Sieve, Ricer or Blender? The Best Food Mill Alternative

A food mill does two jobs at once. It purees cooked tomatoes, apples or potatoes, and it holds back the skins and seeds while it does it. Most kitchens can copy the first job with tools they already own. The second job, the separating, is where the substitutes differ, and it decides which one suits your recipe.

This guide covers what to use instead of a food mill: a potato ricer, a fine strainer or drum sieve worked with a spatula, a blender followed by a strainer, and a stand-mixer strainer attachment. For each one we say how close it gets to a mill, what it costs you in time and effort, and when it is the wrong tool.

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Why cooks look for a food mill alternative

• You need sauce tonight. The tomatoes are already soft in the pot and there is no mill in the drawer.
• Storage. A mill is a wide bowl, a crank and a set of discs. Many cooks use one a few times a year and would rather not give it a shelf.
• Small batches. For a cup of puree or one bowl of mashed potatoes, a full-size mill means more to wash than the job is worth.
• You already own a blender or a stand mixer. Both can do part of a mill’s work, if you know what they miss.

Quick verdict: the best food mill alternative

Five food mill stand-ins side by side

Our five standout picks, one for each kind of cook, with what each maker or listing states. All six products are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Sizes and materials are as stated by each maker or listing; check the listing before you buy.

What a food mill does that other tools have to copy

America’s Test Kitchen’s food mill review puts the case for a mill plainly. Mills leave most skins and seeds behind in the hopper, so you often do not need to peel or seed the produce first, and even the slowest models it reviewed were faster than the peelers, ricers, wooden spoons, blenders and strainers cooks otherwise use. In its tomato comparison, peeling by hand and blending took 11 minutes, against 2 to 4 minutes in a mill, and the blender made a seedy, aerated sauce.

So every alternative gives something up, and it helps to know what. A strainer or sieve copies the separating but asks for more time and elbow. A blender copies the pureeing but not the separating, so it needs a strainer after it. A ricer separates potato skin well and makes excellent mash, but it holds only a small load. The KitchenAid strainer copies both jobs, at the cost of owning the mixer and grinder it fits.

For canning, the U.S. guidance leaves room for a substitute. The National Center for Home Food Preservation’s tomato juice directions say to press the heated juice “through a sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds,” and its applesauce directions say to press through a sieve or food mill, or skip pressing for a chunky sauce. If you are canning, follow the tested recipe itself for acid, headspace and processing time; the tool you press with does not change those steps.

Six tools that can stand in for a food mill

All six are from identifiable makers and were in stock on Amazon, sold new, on the day of writing. Buy only what you are missing: most kitchens already own a strainer or a blender.

How to strain sauce without a food mill

This is the method that matches a mill most closely with ordinary tools. It is our kitchen’s practice rather than a published test, built on the NCHFP and America’s Test Kitchen points above.

1. Cook until very soft. Tomatoes should collapse and apples should fall apart; firm pieces jam the mesh.
2. Blend if the batch is large. A short pulse with a stick blender breaks up the flesh so it passes faster. Skip this for applesauce you want chunky.
3. Set the strainer over a bowl. Rest a cone across a pot, or a drum sieve across a wide bowl, and ladle in a few cups at a time.
4. Press and scrape. Push with a ladle or firm spatula, then scrape the underside of the mesh into the bowl.
5. Discard and repeat. Tip out the skins and seeds after each load so the mesh stays open.

For chile sauces, the same steps work with rehydrated dried chiles: blend them with their liquid, then strain. Our guide to enchilada sauces explains where a smooth, strained sauce matters.

What we left out, and why

A countertop blender works for the blend-then-strain method, but it means pouring hot food into a jar and back out again, so we chose a stick blender. A food processor purees but does not separate, and America’s Test Kitchen found it makes mashed potatoes gluey. A hand masher leaves lumps in potatoes and does nothing for seeds. And a colander’s holes are too large to stop tomato seeds; it is for draining, not straining.

When a real food mill makes more sense

If you can tomatoes or applesauce in quantity, the time difference America’s Test Kitchen measured, minutes per batch rather than a quarter hour, adds up fast. A mill also gives you discs for different textures. America’s Test Kitchen’s mashing comparison explains why a ricer or mill beats a food processor for potatoes. Our guide to the best food mill compares stainless hand mills and clamp-on tomato strainers. If the job is mash, see our potato ricer reviews, and for more strainer choices, our guides to the best chinois and fine-mesh strainers.

Food mill alternative questions, answered

What can I use instead of a food mill for tomato sauce?

A fine-mesh strainer or chinois, worked with a ladle or spatula. NCHFP’s canning directions say to press tomato juice through a sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds, so a sieve is an accepted route.

Can I use a blender instead of a food mill?

Only with a strainer after it. America’s Test Kitchen found a blender made a seedy, aerated tomato sauce, because it grinds skins and seeds in rather than holding them back.

Is a potato ricer the same as a food mill?

No. A ricer presses one small load through a fixed set of holes and is best for potatoes. A mill turns continuously and has interchangeable discs. America’s Test Kitchen rates the ricer best for fluffy mash and the mill a close second, with a smoother result.

How do I make applesauce without a food mill?

Cook the apples until soft and press them through a sieve, or skip pressing for chunky sauce, as NCHFP’s applesauce directions allow. Coring first leaves less for the sieve to hold back.

Does a stand mixer replace a food mill?

A KitchenAid mixer does, with the KSMFVSP strainer attachment and the KSMFGA food grinder it requires. KitchenAid says the strainer purees and removes seeds.

Our final word on milling without a mill

For seedless sauce, use a fine conical strainer and a firm spatula; it is slower than a mill but does the same separating. For mash, buy a ricer. For big pots, blend in the pot and then strain. If you already own a KitchenAid with the food grinder, the strainer attachment is the nearest thing to a mill. And if you would rather someone else made the sauce tonight, see Julia’s menu or call to order.