A friend of mine recently said she received a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas, but didn’t know what to use it for. If you too have one of the brightly-colored beauties just sitting on your counter, let me share with you my top 20 favorite ways to use my KitchenAid. I admit, I was a bit slow to take to it at first too, but after eight years together, we’ve whipped up some pretty delicious stuff.
1. Mix meatballs or beef for burgers
Whether it’s seasonings for meatballs or burgers, dump all your ingredients into the bowl and mix until combined. Keep an eye out—you don’t want to overmix—but using your KitchenAid to make meatballs means you’re free to prep other items.
2. Shred chicken, pork, or beef
Place your roasted or crock pot chicken in the mixing bowl, attach the dough hook, and run on low for about 20 seconds at a time. You’ll have perfectly pulled chicken, pork, or beef.
3. Make guacamole
Make a small batch of guacamole isn’t so bad, but when you need to mash three, four, five or more avocados, you’re talking about a pretty big job.
4. Make granola or granola bars
Store-bought granola bars can be loaded with added sugars, and the healthy ones can be pretty pricy if you want to make them a regular part of your diet. Make your own at home by mixing granola or oats with peanut butter or melted coconut oil, honey, vanilla, crushed pretzels, and other fun add-ins like pumpkin seeds or mini-chocolate chips.
5. Mix delicious dips
There are tons of dips out there that call for you to add cream cheese and other flavorings. I used to avoid making any of those because they turned out so lumpy. But with the help of a KitchenAid, your mixes will be smooth and delicious.
6. Mix egg salad
Roughly chop all your ingredients then let the whisk attachment do the rest.
7. Make different food stuffings
I’m not talking about Thanksgiving here. I mean the food fillings that you stuff into things like ravioli, manicotti, stuffed mushrooms, or stuffed French toast.
8. Pizza dough
Put that bread hook to work! 9. Homemade bread or cinnamon rolls
10. Mix cake or cupcake batter
You’re going to dirty a bowl away. Might as well use one that will attach to your KitchenAid and mix itself! Try these yummy margarita cupcakes.
11. Brownies
Baking is always easier with a KitchenAid. Set your batter to mix, while you chop walnuts, cherries, chocolate chunks and more.
12. Meringue
Turn egg whites into firm, glossy peaks in no time.
13. Fresh whipped cream
Still whipping cream by hand? Still buying it at the store? Both of those sound like pretty boring options when you can have fresh whipped cream at home with zero effort. You’ll quickly be able to experiment with flavorings like raspberry or peppermint, too.
14. Frosting
Buttercream icing is not easy to make, but a stand mixer makes it SO much easier. Say goodbye to store bought.
15. Cookies
Evenly distribute chocolate chips, walnuts, raisins, or just about any other delicious goodie you can think of.
16. Marshmallows
Yup. Homemade marshmallows are actually pretty easy to make with a stand mixer.
17. Natural peanut butter
So you buy natural peanut butter at the store but it always has that gross layer of oil at the top. But if you dump it, your PB will go dry. Scoop the entire container into your KitchenAid, mix it up, and scoop it back in. Voila!
18. Scrambled eggs
Sure, making scrambled eggs for one or two people isn’t a big deal, but when you need to scramble eggs for a whole houseful, the KitchenAid comes to the rescue.
19. Mashed potatoes
Use the paddle attachment to mash potatoes while they’re hot. Slowly add your milk or other liquid. Just avoid over mixing or they’ll come out gummy.
20. French toast
Just like scrambled eggs, make French toast for two or twenty-two in no time. Crack your eggs into the bowl and mix. Then use the bowl to hold your mixture while you soak your bread slices a few at a time.
Also check out 10 creative ways to use your blender (besides smoothies).