KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor review: convenient but costly

KitchenAid 7-cup Food Processor: two-minute review

The KitchenAid 7 cup Food Processor (known as the KitchenAid Food Processor 1.7L in the UK) is compact, thoughtfully designed and has proven to be a great time saver when meal prepping.

Something to mention straight off the bat is that the UK and Australian models have a couple more accessories than the US model, which is reflected in the price. At the time of writing, the 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor is on sale for $84.99 / £143.65 / AU$219, while the list price is $99.99 / £169 / AU$299. The US model KFP0718 is essentially the same as the UK and Australian KFP0719 models, with all models coming with a multipurpose stainless steel blade and a reversible slicing and shredding disc, but only the UK and Australian models coming with a thick-slice disc and a plastic dough blade. For this review, I tested the UK version of the KitchenAid Food Processor 1.7L.

Setting up the KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor was straightforward. All of the accessories were neatly stored inside the work bowl, which is a convenient feature, saving you from cupboard-diving each time you want to process something. And the accessories fit into place with ease: there are markers on the top of the disc and the drive shaft to ensure you place it in the correct position for either processing or storing. 

The 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor is available in a range of colors that will fit in with most kitchen decors. It doesn’t take up unnecessary space, measuring 9.7 x 7.7 x 15.4 inches / 245 x 195 x 390mm and weighing just 6.6lb / 3kg. The work bowl easily clicked into place every time thanks to its convenient twist-free design, and although I had the occasional issue putting enough pressure on the lid to get the latch to shut, the lift-out design of the hinge made it simple to remove. One downside with the design, however, is that the work bowl handle can only be positioned on the right-hand side, which could prove inconvenient for some users. 

Using the two feed tubes and pushers was easy, but the bigger feed tube still isn’t big enough for larger-diameter fruit and veg, so if you want large, neat circles of sliced cucumber, you may be out of luck. If you get into the habit of buying slimmer cucumbers though, you’ll probably be fine. 

There are two speed settings labeled 1 and 2 on the easy-to-press buttons, with one being low speed, and two being high. There is also a Pulse button. Speed one and two aren’t overly noisy, but the noise level was uncomfortably loud when using the Pulse function, especially when chopping almonds.

Everything but the base unit is top-rack dishwasher-safe, which proved to be a great time saver. These parts were easy to hand wash too, although removing pastry from tight areas proved difficult. At the end of the testing, I put the work bowl, lid, and accessories in the dishwasher. Everything came out fine, although the work bowl did show some water marks.

The performance of the KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor was adequate. For my tests, I used it to slice or chop carrots, onion and cucumber, as well as whizzing bread into breadcrumbs, finely chopping almonds and combining the ingredients for pastry. It managed all these tasks quickly and with no trouble. 

However, the consistency of the processed foods wasn’t the best. There is only one grade of shredding, which seems to be somewhere between fine and medium. For example, the processed carrot looked somewhat unappealing; it certainly wouldn’t have fared well if subjected to a Rate My Plate jury. A fair amount of carrot also ended up inside the lid, which wasn’t ideal. When chopping the almonds the results were inconsistent, with pieces that ranged in size from large to dust. There were also occasions where ingredients such as breadcrumbs, almond dust, and pastry mixture migrated inside the fitment ring of the chopping blade, which proved tricky to remove when hand washing.

Overall, there are a few issues with the KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor, like that smaller feed tube and the uneven shredding, which may mean it doesn't quite stand up against the best food processors on the market. However, if you want something that is compact for the capacity available, has convenient accessory storage, and has a no-twist design, then this is a food processor to consider. The consistency of the processed food may not be Instagramable, but it’s the taste that counts, right?

KitchenAid 7 Cup Food Processor: price & availability

• List price: $99.99 / £169 / AU$299
• Often available for cheaper
• Currently available in the US, UK, and Australia

The KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor is currently on sale at $84.99 / £143.65 / AU$219, (usually $99.99 / £169 / AU$299). If you’re querying why the US model is cheaper than the UK and Australian models, it is because it comes with fewer accessories. I will elaborate further on the accessories in the Design and features section below. 

