When it comes to essential cooking tools for the kitchen, blenders are at the top of the list. They streamline food prep when whipping up from-scratch sauces, salsas, smoothies, soups, and other culinary concoctions. But when it comes to blending, there’s more than one way to pureé a pea. Immersion blenders, otherwise known as hand blenders, offer some food prep advantages to your standard blenders.
For one, they’re way less expensive. A high-priced immersion blender can still be a fraction of the cost of some of the leading blender brand names. Another advantage of an immersion blender involves cleanup: With stand blenders, you have to wash an entire pitcher (minding you don’t cut yourself scrubbing around the blades) and the lid and wipe down the base if you’re a messy chef. With an immersion blender, all you have to clean up is the shaft, which can be tossed right in the dishwasher or given a quick rinse, depending on what you’re blending. Lastly, immersion blenders save space, provide mobility, and speed up the blending process by allowing you to blend foods without transferring ingredients between vessels.
So whether you’re a smoothie fanatic or a homemade soup lover, you’ll want to check out our list of the eleven best immersion blenders to buy in 2021 and make your life way easier.
Best Overall: Braun MQ7035X 3-in-1 ImmersionBlender
When it comes to immersion blenders, many have the same features and accessories, so it can be hard to make the best overall pick. Braun MQ7035X 3-in-1 Immersion Blender won out in our eyes because of a few thoughtful design elements that stood out among the pack. The primary thing that stood out about this Braun model was its ACTIVEblade technology. It’s essentially a spring-loaded shock system built into the shaft that allows the blade to move up and down as you apply pressure, giving it a 250% more active cutting surface. Next is the Easy Smartspeed Technology, a one-button control panel that controls the desired power of the unit based on the pressure you apply. Although this takes some getting used to, it’s a really nice feature, especially when working with large batches. The patented POWERBell Plus features an extra milling blade to provide more slices per rotation, and at 500 watts, it’s powerful enough for almost any task. Coming with a whisk, food processing attachment, and blending cup, you get a lot of value for the price with this Braun immersion blender.
Best Value: Vavsea 5-in-1 Multi-Function Immersion Hand Blender
At 1,000 watts, this immersion blender from Vavsea packs more power than many commercial-grade blenders yet it is exceptionally quiet. This package provides you with a whisk, frother, blending cup, and food processing attachment, which is more than most other brands offer. This highly rated immersion blender comes at a reasonable price that won’t break the bank.
Best Cordless: KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender
Cordless immersion blenders give you more freedom to roam in the kitchen and are great to bring on camping trips to make your morning protein shake. Kitchenaid claims you can blend 25 bowls of soup on a single charge, based on seven batches of 12-ounce servings (175 ounces) of tomato basil soup. After you drain the battery, you can regain a full charge in under two hours. While blending your soup, be sure to use the thoughtfully crafted pan guard designed to protect the nonstick coating on your pots and pans. True to KitchenAid form, this immersion blender comes in a variety of colors to match your appliance color scheme.
Best Commercial: Waring WSB70 Heavy Duty Immersion Blender with Variable Speed Motor
If you’re thinking of starting your own restaurant or soup kitchen, you may want to consider this industrial-strength immersion blender from Waring. Its 21-inch removable stainless steel shaft lets you blend huge batches up to 200 quarts. At 750 watts and 5,000 to 18,000 RPMs, this beast can break down anything you throw its way.
Best Budget: Mueller Austria Ultra-Stick 9-Speed Immersion Multipurpose Hand Blender
If you want some mighty hand blending on a budget, this Mueller nine-speed blender is an excellent option. At 500 watts, you can take on any blending, whisking, or frothing job in seconds. This unit is lightweight and has a sleek, European design, which we liked.
Best Splurge: Vitamix Immersion Blender
If you know blenders, you know a Vitamix is hard to beat. You’re always going to have to spend more on the Vitamix name, but in return, you get the peace of mind of knowing you purchased a quality piece of equipment that is built to last. Not only that, but they stand behind their products, offering a three-year warranty. At this price point, we were a bit disappointed you don’t get any other handy attachments like some of the other models. But what you do get is 625 watts of power, a built-in plastic pot/pan guard, and a top-mounted LED power meter. Another feature we loved with this immersion blender is how it shuts off automatically if you let go of the power button. This feature is great for preventing messes and saving fingers if you drop the blender.
