The 4 Best Cheap Blenders - Winter 2021 Reviews

If you're looking for a personal blender, the Magic Bullet Mini is the best cheap blender that we've tested. It comes with one 13-ounce and one eight-ounce jar as well as a lid and a lip ring so you can drink your blend directly from the jar or take it with you on-the-go. It's also very compact, which makes it easy to store when not in use.

If you like to make smoothies, it can make a good-textured blend in less than two minutes. Although it's a bit foamy, it can fully process fibrous ingredients like kale, resulting in a grainless blend. It's easy to clean up after making a smoothie as a water rinse gets rid of most debris. You can also put the jars in the dishwasher for a more convenient clean. Even though it has only one speed, its design is very easy to use.

Unfortunately, it can't hot blend or crush ice. It makes poor almond butter as it takes over ten minutes to make a sticky mix with a lot of unprocessed nuts. Cleaning the jar after making sticky food can be difficult as the blade assembly isn't dishwasher-safe, so you need to wash it by hand. Still, if you're looking for an affordable option to make single-servings of your favorite smoothies, it's a suitable choice.

When it comes to immersion blenders, the best cheap blender we've tested is the Cuisinart Smart Stick Two-Speed Hand Blender. This hand blender has a shaft that should be long enough to reach the bottom of most pots and dutch ovens. You can also mix directly inside the included 24-ounce beaker, which has a spout for easier pouring.

It's simple to use, with only two speed settings. While it's designed for blending hot ingredients, like stewed vegetables, it also does a decent job of crushing ice, which is useful if you like making frozen drinks. When you're done using it, it's very easy to clean since a quick blend with soap and water should take care of most messes.

Unfortunately, it's not a very well-built blender, and the beaker feels fragile. It also has a hard time processing almonds into a smooth, spreadable butter. That said, considering its price, it's worth considering if you're looking for an immersion blender on a budget.

The Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ is the best budget blender that we've tested. If you don't mind spending a little more than for the other options on this list, this full-size model comes with a 72-ounce jar, which can process a lot of food in one go. Cleaning is very simple since the jar, lid, and blade assembly are all top-rack dishwasher-safe.

Although it's a fairly simple model that doesn't come with any additional attachments, it has a few preset modes as well as speed settings that give you some control over your blends. It can make snow-like crushed ice in under a minute, which is fantastic if you like to make frozen drinks. It's alright for making smoothies, although it has a bit of trouble processing leafy or fibrous food like kale. Even though it's made from plastic, it also has a great build quality that feels solid and durable.

Unfortunately, it can't hot blend, so it's not recommended for processing soups or warm dips. It also has a hard time processing harder foods like nuts, and if you want to make almond butter, it can take several minutes to produce a mix that's dry, unevenly processed, and difficult to spread. That said, if you have a little more room in your budget for a full-size model, it offers a more versatile performance well-suited to feeding several people at a time, making it the best blender for your money.