The 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor isn’t the cheapest. There are similar products on offer from our pick of the best food processors. These include the Cuisinart Easy Prep Pro FP8 food processor, which is slightly lower in price and comes with two reversible shredding and slicing discs, plus a small bowl add-on to use when the large work bowl feels excessive for the task. Or, you could spend just a little extra for more versatility with the Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor with Auto-IQ, which is currently on sale for $179.99 / £169. The KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor has some innovative design features and performed adequately during testing though, so it’s still worth considering.

The KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor is available now, on the US, UK, and Australian KitchenAid websites as well as various third party retailers.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

KitchenAid 7 Cup Food Processor specs

KitchenAid 7 Cup Food Processor: design & features

• Feed tube could be larger
• Fixed handle position
• Different accessories per region

Setting up the food processor was quick and easy. All the parts and accessories were stored inside the work bowl, so it was a simple case of removing them, before washing them along with the work bowl, lid, and food pushers. After this step was completed, I had to place the drive adapter on the drive pin in the center of the work bowl. Installing the different cutting accessories was also a straightforward process, which I was thankful for, as it avoided any unnecessary delays when I was working through lots of different types of food.

The food processor doesn’t take up a load of unnecessary worktop space, the cable length is adequate at 35 inch / 90 cm, and the work bowl easily attaches to the base (a useful design feature that I much prefer to the twist-to-secure designs that are often used with some other food processors). Additionally, the lid catch is easy to unclip, and once the lid is in an upright position, the hinge design means that you can easily lift it off. 

On replacing the lid, slotting it into the hinge side was no issue, although sometimes I needed to put a fair amount of pressure on the lid to get the latch to close again.

Due to the way the work bowl sits on the base, the handle placement is somewhat limiting, as it can only be on the right-hand side. This was frustrating enough for me, as I like to hold the handle in my left hand while using a utensil to get the ingredients out with my right – but it could really make this product less accessible for people who aren’t able to use their right hand.

KitchenAid is known for having some enticing color options. In the 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor’s case though, the color range is somewhat basic, with glossy-finished Onyx Black, and Empire Red available in the UK, US, and Australia, plus additional color variants including Contour Silver, Almond Cream, White, and Matte Black, depending on your region.

There is a 2-in-1 feed tube on the top of the work bowl lid, with a two-piece plastic food pusher. Together, they can be used to push in wider ingredients, or the inside section of the pusher can be removed to enable you to accurately feed in slimmer food items such as celery. Unfortunately, the bigger feed tube was not wide enough for a larger-diameter cucumber, so it needed to be cut down. Therefore if you want neat, round slices of cucumber this may not be the processor you’re looking for.

There are three operational buttons on the front of the 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor’s base: setting one (lower speed), setting two (higher speed), and a pulse mode. You don’t need to worry about getting tired fingers with the two speed settings, as you don’t need to hold the button down for the processor to operate. It takes one press to set them off, and a second press or a press on the O/Pulse button to stop the processing.

There are two design features that I found particularly useful. Firstly, the lid, work bowl, and accessories are all dishwasher-safe when washed on the top rack. 

I also hand-washed all of these components repeatedly in-between ingredients during testing. All parts were easy to clean and dry; however, I did find that small amounts of the ingredients would easily end up inside the fitment ring of the multipurpose blade, so I had to pay particular attention to this area. 

Secondly, the accessories can easily be stored inside the work bowl when the food processor isn’t in use, saving cupboard space and preventing you from wasting time trying to find the desired accessory.

The 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor doesn’t come with as many accessories as larger models such as the KitchenAid1319, but it is perfectly adequate for day-to-day food prep. Please note that some accessories are not included with the KFP0718 model, which is sold in the US. This model comes with a multipurpose stainless steel blade and a reversible slicing and shredding disc. The KFP0719 models, sold in the UK and Australia, include these accessories, along with a thick-slice disc and a plastic dough blade.

