For sure kitchen instruments and home equipment, you will get away with shopping for a price range model. One in all our favorite rice cookers, as an example, prices simply $25 and works about in addition to a lot fancier fashions with exact preset packages and modern design. When testing for the very best blender in 2022, we discovered that the actually low-cost machines usually carried out consistent with their worth — and it is fairly clearly value it to drop at the very least $100 on a blender. That stated, we discovered that spending $350 or extra on a Vitamix or Blendtec wasn’t essentially value it both.
Totally different blenders additionally proved to be more adept (and fewer) for numerous mixing jobs. That is why we broke this record into goal classes together with the very best total blender for the cash, the very best smoothie blender, the very best small blender, the very best premium blender (if cash is not any difficulty) and even the very best blender for making soup.
In all, we examined 17 fashionable fashions over the course of a number of weeks to search out out which fashions make mixing at dwelling a complete pleasure. The next are our picks for the very best blenders obtainable in 2022. Be sure you verify again since we replace our greatest blender record repeatedly to incorporate new fashions, pricing and availability.
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NutriBullet retains it easy with three energy ranges, a pulse setting and 1,200 watts of energy. It carried out properly in all of our exams. Clean batters, finely crushed ice, inexperienced smoothies, scorching soup and good grated cheese (our torture check) have been all straightforward to realize. An affordable price ticket means you will not have to interrupt the financial institution to get a great blender.
Barely extra highly effective than the comparable Ninja mannequin beneath, NutriBullet will get the job finished shortly. The 64-ounce mixing jar is loads large enough for many recipes. The private blender comes with a helpful recipe guide and a tamper to verify all of your components contact the blades. The NutriBullet blender jar can be dishwasher protected and comes with a one-year guarantee.
Easy, highly effective and constant, the NutriBullet is likely one of the finest reasonably priced blenders in the marketplace proper now.
Ninja
If smoothies are the No. 1 purpose you pull out the blender, Ninja’s Twisti is the very best blender on your buck. This well designed, compact mannequin has tamper blades constructed into the lid that you could twist manually to loosen caught and cussed components with out having to cease the motor.
Along with cranking out clump-free smoothies in seconds and with out having to cease and scrape, this blender nailed the opposite exams, together with turning nuts into powder and crushing ice in seconds. With 1,600 watts of peak energy, there is not a lot this blender cannot pulverize in a snap.
The principle purpose this unit is not atop our record is that it is small — simply 34 ounces — so it will not be the very best choose in case you use your blender for making massive batches of soups or sauces. However for dip makers and smoothie drinkers who need to save themselves the additional step of getting to cease midblend to set dense components free, this blender is your finest guess. Read our Ninja Twisti review.
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Whenever you attain a sure stage (and worth), most blenders do nearly all the things you want and so you need to begin splitting hairs. Vitamix, Blendtec, Hurom, Braun and Cleanblend all make highly effective blenders you probably will not remorse shopping for — however what we love about Breville’s stately Tremendous Q, past its efficiency, are the considerate touches. The construct and supplies used for this blender are sturdy and chic, and the canister is a unique, barely silkier grade of plastic.
The Tremendous Q additionally comes with extras — however nothing superfluous. Along with the 68-ounce canister and 1,800-watt motor base, you get a 24-ounce mixing cup with its personal separate blade attachment for making single-serve smoothies or soups to tackle the go.
As for the exams we ran, the Tremendous Q did as properly or higher than any of the others. It shredded cheese with ease, pulverized uncooked almonds to smithereens and made fast and constant work of ice and a pancake batter combine. The Breville has just a few blender settings and packages. But since it isn’t making an attempt to reinvent the wheel, there aren’t so many that it will overwhelm you.
The soup setting (not an official check since most blenders haven’t got this preset) labored properly, however it would not prepare dinner meals just like the On the spot Ace Nova. Due to that, it will not totally break down veggies and different components and launch all these sugars and flavors. In earnest, I would just as quickly make soup in my Dutch oven the old style manner.
This is likely one of the costliest blenders we examined, however it was additionally one of the vital pleasurable to make use of. It additionally appears nice, and if previous expertise with Breville kitchen home equipment is any indicator, it ought to final you some time.
Beast Well being
This new entry to the class is my choose for the very best small or private blender. Although it comes from the brains behind the NutriBullet, the manufacturers will not be tied anymore.
I really like the aesthetic of the Beast. It additionally occurs to be a robust and fun-to-use private blender with easy, intuitive controls. In testing, this blender had no hassle crushing ice in seconds, pulverizing nuts and whipping veggies right into a puree. It additionally feels nice in your palms, due to a silky matte rubber. Should you favor to go away your every day smoothie- or shake-maker out on the counter greater than within the cabinet, it will undoubtedly appeal to compliments because it appears and feels costly. Plus, all of the lids screw on securely and double as storage containers to refrigerate your blends afterward.
