41 Food Processor Recipes That Pretty Much Make Themselves (2024)

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Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

You simply toss everything into your food processor, pulse and serve. Dinner doesn’t get easier than this.

Photo: Matt Dutile/Styling: Erin McDowell

Food processors also happen to be handy for baking projects, like the dough for these cookie-flavored cookies. It comes together in, like, 3 minutes.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Before you run out to the grocery to buy premade cauliflower rice at a 600 percent markup, know that you could make your own in 20 minutes flat (and for much cheaper).

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

You’re just four ingredients away from these two-bite treasures. Switch up the decorative sprinkles with the seasons for a year-round winner.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

A pie so pretty we almost can’t take a slice. (We jest.) That’s thanks to the addition of freeze-dried strawberries in the crust, which get pulsed into a fine powder in the food processor.

Photo: Mark Weinberg/Styling: Erin McDowell

Or you can use that homemade strawberry powder to make this nostalgic ice-cream topping. It takes ten minutes to make, but you’ll be thinking about it for days.

This pie has a secret: The crust is laced with peanuts for a salty-sweet addition that balancesoutall that filling.

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Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Caroline Lange

The one-and-done chimichurri dipping sauce might be the easiest homemade condiment ever. It’s versatile too, so you should probably make extra.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

The base for this cheese sauce is blended with chiles for a next-level comfort food with a real kick.

Paul Brissman/Antoni in the Kitchen

If we can’t get Antoni to dice the aromatics for us, our food processor is the next best thing.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

You could go with store-bought, but we bet you won’t find avocado hummus at your supermarket.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Both the filling and the crust are whipped up in the food processor, so you hardly have to lift a finger to make the entire thing.

Photo: Nico Schinco/Styling: Aran Goyoaga

Once you try this quick, savory romesco sauce, you might never go back to bottled ranch dressing.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Speaking of dressing, this homemade green goddess sauce is double-dip-worthy.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

A sweet and savory ten-minute snack? Yes, please. The most difficult thing you’ll have to do is decide what to dip in it.

David Frenkiel/Little Green Kitchen

The sauce alone is worth bringing out your food processor. It’s the ideal balance of creamy, sweet, spicy and sour, so you’ll want to eat it with everything.

Erin McDowell

For the most uniform cookie crumbs, pulse them in your food processor instead of crushing them by hand. Don’t put it away, though: You’ll need it for the filling too.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

What can we say? We love hummus in all its flavorful forms.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Make this once and you’ll never regret buying that appliance again.

National Honey Board

So you made cauliflower rice. Don’t stop there! Turn it into a low-carb pizza crust by adding eggs and a generous amount of Parmesan cheese.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

No fussy water baths here. The press-in crust and cream cheese filling are just as good as any bakery cheesecake, and the whole thing requires just ten ingredients.

Photo: Mark Weinberg/Styling: Erin McDowell

We added cinnamon to this graham cracker crust, so everyone will wonder What makes this so damn good? before going back for seconds.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

There are seven grams of protein per serving, so you can feel good about eating almost the entire bowl.

Erin McDowell

This sauce is so rich, creamy and smooth, you’ll barely believe it’s actually pretty virtuous.

Erin McDowell

Everyone at the table will think you pulled out all the stops. You don’t have to tell them that it took you 45 minutes from start to finish.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Bye, store-bought marinade. We’re trading you in for this tangy, sweet concoction that’s impressive and easy.

Photo: Mark Weinberg/Styling: Erin McDowell

If a cheesecake and a key lime pie had a very delicious baby, this would be it.

Abra Berens/Chronicle Books

We love a classic red sauce, but sometimes we need a change of pace. Enter this elevated pasta, which is rustic but fancy at the same time.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Keto or not, no one can resist this creamy green sauce. (Psst: It’s vegan too!)

Photo: Nico Schinco/Styling: Erin McDowell

Want to impress your dinner guests? Make this adorable number. (It’s easier than it appears.)

Lomelino’s Pies: A Sweet Celebration of Pies, Galettes, and Tarts

Your food processor will make quick work of the graham cracker crust. In fact, the whole thing comes together in 40 minutes—the fastest pastry we’ve ever made.

Erin McDowell

We’re stocking our entire refrigerator with jars of this stuff for chicken, salads, grain bowls, whatever.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Not today, pepperoni, not today. We’re going rogue this pizza night.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

For the smoothest, most convincing “cheese” sauce, puree the squash in your food processor. (Oh, you didn’t realize this was squash? We’re sneaky like that.)

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Traditionally, pesto is made with a mortar and pestle, but who has time for that?

Erin McDowell

If your food processor has a grating attachment, it will spare you tons of time grating the zucchini for this bread.

Yuki Sugiura/Lagom

Or if you’re not a zucchini fan, you can do the same thing with this parsnip version.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Real talk: We’d eat almost anything if it came with a spicy peanut sauce. Good thing this dish takes just 25 minutes to make.

Jonathan Lovekin/At My Table

Even if you don’t own a stand mixer, you can make this gorgeous cake.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Blend together tahini, bell peppers, kimchi and a Korean chilipastecalled gochujang, and you’ll end up with something magical.

Photo: Michael Marquand/Styling: Erin McDowell

We’ll be topping all our side dishes with this spicy-salty pesto, now and forever.

Senior Food Editor

Katherine Gillenis PureWow’s senior food editor. She’s a writer, recipe developer and food stylist with a degree in culinary arts and professional experience in New York City...