The Best Blender for Smoothies, Soups, and Yes, Homemade Peanut Butter, Tested and Reviewed

Because sometimes you need a kitchen appliance with a motor that can move a compact car.

The best blender overall: Vitamix 5200

The Vitamix 5200 is pound for pound (and dollar for dollar) the best blender we reviewed, including other Vitamix models. It was best for smoothies and, well anything else you can think to blend. In our tests it produced one of the silkiest drinks, velvety and creamy, not gloppy or overblended. It also crushed ice to perfection and didn’t blow out our eardrums doing it. The 5200 is very easy to set up, and the base is heavy but not unbearably so. It features a simple control panel with an on/off switch, a variable speed switch, and a dial for varying the power level yourself. It has no extra buttons or specialized settings—but we didn’t miss them. This is just a straightforward, efficient, high-performance blender packing a ton of power.

What we didn’t like about the Vitamix 5200

The only downside to buying a Vitamix blender is the price. These bad boys are expensive! But the brand offers a seven-year warranty, so if you plan to use it regularly, we think the cost is worth it. (For further discounts you can often find refurbished versions online.)

The runner-up blender: Cuisinart Hurricane Pro

In each of our annual blender testings, this high-performance Cuisinart model has ranked among the top performers. The smoothie it blends is smooth and velvety with plenty of air incorporated throughout and zero bitterness. The Hurricane Pro can also pulverize ice effectively into small pellets. 

The Cuisinart is a little confusing to figure out in the beginning, but the specificity offered in its settings is helpful. There are different buttons for making fruit and green smoothies as well as options for crushing ice, making soup, and cleaning the machine. The memory function allows you to adjust any of the preset times—for instance, we felt that the green smoothie function yielded an overblended product, so we shortened the program’s time to our liking and saved it as a new setting. The blender also has an adjustable power knob that you can turn as you blend. It has an overarching on/off switch in the back (like the Vitamix E310, which we also tested), which means you won’t accidentally power it up before you’re ready. Even though it’s heavy, large, and has a slight learning curve, it passed our smoothie and ice tests with flying colors and would make a great alternative to the Vitamix.

What we didn't like about the Cuisinart Hurricane Pro

The base of the Cuisinart is huge and heavy, so you're either left with a counter hog or something that requires some heavy lifting to move in and out of storage. And while the customization of preset times can be helpful, it is yet one more feature to deal with.

The best budget blender: KitchenAid 5-Speed Classic Blender 

While most full-size blenders we tested were of the high-performance variety, we kept seeing extremely positive reviews for this conventional KitchenAid model. And in fact, this one pulsed and crushed ice and blended basic smoothie ingredients better than KitchenAid’s  high-performance counterpart. But because it isn't high-performance, it isn’t as well-equipped to handle studier ingredients; you won't be able to make nut butters or milks in this one.

This no-frills blender has five speeds, a pulse button, and an ice crush button. That button crushed ice perfectly for a cocktail, and though it took some extra time to work its way through the frozen banana and kale, it yielded a fine smoothie. It was also a cinch to clean. Truthfully, it outperformed many of the so-called high-performance blenders we tested. 

What we didn't like about the KitchenAid 5-Speed Classic Blender

At less than $100, this is a good option for easy tasks like daily breakfast smoothies and batch cocktails. But if you want to handle heavier tasks, like making nut butters and turning rough kale into a fine blend, it isn't powerful enough to the job that Vitamix or Cuisinart can. One other thing to note: The 56-ounce size is not currently available, however the 60-ounce size is.

The best personal blender: Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender 

The king of all the personal blenders we tried, the Zwilling Enfinigy is stylish, slimly designed, and high-powered. With 500 watts of power, it blew away the competition and provided the best small-scale blending and drinking experiences. For smaller space constraints, daily grab-and-go smoothie making, and smaller batches of sauces and dips, it’s the best personal blender you can buy.

The Zwilling Enfinigy made a very smooth smoothie quickly. We used the smoothie setting on the base, the only special feature it offers, which we found successful (and we liked that there weren’t a ton of extra buttons clogging up the streamlined body of the appliance). Using the regular press-to-blend setting, it also yielded a superlative pesto; the sauce was quite silky and well-emulsified, such that the oil didn’t separate even long after it had been on the counter.

We found the 550 mL jar the ideal size for single-serving smoothies and sauces. The cup and lid are well designed and easy to carry and drink from, which delivers on the personal blender promise. All pieces except the blade lid and base are dishwasher safe, but even if you have to clean by hand, the Zwilling Enfinigy is simple to wash between uses. It’s definitely worth the $100 price tag, especially as it out-performed even some of the full-size models on our list and features a three-year warranty.

What we didn't like about the Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender

The only thing you could be disappointed about with this blender is that it's too small for some tasks. But if that's your issue, what were you doing looking at a personal blender in the first place. If you do most of your blending for one or two, this is as about as good as it gets.

How we tested 

To test the full-size blenders, first we put ice in each model and crushed until it had the right consistency for a blended cocktail. Then we made a green smoothie in each blender. We deliberately chose a recipe that would put each blender through the ringer: a smoothie that included two cups of kale (stems and all, just to make things even more difficult), a handful of almonds, a few dates, and a frozen banana. We blended each smoothie for 1.5–2 minutes or used the specified “smoothie” or “green smoothie” setting on the blender if it had one. We were looking for a smooth, uniform texture without stringy pieces of kale, chunks of date, or mealiness from the almonds. Finally, we washed each blender by hand.

