6 Best Blenders for Smoothies, Tested by Food Network Kitchen

Ninja is known for its blenders and brings that expertise to its high-speed model. The blade structure is the most unique among all the models we tested, with three sharp blades separated by a few inches. Ninja says the stacked structure of the blades is designed to efficiently crush ice, blend and puree, and our tests bore that out. The blade piece is removable, which makes scraping out the food easier — though you’ll want to be careful handling it, as the blades are extremely sharp.

The BPA-free pitcher has a handy pour-spout, great for serving smoothies and frozen drinks. The 1,000-watt motor is powerful, though definitely on the louder side. Bonus: When you’re done blending, you can toss the container, lid and blade assembly in the dishwasher.

With its unusual hourglass-shaped design, this blender is eye-catching right out of the box. But it isn’t just good looks that won our favor; its powerful 1,000-watt motor delivers. The Beast made quick work of smoothies with both fresh and frozen fruit, blended ice into slush with just a few pulses, and made a good batch of nut butter without breaking a sweat (and without any metallic blender smell, thanks to internal sensors that prevent overheating). If for some reason the blender won’t start, color-coded lights indicate why (e.g., amber flashing lights mean the motor is overloaded; a flashing red light means the contents are too hot to safely blend). It comes with a storage lid and a drinking lid; the latter also has a drinking cap with an adjustable carry loop. One thing to note: The thick Tritan plastic 3-cup-capacity cup is wider and squatter than most other models. The wide mouth makes adding ingredients easy, and it’s also easier to remove thick items like nut butter from this type of cup. But this shape can be harder to grip for small hands, and the cup won’t fit in most car cupholders. Also, this model is hand-wash only, though the wide shape makes getting into the cup to clean it out pretty simple.

For a combo of good power and versatility, plus great value, this is the one. It boasts a 900-watt motor, so it blended up smoothies with fresh and frozen fruit with ease, and crushed ice without a hitch (and all without any odor, too). It manages to do all that with a relatively small footprint; the base is only 7 inches tall and 4½ inches wide. Adding to the value part: The Ninja comes with 3 20-ounce cups, with 2 ready-to-drink lids and 1 storage lid, so everyone gets a smoothie to go. The cups are tall and narrow, so they’ll fit in a car’s cupholder. We didn’t love making nut butter in this one; the result was less evenly ground than some other models, and scraping it out of those long, narrow cups was a hassle. But since this isn’t the personal blender’s primary function, this is still a great value. The cups, lids and blade assembly are all top-rack dishwasher safe. If you are going to wash by hand, you may need a brush if you have larger hands, as getting all the way into those tall, narrow cups might be a challenge.

Talk about small but mighty. This light, small-footprint personal blender packs a lot of power. It made very quick work of a protein shake and a smoothie, both in 30 seconds thanks to a 5-volt motor and a blade that turns 275 times per second. For all of its blending ability, it’s relatively quiet. The BlendJet2 also has a handy pulse setting, useful for making guacamole or pesto. It’s lightweight, so you can toss it in your bag (and it has a lock mode, so you don’t blend by accident). You can also carry it via the strap on the twist-off cap. Charge the blender for an hour with the included USB cord, and it gets about 15 blends. The BlendJet2 is not dishwasher safe, but it cleans up quickly and easily by blending a little dish soap and water. Choose from more than 20 colors and fun patterns. There’s no opening to allow you to sip from the cap, which seems like an odd oversight, but overall, if you love your blended drinks on the go, this little powerhouse will spark joy.

This blender/juicer combo may be on the pricier side, but it more than makes up for that in versatility and ease. The ingenious design of this appliance allows you to blend, juice (or both!) without any added or unnecessary parts. The jug that captures juice during juicing has a built-in blender base, allowing you to place it right on the same base and go straight from juicing to blending. We recommend this 'bluicer' for anyone new to the world of juicing and those not yet committed to the juicing lifestyle. Did we mention it arrives fully assembled? No complicated set-up will stand between you and a delicious glass of fresh-pressed juice.

With a simple interface and 10 variable speeds, the Vitamix Explorian E310 makes super smooth smoothies, no matter what the ingredients. Plus, you can opt for a model that comes with two smoothie cups for extra ease-of-use. The 48-ounce container is smaller than some other Vitamix models, but it's still large enough for most jobs, and the squattier design means it’s likely to fit under your kitchen cabinets. The included tamper is dishwasher safe, as is the lid. In short, it has all the classic Vitamix qualities, with a more convenient design and added versatility — what’s not to love?