Cuisinart 1.9L Easy Prep Pro review: "Making healthier homemade meals feel far more realistic on a Wednesday night after work"

RRP at time of testing: £140 | Check price at Amazon, Lakeland, BrandAlley or Cuisinart directly

What Mumsnet users say

Our verdict

If you’ve ever stared at a pile of carrots, onions and chickpeas at 6pm and thought, “absolutely not”, then I suspect the Cuisinart 1.9L Easy Prep Pro might speak to you, too.

It won’t turn you into Nigella overnight and sadly, I still can’t instinctively throw together an Ottolenghi-style salad with pomegranate molasses and herbs from the garden while wearing linen. What it will do is remove a huge amount of the boring, time-consuming prep that puts many busy parents off cooking from scratch in the first place. That’s where this machine fits in.

After several weeks of testing in our busy family kitchen, it became a kitchen gadget I reached for without thinking - like my air fryer. It’s compact, practical and refreshingly straightforward. No endless preset buttons, no app and no unnecessary attachments you’ll lose in the back of a cupboard after three weeks. It simply chops, slices, grates and blends quickly, making healthier homemade meals feel far more realistic on a Wednesday night after work.

It’s also clear why Cuisinart food processors have built such a loyal following among Mumsnet users. One user wrote, “My Cuisinart has been going strong for almost two decades now, and it's still as good as it ever was,” which feels reassuring in an age where some kitchen gadgets barely survive a few chaotic school holidays. The dual bowl setup was one of the biggest selling points for me too because it means you’re not constantly washing the large bowl just to blitz hummus, garlic or dips.

That said, it’s not perfect. I noticed it can wobble slightly with heavier doughs or dense cake mixtures, and the rubber seal on the smaller bowl occasionally needed adjusting after washing. There’s also the wider question of spare parts. One Mumsnet user mentioned struggling to source a replacement bowl for an older Cuisinart model in the UK, which is worth bearing in mind if long-term repairability matters to you*.

Still, those niggles felt fairly minor compared to how much easier it made everyday prep. Most importantly, it slotted itself into family life. 

How we’ve tested

I tested the Cuisinart Easy Prep Pro food processor over the course of a month in our busy family kitchen. DH and I are two working parents with two school-aged children and very little spare time.

During testing, we used it at least twice a week for everything from homemade hummus and chickpea chocolate chip cookies to cake batter, vegetable prep and slicing ingredients for family dinners. The chickpea cookies quickly became a regular fixture in our house because our youngest DC would happily survive entirely on hummus, breadsticks and chocolate brioche if left to his own devices. As a family trying to eat more whole foods and less ultra-processed snacks, the Easy Prep Pro helped make healthier homemade food feel more manageable.

My MIL showing off with the quiche she made using the Easy Prep Pro

I also considered how it handled everyday family cooking tasks like grating cheese, slicing vegetables and blending thicker mixtures like hummus. Alongside performance, I assessed - with the help of my husband - ease of use, storage, cleaning, durability and whether it actually made meal prep quicker in real life, not just in theory.

To share the joy, I also passed the Easy Prep Pro on to my mother-in-law during the testing period because she’d had her eye on it ever since it arrived in my kitchen. As the undisputed queen of lemon drizzle cake in our family, she was particularly keen to try how well it handled cake mixtures and baking prep, which added another useful perspective beyond my own weeknight family cooking chaos.

What’s in the box?

Inside the box you get:

• The main motor base

• 1.9L large bowl

• 0.7L smaller nesting bowl

• Large chopping blade

• Small chopping blade

• Fine slicing/grating disc

• Medium slicing/grating disc

• Lid and pusher

• Instruction manual and recipe booklet

It’s a fairly streamlined setup compared to some mega food processor systems that arrive looking like you’ve accidentally ordered industrial catering equipment - Ninja, I’m looking at you. Personally, I appreciated that.

First impressions and set up

My first thought when unboxing the Easy Prep Pro was honestly: “Oh thank goodness, it’s not enormous.” Kitchen gadgets are getting increasingly giant these days IMO. Every new air fryer seems to require its own postcode and don’t get me started on stand mixers that weigh roughly the same as a Labrador.

The Cuisinart feels manageable. It’s lightweight, compact enough to leave on the counter and easy to move around without feeling like you’re preparing for deadlifts at the gym.

Setup was straightforward, too. The bowls lock into place easily and the controls are beautifully simple: high, low and pulse. I also immediately liked the smaller nesting bowl idea. It sounds minor, but not having to wash the massive main bowl every time you make hummus or blitz garlic is rather handy.

The controls are clear and straightforward

Is it easy to use? 

Yes, very. This is probably the Easy Prep Pro’s biggest strength. It doesn’t feel intimidating, even if you’re someone who normally avoids cooking gadgets because they seem too complicated.

I’ll be honest here: I am not a naturally gifted cook. I used to think everyone else had some magical ability to effortlessly prep healthy meals while I stood there acrying over onions and Googling “what herbs go with chicken”.

Then I started testing kitchen gadgets and realised I wasn’t necessarily bad at cooking. I just lacked tools that made things quicker and less mentally draining. 

The Cuisinart strips away a lot of that friction. The pulse function gives good control and the feed tube is wide enough that you’re not endlessly chopping vegetables into microscopic chunks beforehand. The slicing and grating discs are also simple to swap over once you’ve done it a couple of times.

