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The Spruce Eats / Photo Illustration by Chloe Jeong / Retailers below
For everything from ice cream makers to air fryers to gas grills, Ninja makes high-quality kitchen appliances that offer a good balance of performance and price. Ninja blenders in particular are known as workhorses that won't break the bank like some other brands, and the company sells an array of different full-size and personal blender models with features and functions to suit every kitchen. Designed to handle everything from soup to nut (butter)s, the machines below are all great choices.
Best Overall
Ninja BL660 Professional Blender & Nutri Ninja Cups
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All accessories are dishwasher-safe
Can make large batches or single servings
Includes lidded to-go cups
Mixed reviews on performance
The best blenders are also the most versatile. This model is both a traditional pitcher blender and personal blender, with a 1,100-watt motor and six blades that can crush ice and blend frozen cocktails, smoothies, and sauces. It has three manual speed settings and a pulse button that are very simple to operate.
In addition to the BPA-free plastic pitcher that holds up to half a gallon (that's 64 ounces) for large batches, the set includes two 16-ounce cups for on-the-go, single-serve smoothies. The small cups have a screw-on blade and attach directly to the base for blending, and each one has its own screw-on travel lid. When it's time to clean up, everything except for the base is dishwasher-safe, a huge bonus for anybody who doesn't like scrubbing pulp off a tiny, sharp blade.
Price at time of publish: $120
Size: 6 x 8 x 17 inches | Power: 1,100 watts | Pitcher Capacity: 64 ounces | Speed Options: 4 | Accessories: 2 (16-ounce) cups with blender and travel lids
Best Pitcher-Only
Ninja BN701Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ
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Amazon
Very powerful
Pitcher and blades are dishwasher-safe
Easy to use
Smoothie setting doesn't always blend thoroughly
If you're looking for pure power, this is the Ninja blender for you. Its 1,400 watts can crush ice or pulverize nuts with ease. Its unique design has three sets of blades set at different heights inside the pitcher, to ensure that every bit of food inside is fully blended. The pitcher capacity is 64 ounces, enough for a lot of smoothie, though that size and the triple blade are probably overkill if you're only going to be blending small amounts. A big plus for cleaning is that the pitcher and blades are both dishwasher-safe.
The Ninja Professional Plus offers three speed settings and a pulse button, along with three Auto-iQ settings, programs that run patterns of pulses and speeds designed especially for making smoothies, crushing ice, or blending ice cream from frozen ingredients (there's an included recipe booklet, too). Some reviewers complained that the smoothie program made a chunkier smoothie than they liked, but it's easy enough to run the blender a few seconds more to solve that problem.
Price at time of publish: $120
Size: 6.8 x 9 x 17.5 inches | Power: 1,400 watts | Pitcher Capacity: 64 ounces | Speed Options: 4 | Accessories: None
- Use frozen fruit instead of adding ice. Ice dulls the flavor and can make your smoothie separated and watery as it melts. Frozen fruit is easy to keep on hand so you can make smoothies whenever you want.
- Add a pinch of salt. Even an eighth of a teaspoon of salt will amplify the fruit flavor.
- Add a squeeze of lemon. A spritz of fresh lemon juice will add acidity to help balance the flavor of your smoothie and keep the color bright and the taste fresh, as it helps prevent oxidation.
Best Blender/Food Processor Combo
Ninja BN801 Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-iQ
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Amazon
Powerful
Versatile accessories
Easy to use and clean
No slicing or shredding capabilities
Expensive
A true multitasker, the Professional Plus "kitchen system" incorporates a traditional full-size blender, personal blender, and food processor on the same base. It can handle classic blending tasks like crushing ice and making milkshakes and cocktails in a large pitcher, but it also has two 24-ounce cups with their own blades and to-go lids to make individual smoothies for busy mornings.
On top of that, it comes with a 64-ounce food processor bowl with both a metal chopping blade for tasks like making salsa and a plastic dough blade for kneading up to 2 pounds of bread dough. It doesn't, however, come with the slicing or shredding tools that most food processors include.
