Five 10-Minute Food Processor Recipes

This one's for the busy bees. Just because you have limited time to spend in the kitchen, doesn't mean you can't prepare yourself some tasty go-to meals!

From multi-tasking mums to busy professionals, everyone deserves an easy, enjoyable time in the kitchen. This is why having some quick recipes up your sleeve can save you tons of headache. And on top of that, investing in a food processor could be the game-changer you need!

Reasons to Get a Food Processor

Here are some signs that this small kitchen appliance might be a good addition to your lifestyle:

1. You're Too Busy to Cook

That's okay, we've all been there — not everyone has the luxury of the extra hour to spend in the kitchen, either at the start of the day or on evenings after work. We love cooking, but if life gets in the way, a food processor saves you a lot of time in food preparation.

2. You Want to Eat Healthier

One of the perks about making everything by a food processor is you can know exactly what goes into your ingredients. That means less harmful, mass-produced foods and more homemade, delicious goodies!

3. You Like to Experiment with Different Recipes

If you're the type of person who likes to try a variety of cuisines from time to time, a food blender or processor can save you the time of chopping multitudes of different ingredients each time you want to try something new. The typical food processor is versatile enough to use on nuts, vegetables, spices, grating cheeses, even to knead dough. 

What Can You Make with a Food Processor?

That brings us to the most commonly asked question: What do you use a food processor for? The possibilities are endless, but here are five quick & easy food processor recipes to get you started.

1. Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

Making homemade ice cream is one of the most popular food processor uses out there. And can you believe it only takes a maximum of three ingredients? 

1. Start with 1 bag (450g) of frozen fruit or berries, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup heavy cream. This step can be done with bananas, blueberries, strawberries, or even chocolate in whichever mix you like.
2. Then – you guessed it – simply insert all of them into your processor and blend away until it reaches your desired thickness!
3. Depending on preference, you can enjoy right away for a soft ice cream or pop in the freezer for a few more hours.

2. Avocado Hummus

Oh, the beautiful things you can make only with a can of chickpeas and a go-to supply of seasonings! With these basic steps, you can make anything from savoury to spicy hummus to go with crackers or crisps for an easy lunch idea.

1. Prepare 1 can of chickpeas (drained) or cooked chickpeas, 2 tbsp tahini, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup lemon juice. You can find chickpeas and tahini in your local supermarket. Save your chickpea liquid!
2. The chickpeas go in last! That means the tahini, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and other add-on seasonings can go in first — many opt for cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne. This depends on what flavour of hummus you're going for. You can also add salt & pepper to taste.
3. In terms of hummus flavours, we love some creamy avocado. However, you can easily substitute this with pumpkin, black bean, or red pepper.
4. Optional: If you have an extra 10 minutes, you can choose steamed sweet potatoes as your flavour base.
5. Blend all your ingredients (except the chickpeas) in the food processor until smooth. Then, pour in your chickpeas. Blend altogether until creamy; it should take approximately 6-8 minutes. You can pour in extra chickpea liquid to smoothen it up as it stirs.
6. Enjoy with your favourite pack of crackers, crisps, or slices of baguette!

3. Homemade Healthy Peanut Butter

A fool-proof homemade peanut butter that comes without the preservatives you don't recognise on the side of the jar.

1. Pour in 2 1/2 cups dry or roasted peanuts. We recommend almond, cashews, pecans or hazelnuts.
2. Add in 1 tablespoon of honey or sugar, and a pinch of salt to taste.
3. Optional: You can add chia or hemp seeds for extra texture.
4. Let your food processor run and stir the ingredients together. You can keep adding salt periodically to taste.
5. It should take around 4-6 minutes depending on how chunky or smooth you want your peanut butter to be! This recipe produces up to 2 cups of peanut butter.

4. Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad

If we're talking quick & healthy, one can never go wrong with a fresh salad.

1. First, trim 1 whole cauliflower into large florets.
2. In a frying pan, toast 40g almonds, 1 tbsp sesame seeds, coriander seeds, and/or cumin seeds until fragrant and golden. Set aside to cool.
3. Once cooled, add them to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside again.
4. Next, pour in your cauliflower florets into the processor and pulse on low speed to make cauliflower rice. It's good to closely monitor this so they don't get over-blended! Transfer to a salad bowl when finished, and mix with greek yogurt, sliced green onions, tuna, or other fresh ingredients of your choice.
5. Pop the almonds & spices back to the food processor and add in crushed garlic, salt, and 2 tbsp each of lemon juice, white wine vinegar and olive oil. Blend until smooth and pour over your salad mix and voila!

5. Pesto Sauce

Last but certainly not least, you can make pesto from scratch using this simple pesto recipe! With minced garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, and some fresh basil, you're in for a perfect go-to sauce to put on your pasta or drizzle over your sandwiches. (We're hungry just thinking about it.)

So should you buy a food processor? Well, if you're keen on saving heaps of time in the kitchen, we highly recommend it.

If counter space is a concern when getting a new kitchen appliance, we highly recommend the Cuisinart Cordless Mini Food Processor. Not only does it require no wires (which means one less dangling cord in the kitchen!) but this compact sized food processor can still delive powerful results. It's definitely a level up from the crowd favourite Cuisinart food processors you've seen before!

It's packed with stainless steel blades, a 3-cup capacity work bowl, and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that you can even USB charge via an adaptor. Whether you want to chop, shred, blend, or perform any kitchen task, our range of time-saving, game-changing appliances are made just for you.

You can find Cuisinart processors and other small kitchen appliances online at Matchbox with a FREE Shipping Australia wide on orders over $69!

FAQs

How do you clean a food processor?

Lucky for you, the blades, bowl, and lid of the Cuisinart Cordless Mini Processor are dishwasher safe – which means a worry-free cleanup once you're done! 

What do you use a food processor for?

Other than making the recipes above, there are tons of yummy ingredients you can make or work with, using a processor, such as grating cheese, kneading dough, making baby puree, churning your own homemade jam, making gazpacho, and tons of other possible recipes.

What is the best food processor?

If it's your first time trying out a food processor, the Cuisinart Mini Prep Processor is a great option to go with. Their compact size saves up a lot of counter space in your kitchen, and their touch pad controls can assist in chopping or grinding for everyday kitchen tasks. Plus, Cuisinartprocessors come with removable parts that are easy to clean once you're done.