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We don’t think even the best immersion blender should replace your regular blender outright, but they are a convenient addition to a well-stocked kitchen. Sometimes called stick blenders or hand blenders, immersion blenders are lightweight and small enough to tuck into a drawer when you’re not using them and a breeze to clean (just run the blender in a cup or bowl of hot soapy water, then rinse). They allow you to conveniently puree soups in the pot you’ve cooked them in, or blend dips and sauces in the bowl you’ll serve them in, meaning less mess and fewer dishes. Immersion blenders can emulsify salad dressings or aioli quickly, without requiring you to dig your big blender out of the cabinet for such a small task.
Our top picks:
- Best overall: All-Clad Corded Immersion Blender
- Best with attachments: Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender
- Best budget immersion blender: Amazon Basics Multi-Speed Immersion Blender
Featured in this article
BA editors reach for immersion blenders in our own kitchens most often for hot soups (it’s a nightmare to have to transfer a hot liquid into a full-sized blender, not to mention dangerous), and for quick blends where you still want some texture, like pestos or chutneys. They’ll never be able to handle tougher tasks that a high-speed, full-sized blender like a Vitamix 5200 can—no crushing nuts into butter or milk—and they’ll take longer to achieve the level of creaminess in a purée that you can get in a regular blender. But they absolutely cannot be beat in terms of convenience.
Most models come with chopper and whisk attachments, so in a pinch, they are versatile enough to whip cream and egg whites, and, in many cases, act as mini choppers. They’re great as the single blender for a dorm room or first kitchen.
Over the last few years, we’ve tested and retested more than a dozen popular models over the course of countless hours, living with them in our home kitchens and using them daily, to find the best and most versatile options. Read our review of the best immersion blenders below.
Best immersion blender overall: All-Clad Corded Immersion Blender
Pros & cons
Pros:
- Feels sturdy
- Quality materials
- Easy to use
- From a trusted cookware brand
Cons:
- Attachments sold separately
- Blade guard lacks protective rim
Specs
Blending depth: 9.25"
Power: 600 watts
Power settings: Variable plus turbo
Included attachments: None
Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty
All-Clad’s stainless-steel corded immersion blender has been our top pick for years, after testing and retesting against new models—and it’s the immersion blender you’ll find in the BA test kitchen.
What we love: All-Clad’s powerful handheld blender has a 600-watt motor that quickly and easily turns solid ingredients into soups and smoothies, even if you don’t engage the Turbo button (which turns this thing up to “11”). The top of the motor handle also features a variable speed dial that lets you adjust the power while blending (a feature we liked less than the two speed buttons; more on that below). And even at a lower speed, this blender can handle most smaller blending jobs in less than 60 seconds.
The dishwasher-safe blending shaft on the All-Clad is 9.25" (longer than many of the models we tested), which makes it easy to blend in tall containers or pots. Though the shaft is long, the blending head (the blade guard and blade) is on the shallow side, which meant it sometimes requires a little extra time to get started on bigger chunks of solid ingredients—but once something gets sucked into this blender’s powerful vortex, it will quickly be pulverized or puréed.
This blender is more expensive than most of its competition, and it really is possible to get a well-functioning immersion blender for much less. However, this machine is made of high-quality materials, from a brand we trust to make products that last. It features a limited lifetime warranty. So we think it’s a great decision to splurge and take good care of your machine, so you won’t have to replace it later.
What we’d leave: The blender head would really benefit from a small rim of plastic or silicone on the edge to protect nonstick and enameled cookware or any cooking surface that isn’t safe for metal utensils.
This immersion blender is also heavy. And while we liked that it featured a longer wand than many of its competitors, and could therefore blend well in deep pots, some users prefer a shorter wand because it makes the blender easier to maneuver around the pot. Since this thing is so powerful, its vortex sucks food into the blades without much movement being necessary, though. So in the end, we were okay with it being heavier and taller than other models.
We didn’t find the adjustable speed dial at the top necessary. The reason to have one is to slowly, consistently ramp up the blender's speed. But with the All-Clad it seemed to just switch between three fixed speeds. Many of the blenders we tested had this dial-on-top feature, and many of them didn’t even work well enough to vary the speed to three settings. So, we appreciated—and preferred—that the All-Clad could switch between two speeds via buttons on the front. In the end, we don’t really think more than two speeds are necessary.
Finally, this blender doesn’t come with any attachments—all of them need to be purchased separately. We find that we don’t actually like using our blenders as mini choppers or whisks all that much, so we’d rather have a powerful blender than one that offers a lot of versatility. That said, if you’re looking for a do-it-all blender and chopper for a college student or kitchen minimalist, you should consider the Breville model below.