Best for Smoothies: Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender
This Control Grip Immersion Blender from Breville is dynamic enough to blend up more than just smoothies. Moreover, this model landed the “best for smoothies” award because of the enormous 42-ounce blending pitcher that is included with it, making it perfect for blending single or multiple smoothie portions. Other blending cups that are included with other models don’t even come close to this capacity. The other thing that stood out about this blender was that it was, in our opinion, the most comfortable in your hand.
Best Set: Dash Chef Series Deluxe Immersion Blender
Don’t sleep on the Dash Cher Series Deluxe Immersion Blender if you’re obsessed with product accessories. Aside from the standard immersion blender accessories, you get a full-on food processor with a chopping blade, dough hook, shredding plate, emulsifying plate, and a handy spatula to scrape up every last drop of deliciousness. You’ll also get a strong, stainless steel potato mashing attachment. If you need a space-saving food prep system to take the place of multiple appliances, the Dash Chef is an excellent option.
Other Blenders We Loved
Cuisinart CSB-179 Smart Stick Hand Blender
If you want a no-frills, quality hand blender from an appliance name brand you can trust, the Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender is where it’s at. It’s not the most powerful unit you’ll find, but it has enough juice to get the job done, and it’s quiet. The controls are straightforward, and it comes at a reasonable price.
All-Clad Immersion Blender
Thanks to its extra-long 19.25-inch shaft and 600 watts of power, this home immersion blending unit from All-Clad is probably the closest you can get to commercial-grade without actually making the leap. For its size and power, it’s lightweight and is an excellent blender for the serious home chef.
Yabano 2-in-1 Hand Blender Stick with 24-ounce Beaker
If you’re like us, you’ve probably never heard of Yabano. However, this straightforward blender packs a punch and gets the job done. It’s highly rated on Amazon and is great for smoothies thanks to its sizeable 24-ounce blending cup. At under $20, it’s worth a try if you don’t plan on blending frequently. This model just missed the “best budget” award because it didn’t come with as many accessories.
Cuisinart 5-Speed Cordless Rechargeable Hand Mixer
Providing five speeds of mixing power without the hassle of a cord, this sleek Cuisinart Hand Mixer is powered by a heavy-duty rechargeable lithium-ion battery to help you experience 20 minutes of optimal mixing performance per charge.
Tips When Using an Immersion Blender
For all their advantages, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when you’re using an immersion blender.
First, although some models pack a big punch for their size, they still aren’t as powerful as a stand blender. So, when blending foods, be sure the ingredients are cooked through or are soft enough for the blender to handle.
Also, be aware of the immersion blender design and the vessel you’re blending in. It’s always advised to blend within the provided blending cup or a container made of stainless steel, durable plastic, or other strong material. The edges of an immersion blender can scratch the coating of nonstick pans and pots, and the blades can slice through raised edges of plastic containers, creating a food safety hazard.
Why Does My Immersion Blender Splatter?
One of the primary downfalls of an immersion blender is that they can cause a mess when not used properly. There are three main reasons why you’re likely getting some splatter while using your immersion blender.
- You’ve not immersed: Immersion blenders have small openings around the blade cover that allows food to move through it. If the entire head of the blade isn’t fully immersed in your sauce, salsa, or soup you’ll experience a lot of splatters.
- You’re not blending enough: A common reason why you’re blender head isn’t fully immersed in the food is that there isn’t enough to cover it. Blending more food at a given time can prevent splatter.
- You’re not using the right vessel: There’s a reason why many immersion blenders come with custom blending cups, to prevent mess. Blending cups are ideal for preventing splatter. If you don’t have one a similar, high-walled cup or bowl will work. If blending large batches, the best place to use your hand blender is right in the pot itself. The flat bottom helps ensure your blade is fully upright.
What Can You Do With an Immersion Blender?
There’s really not much an immersion blender can’t do that a traditional pitcher-style blender can. However, there are a couple of food prep tasks that each are more conducive to each style.
Immersion blenders shine when you have to combine/cook ingredients in a single pot, bowl, or cup. An immersion blender cuts down on overall food prep cleanup by not having to transfer ingredients from vessel to blender. However, when it comes to blending up more heavy duty ingredients to create things like dough or nut butter, a traditional blender wins out.