The only slightly fiddly part is the rubber seal on the smaller bowl. After washing, it occasionally needed readjusting before sitting properly again. Not a dealbreaker, but mildly annoying when you’re tired and trying to multitask dinner while someone asks you for a snack every six minutes.

How well does it perform?

Over the past few years I’ve become much more conscious about food at home. We’re trying to eat more whole foods, less ultra-processed snacks and generally make healthier choices where we can. I’ve fully embraced what my friends lovingly refer to as my “crunchy mum era”.

I grow vegetables now. We drink filtered water. I make bread voluntarily. Frankly, nobody is more shocked than I am.

The problem is that healthy cooking often comes with endless prep. Chopping onions, grating carrots, blending sauces, making dips. It all takes time that many working parents simply don’t have. This food processor helped with that.

Our most-used recipe during testing became chickpea chocolate chip cookies because as mentioned, our youngest would happily survive entirely on beige carbohydrates if allowed. The processor made blending the chickpeas into a smooth mixture quick and painless, and it handled the cookie dough without struggling.

We also used it constantly for hummus. Again, there’s a clear chickpea theme emerging in this household.

The blending results were mostly smooth and creamy, though occasionally thicker mixtures needed a scrape around the sides or a splash more liquid to fully combine. That felt fairly normal rather than problematic, though.

The slicing attachment also made light work of vegetables for salads and traybakes. Cheese grating was fast too, although harder blocks did make the machine wobble slightly at times. I noticed the same thing when testing denser doughs.

It’s also worth noting that the processor is quite loud at high speed. Not offensively loud, but enough that my dogs left the kitchen every time.

The Cuisinart Easy Prep Pro food processor is easy to set up and simple to use

How durable is it? 

It’s very solid IMO. The blades feel sharp and sturdy, the bowls don’t feel flimsy and everything clicks together securely. Long-term owners on Mumsnet mention getting over 10 years from previous Cuisinart processors, which bodes well.*

I also appreciated that it doesn’t feel overly delicate. Some food processors make you terrified you’ll snap a plastic attachment simply by looking at it too aggressively. The Easy Prep Pro feels practical rather than precious.

Is it good value for money? 

At £140, I actually think this sits in a really sensible middle ground. You can absolutely spend much more on a food processor. I recently tested the Ninja Detect Power Blender Processor Pro, which costs significantly more and comes with a huge range of extra features and presets. Which is great if you want all of that. But I suspect many families don’t.

Most people just want something that chops vegetables, blends dips, grates cheese and speeds up meal prep without needing an engineering degree. The Cuisinart does exactly that. For everyday family cooking, I think it hits a sweet spot between performance, simplicity and price.

How easy is it to clean? 

Thankfully, it’s pretty painless to clean. The bowls, blades and discs are dishwasher-safe, which always earns points in my book because life is too short for complicated handwashing routines. The smaller bowl also helps reduce unnecessary washing up for quick tasks.

The only part that needed a little extra attention was the rubber seal on the mini bowl, which I preferred removing and cleaning separately to avoid residue building up. Otherwise, clean-up was quick and easy.

Adding ingredients is easy thanks to the included chute on the lid

Comparison: Cuisinart vs Ninja vs Russell Hobbs

Who should buy it? Who should avoid it?

Buy it if:

• You want to cook from scratch more often

• You’re short on kitchen space

• You batch prep family meals or snacks

• You want straightforward controls

• You regularly make dips, sauces, soups or baked goods

Avoid it if:

• You want an all-singing, all-dancing multifunction system

• You regularly make very heavy bread doughs

• You want extra attachments like a blender jug or whisk

My MIL has enjoyed using it to make quiche and lemon drizzle

Final verdict: is it the one for you? 

The Cuisinart Easy Prep Pro feels designed for real households rather than aspirational Instagram kitchens. It’s for tired parents, who just like me, are trying to make dinner faster. For people attempting to eat less processed food without spending three hours chopping vegetables. For families who want practical help rather than flashy gadgets.

Most importantly, it actually got used. Not just once for testing photos before disappearing into a cupboard forever, but repeatedly, week after week. That’s usually the clearest sign that a kitchen appliance is worth having.

And if it’s good enough to earn a permanent place in my mother-in-law’s kitchen alongside her famous lemon drizzle cake, that feels like a fairly strong endorsement.

About the author

Rebecca Roberts (aka Beccy) is our resident lifestyle expert with a practical focus on sleep, wellness and everyday comfort. She’s equally at home tackling frank, NSFW‑adjacent topics as she is road‑testing kitchen appliances, mattresses and vacuums that work for real parents. As a mum of two, she writes with the time‑poor, sleep‑deprived in mind - honest product reviews, realistic routines and products that make parents’ lives easier.

When she’s not at her desk, she’s probably product‑testing with her two helpers, corralling a PTA or walking her two dogs up and down country lanes.

About Mumsnet reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after weeks of hands-on testing. We never accept payment for coverage, and our verdicts are independent and honest. We may earn a small commission through affiliate links, which helps fund our work - but it never influences our opinions.

All prices are correct at the time of writing.

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*mumsGPT conversational analysis, 19 May 2025 to 19 May 2026