Full Guide: How to Use Vitamix as a Food Processor

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Is it true a blender can replace a food processor? Absolutely, No. Every kitchen appliance has unique tasks it excels at much better than the others. However, you can still save over a hundred bucks if you know how to use Vitamix as a food processor. And in this guide, I’m going to show you how to do that in case your traditional food processor breaks down or if, perhaps, you don’t own one.

Why Vitamix is a Great Food Processor

Typically, Vitamix is one of the most versatile blenders if you manage to grab one. It doesn’t matter whether you have the older classic models like the Vitamix 5200 or the smart Ascent and Venturist models. They all come with many (not all) features and capabilities of a food processor. Hence, enabling you to perform various food processes or tasks and saving your cooking time by a couple of minutes.

The five main things that make a Vitamix blender excel so well at food processor tasks include:

Variable speed: A Vitamix has an integrated dial that allows you to blend at various speeds, ranging from the super-slow “1” to the super-fast “10” setting. So, you can achieve numerous food textures in seconds.

Pulsing Switch: The dedicated pulse button on the Vitamix allows you to work on delicate recipes with optimal control. A good example is salsas, coleslaw, salads, and other blends that don’t require complete pulverization.

Container design: in truth, all the Vitamix machines can handle food processes pretty well. However, the Vitamix E320 and models with the low-profile container can chop much better from the wide base and larger blades. The container is also easier to scrape the thick blends under the blade for even the small hands.

Blade design: The blade in a Vitamix blender container is both strong and also a bit sharp to give some decent chopping.

Even Vitamix Isn’t 100% Perfect

As was just said, a full-size Vitamix can handle delicate recipes like salsas and salads. However, can I use my Vitamix as a food processor for slicing cucumbers or shredding thin potato pieces for hash browns?

Well, while Vitamix is great at various food processor tasks, it also has a few limitations of its own. One of the drawbacks is when you want to achieve slices of vegetables for summer salads or to decorate your dish. It also cannot shred long, thin films of vegetables as a traditional food processor with a dedicated shredding disc.

You may also like: Best Vitamix for Juicing

Furthermore, a Vitamix blender blends by pummeling through ingredients, remember? For this reason, it’s almost impossible to chop in small, evenly distributed sizes as you would achieve with a food processor. In fact, you can easily turn your supposedly vegan salad into salsa or puree, especially when you ignore pulsing and blend continuously.

Footnote: The Vitamix Food processor Attachment is Here!

Well, even Vitamix totally understands a food processor is crucial in particular culinary tasks. And just the other day, they have finally unveiled a food processor attachment for your blender, which was merely an idea.

Of course, a lot of people were rather offended with the manufacturer limiting the accessory to only the Vitamix V1200 and the Ascent series. But the lucky ones with either of the smart blenders can now chop, slice, dice, and shred thin to large pieces of ingredients more precisely.

How to Use Vitamix as a Food Processor

When it comes to using your Vitamix blender as a food processor, creativity is paramount. You can prepare a wide range of homemade recipes using the regular container of your machine.

The five food processes you can perform with your Vitamix include:

Use Vitamix to Chop Vegetables

Overall, this is one of the main food processor tasks performed with a kitchen blender. And not just with a Vitamix, but also the regular blenders under $100, including the likes of Ninja and Nutribullet.

As for the Vitamix, though, you can do both the dry and wet chopping. Hence, enabling you to cut your onions without tears, as well as embellish your homemade Taco with a flavorful topping of fresh coleslaw.

Furthermore, you can make a quick and easy restaurant-style salsa by chopping all the ingredients into a fairly smooth texture. Here’s a quick recipe you can try and maybe share with friends on a weekend movie night.

Ingredients:

4 fresh, ripe tomatoes
¼ small red onion
2 garlic cloves
¼ cup Cilantro
1 Pinch sea salt
1 pinch black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 Lime- peeled to leave only the fresh
1 jalapeno pepper- stemmed and seeded

Directions:

Add two tomatoes and all the other ingredients in a Vitamix container and secure the lid.
Start the machine on its lowest “1” speed, then quickly increase to the medium “5” speed
Blend the mixture for 10-15 seconds or until the ingredients are a fairly (not fully) smooth texture
Remove the lid or plug and add the remaining two tomatoes. Then, pulse while still at the medium “5” speed until the remaining tomatoes are well-chopped into a chunky texture.
Stop the blender and serve your Salsa with baked potato, tortilla chips, steak, or any other savory dish you’d want.

