The Best Budget Food Processors

A budget food processor is not a compromise for the jobs most people actually do. Chopping an onion, shredding cheese, slicing a bag of vegetables, pulsing a dip — a $60 machine does all of that. What your money buys at the top of the market is a stronger motor for dough, an adjustable slicing dial, a sealed bowl and years of durability. If you will not use those, a budget pick is the honest buy, and the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Duo Plus 12-Cup is the most machine for the least money here: 12 cups, a second 4-cup chopper bowl that nests inside it, and a published 500-watt motor.

Where a cheap processor saves money — and where it costs you

The savings come from three places. The motor is smaller, so stiff dough and hard cheese make it labor. The build is lighter plastic, so a fully loaded bowl can make the machine walk on the counter. And there are fewer discs in the box, usually one reversible slicing/shredding disc with no thickness adjustment. None of that matters for everyday chopping. All of it matters if you knead dough weekly or run the machine hard every day — in which case spend up for a Cuisinart or Breville from the main roundup.

Which budget pick for which kitchen

Buy the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Duo Plus 12-Cup if you want the biggest bowl for the money and a small chopper bowl in the same box. Buy the Cuisinart Elemental 8-Cup Food Processor (FP-8SV) if you have a smaller kitchen and want the Cuisinart name and a more compact 8-cup footprint. Buy the BLACK+DECKER 8-Cup Food Processor (FP1600B) if the only thing that matters is the lowest possible price to get into a real processor. Every pick below carries a live Amazon price and a plain line on who should skip it.