Best Ninja Blender for Smoothies, Soups, Sauces and More: Updated 2022

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You may have already come across the Ninja brand in your quest to find the perfect blender. Ninja produces reliable and sturdy kitchen appliances and is definitely a brand you can trust, but trying to decide between a Ninja Bullet blender or a full on Ninja Intelli Sense Kitchen System can leave you scratching your head.

Luckily, I’ve done all the leg work for you in this roundup review. So let’s take a look at what Ninja has to offer to help you select the best Ninja blender for smoothies, soups, sauces, and more.

What type of blender is best for making smoothies?

There are three main types of blender on the market; immersion, bullet or countertop blenders.

An immersion blender is also known as a stick blender and is better suited for blending soups and sauces directly in a pot or creating your very own plant-based mayo.

The best types of blenders for creating smoothies are the bullet or countertop blenders. A bullet blender is termed a ‘personal’ blender by Ninja. They’re compact so they don’t take up much space in the kitchen and are perfect for making up single-serve smoothies. You simply throw all your smoothie ingredients into the bullet, screw on the lid, blend and then you can drink your concoction straight from the bullet cup.

Countertop blenders are much larger than the bullet blenders, allowing you to make smoothies for several people in one go. They’re also a lot more versatile than a bullet and can offer functional features such as variable speed settings and/or different blades.

As you’ll see further down in the review section of this article, Ninja’s countertop blenders are sometimes offered as part of a ‘kitchen system’ that include fittings for dough making, food processing and spiralizing (great for making zucchini noodles a.k.a zoodles!) while remaining quite compact.

This is perfect if you want to be able to do more than simply make smoothies.

What do I need to consider when choosing a blender?

First of all, you’ll have to decide between a personal blender and a countertop version. To help you do this, consider some of the following:

• How many people do you need the blender to cater for? If it’s just for you and one other person, then a personal blender (which usually comes with two blending cups) could be the obvious choice.
• Do you only want to create smoothies? Or do you need the versatility of a countertop blender for other food prep?
• How much storage space do you have? Will you be keeping the blender out on your countertop? A personal blender takes up less space than a countertop one but both options can be packed away into a cupboard.

Once you’ve decided which version of blender is best suited to your needs, other factors to think about include:

What are some of the key features of Ninja blenders?

You’ll find that Ninja describes some of its blenders’ key functions with terms such as ‘Total Crushing®’ and ‘Nutrient Extraction’.

Basically, these are just fancy ways of saying that the blades are sharp and well-designed and their motors are powerful so you’ll have no problem in crushing ice and frozen ingredients in seconds, as well as uniformly blending whole fruits and vegetables.

Ninja’s latest technology also includes a smart touchscreen that’s said to be durable and easy-to-clean, as well as displaying vessel-specific programmes for you to choose – i.e. a smoothie setting when you engage the blending cup with the appliance.

Auto-IQ is also featured on all the appliances listed in our review. This delivers pre-set programme patterns configured to blend or process a food item in the best way.

How do Ninja models compare to other brands?

Ninja has a great mid-price range of products which provides great value for money. While a Ninja blender isn’t as expensive as the much-coveted Vitamix Pro 750, for example, performance-wise it does very well due to the high-power motors that are used in the appliance bases.

Overall, while the blending jars and processing bowls are made of plastic, there is still a high-quality, sturdy feel to the brand’s items, due mainly to thoughtful design features such as suction cups which hold the appliances in place on your countertop while they’re in use.

Ninja also caters for personal use with bullet smoothie makers but also provides great options if you want more versatility from your appliance – smoothie making, food processing, general blending and more.

Many users have reported that their Ninja personal blenders or countertop systems function better in combining challenging smoothie ingredients such as seeds, nuts and skins on fruit, than other more expensive brands on the market that they have tried.

Ninja has a low-end and higher-end range of product options, meaning there’s a good offering to suit varying budgets. No matter what you choose, you still get the power you need in a blender or kitchen system that is lacking in some other brands.

To juice or to blend? That is the question!

If you’ve also been wondering whether you should get a blender or a juicer, the first thing to know is that there isn’t a specific Ninja juicer.

