If you're going to buy one new cooking gadget this year, don't sleep on immersion blenders. They offer the best of several kitchen appliances in a compact and often far more affordable package. Also known as stick, wand or hand blenders, immersion blenders are great for making soups, single-serve smoothies, sauces, dressings, whipped cream and more. While they can't always replace a full-size blender
or food processor/vegetable chopper
, they're certainly versatile.
As a culinary school graduate and Yahoo's resident kitchen gear expert, I researched more than 100 popular models to find the best immersion blenders. I narrowed down the testing pool to 13 highly rated machines and then spent days blending vegetables, oil, vinegar, and even heavy cream, studying how powerful the motors were. I also noted the number of speed settings on each machine, the types of included attachments (whisk, mini-chopper, hand mixer), and how easy the blenders were to use. The best immersion blenders we found range from $45 to nearly $200, so there's an option to suit every budget.
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Best immersion blenders of 2026
Power:350 watts | Weight:2.5 lbs. | Number of speeds:2 | Extras included:Blender cup, whisk | Dishwasher safe:Yes
The Braun MultiQuick 5 can handle anything from pureeing soup to emulsifying vinaigrette and beyond. It's a solid choice with two speeds, and although it doesn't have the most powerful motor among the models tested, it gets the job done at a mid-range price.
What you can expect from this immersion blender is a rubber-coated, grippy handle that tapers nicely, making it comfortable to hold while pressing the power buttons. It's not too heavy or loud, and its attachments click into place and release easily. The stainless steel blade purees, pulverizes and emulsifies anything it encounters with minimal splattering.
Cleaning the blending wand, whisk attachment and plastic beaker is a no-brainer, as all are dishwasher-safe; you can wipe the handle with a damp cloth. Plus, there's a three-year warranty for peace of mind.
- Powerful motor
- Lightweight
- Rubber grip feels secure in hand
- Dishwasher-safe parts
- Power buttons require a firm touch
Power:225 watts | Weight:2.7 lbs. | Number of speeds:2 | Extras included:Mini chopper, whisk | Dishwasher safe:Yes
This value-priced blender from Hamilton Beach is like the little engine that could. It's not the sleekest, but it does everything it should. If I told you could puree soup, make smoothies, dressings and whipped cream, and chop onions and garlic with one appliance for less than fifty bucks, wouldn't you go for it?
True, the plastic casing on the handle is not the most elegant or secure to grip and may show wear and tear pretty easily. The shaft is one of the shortest I've seen at 5 inches and won't work in deep containers, but I had no issue using it on the stove to make soup or in a Pyrex measuring cup to emulsify vinaigrette.
The bottom line? It's a smart buy for home cooks who want an immersion blender but don't plan to use it daily. It's especially appealing for anyone looking for some of the capabilities of a food processor and stand mixer with none of the investment.
- Blends quicky
- Includes mini-chopper and whisk attachments
- Affordable
- Plastic handle is a bit wider and more slippery than others
- Shorter shaft than others we tested
Lisa Schweitzer/Yahoo
Power:750 watts | Weight:3.17 lbs. | Number of speeds:2 blending speeds, 5 mixing speeds | Extras included:Hand blender and whisk attachments, blender cup with lid | Dishwasher safe:Yes
A multitasking wonder, the Ninja Foodi Power Mixer System is an excellent option for anyone with limited kitchen storage space who loves to bake. No room for a blender and a stand mixer? No problem — there's an attachment that turns the blender into the latter.
Like all of our top-tested immersion blenders, this one handled pureeing soup with ease and emulsified vinaigrette quickly. I liked that the blade guard has plastic edging, which helps prevent scratching the bottom of the pot. This blender was the most powerful one I tried — I never needed to use the turbo button. I did find that the blender splattered a bit, though.
The only other issue I had was that the blender suctioned to the bottom of the glass measuring cup I used to make a vinaigrette, which meant I had to turn off the blender to lift the blade off the bottom of the cup. This was a minor inconvenience.
