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My wife and I would like to try Gazpacho, and part of the recipe calls for 'food processing' coarse cuts of red onion, cucumber, tomato and red pepper.

We don't have a food processor, and we can't afford one. What we DO have is a blender.

Can we use or blender to 'food process' these ingredients?

Edit: For those wondering, here's the text directly from the recipe:

Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!

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  • What is the end goal of the processing? What is the desired outcome? If you're reducing it to pulp, that's different than if you're looking for a rough chop.
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 15:57
  • @Catija not unclear, imho. Gazpacho is "mush", "pieces" may be added after chilling, just before serving. (That's where the knife comes in.)
    – Stephie ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 16:01
  • @Stephie seeing the other answer and the comment in response to my comment, I think it's definitely unclear to some people.
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 16:02
  • A good answer would probably address both possibilities - wanting a complete puree, or wanting some small pieces or texture left.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 16:05
  • related : cooking.stackexchange.com/q/34378/67
    – Joe
    Jun 28, 2016 at 16:12

3 Answers 3

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The main difference between a food processor and a blender is its shape and how the food is mixed while it is being "cut up".

In a blender, it relies on the funneling action of liquid to mix the food around. Otherwise only the bottom gets blended while the top stays solid.

Food processors usually have a flat bottom and have a mechanism to turn the food as it cuts it up. This results in evenly chopped food.

If you want the gazpacho to end up completely smooth, then the blender will definitely work in this application as it will be liquid enough to get the funnel action going to mix the food around. Keep it mind it would be a good idea to start blending the vegetables with high water content such as tomato and onion first to create a liquid "base" for the other vegetables.

IF you want coarse chunks for the vegetables, it is slightly trickier but still possible to use a blender. You need to work in smaller "batches" and use the pulse functionality instead of just blending. If the batch is too big, you end up with overblended mush on the bottom and unblended chunks on top.

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  • But if it's soup, mush may be the intent... unfortunately, the question is unclear.
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 15:59
  • @Catija well in the question the OP is asking for "corase cuts of red onion, cucumber, tomato and red pepper."
    – Jay
    Jun 28, 2016 at 16:00
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    No, it's saying to process those coarse cuts... but it doesn't say what to process them into.
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 16:01
  • The coarse cuts get pureed for gazpacho...
    – Stephie ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 16:02
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    Really depends on the recipe - this one says to use a blender in the first place, this one says to use a food processor "until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!"
    – Cascabel ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 16:04
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You absolutely can.

For this use case, any tool with a fast-spinning blade that creates a fine puree is suitable, regardles whether it's a food processor, blender or immersion (stick) blender.

Food processors typically offer more functionality, like grating veggies for salads or kneading dough, but that's not required here.

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A blender is fine, but please do not let it run continuously. Start-stop-start-stop until the texture for the appropriate item is correct. Place each "corrected" ingredient in a bowl. For avocados, simply mash with a potato masher or fork. Bon appetit!

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  • I really welcome your enthusiasm but I've seen that most of your answers don't really seem to be based on the content of the question. This question has nothing to do with avocados. Please explain why you think a pulse is preferred over leaving the blender running.
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 23:13
  • Pulsing ipso facto chops up items rather than pureeing them. The blender, ironically, mimics the mouth.
    – Frederic Kahler
    Jun 28, 2016 at 23:17
  • Adding the info as a comment is not useful... please edit your answer to add additional information.
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 28, 2016 at 23:18

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