The system has five different Auto-iQ preset programs for making smoothies, crushing ice, extracting juice, chopping, and kneading dough. Manual controls include three speed settings and pulse. This is the second most expensive Ninja on this list, but potentially replacing three separate machines with a single tool might well be worth it.
Price at time of publish: $220
Size: 7.4 x 9.6 x 18 inches | Power: 1,400 watts | Pitcher Capacity: 64 ounces | Speed Options: 4 | Accessories: 64-ounce food processor bowl with chopping and dough blades, 2 (24-ounce) cups with blade and travel lids
“Look for equipment with minimal accessories as it can become just too much to clean and store. I also suggest a machine with variable speeds and a pulsing function to help to initially break up larger ingredients like chunks of frozen fruit or ice cubes.” — Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC
Best for Small Spaces
Ninja SS151 TWISTi High-Speed Blender Duo
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Amazon
Design helps ensure thorough blending
Dishwasher-safe
Includes two single-serve cups
Small capacity
No manually adjustable speed
Ninja’s innovative TWISTi blenders have angled tampers built into the lid that constantly push ingredients toward the blades for more thorough blending. Its powerful motor—tied for highest wattage in this story—can chop up tough ingredients without you having to interrupt the blending process to scrape and stir. The pitcher also has a drizzle cap for slowly pouring in ingredients during the blending process, like oil for homemade mayonnaise.
The whole system is very compact, including a low-profile 34-ounce pitcher and 24- and 18-ounce cups (with travel lids) that all fit on the same blade. The unit offers five different automatic settings for juices, smoothies, frozen drinks, spreadable items like nut butters, and smoothie bowls, but it has only one speed (plus a pulse button) on manual control. Like other Ninja models, all parts besides the base are dishwasher-safe. However, more than one reviewer complained about the TWISTi system's plastic tampers melting in a high-temperature wash; it's best to put the blender parts in the top drawer of your dishwasher and on a normal or gentle cycle.
Price at time of publish: $139.99
Size: 6.5 x 8.3 x 13.8 inches | Power: 1,600 watts | Pitcher Capacity: 34 ounces | Speed Options: 2 | Accessories: 24-ounce cup with lid, 18-ounce cup with lid
Best Personal
Ninja BN401 Nutri Blender Pro with Auto-iQ
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Amazon
Fast and powerful
Compact
Easy to use and clean
Noisy
Small capacity
In our home tests, the previous version of the Ninja Nutri Pro knocked it out of the park, and The Spruce Eats named it our No. 1 overall personal blender, as well as one of our favorite blenders, period. With the latest update, Ninja made it even better, adding 200 more watts of power and smart smoothie and ice-crushing settings, plus a sleeker digital interface, for just 10 bucks more than before.
Though compact, this 1,100-watt blender is quick and powerful, and it's a favorite of some of our editors. It comes with two 24-ounce cups, both with tight-sealing sipping lids, so it’s perfect for making individual smoothies on the go. The intelligent preset programs mean you can put your ingredients in the cup, press the button, and walk away. All the removable parts are BPA-free and dishwasher-safe—including the blade, which helpfully lifts out of the base.
Price at time of publish: $100
Size: 6.3 x 6.9 x 14.3 inches | Power: 1,100 watts | Cup Capacity: 24 ounces | Speed Options: 2 | Accessories: Extra 24-ounce cup, 2 travel lids
Best Splurge
Ninja SS401 Foodi Power Blender Ultimate System
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Amazon
Powerful
Multiple containers and attachments
All parts are dishwasher-safe
Expensive
Foodi is the name Ninja gives to the top-level models of all its appliances, and the Foodi Power Blender Ultimate System doesn't lie about "power" or "ultimate," with 1,600 watts and the capabilities of a full-featured food processor, large pitcher blender, and personal blender all in one. The enormous 72-ounce pitcher can be used hot or cold, for frozen drinks and smoothies or soups and sauces, as well as at lower speed to chop, slice, and shred. There are seven speed options selectable with a simple dial, as well as a pulse mode.