Use Vitamix to Grind Grains and Meat

Grinding is another food process a food processor excels at, and so is a Vitamix blender. You can turn your dry grains into fine flour for baking or powder spices for seasoning. Even better, you can grind coffee beans with a blender from the brand, both the fine or a coarser ground for drip and press machine.

Further, all Vitamix blenders can also grind meat while operating on the manual settings. To do that, you just need to gather your fresh meat from beef, pork, turkey, or boneless skinless chicken breasts. Then:

Cut your (cold) meat into small pieces of about 1-inch cube
Once done, start your blender on the lowest speed “1”, and quickly increase to the medium speed “.
Remove the lid plug as the idea is to grind small amounts of meat chunks at a time
Next, start adding few meat pieces into the spinning blades and blending for 10-15 seconds. Then, add another couple of meat chunks into the spinning blades
Continue adding the meat pieces through the lid plug opening in small quantities and 10-15 second increments until the last amount.
Finally, stop the blender and transfer your ground meat into a clean bowl

Use Vitamix to Crush Ice and Frozen Fruits

Another food processor task you can do with your Vitamix is crushing dry ice cubes and frozen fruits to make frozen desserts. Some of the flavorful, chilled desserts you can make include milkshakes, ice cream, fruit sorbet/ sherbet, and frozen slushies.

Here is an easy 2-Serving mango-pineapple slushie recipe that can give you some tropical vibes to complement warm weather.

Ingredients:

1 cup (165g) mango
½ cup (80g) pineapple
3 cups (430g) dry ice

Directions:

Put all the ingredients into your Vitamix container and secure e the lid
Start the blender on the lowest speed and quickly increase to the highest
Blend the mixture for about 30-45 seconds or until it has a smooth, slushy texture
Stop the blender and serve the drink immediately while still cold

Use Vitamix to Prepare Soups

In truth, a Vitamix cannot make soups from raw potatoes or sweet potatoes as with a dedicated hot and cold blender. However, the machine can generate heat through friction after running continuously for 5-6 minutes. Hence, making you some flavorful steaming-hot soups from raw vegetables like carrots and some canned broth.

Here’s a nice hot carrot soup you can make with your classic or smart blender in under ten minutes.

Ingredients:

2 cups vegetable stock
½ cup plain soy milk
½ small red onion- peeled
1 slice lemon- peeled and seeded
¾ teaspoon of curry powder
½ teaspoon salt-to taste
Ground black pepper- optional
6 medium fresh carrots

Directions:

Pour all the ingredients into a Vitamix container in the order listed
Start the blender at the lowest speeds, then increase to the highest
Blend all the ingredients for about 6 minutes straight.
Stop the blender. Then, serve the soup immediately while still steaming hot

Use Vitamix to Knead Dough

Would you like to save some bucks on bread, soft pretzels, or even Pizza? If so, a Vitamix machine can help you prepare your homemade preservative-free flavor right from the scratch. That’s you start by grinding your whole-grain flour, then combine with the rest of the baking ingredients and knead into dough. So, you never have to get your hands sticky ever again.

To knead whole-wheat dough in a Vitamix, you’ll need:

Ingredients:

2 cups white wheat berries
1.75 teaspoons fast-rise yeast
1.25 teaspoons salt
8-11 ounces hot water
3.75 teaspoons olive oil

Directions:

Put the wheat grains into your Vitamix and grind into a fine flour texture. In the two cups, you can expect about three cups of flour
Remove the lid plug and pour in the yeast and salt. Combine the mixture for about 10 seconds
Now add the oil and water- through the lid plug opening.
Set the blender on the medium speed “5” and pulse the mixture about five times.
While using a spatula, scrape the dough on the sides of the container. Then, continue to pulse until you have a nice ball of dough
Finally, pulse for about 2-5 seconds to lift your dough off the blades. Then, transfer it into your oven tray if making bread or the table in case you’re making a pizza.

Key Takeaway:

Apart from the five food processes, you also use a Vitamix to

Make your own nut butter
Create Non-Dairy Milk
Mix up ingredients, like batters
Puree baby food, dips, and spreads

To Conclude

If you have any of a full-size Vitamix blender, creativity is, no doubt, your limit. Unlike regular blenders, the brand usually packs a lot of power and capabilities that you can use to expand your culinary adventure.

In the article, I’ve shared a few tips on how to perform five of the main food processes or tasks in a Vitamix. So, the machine’s relatively enough, unless you regularly do the tasks that food processors excel at, like slicing.

But even then, the proprietary Vitamix food processor attachment now brings you all the features and perks of traditional food processors. You just need to have a smart blender with self-detect technology to optimize the blender’s operating speed.