The best immersion blender does exactly what the best kitchen gadgets should do. It’s a multitasker—puréeing, whipping, emulsifying, and, of course, blending—and it can essentially replace a larger, more expensive kitchen appliance, the countertop blender. An immersion blender, or a stick blender as some call it, is lighter, easier to store (it’s even easier to store than a personal blender), and lets you perform all your blending right in your pot or Dutch oven. In other words: It does everything you need it to but in a more compact form (something especially helpful if you’re working with a small kitchen).
Best immersion blenders
All-Clad Stainless Steel Immersion Blender
Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender
Waring Commercial Quik Stix Light Duty Stick Immersion Hand Held Blender
So which is the best immersion blender? Read on for more info on our versatile top picks.
Best immersion blender according to the Bon Appétit test kitchen: All-Clad Stainless-Steel Immersion Blender
Pros: Feels sturdy; comes apart, which makes it easier to clean; you don’t need to move it around as much to get it to blend; has a very powerful motor
Cons: You can only buy attachments separately; doesn’t have the best blade guard so we wouldn’t recommend it for use with nonstick cookware
All-Clad Stainless Steel Immersion Blender
While many know All-Clad for its top tier stainless-steel cookware, the brand also makes an immersion blender so good that it’s earned the title of the very best immersion blender from test kitchen editor Kendra Vaculin. It is sturdy, features a long shaft that’ll purée soup easily, and is powerful. Plus, the All-Clad can up the ante even more with a high-speed Turbo button,. Vaculin especially likes the design of the blender and cage itself, saying that means you won’t have to move the machine around as much to blend because it sucks everything toward it in an impressive vortex.
“There’s a really nice lift with the All-Clad,” Vaculin says. “The cage of the blade is higher so it feels like the blade is stood up, which is also nice for anything chunkier—like if you have pieces of butternut squash in a soup or or big chunks of tomato—they can fit under the cage better.”
The handle and dishwasher-safe blending wand also detach—a nonnegotiable for Vaculin because it makes cleaning the machine much easier.
Specs
Blending depth: 9.25"
Power: 600 watts
Power settings: Variable plus turbo
Included attachments: None
Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty
Best immersion blender according to expert home cooks: Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender
Pros: Comes with different attachments, including a blending jar, a chopping beaker, and a whisk; has an ergonomic handle; has a wide range of variable speeds; big immersion depth; protective plastic rim that won’t scratch your cookware
Cons: Not as powerful when breaking down food as other models
Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender
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 that can handle smaller jobs like salad dressing, and the chopper attachment—giving you the ability to transform your immersion blender into a hand mixer for making whipped cream or a food processor with a quick snap (we wouldn’t ditch your food processor and stand mixer entirely, but if you don’t want to make as much of a mess, this is a good choice). The ergonomic handheld blender uses a unique design from Breville called “anti-suction blending technology” that’s meant to minimize chances of clogs and splatters as you’re working (though this does require more up and down movement from users).
While the product testers were still impressed with the Breville’s more modest power and range of 15 different speed settings, they did note the model blended smoothie batches more slowly than competitors and still left a few flecks of ever-so-slightly larger spinach. Nevertheless, reviewers say that “with the included attachments, it can do most (though not all) of what a full-size blender and a food processor can do, and it’s much easier to use and to clean.”
Specs
Blending depth: 8"
Power: 280 watts
Power settings: 15
Attachments: Blending jar, chopping bowl, whisk
Warranty: 1 year
Best immersion blender according to the pros: Waring Commercial Quik Stix Light Duty Immersion Hand Blender
Pros: Strong motor
Cons: Might not last long as other heavy-duty commercial-grade immersion blenders
Waring Commercial Quik Stix Light Duty Stick Immersion Hand Held Blender
Working in professional kitchens, chef and Institute of Culinary Education instructor Stephen Chavez is well-acquainted with heavy-duty immersion blenders like the behemoth Robot Coupe (the thing is as long as a newborn). It’s big enough to handle the extra tall pots he often cooks with and powerful enough to quickly and efficiently handle a batch of pizza sauce. But a commercial grade immersion blender likely isn’t the type of kitchen tool the average home cook can feasibly have in their home.