Best with attachments: Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender
Pros & cons
Pros:
- Comes with actually useful attachments
- Ergonomic handle
- 15 speeds
- Blade guard rim protects delicate cookware
Cons:
- Less powerful motor takes longer to break down solid ingredients
Specs
Blending depth: 8"
Power: 280 watts
Power settings: 15
Attachments: Blending jar with lid, chopping bowl with chopping blade, whisk
Warranty: 1 year
This Breville immersion blender isn’t as powerful as the All-Clad, so it will take a little longer to achieve the same results. But it’s a high-quality handheld blender with useful attachments that make it a great value.
What we love: You get a bit more bang for your buck with the Breville Control Grip than you do with the All-Clad thanks to the whisk attachment, large blending jar (with a fitted lid for storage), and the chopper attachment. These included attachments give you the ability to transform your easy-to-store immersion blender into a hand mixer for making whipped cream, or a basic food processor for chopping vegetables (we don’t think you should ditch your food processor and stand mixer entirely, but for small batches, this is a good choice). While many immersion blenders came with the same amount of attachments, Breville’s were of a higher quality than we got with the other blenders. Even its included blending jar was miles above the rest: It’s made of thick, durable plastic, is extra spacious, and it includes a stable lid so that you can store leftovers directly in the jar that you blended them in.
This is also our favorite immersion blender for making small batches of smoothies or pancake batter thanks to what Breville calls its “anti-suction blending technology.” Most immersion blenders rely on the speed of spinning blades to suck ingredients up into a high-speed vortex, but not this immersion blender. Breville’s intentional design choice means that you won’t have to contend with the powerful suction of the blender moving your blending container around on the countertop with powerful force as you blend——a problem we did have with both of the powerful winning models. That powerful vortex is great when you’re blending in a heavy-bottomed pot or bowl, and it achieves smooth, creamy blends. But we appreciated that this blender made small countertop blending jobs easier. This design feature also helps to minimize the chance of clogs and splatters as you’re working. Speaking of work, because there’s no vortex, you do need to move the blender up and down more frequently as you blend, but the handle is the most comfortable to hold of any of the blenders we tested. The end of the blade shaft also has a plastic rim to prevent damage to delicate cookware coatings or enamels.
What we’d leave: Because this blender doesn’t have an incredibly powerful motor, it took longer than other models to break down frozen strawberries in our smoothie test and in general just took a little longer to make smooth smoothies.
Best budget immersion blender: Amazon Basics Multi-Speed Immersion Blender
Pros & cons
Pros:
- Affordable, powerful
- Comfortable to operate
Cons:
- The multi-speed dial at the top doesn’t vary the blending speed
Specs
Blending depth: 8"
Power: 500 watts
Power settings: Variable (2 speeds)
Attachments: 3-cup chopper/grinder, 2-cup mixing/measuring cup, whisk
Warranty: 1-year warranty
This budget-friendly blender from Amazon Basics boasts an impressive 500 watts of power. It created extra smooth purées in under one minute.
What we love: This immersion blender from Amazon’s house label has the second most powerful motor of any that we tested (500-watts compared to the winning All-Clad’s 600-watts) and is priced incredibly low, at just $25 at the time of writing. It creates a powerful vortex that blends foods quickly, and provides smoother and creamier textures than blenders three or four times its price.
Like our overall best pick from All-Clad, it conveniently operates via two buttons on the front: a power button that gets the machine going, and a “turbo button” that blasts it into an impressively high speed. We like having speed control in two settings on the front of the blender, because it makes the machine easy to operate with one hand. This blender is comfortable to hold and easy to maneuver, though it’s powerful enough that it doesn’t require much moving around in the pot, or finessing (which you should be careful of anyway, since its uncoated stainless-steel blades will scratch the bottom of your pot).
For just ten dollars more, you can get a version of the immersion blender with whisk and chopper attachments and a blending cup, all of which are serviceable (though, ultimately, not that useful in general, as we’ve mentioned about above. If attachments and versatility are your main concern, you should spring for the well-designed Breville).
What we’d leave: Like the All-Clad, this blender features a variable speed dial on top, which is difficult to operate as you’re blending. Worse though this one did not vary the speed at all; it simply doesn’t change the power level. The “turbo” button on the front of the machine does work very well.
We added this blender to our test in 2025, and it beat the previous budget winner, the Cuisinart Smart Stick, thanks to its more powerful motor that gave us creamier blends in less time—it’s also more comfortable to hold and easier to operate. However, we haven’t had years to test its durability. Some customers have raved about how long it lasts in online reviews, while others complained that it broke relatively quickly. We will be keeping this machine around for the long haul, using it daily in our home kitchens. Watch here for updates about how it holds up over time. It has a one-year warranty. If you want to buy something that will absolutely last, we recommend the All-Clad model above, but this is a great option for keeping costs down.