The difference between a blender and a juicer is that a blender combines all the ingredients together; so in the case of making a smoothie, you keep all the juice, nutrients and fiber of the fruit and veggies you’re blending. The fiber is already broken up, which makes it easier to digest and keeping the fiber in the smoothie makes it more filling and satisfying as a meal option. ⁽¹⁾

With a juicer, it extracts the water and nutrients and leaves behind the fiber. That’s fine if you’re using juicing as part of a temporary healing protocol, because without fiber your digestive system can rest up a little and the nutrients can be quickly absorbed into your bloodstream. If you’re a fruit fan though, this can lead to spikes in blood sugar and other problems so veggies should always constitute the greater bulk of the juicing ingredients. ⁽²⁾

While you can get away with purchasing a mid-range blender that will knock out killer smoothies, you have to be willing to spend more to get a juicer than will produce good quality juice.

There are a few types of juicing appliance; the first is a centrifugal juicer and these can usually be purchased quite cheaply. The problem with these juicers is the method of extracting juice introduces oxygen and heat, which results in a loss of nutrients and enzymes, not to mention taste (warm veggie juice? You might as well have soup!)

The other types of juicer involve equipment that masticates or cold-presses your produce, resulting in a higher quality of juice… but you guessed it, they come with a heavy price tag. Our search for the best wheatgrass juicer highlighted the fact.

The good news is that it is entirely possible to make juice using a blender.

Simply blend up your ingredients as you would if you were going to make a smoothie and then pass it through a good quality sieve or nut milk strainer. This will be a little more time consuming than using a traditional juicer but it saves on having to purchase two pieces of equipment, plus a blender is a lot more versatile and therefore likely to be used more frequently than a juicer.

Are smoothies actually good for you?

The honest answer to this question is yes and no.

It’s simple to make a healthy smoothie chock full of vitamin and nutrient dense fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and plant-based milks, yoghurts or protein powders. Not only can these work well as a meal replacement, they’ll ensure you’re getting your five servings of fruit and veg a day and then some.

Ingredients that can make a smoothie go from a healthy choice to an occasional treat include sugar, syrups, oils, or nut butters.

Really, it all depends on what your personal health and diet goals are. If for example you wanted to use smoothies to help you lose weight, you’d probably want to stick to fruit and veggie smoothies and avoid adding nuts and nut butters. Fruit sugars and fats from things like avocados and nuts can combine to make a perfect cocktail for weight gain.

Some nutritionists and dental experts claim that the high levels of sugar in a fruit smoothie are bad for both your general health and for the enamel on your teeth. Personally I don’t have a problem with naturally occurring sugar in fruit, but if you’re worried about your teeth, purchasing a reusable straw to drink your smoothies each day is a great way to work around this problem.

The Ninja series of blenders claims to use the best technology to help you extract the maximum amount of vitamins and nutrients from the fruit and vegetable produce you use.

How to make the perfect smoothie

Believe it or not, there is a right and a wrong way to make a smoothie. Some ingredient combinations are a match made in heaven, others… not so much. If you’re not really an experimental whiz in the kitchen, don’t fret!

Once you’ve decided on which Ninja Blender is best for your needs, be sure to check out these smoothie recipe round ups we’ve put together and you’ll be blending up delicious smoothies like a pro in no time:

13 Delicious Plant-Based Low Carb Smoothies to Start your Day Right

13 Amazing Alcoholic Smoothie and Boozy Milkshake Recipes 

You can even create your own smoothie bowls for breakfast, dessert or just a delicious, healthy snack. Check out this fun video from So Yummy for some smoothie bowl inspiration:

Some smoothie recipes call for ingredients such as ice, frozen fruit, porridge oats, nuts and seeds. These robust ingredients require a blender with a reliable and high-power motor that not only holds up but also dishes out a perfectly combined smoothie – sans lumps.

The Ninja range is more than capable of doing this, so without further ado, let’s take a look at what is the best Ninja blender for the job.

Best Ninja blender reviews

So, now we have a bit of background behind us, let’s get down to what you’re here for – the reviews!