In addition to a three-part blade that covers all parts of the large pitcher, there's also a plastic dough blade for kneading, two disc inserts for slicing/shredding and grating, and two separate cups especially designed for smoothies and smoothie bowls. These personal-size cups have their own smaller screw-in blade, and the smoothie-bowl one has a built-in tamper that ensures all your frozen fruits, nuts, and seeds blend evenly. Besides the motor base, all parts are dishwasher-safe.
This blender is Ninja's most expensive model, but with all the different things it can do, it's worth it.
Price at time of publish: $240
Size: 8.3 x 8.7 x 16.1 inches | Power: 1,600 watts | Pitcher Capacity: 72 ounces | Speed Options: 8 | Accessories: 24-ounce cup, 18-ounce cup with built-in tamper, smoothie blade, travel lid, shredding/slicing disc, grating disc, dough blade
"The variable speed control helps ensure you control the speed to prevent hot foods from splattering. I also like the design of the feed chute, which allows for optimal circulation for some of the steam created from blending hot food to escape." — Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC
Best for Food Prep
Ninja QB1004 Master Prep Professional Blender
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Amazon
Versatile
Inexpensive
Dishwasher-safe
Low power
Small capacity
Great for crowded kitchens, the Master Prep turns the traditional blender on its head: The pitcher and blades sit on the counter, and the motor is in a "power pod" that attaches to the top and can be tucked away in a cabinet or drawer when not in use. This machine includes a 48-ounce pitcher with a triple-blade assembly for blending smoothies and soups, a 40-ounce food processor bowl for jobs like making salsas, sauces, and smooth purees, and a 16-ounce chopper bowl for chopping vegetables. All of the containers have non-slip bases to keep them from sliding around on the counter during use. The food processor bowls both come with storage lids and can go directly from chopper to refrigerator.
The tradeoff for the Master Prep's versatility and small size is low power: The motor clocks in at just 450 watts, enough for small chopping jobs and fruit smoothies, but maybe not heftier tasks like green juice or crushing ice. On the other hand, its price is quite low for the variety of functions and convenience it offers.
Price at time of publish: $60
Size: 19 x 8 x 11 inches | Power: 450 watts | Pitcher Capacity: 48 ounces | Speed Options: 1 | Accessories: 40-ounce food processor bowl with blade, 16-ounce chopper bowl with blade, 2 storage lids
Best Immersion
Ninja Foodi Power Mixer System
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Amazon
Variable speed
Multifunctional
Powerful
Messy
Hand mixer attachment is awkward
Unlike a countertop blender, an immersion blender can be stuck right into a pot of hot soup or simmering sauce on the stove; it goes to the food instead of the other way around. Ninja doesn't offer much choice in immersion blenders (this is the only model), but its immersion blender has lots of power and doubles as a hand mixer. It boasts 750 watts, among the most powerful stick blenders out there, and it has a "turbo" setting for an extra burst of speed to get through tough greens or chunky veggies.
The Foodi Power Mixer also comes with a 24-ounce blender cup sized to fit its dimensions almost exactly. It's not quite the same performance as a personal blender that attaches the cup to the blades directly, but it does have a convenient storage lid so you can fill the cup with smoothie ingredients at night, stick it in the fridge, and just blend and drink in the morning. There's also a whisk attachment that's great for whipping up egg whites, plus a hand mixer attachment with five different speed settings. The way the motor head attaches to the bulky mixer attachment is a little awkward and confusing, but the powerful motor does as good a job beating batters as it does blending soups. Another plus is that all the parts except the motor are dishwasher-safe, including the blade.
Price at time of publish: $100
Size: 2.6 x 3 x 15.9 inches | Power: 750 watts | Speed Options: 2 | Accessories: 24-ounce blender cup with storage lid, whisk attachment, hand mixer attachment
Our overall top choice is the Ninja BL660 Professional Countertop Blender because it's powerful and versatile and can handle individual servings or large batches. For a powerful and effective on-the-go smoothie maker that doesn't take up much space, we recommend the Ninja BN401 Nutri Blender Pro.
