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The 6 Best Blenders For Smoothies - Winter 2023 Reviews

Updated
Best Blenders For Smoothies

If a smoothie is part of your morning routine or a typical post-workout snack, you'll want a blender that makes quick work of ingredients like chunks of frozen fruit and leafy greens like kale. A good smoothie blender can handle both large and small amounts of fibrous ingredients and help with a bigger variety of kitchen chores. Many full-size blenders come with personal-sized jars you can use for blending single-serve smoothies.

The best blenders for smoothies make it easy to whip up a silky, delicious drink and are simple to clean afterward. Depending on your preferences, you may also want something with preset modes for simple one-press smoothie blending or even a battery-powered model so you can make a fresh drink during your lunch break.

We've tested over 85 blenders, and below are our recommendations for the best smoothie makers. This list focuses on the best full-size blenders for smoothies, but most personal and bullet blenders are intended for smoothie making, so you can also find some great options on our lists of the best personal blenders and best bullet blenders. For more, check out the best blenders.


  1. Î’est Î’lender For Smoothies

    The Vitamix 5200 is the best blender for smoothies we've tested. This sturdy, premium blender might be overkill if you want a blender for simple smoothies, but if you're looking for a durable machine and the smoothest blends, it's a great option. It comes with a 64-ounce jar to accommodate big batches and easily makes an incredibly smooth puree with ingredients that some blenders struggle with, like leafy greens or fruit skin. It only comes with one jar, but it's fantastic for blending smaller batches when you want a smoothie for one. If you want a smaller jar for single-serve smoothies, it's possible to purchase a personal-sized blending jar separately from Vitamix.

    This blender is extremely well-built and has a long seven-year warranty (depending on where you buy it). Its controls are simple, consisting of a speed dial and a switch for pulsing. That's all you need for any recipe, but it means you stop the blender manually when it's done. If you want features like automatic blending programs, you might prefer the Vitamix A3500. As part of Vitamix's 'Ascent' Series, it's a more expensive option with additional features, including five blending programs and a companion app that you can use to access more. The A3500's jar is also dishwasher-safe, unlike the 5200. Unfortunately, this means you need to clean the 5200 by hand, but running it with soap and water will do most of the work for you after making a smoothie.

    See our review

  2. Best Upper Mid-Range Blender For Smoothies

    The KitchenAid K400 is a cheaper option with a similar performance when blending common smoothie ingredients, like fruit, leafy greens, and ice cubes. It's not as well-built and has a short one-year warranty compared to the Vitamix 5200, but it blends stubborn ingredients like kale efficiently, whether you're working with a big batch or making a smoothie for one. Just like the Vitamix, it only comes with a large-capacity pitcher, but KitchenAid makes personal blending jars that you can buy separately. Unlike the previous pick, its controls include a few automatic blending programs, so you can step away from the blender and have it stop automatically.

    It's harder to clean by hand than the Vitamix since the blades require a little more scrubbing. However, it will be most noticeable if you're working with sticky ingredients. It doesn't come with a tamper, and using it for something like nut butter or hummus is difficult since it requires a lot of stopping and stirring. That might not matter if you mainly use your blender for smoothies, but it's worth keeping in mind if you're concerned about overall versatility.

    See our review

  3. Best Mid-Range Blender For Smoothies

    If you're looking for something less expensive and will mainly use your blender for smoothies, you might prefer the Ninja Mega Kitchen System. This sturdy blender comes with at least one 16-ounce personal jar that you can use to blend smoothies, depending on what model you buy. Using one of the personal jars, it quickly blends stubborn smoothie ingredients like leafy greens into a remarkably smooth blend, so your smoothie won't have leafy bits or grains left over. The personal jars come with matching to-go lids, so you can use them as travel cups and take your drink on the go. It's also fantastic for ice-crushing, so ice cubes or frozen strawberries in your recipe aren't an issue.

    The main jar has a big 72-ounce capacity, which is great if you're serving a crowd. However, it doesn't blend fibrous elements as smoothly, so if you plan to make multiple servings at once, the previous picks offer better performance. This blender processes ingredients more slowly than the Vitamix 5200 or KitchenAid K400, and it's louder. However, it has blending programs for single-serves and smoothies, so you can step away from the blender while it's running.

    See our review

  4. Best Budget Blender For Smoothies

    The Oster Pro 1200 is the best budget blender for smoothies we've tested. Unlike previous picks, including the Ninja Mega Kitchen System, its design doesn't feel very durable. It also has a smaller 48-ounce capacity in its main pitcher, which you might find limiting if you usually make multiple servings. However, there's also a 24-ounce personal jar included for single-serves. This blender can't match the practically perfectly smooth blend you get with the KitchenAid K400 or Vitamix 5200, but still does a fantastic job of blending fibrous ingredients like blueberries or leafy greens. There's a resealable lid for the personal jar, so you can easily bring your drink on the go.

