The 6 Best Blenders of 2024, According to Our Tests

Our Favorite Blenders

If you’re looking for the best blender for making smoothies, frozen drinks, or soups, you can’t go wrong with Vitamix’s E310 Explorian. For a smaller personal blender with cups made to take on the go, we recommend the Nutribullet Pro 900 for its power and portability. And if you're looking for an immersion blender, our favorite is the All-Clad Stainless Steel Immersion Blender, which packs a powerful 600-watt motor.

How We Chose Which Blenders to Test

The ideal kitchen blender depends on your individual needs, so we’ve tested blenders at every size, range of versatility, and price point. When choosing which items to test, we often start with the most sought-after brands or products. In this case, we included the gold standard of blenders, like Vitamix or Breville, but we also wanted to test how other brands stack up. We know that not everyone wants to invest in a $500+ blender, so our goal is to help you decide the best option.

For this roundup, we’ve also included insights from other tests we’ve conducted, including immersion blenders, food processors, and smaller personal blenders.

How We Tested Blenders

We've completed multiple rounds of blender tests, comparing 24 blenders side-by-side and putting them through the identical series of tests described below. We also incorporated results from additional rounds of testing on specific types of blenders, including 20 personal blenders, 15 immersion blenders, and more than 20 Vitamix blenders. We've tested well over 50 different models to compile our results.

• Noise Test: We used a decibel meter to measure the noise level while blending 16 ounces of ice and eight ounces of water for 30 seconds. When settings were allowed, we performed the same test at low, medium, and high speeds.
• Almond Milk Test: We blended water, almonds, and dates in each blender for three minutes, then strained the mixture through cheesecloth to create homemade almond milk. We measured how much milk each batch yielded and observed the texture of the strained solids to see how evenly and thoroughly everything was broken down.
• Smoothie Test: We made a smoothie in each blender using almond milk, kale, blueberries, and peanut butter, blending high for one minute. We strained the results, noting how well the blenders broke down the fibrous kale, tough blueberry skins, and sticky peanut butter. We also blended a beet smoothie with banana, kale, mixed berries, yogurt, dates cinnamon, ice, and water, setting the blenders to high speed for one minute or using the blenders' smoothie presets. Without straining after blending, we again noted the texture of the finished smoothie.
• Frozen Drink Test: We made a batch of basic blended margaritas in each blender (with Jose Cuervo's ready-to-drink mix and ice). We used the blended drink setting or started the machine on low and gradually increased the speed until we got a smooth texture. We measured the time needed and noted the evenness of the final texture and how much of the ice remained frozen. We repeated the same test with a Frozen Shirley Temple recipe.

• Mayonnaise Test: We made homemade mayonnaise in each blender, drizzling oil into the egg yolk while running at a low speed. This measured their ability to combine and emulsify smaller batches of ingredients.
• Hollandaise Test: We also prepared a blender Hollandaise sauce, combining melted butter, egg yolks, lemon juice, and hot sauce on high and medium speed until the sauce came out smooth and emulsified.
• Soup test: To test the blenders' abilities to puree ingredients of varying textures, we blended onion, carrot, apple, and butternut squash with water for six minutes at a high speed. We examined the resulting soup for any remaining fibrous bits or pieces of apple skin. We also prepared a smokey tomato soup. Some machines claim the ability to heat and even cook soup right in the jar, so we also took the temperature after blending to see how much the blades heated the mixture.
• Cleaning test: After each round of performance testing, we cleaned each blender and its parts following the included directions. We used the dishwasher for dishwasher-safe parts and hand-washed bases, blades, and other parts that require special care. (For machines with a self-clean setting, we also tested its effectiveness at cleaning all the parts.) We noted whether any food bits were left behind, any difficulties with assembly or disassembly, or any other design features that made cleanup easier or harder.

After we completed all the other tests, we revealed the retail prices of the blenders to compare value for money. At the time of testing, the 24 blenders ranged from $37 to $700, with an average price of $301.