What to Look for in a Ninja Blender
Power and Speed Settings
Ninja blenders vary pretty widely in terms of power—from 1,600 watts to less than a third of that. Higher wattage means more power to deal with ice cubes and tougher veggies like leafy greens, though a smaller-capacity blender doesn't need as much power as one that holds lots of food at once. If you're planning to crush ice and make nut butters in your blender frequently, you should aim for at least 1,000 watts, but a small-capacity smoothie-only machine might be able to get away with less.
You don't always have to run the blender at its full capacity, however. Multiple speed options can be useful to better deal with different ingredients in different situations, and some Ninja models even include pre-programmed sequences of pulses and speeds designed for specific dishes. A wider variety of speed settings comes with a higher price, while a blender whose only options are "off" and "on" will be less costly.
Features and Accessories
A blender’s main purpose is pretty simple: to pulverize food into a smooth consistency. Many models can do much more than that, thanks to extra tools for specific tasks. Several Ninja blenders are really combination blender/food processors, with additional blades or containers designed to chop and knead more than puree. Other machines come with a large pitcher as well as smaller individual cups, which might fit onto the same base or have interchangeable blades. If you're a fan of smoothies and smoothie bowls, these are helpful. Ninja's immersion blender comes with a whisk and beater attachments, both of which add some of the functions of a stand mixer. The more extras the blender comes with, the higher the price, and accessories that you'll have to store somewhere all take up cabinet or counter space.
Capacity
The largest-capacity Ninja blender has a pitcher that holds 72 ounces—more than half a gallon—while other models include multiple containers in multiple sizes, as small as 12 ounces. A big pitcher is useful for making batches of frozen margaritas, but the smaller cups included with personal blenders are more appropriate for a breakfast smoothie. Personal blender cups usually come with travel lids, but only some Ninja models include storage lids sized for larger containers.
If you already have a Ninja blender and are looking to upgrade, note that many—but not all—Ninja cups and containers are compatible with newer models.
Material
All the Ninja models featured above have BPA-free plastic pitchers and other containers. Some blenders use glass, but plastic is lighter in weight, and Ninja's blenders are designed so that nearly every part is dishwasher-safe. Over time, blending hard things (like ice or nuts) at high speeds can scratch the inner surface of a plastic pitcher and make it grow cloudy, but that shouldn’t affect performance.
FAQs
Are Ninja blenders dishwasher-safe?
You should always check your user manual, but for nearly every Ninja blender, all detachable parts like pitchers, cups, lids, and even blades, are dishwasher-safe. The part that is absolutely not dishwasher-safe and should never be immersed in water is the motor base. Its electrical parts will be ruined if they get wet. To clean the motor base, just wipe down the exterior with a sponge or damp cloth. It's always a good idea to do this soon after using the blender so any stains or spatters don't dry and stick.
Where are Ninja blenders made?
Ninja blenders are designed in the U.S. and assembled in China.
Are Ninja blender parts interchangeable?
Some accessories, such as cups, lids, blades, and some pitchers, are compatible with more than one model of blender, while others can only be used with one model. Check the Ninja Kitchen website to see which accessories can be used with each blender.
Why Trust The Spruce Eats?
This article was written by freelance food writer Danette St. Onge, formerly the Italian Food Expert for The Spruce Eats and a features editor at Cook’s Illustrated magazine (part of America’s Test Kitchen). In addition to writing articles for The Spruce Eats, she develops recipes and does product testing for SharkNinja.
This article was updated by Katya Weiss-Andersson, a writer and editor who has nearly a decade of experience as a professional chef. Katya's favorite Ninja blender is the Nutri-Blender Pro (our pick for Best Personal), which she uses to blend up smooth cashew cheese sauces as well as regular, boring protein shakes. It was further updated by The Spruce Eats commerce writer Jason Horn, who's been writing about food and drinks for more than 15 years. His favorite cocktail to freeze and blend is Irish Coffee.
Sources
Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC, is a registered dietician and nutrition consultant, author, and certified athletic trainer, providing emergency medicine and rehabilitation services to high school, college and professional athletes.
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