The Beast isn’t precisely low-cost, however the worth — $155 for the blender with consuming and storage caps — is a good one contemplating its above-average efficiency and modern design. Whereas the NutriBullet RX (that model’s premium mannequin) retails for $118 on Amazon, I might personally cough up the additional $40 or so for the Beast B10’s enhancements each in type and substance.
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That is the one blender we examined that has an precise cooking perform. Whereas some blenders — together with sure Vitamix blender like Vitamix e310 explorian blender, the Braun TriForce and Breville Tremendous Q — use sheer drive and friction to warmth up a mix, this one generates warmth to prepare dinner what’s inside after which whirs all of it right into a pureed soup with one button contact.
To check the soup setting, we threw a bunch of very roughly chopped greens, rooster inventory, garlic and herbs into the canister, then hit the soup 2 program. Over the following 20 minutes, we watched because it cooked the veggies and spun them right into a silky clean soup. There’s additionally an choice to go away the soup chunky in case you favor. Should you’ve used a Thermomix, it is like a mini model that would not value $1,500. We discovered it to be a very spectacular function for a blender at this worth.
How did it do within the different mixing exams? Fairly properly, though it’s undoubtedly not probably the most highly effective blender we examined. The On the spot Ace Nova dealt with frozen fruit, ice, uncooked almonds and cheese with little resistance and the cleansing program labored significantly properly — maybe the very best of the bunch. The Ace Nova was additionally one of many quietest of the blenders we examined, which has to rely for one thing.
The one apparent disadvantage for this blender is its weight. The On the spot Ace was one of many heaviest — not one thing you need to be transferring round or lifting too usually. That stated, its total measurement is manageable. And since it is such a flexible blender, it is more likely to earn a everlasting spot on the counter.
Different fashions we examined
Hurom Hexa Power Speed: Should you’re searching for easy performance and pure energy, that is our high choose. The Hurom Hexa would not have many fancy presets and capabilities (simply smoothie, ice crush, soup and pulse) however does have 1,600 watts of energy to whip the crap out of something that you simply put inside. It virtually feels industrial grade and creates a vortex inside akin to one thing you’d see at a science museum. We additionally love how this blender appears with its shiny stainless-steel armor. Value noting that it is the tallest of the blenders we examined so it will not retailer as simply as a number of the others.
Oster Versa Pro Series: This Oster mannequin is an effective performer and features a few further options we discovered useful. It is on the costly facet, however this worth features a beverage container and a set of bowls and blades for meals processing. You are virtually getting two home equipment right here, a blender and a meals processor. It additionally has a reverse mix button which is nice for crushing ice and making nut flour.
Vitamix Explorian E310: I haven’t got a lot unhealthy to say concerning the Vitamix Explorian. We used it loads and liked doing it however it’s relatively dear whenever you get proper all the way down to it. That stated, there is a purpose Vitamix has a cult-like following and this mannequin will do nearly any customary kitchen mixing process after which some. Even when we had an additional hundred or extra to spend on considered one of Vitamix’s premium fashions, we might nonetheless go for the Explorian. It additionally features a nice recipe guide and customized tamper.
Braun TriForce: That is one other blender with a great deal of brute drive and it handed each check we gave it. The difficulty with Braun’s premium blender is the construct and supplies which do not feel commensurate with the worth.
Beautiful by Drew Barrymore: We have been impressed by different merchandise from this new line of budget-friendly kitchen home equipment, together with the electric kettle and air fryer. Sadly, the blender didn’t go muster. It is serviceable, to make certain, however did not excel in testing and it feels a bit low-cost. I might additionally fear concerning the shelf lifetime of its all-digital management panel.
Cuisinart SmartPower SPB-7CH: It is exhausting to determine what occurred to this stalwart kitchen model however this blender mannequin, together with different Cuisinart home equipment I’ve examined recently, have been disappointing. That is very true when you think about the bloated costs. The digital blender feels low-cost and flimsy and netted mediocre ends in testing.
KitchenAid K400: This KitchenAid blender is gorgeous, however left one thing to be desired when it got here to efficiency for that worth. It has 5 speeds, pulse and three presets. You probably have your coronary heart set on a colourful, high quality blender, KitchenAid is an effective choice.
Vitamix 5200: Variable velocity and durable design make this Vitamix 5200 blender a well-liked mannequin for luxurious blenders. Although thought of a high-performance blender, at such a excessive worth, we weren’t wowed sufficient to advocate it. It struggled with cheese grating and we discovered it to be noticeably louder than different fashions.