How we tested immersion blenders
To ensure our top picks could handle most typical home cooking applications (soups and smoothies), we used each immersion blender to make a creamy carrot soup and a smoothie with frozen berries, fresh spinach, peanut butter, milk, orange juice, and avocado. If the blender came with a chopper attachment, we used that to chop onions. And if it came with a whisk attachment (most did) we used it to turn heavy whipping cream into a batch of whipped cream.
What makes a good immersion blender?
With enough power, at least a few speed settings, and the right attachments, these handheld kitchen gadgets can pulverize and purée solid ingredients for soups and smoothies, blend salad dressings, turn out airy whipped cream, emulsify mayonnaise, and even chop onions if you’d rather not tackle that task with a knife. Here’s what our winners all need.
Power
As far as small appliances go, immersion blenders are particularly small. So we wanted to make sure that our top picks had enough power to handle both soups and smoothies. We found that some models did just fine with soups and sauces but struggled to blend leafy greens and frozen fruit into an actually smooth smoothie due to a lack of power.
Multiple speed settings
Power may be paramount to the performance of an immersion blender, but not every recipe requires max wattage. In fact, starting with too much power (especially if you’re working in a shallow pan or blending jar) is a great way to spatter hot soup or tomato sauce all over your kitchen. That said, every single blender we tested that claimed to offer a range of more than three speed settings failed to actually do so. And in the end, that was okay. Our winning models, the Breville Control Grip and the All-Clad immersion blender, were able to operate at three distinct settings, which we found to be sufficient variety for puréeing, pulverizing, and emulsifying.
Features and attachments
Immersion blenders are pretty simple kitchen tools, but there were a few nice features that made the overall blending and cleaning experience better. For example: a plastic rim on a blade guard to protect nonstick and enameled cast-iron cookware, a blade cover for safe storage, and a lock to prevent anyone from accidentally starting the blender before they’re ready. Attachments like a whisk or chopper can turn a handheld blender into a more versatile, multipurpose gadget that can be great for new cooks or minimalists, but in the end we didn’t allow the number of attachments included to make or break our list of top picks. We prefer whisking by hand or with a mixer, and the chopper attachments were only able to handle very small tasks, so we think it would be just as easy to chop a half an onion by hand.
Quality construction
In addition to looking for sharp, stainless-steel blades, we favored immersion blenders that felt like they were well-constructed from quality materials. Because when you’re working with something that has a detachable spinning blade, you want it to feel stable and secure at every speed.
Ease of use
The best immersion blenders are convenient and easy to use. So we looked for models that were pleasant to hold and easy to adjust when necessary. We also looked at how easy or hard it was to attach the blade shaft and swap any included attachments.
Little noise
We don’t expect any blender to be quiet, but we were shocked by the noises that came from a few of the immersion blenders we tested. Some of the worst-performing models made the most unbearable rattling and whizzing sounds even when blending soft ingredients for soups and sauces.
Easy cleaning
It’s pretty easy to clean an immersion blender. Simply run the blender in a blending jar or bowl filled with warm water and a drop of dish soap, then rinse with hot water. Some models do have dishwasher-safe blade shafts, but we advise against actually putting them in the dishwasher since repeated runs will dull the blades. That said, we did appreciate when any included cups or attachments were dishwasher-safe.
Other immersion blenders we liked
The Smart Stick was our previous winner in the budget category of this review, and we still recommend it. It has a 300-watt motor and its stainless-steel blades can adequately break down frozen smoothie ingredients and purée soups. It also comes with a whisk attachment, a 3-cup chopper/grinder attachment, and a 2-cup measuring mixing cup that’s great for smaller blending jobs like salad dressing. The variable speed dial on the top of the handle is inconvenient to use while you’re blending, but it does offer three distinct blending speeds, which is more than our new budget winner from Amazon Basics can say.
However, this immersion blender is less powerful and takes longer to blend smoothly than the Amazon model. The handle includes a lock button you need to press before you can turn on the blender, which means it takes two hands to operate the machine with (you can let go of the lock once you’ve started blending). While we appreciate the thoughtful safety precaution, it makes the blender feel wonky and cumbersome to use. For $50 (the price at the time of publishing), this blender is a great deal, but the Amazon Basics model is $20 cheaper.
