The KitchenAid stand mixer has long been an iconic fixture in kitchens across the U.S. and beyond. This powerful appliance offers unparalleled versatility for food prep, and it looks great, too. Mixers often come with the ubiquitous dough hook, and some even include the whisk and paddle attachments as well—but what if you’re ready to take your KitchenAid game to the next level? Maybe you’ve decided that it’s time to start using the mixer for more than just cookies and the occasional batch of pizza dough, so you’ve browsed the multitude of available attachments and you’re wondering where to start.
Let’s take a look at some of the most useful, clever, and well-received KitchenAid mixer attachments on the market.
KitchenAid Pasta Press Attachment
Many of us love the idea of making our own pasta, but cutting noodles feels like a far more daunting prospect than shaping cavatelli or trimming ravioli. Enter the KitchenAid Pasta Deluxe Set, a five-piece attachment system capable of rolling pasta and then cutting it into beautiful spaghetti, fettuccine, capellini, or lasagnette. It’s a pricey set at $248.99, but if you distribute the cost across the five pieces, you’re looking at just under $50 per attachment. KitchenAid’s generous replacement warranty applies to all of their attachments, so you can confidently consider each piece to be an investment in your long-term cookware lineup.
For a more modest up-front cost, you might start with the three-piece Pasta Roller and Cutter Set. At $119.71 for a pasta roller, spaghetti cutter, and fettuccine cutter, you can jump right into pasta-making while saving a bit of cash over the Deluxe set. The roller rolls six-inch sheets of pasta and offers eight thickness settings for customizability.
KitchenAid’s pasta maker attachments have consistently great reviews across Amazon and KitchenAid’s website alike. If you enjoy pasta and would like to make it yourself, these attachments are an excellent purchase to help you get more use out of your KitchenAid mixer.
KitchenAid Food Processor Attachment
There’s no getting around the practicality of a food processor. For chopping, dicing, grating, and shredding, food processors make quick work of what would otherwise call for tedious knife work. If you don’t already have a separate appliance, you might be considering the KitchenAid Food Processor Attachment. For $144.19, you can attach a highly functional food processor—complete with a feed tube and adjustable slicing lever—to your stand mixer. The kit includes discs for slicing and shredding, a dicer, and a storage case.
Admittedly, reviews for this attachment are mixed (no pun intended). Some folks indicate that the feed tube is too narrow and that the dicing functionality works better than anything else, but others love the attachment and report using it as a total replacement for a freestanding food processor.
For a more affordable alternative, take a look at the Fresh Prep Slicer/Shredder Attachment. At just $39.96, you can slice or shred veggies, fruits, or cheeses with ease. This is a worthy candidate if you find yourself sighing with reluctance every time you reach for your box grater.
KitchenAid Spiralizer Attachment
We’ve all seen (and perhaps rolled our eyes at) the “zoodles” trend, but spiralizing fruits and vegetables has been a concept long before the internet began extoling the virtues of replacing pasta noodles with zucchini strands. Coming in at a reasonably priced $62.43, KitchenAid’s Spiralizer Attachment offers the ability to peel, core, and slice all manner of produce with this versatile, five-piece set.
Reviews are great, too. Over 1,700 reviews on Amazon put the spiralizer attachment solidly in the 4.5-star rating, and the same is true directly on KitchenAid’s own website. High functionality at a fair price makes this attachment a sure winner.
KitchenAid Grain Mill Attachment
Bakers, muesli aficionados, and DIYers will love the KitchenAid Grain Mill Attachment. This clever tool, also attainably priced at $83.99, features 12 grinding levels for turning low-moisture grains (think rice, corn, oats, wheat, etc.) into the texture of your choice, from coarse to extra-fine. This attachment is especially useful if you enjoy experimenting with different flours and textures in your bakes, or if you simply enjoy taking the concept of “from scratch” as literally as possible.
This unique attachment is backed by numerous positive reviews, so consider giving it a whirl if you’ve ever found yourself daydreaming about creating your own artisanal granola.
KitchenAid Food Grinder Attachment
At the surprisingly low price of just $37.00, KitchenAid’s Food Grinder Attachment is about as close as we can get to a bargain. The grinder promises the ability to grind meats, dried bread, cheese, veggies—basically anything you’d like to throw in there. The attachment includes fine and coarse grinding plates, and it’s dishwasher safe; which is a perk if you’re planning on processing raw meat.
Reviews range from great to not-so-great, ranking higher on Amazon at 4 stars than on KitchenAid’s own website where it fetches a paltry 2.6 stars—but honestly, for $37, it’s worth experimenting with if you’re the slightest bit curious.
More KitchenAid Mixer Accessories
Of course, the range of KitchenAid stand mixer accessories reaches beyond just what we’ve covered here.
You can swap out your stainless steel bowl for a glass bowl, you can opt for a spiral dough hook over the standard version, you can grab a flex-edge beater to avoid the pesky task of scraping down the sides of the bowl between ingredient additions, you can get yourself a pouring shield to help prevent splattering and dripping, a wire whisk (so nice for whipping egg whites!), a citrus juicer, and even a fitted cover for the stand mixer itself.
If you have a KitchenAid mixer, what’s your favorite attachment?