The 5 Best Blenders Under $100 - Fall 2022 Reviews

The Oster Pro 1200 is the best blender under $100 that we've tested. It offers quite a few appealing features for a low price, including a 48-ounce glass main jar, which you may find less prone to scratches and discoloration. It's well-suited for processing fibrous ingredients like kale, and you can use it for hot blending, so it's a great choice for making soups and sauces. It can process hard ingredients like nuts into a smooth blend, although it takes more time and effort than some blenders. The two-part lid lets you add ingredients mid-blend. Also included is a 24-ounce plastic personal jar with a resealable lid that makes silky single-serve smoothies.

There are a few downsides to this budget-friendly blender. Its lower price is reflected in its mediocre build quality, unfortunately. The gear design, in particular, isn't very durable. Also, while it can make snow-like crushed ice, the main jar is only meant to process up to six ice cubes at once. If you make a lot of crushed ice for parties, you may prefer something like the Ninja Professional Blender 1000, which comes with a 72-ounce jar that can handle more ice at once. The Ninja is also better-built, but there are trade-offs with Ninja's design, as it doesn't come with a two-part lid, can't hot blend, and isn't as good for pureeing fibrous ingredients.

If you have a small kitchen or usually prepare food for just one or two people, you may prefer a personal blender like the Ninja Foodi Power Nutri DUO. This blender is usually more expensive than our top full-size pick, but it offers very versatile performance, so it's worth considering if you're looking for a compact option. Its relatively short motor base makes it easy to store under a cabinet or in a cupboard. It makes silky smoothies and snow-like crushed ice in its 24-ounce personal jars. Thanks to its 14-ounce 'Smoothie Βowl Maker' jar, it's very easy to use to make thick blends like nut butter.

It's not quite as versatile as the Oster Pro 1200, though, since it can't hot blend and has only one speed setting. Despite its small size, it's also a lot louder than that model. There are a few automatic blending programs, so you don't need to stand next to the blender the whole time it's running. Overall, if you don't need a blender with a large capacity, it's a great choice for smoothies, frozen drinks, and small batches of spreads and dips like hummus or nut butter.

The best blender/food processor under $100 we've tested is the Magic Βullet Kitchen Express. Many blenders sold with food processors are full-size models that cost well over $100, and this is a good choice if you're looking for a cheaper, smaller blender that can also help with tasks like slicing vegetables. It comes with a separate food processor bowl with a reversible blade for slicing or shredding ingredients, which includes its own lid with a food chute, so you can add ingredients without undocking the jar.

Also included are a pair of 15-ounce jars with resealable lids that you can use to make silky smoothies with ingredients like kale. It's also great for making small batches of recipes like nut butter. However, the manual says you shouldn't use it to crush ice on its own. Like most personal blenders, it has only one speed setting, but it has a dedicated 'Pulse' mode that you can select with the control dial. It's fairly well-built but not as sturdy as the Ninja Foodi Power Nutri DUO.

The ΒlendJet 2 is the best portable blender under $100 that we've tested. This battery-powered blender doesn't perform as well as some similarly-priced conventional blenders, so it's probably not for you if you're just looking to equip your kitchen with a blender. However, if you want something you can bring along to work or on a trip, its lightweight, compact, and quiet design makes it a good choice. It can break up ice cubes but struggles to fully puree fibrous ingredients, so it's best suited for simple smoothie or protein shake recipes without difficult additions like leafy greens or seeds.

It has a good, sturdy build quality, with a plastic loop on the lid so you can hang it from a bag. Even though it's not dishwasher-safe, the jar's wide opening and removable blade assembly make it easy to clean by hand. It comes with a short USB-C to USB-A for charging and is advertised to last for about 15 20-second blending cycles, but you can't use it when it's charging.

If you tend to use your blender to make soups and sauces, the Βraun MultiQuick 5 is a solid option for less than $100. This well-built immersion blender is intended for blending hot ingredients like roasted vegetables right in the pan. It can make a fairly smooth puree with fibrous ingredients like leafy greens or broccoli. There's also a 20-ounce jar included that you can use to make a decent single-serve smoothie. It can even make a smooth blend with tough ingredients like nuts, but it's hard to use for that purpose, partly because you need to hold onto it when it's running.

The motor body and blending arm come apart for easier storage and cleaning. It also comes with a whisk accessory that you can use for whipping cream or making homemade mayonnaise. The blending arm, whisk attachment, and jar are dishwasher-safe and easy to clean by hand. There are a couple of different speed settings, but there isn't a very big difference between the low and high-speed settings. If you like to fine-tune your blending speed to suit a recipe, the KitchenAid Variable Speed Corded Hand Blender offers a wider range of speeds. However, it's not as well-built.