Ninja Blender/Food Processor with Intelli-Sense Touchscreen

We’re kicking off our Ninja blender reviews with this bad boy – the Ninja Blender/Food Processor. This is not just a blender; it’s a full on, powerfully compact kitchen system, making it great for those of us who need all the functionality of a food processor but without it taking up half the kitchen.

With four different vessel attachments, you get a high-powered blender, food processor and an automatic spiralizer, as well as the smaller blender cup, which is the perfect size for blending up a smoothie.

It’s so powerful it will happily grind up small seeds like chia and flax so everything is perfectly combined. You can even grind coffee beans in this thing!

The Intelli-Sense technology is impressive. The base recognises which vessel attachment you’re using and will suggest one of 12 smart programmes (calibrated patterns of pulsing, speed etc.) to help you perfectly blend whatever ingredients you’re using. It’s even got a touchscreen display.

As with all the Ninja systems, the vessels are made from plastic; however, it’s BPA free, dishwasher safe and is definitely sturdy enough to withstand heavy use.

As this is a full kitchen system, not just the bullet cup, it could be considered a little fiddly to clean all the small parts by hand. If you have a dishwasher though, it shouldn’t be a problem.

The one downside to this piece of equipment has got to be the noise factor. You couldn’t use it while other people are sleeping in the morning if you’re an early riser. Saying that though, the motor is powerful, so perhaps that makes up for the noise?

It doesn’t come with all the food processor blades such as the shredder/grater, but these can be purchased separately as part of a set from the Ninja website.

Nutri Ninja Personal Blender BL480D

The Nutri Ninja BL480D is the first of the personal blenders on our list. Considering that the above blender/food processor has a 1200 watt base and the Nutri Ninja has a 1000 watt base, you can see that it packs a powerful punch in the smoothie making department.

It comes with two blending cups; a smaller 500ml and a larger 650ml, perfect for catering for a one or two person smoothie. Plus it also includes sip and seal lids, so you can just blend your smoothie, slip on the lid and go.

The blender comes with an included recipe book with ideas for smoothies, soups and sauces. However, when you first start using the blender to create smoothies, you have to work out which order to load the ingredients into the blending cup to ensure that the smoothies comes out without lumps.

Saying that though, as long as you load the ingredients in the right order, this little blender will be able to handle things like seeds, nuts, frozen fruit and ice with no problem due to its high-powered motor and the Auto-IQ function which allows you to select the right programme for whatever you’re blending.

Seeing as it has only two pieces in use (the blender jar – which also serves as your drinking cup – and the blending lid) it’s really easy to clean. Having the blender jar function as a drinking cup also means less smoothie is wasted as you don’t have to try and transfer it from the blender to another vessel.

There are only two downsides to this gadget as far as we can tell. The first is it’s again really noisy, but if it’s just smoothies you’re making at least the blender won’t be going for long.

The second thing is the silicone seal ring in the blender lid. Despite the rest of the blender being easy to clean, you’ll have to remove the seal ring and wash it after every use otherwise it holds onto food and could trap bacteria. This isn’t really a problem if you know about this issue and make sure to clean it accordingly.

Ninja Chef Countertop Blender (CT810)

The Ninja Chef Countertop Blender CT810 is a standalone blender with none of the other accessories that you find with the above Ninja blender/food processor.

This makes it a perfect option if you need more capacity than the personal blender for making smoothies, but you also want the versatility to create larger portions of liquid recipes such as soups.

It has a large fill port on the lid top so you can easily add in extra ingredients while blending, and this will result in a smoother blend without having to stop and start the machine. It also comes with a stick wand to help push the ingredients down towards the blades as you blend so you never have to stop the blender and scrap down the sides. The stick wand is the perfect size so that it never comes into contact with the blades.

Although the blender is really powerful, with a 1500 watt base, there are a few small possible downsides. The first is that there isn’t a pouring part on the blending jar. This means that if you’ve blended an icy drink for example, when you go to pour it out, the whole drink slides out at once. As the blender jar is a square shape, you have to try and pour out your smoothie from one of the corners.

The knob used to set the blender is very sensitive, so the slightest touch or bump will move it off your desired setting. In some cases, although it’s great to have the pre-programmed Auto-IQ settings, you have to use the manual mode towards the end to make sure you don’t end up with an air-pocket at the bottom that allows the blades to spin free while the ingredients have clumped together above.

