One Base, Two Jobs: The Best Blender Food Processor Combo

A blender and a food processor do different jobs. A blender pulls everything down into a fast blade and turns it to liquid, which is what you want for a smooth salsa roja, an agua fresca or a frozen margarita. A food processor chops with a slower blade in a wide, flat bowl, so you get pico de gallo with pieces you can see, a coarse guacamole base or a quick masa-style dough. A combo gives you both on one motor base, so you store one motor instead of two.

This guide is the combo branch of our main guide to the best blender and our guide to the best food processor. We picked eight blender and food processor sets from Ninja, nutribullet, Oster, Hamilton Beach, Cuisinart and KOIOS, none of them in those two guides or in our budget blender and value food processor guides. For each one we give the size of the blender jar and the processor bowl, the motor power and the warranty as the maker or the Amazon listing states them, and “Not stated” where they give nothing.

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Quick verdict: which blender and food processor combo to buy

The table compares the five we would point most people toward. All eight sets are reviewed in full after it.

Five blender and processor sets side by side

Jar, processor bowl and warranty for our five standout picks, in each maker’s or listing’s own terms.

Product images from Amazon. Jar and bowl sizes are quoted from each maker’s Amazon listing; makers measure them differently, so read the listing before you buy.

Our picks for the best blender food processor combo

These eight sets run from large kitchen systems with an 8-cup bowl to compact bases with a small chopper attachment. Each review says what the processor side can actually do (chop only, or slice and shred too), how big the blender jar is, and one honest reason to skip it.

How to choose a blender and food processor combo

Every combo blends. These are the things that decide whether the processor half earns its space.

1. Processor bowl size

The bowls here run from 22 ounces to 8 cups. A 3-cup chopper (Hamilton Beach, Oster Classic, Cuisinart) handles one batch of salsa or a cup of chopped onion. An 8-cup bowl (both Ninjas) or 7 cups (nutribullet) handles a party bowl of pico de gallo or a double batch of dough. If you already own a big food processor, a small chopper is enough.

2. Chop only, or slice and shred too

Many combos only chop. If you shred cheese for enchiladas or slice cabbage and radishes for tostadas, look for a disc: the Ninja TB401, nutribullet Triple Prep, Cuisinart BFP700GF and, by its listing, the Hamilton Beach chopper all slice and shred.

3. Glass or plastic jar

Glass (Hamilton Beach, Oster Classic) is heavier than plastic. Large plastic pitchers are lighter and are what the big kitchen systems use. Whichever you choose, check that the maker says it is fine for hot liquids before blending a cooked salsa; nutribullet and Hamilton Beach say so.

4. Warranty on the motor and drive

The base is the expensive part, and it is shared by every attachment. Oster’s 10-year all-metal drive warranty and Hamilton Beach’s three years beat the one year Ninja lists. Check what is covered: Oster’s long term applies to the drive, not every part.

5. How much you will store

A kitchen system comes with a pitcher, a bowl, cups, several blades and sometimes a disc. Count the pieces and make sure you have a cupboard for them, or the processor bowl ends up unused.

How we picked these eight combos

We looked for blender and food processor sets sold on Amazon US by identifiable makers, where one motor base runs both a blender jar and a processor bowl or chopper. We checked each set’s stock with Amazon’s product data before writing, and all eight were in stock; we left out sets that were down to their last units (including Ninja’s Mega Kitchen System and Cuisinart’s BFP-650 Velocity Ultra Trio at the time), renewed listings and replacement-part kits. We also left out every product already in our main blender and food processor guides and our budget blender, value food processor and personal blender guides, so this page adds new options; the Cuisinart Smart Power Duet combo, for example, is reviewed in our budget blender guide. Specifications come from the makers’ Amazon listings, with retailer listings used to confirm model names; our notes record which. We searched the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall database for every brand here. We found no recall covering any model in this guide; the recalls we did find covered other products, including Ninja’s BL660 blender in 2015 and Cuisinart’s riveted-blade food processors in 2016 and CBJ-450 blender and juicer combo in 2022. We have not used these combos ourselves; where we describe how one works, it is the maker’s or the listing’s description.

One base, two jobs in a Mexican kitchen

The split between the two halves follows the way Mexican sauces are made. Cooked, smooth sauces such as salsa roja, enchilada sauce or a mole go in the blender; fresh, chunky ones such as pico de gallo or a rough salsa verde go in the processor bowl, pulsed a few times. Our guide to salsa roja and salsa verde explains the difference, and for blenders chosen for salsa alone see the best blender for salsa. If you would rather buy a blender and a food processor separately on a tighter budget, see our budget blender picks and value food processors.

Blender and food processor combo questions, answered

Is a blender food processor combo as good as two separate machines?

For most home kitchens it covers the same jobs. A dedicated food processor usually has a bigger bowl and more discs, and a dedicated blender may have a stronger motor. The Ninja TB401 and nutribullet Triple Prep come closest to a full processor, with 8-cup and 7-cup bowls and slicing and shredding blades.

What is the best food processor and blender combo for a small kitchen?

One with a small chopper rather than a full bowl: the Hamilton Beach 58163, the Oster Classic Series or the Cuisinart BFP700GF. Each has a 3-cup processor on the same base as a full-size jar.

Can you make dough in a blender food processor combo?

In the ones that include a dough blade. Ninja says both of its kitchen systems mix up to 2 pounds of dough, and nutribullet lists a dough blade for the Triple Prep bowl. The smaller choppers are not described as making dough.

Can you blend hot salsa in a combo blender?

Only if the maker says the jar and lid are made for it. nutribullet describes its pitcher lid as vented for hot soups, and Hamilton Beach says its glass jar suits hot liquids. Never fill a sealed jar with hot liquid, and let cooked ingredients cool a little first.

Should you choose glass or plastic in a combo?

Glass is heavier; plastic is lighter and is used by all the large kitchen systems here. If glass matters, the Hamilton Beach and Oster Classic combos are the options in this guide.

Our final pick for blending and processing

Buy the Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System if you want an 8-cup processor bowl, a dough blade and a big pitcher on one strong base. Choose the Ninja Kitchen System with BlendSense if you also need to slice and shred, the nutribullet Triple Prep if you blend hot salsas and soups, or the Oster Pro 1200 for the longest drive warranty. The Hamilton Beach and Oster Classic combos give you a glass jar and a small chopper for less.

Related guide: Blender vs food processor.

For full-size blenders on their own, see our main guide to the best blender, and for bigger processor bowls, the best food processor. If you would rather someone else made the salsa, see the menu or call to order.