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Blenders are the real Swiss army knife of the kitchen, capable of whipping up soups, smoothies, nut butter and even taking care of chopping during food prep. If you’re short on space in your kitchen and wondering which appliance is going to cover the most ground, we’d recommend a blender above anything else.
The term blender is actually a bracket for a great number of appliances. There are stick blenders for whizzing around a pan of soup, or in a jug – although these more often than not come with other attachments for greater versatility. There are also jug blenders and food processors.
When choosing the right blender for you, start with space. What will fit in your kitchen? Then look at the real estate space a blender will take up – remember to take into account all those attachments. Many blenders are designed to slot into cupboards, and some offer lots of different attachments.
Also, it’s important to think about what you’ll be mostly using the blender for. If you do loads of food prep – be that chopping or grating, especially on a big scale – a food processor-style blender might be better as it has a powerful motor and tends to have more food-prep attachments.
If you want to make soup and cannot face pouring soup from the pan into a jug to blend, a hand blender is the answer. These often have chopping bowl attachments and whisks too, which are great if you want to chop an onion quickly or whisk up a sauce. Jug blenders are best for nut butter and making curry pastes, as well as smoothies and soups. They can be heavy to lug out of cupboards though.
How we tested
We tested in a busy family kitchen, where we make big batches of food on the regular and need something powerful and versatile, but that ideally doesn’t take up loads of space. During testing, we used blenders for food prep – trying out chopping functions on soft and hard veg like onions and carrots. We also tried our hand at nut butter and smoothies, soups and pastes. We looked at how easy the blenders were to operate, and also – vitally – clean. We wanted the perfect balance of versatility without being fiddly. And we also looked at value for money, testing products across all price points.
Why you can trust us
Zoë Phillimore has reviewed many kitchen appliances for IndyBest, including coffee machines, milk frothers and blenders. She knows which features to look for, including user-friendliness, settings and value for money. Zoë has used all of the blenders in this review in real-world conditions and has made dishes like smoothies, soups and juices in each and every one, similarly to how you would be using them in your own home.
The best blenders for 2025 are:
- Best overall – Ninja foodi power blender three-in-one: £149, Amazon.co.uk
- Best budget buy – Judge glass blender: £39.95, Amazon.co.uk
- Best hand blender – Dualit 700W hand blender: £77.99, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for smoothies – Bosch vacuum blender: £299, Ao.com
- Best for soups – Braun powerblend 9 jug blender: £166.42, Amazon.co.uk
