Best Smoothie Maker
- Thread starter LizC7
- Start date
My husband saved and bought a Vitamix. We use it for everything (smoothies, juice, salsa, guacamole, peanut butter, etc). Clean up is a breeze too. It's great too because we sneak spinach and other veg in shakes I make for the kids. They have no clue! I know it's $$$, but it's a good quality machine from a reputable company with great cust serv. A week after getting it, by DH tried to make peanut butter without using the lid. As a result, the tamper got chewed by the blades (grrrrrrrr). I called the company, and the cust serv rep sent a new tamper for free. We got ours on QVC with easy pay.
horsing around
Cathlete
I'm happy with my Nutribullet. I like that the size of the container is make smoothie and go! I've made smoothies with kale, spinach, tomatoes, nuts, all kinds of fruit, etc. and feel it does a good job.
I tried to make the same smoothies in my Cuisinart blender and it didn't chop things up nearly as well.
With the Nutribullet you do have to pay attn to the fill line; otherwise you may end up with a mess to clean up.
Lisa
I tried to make the same smoothies in my Cuisinart blender and it didn't chop things up nearly as well.
With the Nutribullet you do have to pay attn to the fill line; otherwise you may end up with a mess to clean up.
Lisa
We have the Vitamix and love it! I used my Christmas/birthday money and got it from QVC 18 months ago. It makes incredible smoothies, and lots of other goodies.
I was tempted by the Nutribullet, but for quick protein/fruit smoothies, I'll whip out the immersion stick blender.
I was tempted by the Nutribullet, but for quick protein/fruit smoothies, I'll whip out the immersion stick blender.
nightowl81
Cathlete
I have a blendtec... While I do love it, I think I could of gotten away with just a nutri-bullet at this point. All I use it for is my morning fruit smoothie.. I do really love being able to just press the smoothie or whole juice button and walk away, especially those mornings when every minute counts, and it's very easy to clean and makes great smooth smoothies...
maybe one day I'll get around to make soup or nutbutters in it.
I originally got it thinking I'd make green smoothies with it, but found the only one I can really tolerate is baby spinach! my body doesn't seem to be getting used to having that much other greens, plus I don't really like green smoothies, so not going to continue to choke something down that I don't think tastes good. Not the blenders fault though, it did a good job of blending the greens (kale, collards, chard, etc) into a drinkable smoothie.
maybe one day I'll get around to make soup or nutbutters in it.
I originally got it thinking I'd make green smoothies with it, but found the only one I can really tolerate is baby spinach! my body doesn't seem to be getting used to having that much other greens, plus I don't really like green smoothies, so not going to continue to choke something down that I don't think tastes good. Not the blenders fault though, it did a good job of blending the greens (kale, collards, chard, etc) into a drinkable smoothie.
RapidBreath
Cathlete
I have a magic bullet, it works fine. I bought it at Kohl's.
I have Nutri Bullet and love it. Affordable, good size and it does the job. I think Walmart's has them on sale now for $89 and Target sells them for $99. You can always check Bed Bath & Beyond and see if they have a 20% off coupon. I bought my DIL one and my son bought her a Vitamix. It is the Bullet that gets used the most. She either takes the whole thing to work with her or just her shake. All I wanted was something to make smoothies in and couldn't justify the cost of a Vitamix.
Vitamix 6300.
I know, I know. People told me for years to get the Vitamix and I shrugged them off due to price and wondered if I would become cult-like like them with their affection towards an appliance. Plus, I really only used my blender once in a great while.
Then over Christmas I wanted to start using up veggies and fruit since I participate in a co-op and always have extra produce left over. I actually wanted a juicer, but one of my BFFs has a juicer and vitamix and just kept pushing Vitamix to keep the fiber and nutrients. I told her I have a blender, and she said "it is so much more than a blender". I shrugged her off.
Then I was at Costco and just bought it. Best investment. I have literally used it every single day at least once that I am home and my Boyfriend uses it all the time also. The 6300 model has setting where you turn it to "smoothie" or "soup" or "Ice cream" etc and walk away (as oppossed to running it at setting 1 for 20 seconds then slowly increasing it to setting 5 for 40 seconds and then running it to setting 10 for 3 minutes, for example). I didn't think I needed to pay extra for that feature, but am SO GLAD I did.
The reason I rarely used my blender was clean up was a pain. Had to unscrew the bottom, take the blade out and then take the gasket out and wash all individually, plus the container and lid. The Vitamix is so easy, no taking anything apart.