However, having the option of choosing between the Auto-IQ programmes and the manual function solves this problem well.

Again, this machine is noisy but it’s really powerful so it doesn’t need to be turned on for long in order to combine all the ingredients well.

Those who loathe doing the dishes can rejoice to know that this blender has a self-clean programme, so you can simply add water and dish detergent to the blender, press the button and it will clean itself. Fancy!

Suction cups hold the blender base in place on your countertop and for some this can either be a pro or a con. If you’ve already got your ingredients, including liquid, inside the blender and need to readjust its position on your bench, trying to move the base can be tricky.

The upside to the suction cups is that you can rest assured that the blender isn’t going to be bouncing its way off the counter once it’s turned on.

Ninja Professional Countertop Blender (BL610)

This countertop blender is slightly less powerful than the Ninja Chef but is ideal for making large batches of smoothies and other drinks for a family as it holds a lot of liquid. You can even knock up a round of margaritas or daiquiris for a party.

The key to this blender’s success lies partly in the blade design. The ‘total crushing’ blades – as Ninja likes to call them – expertly crush ice, blend, puree and process. Ice and frozen fruit is blended in seconds. Once you’re done blending, the blade removes easily, which makes pouring and scraping out your drink easy, and facilitates easier cleaning.

The Ninja Professional BL610 allows you to pulse or run the blender hands-free, which is great as some users have reported that while it tackles things like frozen fruit and ice like a breeze, it struggles to fully blend finer and harder ingredients such as seeds. The ability to choose the hands-free option means you can run the blender longer and not have to stand by and wait.

A couple of other minor things to watch out for on the Ninja Professional; firstly if you don’t fill it completely, dry items such as leafy greens, jump to the top and stick to the sides, so you have to stop and stir the items back into the mix. This obviously would be frustrating if you’re trying to make up a single serve smoothie.

The second thing is that the base doesn’t pair with the smaller personal blender smoothie cups, so you can’t even buy these as separate accessories to go with the larger pitcher.

And finally, once fully assembled the blender is really tall, taking up quite a bit of space and would not easily fit under kitchen cabinets above a workbench countertop.

If you’re only interested in making large quantities of smoothies and soups, then this option is probably a better choice over the Ninja Chef Countertop Blender above.

Nutri Ninja Pro (BL451)

The Nutri Ninja Pro BL451 is curiously less powerful than the Nutri Ninja personal blender, checking in at 900 watts; however as far as blenders goes, this still isn’t too shabby!

This personal blender is a good size while not taking up a lot of space on the counter. It comes with three different cup sizes (24 oz., 18 oz. and 12 oz.) which is really handy especially if you need to use a smaller container to make up a sauce or nut butter.

This also ties in with one of the downsides to this machine and that’s if you don’t fill up the blender cup to capacity, it sometimes struggles to fully blend whatever you’re preparing. Having the option to choose a smaller cup goes someway to compensating for this.

Also included as part of the package are the handy sip and seal lids so you can take your smoothies on the go.

In regard to the cleaning, the actual design of the blender cup can make it difficult. The grooves at the top of the cup where the lid screws on always have smoothie bits after blending. That means that you have to immediately rinse or wash that area or you have to soak the blender cup afterwards if the smoothie residue dries in those grooves.

Overall, this is still a powerful personal blender capable of producing a great smoothie.

Ninja 4-in-1 Blender and Food Processor System (AMZ012BL)

The Ninja 4-in-1 Blender and Food Processor System AMZ012BL is a quality multi-use tool. It comes with a 1200 watt base, four high-performance attachments, three spiralizing discs -spaghetti, fettuccine and ribbon, and a 40-recipe book.

Ninja’s Auto- IQ function steps up a notch on this appliance by allowing you to toggle between ‘Boost Yes’ and ‘Boost No’ to help control the texture of your recipe. The ‘Yes’ function gives a smoother result (great for smoothies of course!) and the ‘No’ function provides a more textured result.

This intelligence paired with the blade technology means that you can easily do things like chop onions and garlic in the food processor for instance.