For the personal blenders we first used each machine to make a simple pesto—a popular use case for a small but high-powered machine. We washed each blender by hand and then made a smoothie in each, ensuring that we wouldn’t taste residual garlic and basil in our fruity drinks. We made each smoothie with two larges leaves of kale (stems included), a handful of frozen mango, another of frozen blueberries, and a splash of almond milk. With the portable blenders (basically personal blenders that run on batteries), we used a similar set of criteria but ditched the leaves of kale for four ounces of almond milk in the smoothie as a nod to the fact that they’re less powerful.

Types of blenders 

High performance blenders, like our best overall and runner-up picks, are more expensive than many conventional models because they’re equipped with more powerful motors that can spin at high speeds. They’re often labeled “professional” to indicate that they’re up for tougher tasks, like crushing nuts, handling tough leafy greens, and crushing ice for frozen drinks.

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Standard blenders aren’t equipped to handle the same heavy-duty blending as high-performance models—especially if you want them to last. But if you’re not planning to throw anything more challenging than an ice cube in the blender and just want a simple smoothie from time to time, this less-expensive category is right for you.

Personal blenders are smaller machines designed to take up much less space in your kitchen and make single-serve rather than larger batched recipes. Most are set up to take your blended smoothie immediately on the go straight from the base with the addition of a sippable lid. They’re also good for smaller amounts of sauces and dips.

Portable blenders are an even smaller version of personal blenders. Similar to the personal models, the portable machines are best for single-serve recipes that you can take on the go, but they run on rechargeable batteries instead of an outlet so you can theoretically make your smoothie at the gym.

Immersion blenders are not included in this test, but you can find our analysis of the best immersion blenders here instead (same goes for food processors and the best juicers.) For purposes of explanation though, immersion blenders are handheld stick blenders ideal for puréeing things like hot soups or baby food directly in their respective cooking vessels.

What we looked for

Is the smoothie, well, smooth?

We were looking for a blender that could make a creamy smoothie without chunks of various ingredients. The texture shouldn’t be grainy or fibrous, despite the inclusion of sturdy ingredients like almonds and kale stems. We noticed that some smoothies had a gloppy, thick texture and weren’t cold by the time we drank them; this is a symptom of overblending, so we kept an eye out for that when it was linked to a smoothie-specific preset time.

How easy is the blender to use? Does it have any special features?

Blenders don’t require much set up. Still, we looked for an easy-to-use, no-fuss model. We liked when blenders had specific settings, say for making a green smoothie or crushing ice, and we considered how well those programs worked.

How bulky is it?

It’s almost alarming how large and bulky most blenders—full-size blenders and even some personal blenders—are! Many of them have large bases that are heavy to lift. High-performance blenders in particular have large motors, so we weren’t overly concerned with them being too heavy, but we did consider size and bulk in our test. And for personal blenders, we considered whether the size was too close to that of a full-size model, negating the purported space-saving benefits of a miniature appliance.

Is it easy to clean?

We looked for blenders that were designed to be easy to clean, without too many nooks and crannies where bits of old protein shake or pesto could hide. We also considered whether or not the blender had a self-cleaning function.

Other full-size blenders we tested 

Vitamix A3500

When it comes to the Vitamix A3500, take everything you know about the performance of the Vitamix 5200 and turn it up a few notches. The Ascent Series model edged out the 5200 just a bit in terms of performance, and its additional intuitive program settings, speed dial, and timer were nice. But what we didn’t love is that the wide 64 oz blending cup can sometimes work against the machine when it comes to smaller amounts of ingredients because it sort of splatters everything out to the sides when it first starts. The other thing was that the A3500 is significantly more expensive. The question became if it was $170 better than the 5200. To those who really a touchscreen or a sleek looking appliance, it might be, but in the grand scheme of it all, we’d say no. It’s like deciding if you need a sports car that can go 220 mph when you will never drive faster than 85. We know there are people who just like the way that roadster feels, but we don’t think it’s useful enough to warrant the splurge.

Vitamix One

The Vitamix One is ahead of the curve as far as standard blenders go in its velvety smoothie and creamy-soup-making capabilities but fell short when it came to ice-crushing and low-liquid mixtures. Overall, the slight edge on other standard blenders didn’t quite justify the price point. 

Vitamix Explorian 310

The Vitamix Explorian 310 is a more affordable Vitamix option; it’s an incredible machine and performed almost identically to the 5200, but it was notably louder. We also liked the size and shape of the 5200 a little more: the 310 holds less and is squatter in shape. If you’re in the market for a Vitamix but don’t want to spend more than $350, this is the model for you.

Blendtec Classic Blender

The Blendtec Classic Blender is another professional-grade blender. We liked its sleek design, however, the smoothie it produced was on the thicker, fibrous side, and its fancy bells and whistles—an LED display with lots of buttons—felt unnecessary. It was a little too fussy for what we wanted in an everyday appliance.

Hamilton Beach Power Elite Blender

The Hamilton Beach Power Elite Blender was lightweight and flimsy, and the smoothie it made was full of chunks of almond and fibers of kale, even after an extra minute of blending. 

Hamilton Beach Professional

The brand’s high-performance model, the Hamilton Beach Professional produced even grains of ice and a smoothie without chunks. But we found the smoothie to be thick and slightly warm, suggesting that the motor was overworked.

Ninja Professional Blender

The Ninja Professional Blender didn’t perform well in our test. The ice preset function left us with water at the bottom and uneven chunks throughout, and the smoothie was thick and gloppy. Skip this “high-performance” blender.

The takeaway

For a versatile high-performance countertop blender, we recommend the Vitamix 5200. We don’t think you need the fanciest Vitamix to get the best one. If you plan on heavy-duty tasks like making peanut butter or grinding grains on a regular basis, the price and size of this blender will pay off. The KitchenAid 5-Speed is a good choice if you just want crushed ice and nice smoothies at a lower price point. If you're in the market for a smaller-size personal blender, the Zwilling Enfinigy Personal Blender is your best bet.