- Extremely powerful motor
- Includes hand mixer and whisk attachments and blender cup
- Dishwasher-safe parts
- Plastic edge on blade guard keeps pots from getting scratched
- Created suction when blending vinaigrette
- Heavier than most
Power:280 watts | Weight:2.6 lbs. | Number of speeds:15 | Extras included:Mini-chopper and whisk attachments, blender jug with handle and lid | Dishwasher safe:Yes, except for chopping bowl lid and whisk gearbox
If you're in the market for the best immersion blender with plenty of attachments, the Breville Control Grip doesn't disappoint. The efficient stick blender comes with a mini-chopper, whisk and 42-ounce blender jug with a lid you can also use as a nonslip coaster. It even has a cap for the blending wand to keep the blade clean and protected when not in use.
The stainless steel handle and wand feel solid and durable, and it produced zero splatter while I pureed vegetable soup. The motor was relatively quiet compared to others, and I wasn't concerned about the steel edge scratching my pot thanks to the plastic edging at the bottom of the wand. The handle wasn't slippery, and the wand's shape, combined with the rubber coating on the trigger, made it comfortable to grip and press. All of its parts and attachments seem noticeably higher quality than most others. We need to conduct long-term testing, but I suspect this Breville will also emerge as the best immersion blender for durability.
While the Breville is a pricey option at $180, it performed just as well as its high-end, high-wattage competitors (All-Clad and Vitamix), neither of which comes with any accessories.
- Blends quickly and quietly
- Ergonomic grip
- Accessories include mini-chopper, whisk, blender jug and lid
- Expensive
Factors to consider when choosing an immersion blender
My time spent testing immersion blenders yielded these considerations to keep in mind when you're shopping.
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Speed and power:With a good immersion blender, it should take no more than a minute or two to blend a rich and creamy soup right in the pot, and you shouldn't have to strain out any errant chunks of food. The blender should pulverize fruit for smoothies and make uniform emulsions without much effort. Some recipes require more power than others, but you should be able to blend with both high and low power without major suction or splattering issues.
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Grip:The shape and texture of the handles vary, but we favored wands with a rubbery coating that made them more grippy and less slippery.
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Size:If you have limited storage space, some of the bulkier models may not work for you. You should consider whether or not you'll use a hand blender often, and if you have room for it and its accessories in a cabinet or drawer.
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Noise level:Some immersion blenders were practically painful to listen to, and others were more moderate. The Breville Control Grip , above, was our pick for the best quiet immersion blender.
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Value:These appliances have a range of price points, with only a few under $50. If you know you'll use a machine a few times a month, around $70 to 100 will get you a quality model. You'll spend more for high-performance models with high-power motors, but it may pay off in longevity for anyone who uses their hand blender daily.
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Corded vs. cordless:We know some people are looking for the best cordless immersion blender, but after researching the category, we're not convinced a cordless model is the way to go. You'll need to keep it charged, and many are not as powerful as their corded counterparts. That said, we did test one, the KitchenAid Go Cordless Hand Blender , but it wasn't a top pick; read more about it below.
How we tested immersion blenders
After opening each box, I noted if any setup was required and how easy these appliances were to program. I gave each immersion blender's components and accessories a quick hand-wash with soap and water.
To rank on our list, the gadgets had to excel in the following tests:
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Soup test:We made a vegetable soup with ingredients that combined lots of different textures, including chunks of butternut squash, carrots and onions, and blended it in the pot to see how smooth the resulting texture was. If a soup needed to be strained, that was a dealbreaker.
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Emulsion test:A great immersion blender will emulsify, or combine two liquids that don't usually mix like oil and vinegar into a stable combination that does not separate immediately after blending.
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Whip test:If an immersion blender has a whisk attachment, we used it to make whipped cream.
Other immersion blenders we tested
Cuisinart Smart Stick :Our runner-up to the best immersion blender overall, this classic hand blender has two speeds and blended very well in both our soup and emulsion tests. My only complaint is that you have to hold down the unlock button while you press the power button to blend, and this felt unnecessarily challenging. The wand and blender cup are dishwasher-safe.
