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8 best jug blenders for nutritious soups and smoothies
Hit your five-a-day at speed with our tried and tested mixers
Fitting five-a-day into your diet can be a challenge, but whipping up fruit smoothies and veg-heavy soups in a blender makes the task much easier. Many modern models boast decathlete levels of versatility – they can chop, puree, grind and more, allowing you to get impressively creative in the kitchen.
Which blender should I buy?
If we’ve whet your appetite for the blending life, keep reading. Our Runner’s World Lab tester has put some of the best blenders on the market through their paces to bring you a handy buyer’s guide.
Dashing off for a few post-work kilometres? These are their eight top picks at a glance:
- Best jug blender: Ninja 2-in-1 Jug Blender
- Best blender for speed control: Vitamix E310
- Quietest blender: Magimix Le Blender
- Best blender for preset programs: KitchenAid Artisan K400 Blender
- Best blender for soup: Magimix Power Blender
- Best budget blender: Russell Hobbs Go Create
- Best blender for making smoothies: NutriBullet Blender Combo
- Best blender for style: Sage The Fresh & Furious
How do I choose a good blender?
Finding the right blender for you will largely depend on how you plan to use it. Consider whether you’re happy to blend manually or if you’d prefer a tech-heavy model to take the guesswork away.
Keep an eye out for these features before adding a blender to your trolley:
Jug material: Plastic jugs are lighter and usually cheaper than sturdier glass ones. However, they’re more prone to scratching and often can’t withstand ingredients that are hotter than 40C.
Speed settings: Most blenders will have two or more speed settings, giving you greater control while blending. Some, such as the Vitamix E310, go well beyond this with as many as 10 options. Higher speeds are better for liquifying ingredients, while slower settings are best for chopping and grinding. A pulse setting is handy if you’re looking to lop fruit and veg down to size for a chunky salsa or yoghurt-topper.
Power: We’ve listed the wattage for all of our tested blenders. While a higher wattage doesn’t necessarily make for a better blender, we found machines tended to need at least 1100W for more demanding tasks like crushing ice and chopping nuts.
Functions: Some blenders come with a grinding attachment for reducing coffee beans, nuts, herbs and spices to a fine powder. Others feature special settings for crushing ice – a task that can damage models with weaker blades. In general, the fancier the functions, the pricier the blender, so consider which ones you’ll actually use before parting with your cash.
Run time: Blending is a labour-intensive job. Most models can run continuously for about two minutes in manual mode before needing a bit of a break. Models with preset programs or a glass jug may last slightly longer.
Cleaning: Cleaning a blender can be tricky, thanks to their many nooks and crannies. Removable blades are probably the best fix, but some models have dishwasher-friendly parts and even self-cleaning modes to help you out.
How we test
Our expert tester took 33 market-leading blenders out for a spin to see which models ticked their boxes. They mixed chickpeas, mayonnaise, breadcrumbs, batter and coffee beans in each blender to see how well it fared. They noted how long it took to deliver the desired results, how intuitive it felt to use and its overall design, before delivering their final verdict.
Ninja 2-in-1 Blender with Auto-iQ
Crossing the finish line in first place is this sleek Ninja blender. It catapulted itself to the top spot with a string of exemplary performances in every test we put it through. Its stacked, removable blade blended all ingredients evenly and efficiently, before proving refreshingly easy to clean.
It doubles up as a smoothie maker and comes with several cup attachments – perfect for blitzing a solitary post-run smoothie. Best of all, its Auto-iQ Technology lets you choose from several ‘one-touch blending programs’, providing perfect, food-specific performances at the push of a button.
It’s fairly noisy and aggressive in action, but that’s a small price to pay for a great value product that had our expert raving.
Key specifications
Dishwasher-safe attachments: Yes
Guarantee: 1 year
Jug capacity: 2.1L
Weight: 4.6kg
Wattage: 1200w
Removable blades: Yes
Presets: Blend, max blend, crush
Pulse action: Yes
Variable speeds: 3
Every runner knows the importance of pacing yourself, and luckily, so does this Vitamix model. Its mega 10 speed settings afford you unparalleled control while blending and its pulse switch is handy for chopping. It crushed ice and chopped nuts with aplomb, ensuring our office was never short of snacks to graze on.