Blendtec Total Classic: This fashionable Blendtec blender labored properly with frozen components and crushed ice, making it a good selection for mixing smoothies and making frozen cocktails. Nevertheless, the Blendtec didn’t grate cheese and the batter mixing preset was much less efficient than common mixing by velocity.
Hamilton Beach Power Elite: Affordability apart, this blender did not carry out properly sufficient to advocate. Whereas it did have a pleasant glass bowl, the lid was infuriatingly exhausting to take away. It has solely presets, so you may have to deduce which of them are literally low, medium or excessive.
Black & Decker Crush Master: This blender will work if you really want one thing low-cost in a pinch. However do not anticipate excellence. It wasn’t capable of deal with massive frozen strawberries or evenly combine pancake batter. Nonetheless, it may suffice for small jobs.
Breville Fresh & Furious: Nice appears and bonus factors for a cute identify, however that is not sufficient to advocate this blender. Efficiency was common and it struggled to combine moist and dry components.
Watch this:
How we put food processors to the test
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How we tested the blenders
Testing blenders isn’t just smoothies and ice-crushing. There are a lot of other recipes blenders work well for and these tests highlight how capable each model is when it comes to dry, large and coarse ingredients.
Ice
In a test of pure crushing power, we placed two cups of ice cubes into each blender. Counting the number of pulses it takes to get to fine, crushed ice gives a good indication of real-world chopping power. The three blenders we recommended above performed well.
Smoothie
A classic blender recipe, fruit smoothies were high on my list of recipes to test. This shouldn’t be a big stress test for any decent blender and so it really comes down to speed and consistency. We used two cups of orange juice and one cup of frozen strawberries to make the test smoothies.
While many of these tests yielded very similar results, a few worked faster than others. Not all blenders come with presets, but the ones that do almost always include a smoothie function. When possible, this is the mode we used. If there was no smoothie blender function, we followed the blender’s manual recommendation for smoothie making. This was usually around a minute on high.
Smoothie testing starts with whole, frozen strawberries and orange juice.
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This is a relatively easy test and most blenders handled frozen ingredients well. Some were frothier and some slushier, but only the Black & Decker model left large chunks of frozen strawberry unblended.
Nut flour and butter
Blenders aren’t all about beverages. There are plenty of other uses, including grinding dry ingredients. For our dry ingredient test, we put a cup of almond pieces (unroasted) in each blender and pulsed until those pieces were reduced to a fine flour. A bit of a challenge for some blenders, but most were able to do this in about 10 to 20 pulses, with the Hamilton Beach model yielding noticeably coarser results.
Nut butter is a different story. Most blenders aren’t really designed for long running times and the level of processing needed to make a butter like almond butter or peanut butter. In fact, many recommend not running the blender for more than a few minutes at a time.
This nut flour is a bit coarse.
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Only one Vitamix model showed real signs of progress toward almond butter in our testing with the nut flour, and it plateaued before achieving a good consistency. Most models simply whirred the dry ingredients upward and into the hard-to-wash crevices of their lids. If you’re set on making nut butters, we recommend a model like the Oster with an included processing kit, or a separate food processor.
Cheese
Did you know blenders can shred cheese? It’s true; some blenders can. We placed an 8-ounce block of cheese in each blender and pulsed until the entire block was shredded. This brought to light a few interesting design choices among some models. The Ninja, for example, lost the cheese round because multiple blender blade levels made it impossible to fit the cheese block in the blender. I had to cut it up into pieces.
Blenders can shred cheese and this NutriBullet did so in record time; just four pulses.
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Both Vitamix models had some trouble with this particular test and bore holes in the cheese block without actually blending it, simultaneously melting what little cheese had been shredded as the machine heated up. Meanwhile, the NutriBullet, Ninja, instant Pot, Breville Super Q and Hurom Hexa handled grating the cheese block in less than five pulses.
Pancake batter
If you’ve seen our list of the best waffle makers, it should come as no surprise that pancake batter made an appearance in our blender testing. While I was happy to fire up the griddle and flip some cakes, mixing batter is an important test. It measures how easy or difficult it is for the blender to mix wet and dry ingredients.
Blender buying tips
Like most kitchen appliances, you should think about how often you’ll use it, for what tasks and is it a portable blender. Many budget blenders could handle a few smoothies every summer. It’s not worth spending $200 on a blender you’ll use for two occasions each year. If you’re mixing batters, grinding dry ingredients and crushing ice on a regular basis, however, it might be wise to invest in a quality model. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
Accessories
With a conventional blender, accessories can make all the difference. A blender that comes with a tamper is great for getting those last stubborn bits into the blender blades and it’s one item I would highly recommend checking for when you buy a blender. Several models we tested included one in the box. You can purchase them separately, but they’re often model-specific with a ring guard at the top to keep you from plunging the tamper into the blender blades.