My blender would also get "stuck" and I had to turn it off and stir it. My vitamix rarely ever gets stuck and the few times it has, it comes with a tamper you use while the unit is still running.
I know my girlfriend would love it, but she hasn't bought one yet. She asks if I get sick of eating pureed food. I love smoothies and drink them anyway, but it also makes peanut butter (or other nut butters), hummus, salsa, soup, chunky soup, acts as food processor, sorbet, ice cream, whipped cream, so it isn't just pureed food.
Also, like one poster said - so easy to add in hidden veggies. My boyfriend, who is anti-veggie, has smoothies with spinach, romaine, kale, carrots, tomatoes, etc and doesn't even know it.
There are probably many other less expensive mixers out there, but this is just so versatile and I was able to get rid of my other blender, food processor, immersion blender, hand mixer and just keep this one piece. Pricey, but if you can swing it, I highly recommend it.
I know, I know. People told me for years to get the Vitamix and I shrugged them off due to price and wondered if I would become cult-like like them with their affection towards an appliance. Plus, I really only used my blender once in a great while.
Then over Christmas I wanted to start using up veggies and fruit since I participate in a co-op and always have extra produce left over. I actually wanted a juicer, but one of my BFFs has a juicer and vitamix and just kept pushing Vitamix to keep the fiber and nutrients. I told her I have a blender, and she said "it is so much more than a blender". I shrugged her off.
Then I was at Costco and just bought it. Best investment. I have literally used it every single day at least once that I am home and my Boyfriend uses it all the time also. The 6300 model has setting where you turn it to "smoothie" or "soup" or "Ice cream" etc and walk away (as oppossed to running it at setting 1 for 20 seconds then slowly increasing it to setting 5 for 40 seconds and then running it to setting 10 for 3 minutes, for example). I didn't think I needed to pay extra for that feature, but am SO GLAD I did.
The reason I rarely used my blender was clean up was a pain. Had to unscrew the bottom, take the blade out and then take the gasket out and wash all individually, plus the container and lid. The Vitamix is so easy, no taking anything apart.
My blender would also get "stuck" and I had to turn it off and stir it. My vitamix rarely ever gets stuck and the few times it has, it comes with a tamper you use while the unit is still running.
I know my girlfriend would love it, but she hasn't bought one yet. She asks if I get sick of eating pureed food. I love smoothies and drink them anyway, but it also makes peanut butter (or other nut butters), hummus, salsa, soup, chunky soup, acts as food processor, sorbet, ice cream, whipped cream, so it isn't just pureed food.
Also, like one poster said - so easy to add in hidden veggies. My boyfriend, who is anti-veggie, has smoothies with spinach, romaine, kale, carrots, tomatoes, etc and doesn't even know it.
There are probably many other less expensive mixers out there, but this is just so versatile and I was able to get rid of my other blender, food processor, immersion blender, hand mixer and just keep this one piece. Pricey, but if you can swing it, I highly recommend it.
The Ninja blender does have high quality, and my last blender was it. The NutriBullet I'm using now is also very satisfying. I did leak something early, but once I reversed the order of the ingredients as suggested in the book, I have no problem.
nickisteen
Cathlete
I have a Nutri Ninja. As alblbert says, pay attention to the order of which you add the ingredients. I really like my Ninja and so easy after a work out (or any other time) to pull out whatever you have and blend. My most used ingredients are peanut butter, bananas, strawberries, spinach, protein powder, chia seeds, flax seeds or anything else I may have on hand.
psusoccer17
Cathlete
I had a vitamix but honestly did not like it. If I didn't cut everything up it did not blend well, and forget trying to blend "sticky" stuff like figs. I now have a Ninja and love it, you can put anything in it and it works in seconds. Bonus: it is cheaper than the vitamix.
DirtDiva
Cathlete
I've had a few personal blenders, including the NutriBullet and two others I probably got from Target which ended up breaking. The Bullet left a lot of pieces at the bottom, especially frozen strawberries. I ended up getting a BlendTec and the small jar addition to make single smoothies. I'm pretty happy with it, especially the dedicated selection for Smoothie is pretty slick.
karategirl
Cathlete
Another vote for BlendTec. Admittedly, I only use it for my morning smoothies with almond milk, protein powder and fruit. Quick, efficient, and easy to clean.