• Design & features score: 4.5 out of 5

KitchenAid 7 Cup Food Processor: performance

• Shredded and chopped effortlessly
• Some waste carrot from shredding
• Consistency of processed food varied

The KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor performed well during testing. I tested its ability to slice, chop, mix, and grate a variety of foods. I used the shredding side of the reversible slicing and shredding disc to grate some carrots, running it on speed setting two as per the user manual. While it managed the job in a matter of seconds, the result was finer than I would have liked – some other models, such as the KitchenAid 13 cup / 3.1L Food Processor, have dedicated grating discs with fine and coarse options that give a more desirable result. Due to how fine the shredding was, the results were a little on the wet side, and a lot of carrot shot into the lid during processing.

Next I used the slicing side of the reversible slicing and shredding disc to slice a cucumber on speed setting one. Because the diameter of the cucumber was too large even for the larger feed tube, I had to manually cut a slice off of the side of it to enable it to be fed into the processor. The machine sliced the cucumber quickly, with next-to-no remnants left on the disc or in the lid. The slices were fairly even, although some were slightly wedge-shaped, thicker at the rind, and thinner where the cucumber was sliced down to fit.

I used the multipurpose stainless steel blade to chop onions, almonds, and to make breadcrumbs from slightly stale wholemeal bread. The onions and almonds were chopped using speed setting one. The food processor had no issues chopping up a large onion that I’d cut into quarters: it quickly chopped it into fine pieces and while the pieces weren’t that even, none of them were overly large. When I pulsed the almonds for 10 seconds, the result was again pretty uneven, with larger pieces, smaller pieces, and a fair amount of almond dust. Upon removing the accessories, I found that some of this dust had made its way inside the plastic cutting blade ring. 

When making the breadcrumbs, I used speed setting two to blitz two slices of bread. In just 45 seconds the processor had turned them into fine breadcrumbs with an even consistency, and no bread was left under the blades.

I also used the multipurpose stainless steel blade, using the lowest speed setting to combine flour, margarine, and water for pastry. At first, the ingredients didn’t mix evenly – a layer of flour remained at the bottom and didn’t begin to mix in until water was added and the mixture started to form a proper dough. Apart from that detail, the processor combined the pastry ingredients easily, it didn’t rock about on the work surface, or overheat, both of which can happen with food processors that don’t have strong enough motors for pastry making.

While conducting the tests, I found that settings one and two were not overly loud; however, the pulse mode may make your ears ache if you need to use it for a long period of time. At no point during testing did I encounter issues with ingredients getting stuck under the blade or disc inside of the work bowl – I did however find that ingredients would end up on the inside of the fitment ring of the multipurpose stainless steel blade that sits on the drive adapter. This was particularly evident when chopping the almonds, and combining the pastry ingredients. There was a layer of pastry mixture coating the inside of the blade's plastic ring, which was tricky to clean out.

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Should I buy the KitchenAid 7 Cup Food Processor?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

KitchenAid 7 Cup Food Processor review: also consider

Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor with Auto-IQ

Yes, it’s more expensive, but it performed well in our testing, and you get a bucketload of accessories for your money. This 3-in-1 food processor comes with an additional jug and a single-serve cup for smoothies. Plus a standard work bowl, accessories for chopping, slicing, grating, and mixing, and more. The tricky bit will be finding somewhere to store it all! Check out our full Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor with Auto-IQ review here.

Cuisinart Easy Prep Pro FP8

Similarly priced but with two different sizes of chopping blades and reversible grating/slicing discs so you have more control over the consistency of your processed foods. This processor comes with a small work bowl that fits inside the larger bowl, and means you don't need to clean the larger bowl if you're only processing small quantities of food. You can find out more in our full Cuisinart Easy Prep Pro FP8 review.

How I tested the KitchenAid 7 Cup Food Processor

• I assessed the setup and performance
• I ran our usual series of chopping, grating, and combining tests
• I checked how easy it was to clean

I spent time getting the KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor setup, read the instruction manual, and assessed the design and accessories.

To put the KitchenAid 7 cup / 1.7L Food Processor through its paces, I used the chopping blade and reversible slicing/shredding disc to shred carrot, slice cucumber, chop onion, and almonds. I also used it to process bread to make breadcrumbs and combine flour, margarine, and water to make pastry. These are the same tests we run for all food processors, making it easy to see how different models compare. 

I tested how easy it was to clean the processor parts by hand-washing, and using the dishwasher to establish how well you can clean the parts with either method.

• Read more about how we test
• First reviewed: June 2024