Professional And Home Chefs Agree: This Food Processor Makes Meal Prep A Breeze.

Photo Illustration: Scouted/The Daily Beast/Ninja
Photo Illustration: Scouted/The Daily Beast/Ninja

Like so many of you right now, I am spending a lot more time in my kitchen. As a culinary school graduate and former professional chef, I am always looking for gadgets and appliances that meet my home cooking needs and my professional expectations.

Food processors are hard to come by these days. I was ridiculously excited when I found the brand new, NINJA Professional Food Processor With AUTO-IQ at my favorite store. I was hesitant to purchase a model that just hit the market, but the price convinced me it was worth a try.

If you are into power tools, you will love the fact that it features a 1,000 peak-watts motor. If you’re more into what it can do in the kitchen, that motor has enough horsepower under its hood to easily chop and puree almonds into a pretty smooth butter. The puree cycle runs for a strong one minute, 18 seconds (yes, I timed it!) before coming to a stop. Despite running the cycle several times in a row, the NINJA hung right in there and didn’t overheat, a problem with many home food processor models.

The NINJA comes with an oversized, nine cup processing bowl, making it easy to wipe down the sides during use. It locks into place easily, as does the lid with a tight seal. The chopping blade, dough hook, and discs all drop into place easily, so there’s no fumbling needed to find the locked position. The food pusher lets you safely push ingredients through the shoot and into the bowl for processing.

The AUTO-IQ functions and processing tools make quick work of chopping, pureeing, slicing, shredding, grating, and making dough. Three discs provide the blades for shredding, grating, slicing, and even a super cute crinkle-cut blade. The discs have two holes for your fingers, to make handling them easier, and their own storage bin. All the pieces, processing bowl, and lid can go right into the dishwasher.

Despite having a small kitchen and limited counter space, the NINJA is on display next to my other must-have appliance, the coffee maker. It earned its permanent place because 1) I use it almost daily, and 2) because the suction cups underneath make such a tight seal it’s almost impossible to move. I use the NINJA often to chop onions, grate Parmesan cheese, shred veggies for salads, cut crinkle fries, puree applesauce, or make bread dough with one touch. It’s a versatile, easy-to-use, powerful appliance that deserves a place on your kitchen counter, too.

Buy on NINJA, $100

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