KitchenAid 2-Speed Hand Blender :This two-speed model has a rubbery grip that feels secure in hand, and it blends soup and salad dressing with ease. It's well priced at $55 (even less when it's on sale), but when I finished pureeing soup and wanted to take off the blending shaft for cleaning, I tried many times, but I could not remove it from the handle. Perhaps it's a one-off manufacturing issue, but this took the KitchenAid 2-Speed out of the running.
Mueller Multistick 5-in-1 Immersion Blender :This budget-friendly option from Mueller has an 800-watt motor with 12 speed settings. It's quite a powerful gadget and comes with a slew of dishwasher-safe accessories. It's one of two models we tried that includes a frother attachment, which is a nice add-on. The drawback to this blender is that it's very loud — if you use it while anyone else is home, expect a lot of complaints!
Vitamix 5-Speed Immersion Blender: If you know Vitamix, you know the brand makes pricey and popular commercial-grade blenders, which include this stick blender option. It's $158 and features a 625-watt motor that can easily handle soups, smoothies, emulsions and beyond. But it does not come with any accessories. We know die-hard Vitamix fans will snap up this immersion blender when those Black Friday deals hit, but we think you get more bang for your buck with the Breville.
All-Clad Stainless Steel Immersion Blender: We love All-Clad stainless steel cookware , so it's no surprise that the brand's hand blender performs at the top of the competition. After using this model, my immediate thoughts were: very tall, very heavy, very quiet, very expensive. It works quickly to blend soup and emulsify vinaigrette and can fit in the tallest pots and containers. The speed dial means you can customize its power precisely to your task. The downside? It comes with no attachments, it's bulky and can be hard to store and it will run you $150.
KitchenAid Go Cordless Hand Blender: If being tethered to an outlet is a dealbreaker (think camping trips, dorm rooms or park gatherings), enter the convenience of a cordless immersion blender. The KitchenAid is powerful and fast. Unfortunately, the handle is a bit clunky and tough for anyone with smaller hands to hold onto, not to mention you must hold down the safety button in order to activate the power button. The other drawback to this option is that you'll have to charge the battery fairly often.
Braun MultiQuick 7 3-in-1 Immersion Blender: I consider this a souped-up (pun intended) version of the best overall winner, the Braun MultiQuick 5. It's high-powered and features "ActiveBlade technology" that enables the blade to move up and down while blending to make it faster and smoother, but I don't think it performed better than any other $100-plus models. The design allows you to adjust the speed and hold the trigger with one hand, which is a nice touch, and the set includes mini-chop and whisk attachments, plus a blender cup.
ChefWave Intermix Immersion Blender: A $30 500-watt hand blender was intriguing on its own, but it also includes a second, longer 8.3-inch blending wand, mini-chopper and whisk attachments, two silicone wand covers and a blender cup. It has the look of a high-end model, but when I used it to emulsify vinaigrette, the clove of garlic got caught in the blade and never pulverized.
Koios Powerful 5-in-1 Hand Blender: This 1,000-watt immersion blender comes with a myriad of attachments; it was one of only two that included a frother. Disappointingly, its body and accessories didn't look or feel particularly high-quality — the plastic handle was slippery, and the noise the motor produced was a dealbreaker.
Immersion blender FAQs
How is an immersion blender different from a blender or a hand mixer?
An immersion blender, also known as a hand blender or stick blender, is a handheld appliance with a motor encased in the handle and a shaft that attaches to it with a blade at the end. The blade is meant to be submerged in a liquid in order to blend ingredients right in a pot or container. You can use it to make pureed soups, sauces, dips and smoothies, or emulsions like salad dressing and mayonnaise.
How do I clean my immersion blender?
Many immersion blenders have parts and accessories that are dishwasher-safe, and some must be hand-washed and dried. Even for dishwasher-safe blending wands, it's best to rinse them right away under warm water before putting them in the dishwasher. Be sure to dry everything with a dish towel (carefully!) before storing it.
We received complimentary samples of some products and purchased others ourselves, but we reviewed all products using the same objective criteria.
