Related: Best Blender for Nut Butter: The Almond Butter Challenge
Blender vs food processor for nut butter: which one actually works?
The food processor is supposed to be the nut butter machine. That's the marketing line, anyway. But is it true? I've been making almond butter, cashew butter, and peanut butter in my own kitchen for about six years now, and I've burned out two blenders and one food processor learning the difference.
Here's the short version: both can do the job, but they fail in completely different ways, and one of them will save you twenty minutes of scraping and swearing.
Ninja Professional Plus BN701
Handles a full batch of almond butter in under 4 minutes without stalling
Loud on high, lid scratches easily
Hamilton Beach Power Elite
Glass jar, no microplastics, cheap enough to replace
Needs more scraping, slower on thick batches
Ninja Professional Plus Food Processor
Great for small batches and chunky textures
Can't run long enough for creamy nut butter without overheating
Prices and availability were captured from Amazon Creators API and may change.
I ran my old shop's gauntlet, scaled down for home use. Three pounds of roasted almonds, three pounds of cashews, and a jar of peanut butter made from scratch in each machine. I timed every batch, noted when the motor started straining, and counted how many times I had to stop and scrape the sides. My dog Otis supervised from his usual spot on the kitchen floor, mostly hoping for spills.
The Ninja Professional Plus BN701
The Ninja I own is the BN701, and I've had it for two years. It's the machine I reach for when I'm making a full batch of almond butter for the week. The Total Crushing blades handle a pound of roasted almonds in about three and a half minutes. No stalling, no burning smell, no tamper fight. That's remarkable for a $100 machine.
But here's the flaw that shows up every single time: the lid. It's "oddly soft and scratches VERY easily," as one owner put it, and I've got the scratches to prove it. I've also learned the hard way that the 72-ounce pitcher needs to be at least half full for the blades to pull everything down.
When I'm making a small batch of cashew butter, I'm stopping to stir every thirty seconds. That's not blending.
That's babysitting.
The noise is real too. On high power, this thing sounds like a small aircraft taking off. If you're making nut butter before the rest of the house wakes up, everyone will know about it.
For the price, though, it gets the job done. At $100, it costs about 27 cents per day over a year of daily use. I've had mine for two years and it's still going strong, which is more than I can say for the cheap department-store special I bought first. That one was wasted money.
The Hamilton Beach Power Elite
Here's a confession: I bought the Hamilton Beach Power Elite as a backup, expecting to hate it. It was $40. I figured it would struggle with ice, much less nut butter. I was wrong.
One owner said it best: "I used to have a Vitamix that cost almost $300 and I like this Hamilton Beach blender much better." I know exactly what they mean. The glass jar is a huge win, no microplastics in your food, and it cleans up better than any plastic pitcher I've used.
The motor is quieter than the Ninja, and it handles a pound of roasted peanuts in about five minutes.
Slower, sure, but it gets there.
The catch is texture. The Power Elite doesn't pull thick blends down as aggressively as the Ninja. You'll be scraping the sides more often, and if you're aiming for that silky, pourable almond butter, you'll need to add a bit more oil than you would with a more powerful machine.
For chunky peanut butter, though, it's perfect. The pulse function gives you real control over texture, which is harder to achieve on the Ninja's preset programs.
At $40, used daily for two years, that's about five and a half cents per blend. The $300 Vitamix, at the same usage, costs over 41 cents. Value isn't just the sticker price. It's what the machine does for what you paid.
What about actual food processors?
I owned a Cuisinart food processor for three years, and I used it for nut butter exactly twice. The first time, it made a decent chunky peanut butter in about two minutes. The second time, I tried a full batch of almond butter, and the motor started heating up after four minutes.
The machine has a duty cycle for a reason. Most food processors are designed for short bursts, not continuous running.
Nut butter needs continuous running.
The other issue is capacity. Most food processors max out around 11 to 14 cups, which sounds like a lot until you realize the blades sit at the bottom and thick mixtures don't circulate. You're constantly stopping to scrape, and the feed tube isn't designed for adding oil while the machine runs. It's messy.
Where a food processor wins is small batches and chunky textures. If you want a half-cup of coarse peanut butter for a sauce, a food processor does it in thirty seconds with zero drama. If you want a quart of creamy cashew butter, you're going to be fighting the machine the whole way.
The flax seed test
Here's the thing I've learned after years of testing: small, stubborn ingredients reveal whether a blender actually pulls everything down into the blades. Flax seeds are the perfect test. If they're not incorporated, the blender is failing.
One owner reported their Ninja "never completely incorporated the flax seeds." I've seen the same issue with smaller blenders. The BN701 handles flax seeds fine when the pitcher is half full, but it struggles with small amounts. The Hamilton Beach, surprisingly, does better with small batches because the glass jar's narrower base keeps ingredients closer to the blades.
For nut butter specifically, the flax seed test translates directly. If a blender can't pull flax seeds down, it's going to struggle with the last few chunks of almond in a thick batch.
The paper pulp lesson
I have to mention the BLACK+DECKER PowerCrush, because one owner's experience tells you everything about blender limits. She bought it to blend soaked paper pulp for a craft project. She ran it in short pulses, noticed a burning smell during use, finished the job, cleaned it, put it away.
Next time she went to use it: dead. Completely unresponsive. She checked outlets, checked the cord, tried everything.
That burning smell is the motor telling you it's dying. I've smelled it more times than I can count. A blender is not a paper shredder. It's not a food processor replacement for every job. When you push a machine past what it's designed to do, it fails.
For nut butter, the same principle applies. The Ninja can handle a pound of almonds because the motor is built for sustained load. A $30 blender from the department store will burn out in the first batch. I've seen it happen.
So which one should you buy?
Choose the Ninja BN701 if you're making nut butter in full batches, if you want the texture to come out silky without much scraping, and if you're okay with a loud machine and a lid that scratches if you look at it wrong. It's the closest thing to a commercial machine at a home price.
Choose the Hamilton Beach Power Elite if you want a glass jar, if you're making smaller batches, and if you're willing to spend an extra minute or two scraping and stirring. It's quieter, cheaper, and easier to clean. It's not going to power through a commercial shift, but for a family making morning smoothies and weekend nut butter, it's the smart buy.
Skip the food processor for nut butter unless you're making small, chunky batches. It's a great tool for other things, but it's not built for this job.
A note on prices: I don't track them day to day, so I won't pretend to know what these will cost next week. But the Ninja usually sits around $100, and the Hamilton Beach around $40. Both are available on Amazon.
The honest bottom line
I've made nut butter in blenders, food processors, and once, memorably, in a coffee grinder (don't do that). The Ninja BN701 is the machine I trust for weekly batches. The Hamilton Beach is the machine I'd recommend to someone who wants to spend less and doesn't mind a little extra work.
A $40 blender can beat a $300 blender. I've seen it happen. But the $100 Ninja is the sweet spot, and after two years with mine, I'm still impressed. My dog Otis approves too, though he'd approve of anything that smells like roasted almonds.