Other Blenders We Tested

Strong Contenders

KitchenAid K400 Variable Speed Blender ($300 at Amazon)

Previously one of our top picks, this KitchenAid blender wowed us during our first round of testing, earning nearly perfect scores every time. It powered through tough ingredients so well that we didn't need the included tamper, and soups, smoothies, drinks, and more came out consistently smooth. However, upon revisiting this model for our most recent round of testing, we weren't equally as impressed. We found that it struggled more to deliver the end results we wanted, and its controls and presets were a bit more finicky.

Oster Versa Professional Power Blender (at Amazon)

With a 1,400-watt motor more powerful than any other on this list, the Oster Versa finished near the top of many tests, making especially exceptional almond milk. However, it had trouble with a small batch of mayonnaise in its 64-ounce jar. It's just about average in price and certainly performed above average in our testing.

Vitamix 7500 Blender ($600 at Vitamix)

Vitamix makes a lot of darn fine blenders and all four models we used in this latest round of testing performed well. The 7500 is incredibly well-built, with a massive 2.2-horsepower (about 1,640-watt) motor. It powered through everything we threw at it with ease, including making a frozen margarita in 14 seconds. But we saw similar results from other models that cost a lot less.

Ninja Compact Kitchen System ($160 at Amazon)

The Ninja Compact Kitchen System is a true "kitchen system," with a huge-capacity blender pitcher, a single-serving smoothie cup with a to-go lid, and a full-functioning food processor bowl with chopping and kneading blades. It has three programs designed for crushing ice, blending smoothies, and gently mixing or kneading. It also has normal on/off and pulse buttons. Though that covers most basic functions, we didn't like that you can't manually adjust the speed of this blender, which limits its functionality.

Vitamix Propel 510 Blender ($500 at Vitamix)

Another Vitamix monster, the Propel 510 is a little smaller and a little less powerful than the 7500, but it had no trouble whatsoever in testing. The soup was silky smooth, blended so well that hardly any pulp remained after straining. It costs $100 less than the 7500, but it's still a quite expensive blender, especially considering its mere 48-ounce capacity.

Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ ($120 at Amazon)

This blender is lightweight and relatively easy to store. While it couldn't quite live up to Vitamix performance, we think it's a great easy-to-use budget pick for anyone who isn't ready to invest several hundred dollars in a blender. It has a stacked-assembly blade, which helps to blend all the ingredients evenly into a smooth puree, although we didn't quite get the velvety consistency we were going for. However, it left no errant chunks behind, and we found its smart pre-sets to be accurate and effective.

What Didn't Make the List

The blenders that finished at the bottom of the rankings simply worked ineffectively. They left large chunks of fruits, veggies, or nuts behind, delivered watery frozen drinks, and failed to emulsify mayonnaise. This was often due to a lack of power, but design played a role as well: Too-small blades unable to reach the full contents of the pitcher were a problem we found more than once.

When it comes to budget models, we noticed a serious drop-off in quality below about $150; there are some affordable blenders, but generally not from the very bottom shelf. Other notable brands we tested for this story include Blendtec, Cuisinart, Hamilton Beach, and Hurom, plus additional models from KitchenAid and Breville.

Editor’s Note: We initially included the BlendJet 2 as a portable blender option in this roundup, but the product has been recalled due to safety risks. Consumer Reports has advised buyers to stop using the product and contact BlendJet for a free replacement unit.

Our Expertise

• Alyssa Longobucco is a freelance writer, editor, and stylist living in New York with over a decade of experience in the food, home, and lifestyle categories. When she's not diving into the latest trends and products, she's restoring an 1820s farmhouse in the Hudson Valley alongside her husband and children.
• Food & Wine senior updates writer Jason Horn updated this story with additional testing data. He holds a master's degree in journalism and has been a food and drinks writer for nearly 20 years, for publications including Serious Eats, Liquor.com, Playboy, and HGTV.
• Associate commerce editor Arnesia Young also contributed to this piece. She updated it with insights from Food & Wine's most recent round of blender tests, and she has hands-on experience with one of our favorites on this list. The NutriBullet Pro 900 lives on her countertop, and she has used it at least weekly for the past year to blend all her favorite smoothie recipes.