The Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor with Auto-iQ (BN800UK) is a clever piece of kit, combining a number of useful attachments that all share one compact base – it’s a food processor, multi-server blender and personal blender in one, saving space, both on your kitchen counter and in your cupboards.
The 3-in-1 with Auto-iQ is one of the latest additions to Ninja’s food processor range, and it goes a step further than the Ninja Food Processor BN650UK with Auto IQ to offer more than simple food-processing functions. As well as processing foods such as sauces, salsas and cake mixtures, it can be used as a multi-serve blender and personal blender in one.
It features Ninja’s Auto-iQ technology to take the guesswork out of choosing settings, so you can simply place the attachments on the base and the appliance will do the rest for you, deciding which setting to put it on, and for how long. You can switch between jug attachments to make dips and sauces from scratch, or use it for heavier-duty jobs such as cake mixtures and doughs, while it makes an equally good option for a quick pick-me-up smoothies.
Price and availability
The Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor with Auto-IQ is available in the UK direct from the Ninja website, and from Amazon and other retailers, with an RRP of £199.99. A similar model is available in the US, called the Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-iQ, with and RRP of $199.99. Se below for today’s best prices where you are.
Design and features
- Auto-iQ feature takes out the guesswork
- Three bowls/jugs for different tasks
- Reversible slicing/grating disc
With its signature Ninja black, grey and glass finish, the Ninja BN800UK 3-in-1 Food Processor will add style to your worktop, and is neutral enough to blend in with both classic and contemporary settings. Its overall design feels solid and well crafted, and it comes complete with suction feet to keep it firmly in place when in use.
Its sturdy base and accessories, including a food processor bowl, total crushing Jug and single-serve cup, feel premium too. The motor base is designed to be a firm fixture on the countertop, which you use with one of the three bowl/jug attachments. This means you don’t have to keep the entire setup on the worktop, but can bring out only what you need as and when you need it.
While there are a number of parts to the design, they’re all relatively easy to assemble, and not as fiddly as some food processor designs we’ve tested, but bear in mind that you’ll also need storage space to house the individual accessories, including the dough and chopping blades, and the slicing disc and adaptor.
Both the blending jug and the single-serve cup are designed for making drinks such as smoothies, with fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. They can also be used to blend dips, dressing and salsas. There’s a ‘max blend’ setting too, which will come in useful when you want the silkiest of finishes when you’re using tough ingredients with skins, seeds and stems. The single serve cup can also be used to puree ingredients, to give a really smooth consistency when trying to make dips, sauces and nut spreads.
Meanwhile, the food processor bowl has preset programs for chopping ingredients such as cabbage and carrots, and pureeing ingredients for dips and sauces and mixing together doughs and batters for pizzas, pastry and cakes.
Design-wise, the Ninja has a great range of blades to perform various tasks including a chopping and dough blade and a slicing and grating disc for firm ingredients such as vegetables. We must point out that while the blades are very effective, they are also seriously sharp so you’ll want to take care while when the machine, and when cleaning and storing the blades.
Performance
To see how well the Ninja 3-in-1 food processor performed we tested it with a range of everyday recipes, and we were impressed by how many tasks we could use it for throughout the day. The intelligent Auto-iQ preset programs meant we didn’t have to worry too much about guessing our way through the settings, as we’ve had to do when using some other food processors.
The built-in Auto-iQ technology in the Ninja 3-in-1 keeps things simple, suggesting preset programs the moment you place a specific container on the base, be it the 2.1-litre blending jug, the single-serve cup or food processor bowl, which we found to be both time saving and useful. If you do prefer to take things at your own pace however, you can use the low, medium and high and ‘pulse’ manual programs.
In the morning we blitzed a smoothie with frozen mango, pineapple and coconut water. When we placed the single serve cup on the base the machine suggested a 60-second blend, which was more than enough to blitz the frozen ingredients and create a silky smooth drink.
Next we embarked on making a chocolate cake, adding flour, sugar, eggs, oil and cocoa power to the food processor bowl. We had to give the ingredients a little nudge down the sides of the bowl half-way through the mix, but they were blended nicely in under a minute.
Finally we made fresh pesto for a pasta dish at dinner, using the 2.1-litre blending jug. We followed the recipe that came in the accompanying booklet that suggested we press pulse three times until all the ingredients – including basil leaves, parmesan, garlic, sesame seeds and olive oil – were ground to a smooth consistency. We were impressed at how well the machine took on the small sesame seeds and ground them to near-powder.
Should I buy the Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor with Auto-IQ?
Buy it if…
You want to condense the number of appliances you have
The Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor gives you a range of options with one convenient base. Its versatility means you can do away with a separate blender, personal smoothie maker and cake mixer.
You enjoy cooking from scratch
The Ninja 3-in-1 comes complete with a recipe book with a host of ideas for making a range of fresh foods including almond milk, chapatis, vegetable crisps and humous.
Don’t buy it if…
You want a quiet life
The Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor is highly effective, but it can make a racket! We measured it at 85 decibels while making a mango smoothie, which is around the noise level of a typical vacuum cleaner – although if you need a little kickstart in the morning, then perhaps this isn’t a bad thing.
You have a very small kitchen
If you have space for this machine on the countertop then great, but remember that it comes with blade inserts and three container attachments, and while one of the containers can sit on the base, the other two will need to be stored when not in use.