The 4-in-1 also has the spiralizer attachment as an added bonus; however, some users have complained that the number of attachments make this system a little difficult to store in smaller kitchens.

Clean up of the bowls, pitchers and cups is easy and the system comes with a cleaning brush, which works especially well for the blade pieces, which can be more challenging to clean due to the sharpness of the blades and food getting caught inside the bottom.

Nutri NINJA Professional (BL455)

The Nutri NINJA Professional BL455 weighs in with a 1000 watt motor, meaning that it’s got almost as much power in this personal blender as you’ll find in some of Ninja’s kitchen systems.

With the solid motor base, there’s nothing flimsy about this appliance. The combination of the powerful motor and the blade design makes light work of even the most challenging smoothie ingredients.

In fact, this machine is so powerful that some users have complained that it’s difficult to make any kind of chunky salsa or guacamole as the blades blitz right through the ingredients in seconds.

It comes with three cups in a variety of sizes and it’s easy to clean; simply add water and detergent to the cup once you’re finished drinking, twist on the lid and then connect it to the blender to clean.

Points to consider on this personal blender include: the cup lids and blender lid are easily cross-threaded so care is needed when you’re attaching them to the cups otherwise you can end up with liquid seeping out; and you need to fill the cup to capacity and make sure you add enough liquid to whatever you’re blending otherwise the ingredients will clump and stick around the blades.

Ninja Mega Kitchen System

If you’re looking to invest in a multifunction machine, then the Ninja Mega Kitchen System might be a good option for you. It comes with a powerful 1200 watt motor that powers the blender, food processor and Nutri Ninja cups.

With such a powerful base, this piece of equipment will easily deliver perfectly combined smoothies, whether you make a smoothie for one using the Nutri Ninja cups or for a crowd, using the blender pitcher.

The food processor comes with a standard chopping blade and a dough blade. You might be disappointed to learn that despite the slicer and grater blades being shown in the Mega Kitchen System advertising photos, these aren’t included as standard but have to be bought as separate accessories from the Ninja shop.

Each of the main accessories – blender, processor and Nutri cups – uses a multi-blade system which gives great results.

The only downsides to this system are that the opening on the food processor is too small to insert food items while it’s operating and the use of plastic as the main material for the pitchers is a problem due to stress fractures over time from the power of the motor.

What’s the best Ninja blender to buy?

Regardless of whether or not you need a personal or countertop model, my recommendation has to be the Ninja 4-in-1 Blender and Food Processing System (AMZ012BL).

It’s a little pricier than a stand-alone personal blender but the inclusion of the single cups and larger blender means it can cater for single or multiple people.

This appliance has everything you need from a multi-use machine and I especially like the added feature of the spiralizer, which helps if you’re looking for low-carb ways to replace comfort foods like pasta.

It also features all the latest Auto-IQ technology from Ninja, including options to help you select the best programme for whatever you’re making. Plus it’s powerful. Its reliable and high-power motor will easily blend up whatever ingredients – seeds, nuts, frozen fruit and ice – you want to use.

There’s definitely no risk of it turning out a lumpy smoothie.One of the only reasons why this system wins out over the Ninja Blender/Food Processor with Intelli-Sense Touchscreen is due to its size.

The 4-in-1’s base is a lot more compact and the other components, such as the blender and food processor, are smaller, making it all round much better suited to you if you want to use the machine on a daily basis to make smoothies and occasionally need the versatility of the other components.

The downsides to this little piece of kit are the same as with all the models that we’ve reviewed here from Ninja; the high-power of the motors in the base make them noisy to operate and the plastic material, although BPA free and dishwasher safe, used to make the cups, pitchers and bowls run the risk of stress fractures due to the high-power intensity of the motor.

All-in-all, the Ninja 4-in-1 Blender and Food Processing System represents great value for money and is much more affordable than both other well-known brand names on the market and if you were to purchase several items individually to achieve everything this piece of equipment can do.

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1. nutritioned.org | Juicing vs. Blending: Which one is right for you? | https://www.nutritioned.org/juicing-vs-blending.html
2. Cleveland Clinic | How to Make Healthy and Delicious Smoothies | https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-make-healthy-and-delicious-smoothies/