideal for making nut butter) in addition to "chop" and "pulse".

A hole in the lid for drizzling in oil and other ingredients is a nice touch for making dressings and pesto – and, as you'd expect from a Kitchen Aid appliance, the Food Chopper comes in a choice of fun colors as well. We tested the timeless gloss black version, but depending on where you shop, you can also find it in red, cream, white, and even a pastel blue.

We don't love the fact that you have to keep your chosen button pressed down in order to slice and dice, and we found this little food processor particularly noisy. Definitely don't use it to make almond butter while anyone is trying to nap.

If you want to chop more than this little appliance can handle, there's a larger version of this food processor available with double the capacity (although, of course, that also means it takes up much more valuable space on your kitchen counter).

Immersion blenders are incredibly useful for making smooth soups and sauces, but this ergonomic model from Bosch also does double duty as a mini food processor. It's truly tiny, but just right for chopping up an onion or two without any tears, shredding cheese, or chopping a handful of nuts (perfect for making my favorite tasty dukkah).

It worked like a dream (and during testing I made so much pizza sauce, I was eating margheritas for a month), but it was the mini chopper attachment that really won me over. It's just so convenient, quickly shredding cheddar with less faff than a box grater, chopping herbs, and cutting up bell peppers, tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic with ease. Once you have this in your kitchen, you'll barely use your chef's knife.

The only ingredient that it struggled with was ice. According to Bosch's instruction leaflet, this should have been transformed to slush in a few second. During my tests, however, it took over a minute. That still isn't a bad result, though; even dedicated smoothie makers usually take about 30 seconds to turn ice into snow.

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➡️ Read our full guide to the best blenders

1. Best overall: Braun Tri Force / Power Blend 9
2. Best for smoothies: Beast Mighty 850 Plus
3. Best for soup: Vitamix A3500
4. Best stick blender: Bosch Ergo Master Series 6

Cat is Tech Radar's Homes Editor, covering smart home tech, kitchen appliances, vacuums, haircare and more. She's been a tech journalist for 15 years, having worked on print magazines including PC Plus and PC Format, and is a Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) certified barista. Whether you want to invest in some smart lights, find your ideal hair styler, or pick the espresso machine of your dreams, she's the right person to help.

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Key Takeaways

• The 3 best mini food processors — compact choppers tested and recommended by a kitchen tech expert

• Compact but powerful food processors to make light work of veggies, cheese, nuts, and much more

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• A food processor is a fantastic labor-saving device, handling all your chopping, shredding, and grating needs – but if you have a small kitchen, you might be hesitant about buying one

• As Tech Radar's Homes Editor, I test new kitchen tech every month, and I've been truly impressed by just how much you can do with a compact food processor