For something so powerful, the Vitamix Immersion Blender sure is quiet. This 5-speed handheld blender (from the maker of the full-size blender we’ve been enthusiastically recommending for years) has a 625-watt motor to power through even the biggest chunks of frozen fruit. And while most immersion blenders (including the Breville) shouldn’t be run continuously for more than about a minute, the Vitamix can run up to three minutes straight. The only real drawback of this immersion blender is the price—the base model comes with no attachments and at the time of publishing, it costs $170. On the other hand, if your issue is space, not price, this is actually a very good option for home cooks with small kitchens because you can purchase additional attachments (or bundles) that turn this simple stick blender into a great multipurpose kitchen tool that can eliminate the need for a full-size blender, a hand mixer, and a food processor.
The Braun Multiquick 5 Immersion Hand Blender we tested was fairly basic, with just two speeds and a 350-watt motor (an upgraded model has a whopping 21 speeds, yet only 50 additional watts of power), but it somehow did a decent job making a smoothie. It also came with a smoothie cup/blending beaker and a whisk attachment. If you’ve never used an immersion blender, this is a decent starter model at a decent price, but we’d still recommend the more affordable Cuisinart Smart Stick over this older model Braun.
Immersion blenders we don't recommend
The Foodi Power Mix, a 2-speed hand blender from Ninja, is part of the brand’s Foodi Power Mix system—which comes with additional hand mixer and whisk components, including a separate hand mixer motor/handle. And it sure is powerful—too powerful for some of our tests, unfortunately. On its main setting (there’s also a turbo button), the 750-watt motor pulverized frozen smoothie ingredients in a tall blending cup with ease. It also splattered hot soup out of a saucepan. With some additional low-speed options, this blender might have been a top pick—especially because it has dishwasher-safe parts, a plastic edge on the blade guard to protect your cookware, and a very accessible price tag ($100 at the time of publishing).
In our immersion blender testing, KitchenAid’s 3-Speed Hand Blender technically had enough power to make the soup and the smoothie, but it was a mechanical nightmare. We had trouble making the locking mechanism on the blender work and eventually just held the top and bottom parts together with both hands. As you might imagine, this was very inefficient. Not to mention dangerous.
In our immersion blender testing, KitchenAid’s 3-Speed Hand Blender technically had enough power to make the soup and the smoothie, but it was a mechanical nightmare. We had trouble making the locking mechanism on the blender work and eventually just held the top and bottom parts together with both hands. As you might imagine, this was very inefficient. Not to mention dangerous.
This immersion blender is part of KitchenAid’s cordless appliance line, which also features a hand mixer, a citrus juicer, a coffee grinder, a food processor, and a hand vacuum, all of which operate via a rechargeable battery. This machine had a very high finish quality: The materials were nice and it felt sturdy. It simply didn’t have enough power to make quick work of even simple blending tasks. And actually, it felt more inconvenient to have yet another thing in your life to remember to charge than it did to operate an immersion blender that was encumbered by a cord.
We really like ChefWave’s nut milk maker, so we were excited to try the brand’s Intermix Hand Immersion Blender—especially because it has 9 speeds and a very accessible price. It also comes with as many attachments as the Breville we love (including a second, extra-long blending wand), and in our testing it was much quieter than comparably priced blenders. But we quickly learned that it was so quiet because the motor wasn’t very powerful. When we tried to blend the smoothie, the stainless-steel blade caught on a piece of frozen fruit and actually broke the whole blender.
The Hamilton Beach looks good on paper: reasonable price, dishwasher-safe parts, and a chopper attachment. But after one hand-washing session, water got trapped in the chopper lid. It has only 2 speeds, and the 225-watt motor struggled to make a smooth smoothie. By the time the smoothie texture was nearing what we wanted, the motor smelled like it was working way too hard. This blender did however, manage to leave smoothie spatters in our tester’s kitchen.
The Mueller Ultra-Stick immersion blender is one of the only hand blenders we tested that came with a milk frother attachment, and we know the brand name Mueller, so it seemed promising. But then we turned it on. We made note of the blue accent light that gave off a not-so-subtle nightclub vibe (we look, but we don’t judge) and forced ourselves to pay more attention to the fact that it actually did a decent job of blending a smoothie. Unfortunately, we could not get past the very loud metallic rattling noise it made while it worked. Shockingly, the noise was somehow even more grating when we used the milk frother attachment to make cold, frothy milk—and the result was no better than what we can get from this cheap battery operated milk frother.
The Powerful 5-in-1 Hand Blender from KOIOS is a good budget option if you want a variable speed hand blender but you don’t want to spend a lot of money (the SRP at the time of publishing is $60, and it’s often on super sale). It has 12 speeds and impressive attachments: a separate chopping bowl and blade, a mixing beaker, a whisk attachment, and a milk frother attachment. It performed pretty well in our testing, but it didn’t feel like a high-quality kitchen tool, and many Amazon reviewers who used it longer than we did have complained of durability issues.