A tamper is included with some blenders and it’s a useful tool for moving ingredients safely toward the blade assembly.
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If you’ll be making smoothies and frozen drinks, a blender with a special set of travel blender cup containers makes getting out the door one step easier. If you’re blending larger, more dense foods for recipes, consider a model that has either a food processing bowl and wheel blade option or something with high-power wattage. Ninja and NutriBullet make these kits for travel containers and processors.
Preset preference
Next, consider your preference for specific modes versus speeds. We found some modes to be effective and helpful, while other blenders worked better when we took over and chose a speed for my ingredients, watching for when to stop. Some models offer simply low, medium and high modes. Others, like many Vitamix models, are variable, with speeds 1 to 10 on a dial. While it comes down to preference, in my opinion, you’ll have more control over your result without a preset. Yes, you’ll need to keep watch and be a bit more hands-on, but it’s easier to be sure things don’t get too blended, overheated or stop before everything is truly mixed.
I’d like to see you try to get this many blenders to hold still for a photo.
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Design
Blenders don’t have to be boring. KitchenAid models come in a rainbow of colors. The Oster Versa Pro above looks pretty sporty and the Breville Super Q and Hurom Hexa both had lovely finishes and a sturdy feel. Don’t forget to consider aesthetics if this appliance will live on your countertop.
If your blender will be on your kitchen counter, we recommend measuring the height between your countertop and your upper cabinets. A few models we tested including the Hurom and Breville Super Q may not fit beneath standard cabinets and would inhibit you from sliding it to the back of my counter when not in use.
Best blenders FAQs
What are the different types of blenders?
There are several types of blenders and each is designed for a specific use.
Full-sized blenders: This is the blender you probably imagine when someone says the word “blender.” These are the most versatile of the bunch, but they are also generally the largest, with blending jars as large as 72 ounces. If you do a lot of blending — soups, dips, smoothies, sauces, frozen drinks and nut butter — you’ll want a good full-sized blender. They can be as powerful as 2,000 watts and cost as much as $600, but you can also nab a great one with fewer bells and whistles and less power for $100 or so (see above).
Personal blenders: This term refers to smaller blenders such as NutriBullet, Beast, NutriNinja and others. These blenders have less capacity, around 24 to 32 ounces, give or take. They’re great for soups and smoothies but often have a bit less power — between 900 and 1,000 watts — so they’re not as good for dense ingredients like nuts.
Immersion blenders: These handheld versions of the blender have one main use: to puree a soup or sauce that’s already in a pot. An immersion blender saves you from having to transfer hot liquids from a pot to a blender jar. Though some cost a pretty penny, many serviceable immersion blenders start as low as $30.
Portable blenders: These blenders are so small that you can take them with you on the go. They often run on battery, so you can blend anywhere — the beach, at your desk or after the gym. BlendJet is a popular brand and their teeny-weeny blenders cost around $50.
What is the difference between a blender and a food processor?
While a blender and food processor are similar at first blush, they are used for distinctly different kitchen and cooking jobs. A food processor can’t do the work of a blender, nor can a blender do the work of a food processor: They’re not interchangeable.
Blenders generally have one fixed blade designed to puree or whip ingredients into a liquid or smooth paste. Classic examples are smoothies, soups, sauces and nut butters. Food processors, on the other hand, generally have a set of blades for different tasks — they’re best when they step in for your knife. Most food processors can chop, dice and mince. They can also grate and shred if you need a lot of cheese or are making coleslaw from scratch.
While they won’t do each other’s tasks well, you can buy blenders with food processor attachments, including this $160 Ninja MegaSystem (includes blender) or this $200 Vitamix food processor attachment (does not include blender) that works with Ascent and Venturist models.
How much power should a blender have?
Wattage and horsepower are the two most common ways to measure the sheer capacity of a blender. For small or personal blenders, 1,000 watts of power is all you’ll need given the minimal amount of ingredients you’re blending. For large and full-sized blenders, 1,100 watts is still more than a serviceable amount of power to do most of the daily blending jobs you’ll ask of it. Our top blender picks for the price — the Ninja and the NutriBullet — are both in that 1,100 range. They both performed well and cost much less than a Vitamix or Breville.
Wattage in premium and super-premium blenders can go as high as 2,000, though most are somewhere between 1,400 and 1,800 watts. This amount of power means you’ll likely get a longer life out of the blender since it won’t have to rely on full power to do the easier, daily blending jobs. It also means faster blending since the blades are able to hit higher speeds.
Total horsepower is a sexy (and newer) unit of measurement for blenders, but brands also use it for smoke and mirrors. For more, read about the truth about horsepower in blenders.