    It easily crushes ice cubes, but the manufacturer says not to add more than six at once to the pitcher, so it can't handle as much ice in one batch as most full-size blenders. You can remove the blade assembly from the jar, which makes it simple to clean by hand. The jars and lids are also dishwasher-safe. Some parts of the blender feel flimsy and not very durable, but it's available with a three-year U.S. warranty (depending on where you buy it), while the Ninja's warranty is only for one year.

    If you'd like to see more inexpensive blenders, you might find what you're looking for on our list of the best budget blenders.

    See our review

  5. Î’est Quiet Î’lender For Smoothies

    Blending up an early-morning smoothie is less appealing if your blender is loud. You can't avoid the fact that blenders make some noise, but you might want to avoid the loudest models if you have roommates or family members who tend to sleep when you're blending. The best quieter blender for smoothies that we've tested is the Hamilton Beach Professional Quiet Blender. It uses a plastic dome to muffle noise when running, making it significantly quieter than most blenders we've tested. It's also very well-built, very easy to clean by hand, and has an automatic program for smoothies as well as a wide range of speed settings.

    It has a much smaller capacity than the similarly-priced Ninja Mega Kitchen System since its jar only holds 32 ounces. You can use the noise dome as a pitcher but not for blending, so it's not the best blender for serving a crowd. That said, it's superb for making silky-smooth drinks with ingredients like leafy greens. It can make snow-like crushed ice, so it won't struggle to process frozen fruit or ice cubes. However, if you're concerned with your blender's overall versatility, it's not very well-suited for making thick mixtures like nut butter.

    See our review

  6. Best Personal Blender For Smoothies

    Personal blenders are specifically designed for blending up individual-sized smoothies. If you don't need a big capacity jar and don't care as much about having multiple speed settings, the Ninja Foodi Power Nutri DUO is a fantastic option. Its short, compact motor base makes it easier to bring in and out of a cupboard or store on your counter. The pair of 24-ounce personal jars can create a velvety blend with smoothie ingredients like leafy greens and berries. Just like the Vitamix 5200, it can produce a nearly perfectly smooth blend very quickly. You can take your smoothie with you in the same jar since each one comes with a matching spout lid.

    While you're limited by its smaller capacity, it's versatile. The 14-ounce 'Smoothie Bowl Maker' jar has rotating arms that help a lot with thick mixtures, which is nice if you like making spoonable smoothie bowls with frozen fruits. It also easily crushes ice, meaning you can add a few ice cubes to your smoothie with no worries. However, it's very loud. If you're looking for a quiet personal blender for smoothies, the Beast Health Blender makes much less noise and similarly fantastic smoothies. Not all of its components are dishwasher-safe, and it only comes with one jar, but it's better built and has a modern aesthetic you might prefer.

    If you're looking for a blender for single-serve smoothies, you can also see more options on our list of the best personal blenders.

    See our review

Notable Mentions

  • NutriBullet GO: The NutriBullet GO is a battery-powered blender for drinks like smoothies. It's more portable than the Ninja Foodi Power Nutri DUO. However, it's better suited for simple recipes and soft ingredients since it struggles to fully process fibrous ingredients. See our review
  • Wolf Gourmet Pro-Performance: The Wolf Gourmet Pro-Performance is a premium full-size blender that performs similarly to the Vitamix 5200. It's quieter and easier to clean by hand but pricier than our top pick and not as well-built as most Vitamix blenders. Its five-year U.S. warranty is shorter, although it depends on where you buy it. See our review
  • Ninja Blender Duo with Auto-iQ BL642: The Ninja Blender Duo with Auto-iQ BL642 is similar to the Ninja Mega Kitchen System. It comes with three personal jars with resealable to-go lids - which you might prefer because the Kitchen System's to-go lids don't seal. However, it's not good for processing big batches of fibrous ingredients in its main jar, so it makes grainy smoothies if you're working with a big batch. See our review

Recent Updates

  1. Mar 09, 2023: Checked that picks represent the best recommendations and that the products are in stock.

  2. Feb 10, 2023: Added the Ninja Blender Duo with Auto-iQ BL642 and the NutriBullet GO to Notable Mentions.

  3. Jan 12, 2023: Made minor updates to the text and checked that the products are easy to find in stock.

  4. Dec 15, 2022: Checked that the recommended products are in stock. Added the Ninja Chef to Notable Mentions.

  5. Nov 16, 2022: Added the Hamilton Beach Professional Quiet Blender and moved the Î’lendJet 2 to Notable Mentions. Added the Wolf Gourmet Pro-Performance to Notable Mentions.

All Reviews

Our above recommendations are what we think are currently the best smoothie makers for most people. We factor in the price (a cheaper blender wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no blenders that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).

If you want to choose for yourself, here is the list of all our blender reviews for smoothies. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no blender is perfect, most blenders are great enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you look for them.

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