Its minimalist design impressed us, but it’s a bit bulky, making it ill-suited to small kitchens. There was also a small amount of splashing when making mayonnaise, but that’s a minor niggle.
Key specifications
Dishwasher-safe attachments: Yes
Guarantee: 5 years
Jug capacity: 1.4L
Weight: 4.8kg
Wattage: 1200w
Removable blades: No
Presets: None
Pulse action: Yes
Variable speeds: 10
If you’re looking to keep the neighbours on side, this blender stays notably quiet. The sweet-toothed among you will love its frozen dessert preset, with further settings for smoothies, soup and ice also delivering reliably strong results on time.
It comes with a useful spatula for scraping down the sides, but its glass jug, though heatproof, was heavy and uncomfortable to hold. Its measuring scale starts at 400ml, making it difficult to weigh out smaller portions accurately.
Key specifications
Dishwasher-safe attachments: Yes
Guarantee: 3 years
Jug capacity: 1.8L
Weight: 4.9kg
Wattage: 1200w
Removable blades: Yes
Presets: Desserts, ice, soup, smoothies
Pulse action: Yes
Variable speeds: 4
KitchenAid Artisan K400 Blender
This stylish blender is certainly pricey, but its great range of presets mean you don’t need to watch your mixture like a hawk until it reaches optimum consistency – simply load the jug and press start to quickly blend an energy-boosting drink each morning. On test, it pureed chickpeas, blitzed breadcrumbs and crushed ice in seconds, with its five speed settings providing plenty of control for more complex recipes.
Its glass jug and sturdy metal base (available in a range of colours) make it one of the best-looking blenders on the market, but it’s very heavy. The blades aren’t removable, but an effective self-cleaning function makes tidying up a breeze. Just keep an eye out for dirt traps around the base that may build up over time.
Key specifications
Dishwasher-safe attachments: Yes
Guarantee: 5 years
Jug capacity: 1.4L
Weight: 6.6kg
Wattage: 1200w
Removable blades: No
Presets: Ice crush, icy drinks, smoothie, self-clean
Pulse action: Yes
Variable speeds: 5
Magimix Power Blender
This slick Magimix blender is slightly smaller than its competitors, meaning it won’t dominate as much worktop space. It excelled at pureeing and liquifying ingredients, should you wish to whip up some soup for a light, pre-run lunch.
It was surprisingly quiet while blending, despite the macho ‘power’ moniker, but it struggled when chopping bulkier ingredients like ice and nuts. Note also that the instructions reference accessories that have to be bought separately, pushing the overall price up.
Key specifications
Dishwasher-safe attachments: Yes
Guarantee: 3 years (30 years for the motor)
Jug capacity: 1.8L
Weight: 4.8kg
Wattage: 1300w
Removable blades: Yes
Presets: Desserts, ice, soup, smoothies, auto-clean
Pulse action: Yes
Variable speeds: 4
If you’re after a cheap and cheerful blender that does the basics well, look no further. Simplicity is the name of the game for this Russell Hobbs model, as its lack of high-tech features make it intuitive to set up and use.
Its two speeds and pulse setting made light work of pureeing chickpeas, mixing mayonnaise and blending batter, but our tester had to keep an eye on the consistency as the lowest speed was pretty punchy. Granted, it hit a bit of a wall when faced with ice and nuts, but it’s still a steal for its affordable price tag.
Key specifications
Dishwasher-safe attachments: Yes
Guarantee: 3 years
Jug capacity: 1.5L
Weight: 2kg
Wattage: 600w
Removable blades: Yes
Presets: None
Pulse action: Yes
Variable speeds: 2
NutriBullet Blender Combo
NutriBullet may be widely known for its bestselling smoothie makers, but the brand makes top-notch blenders too. Unsurprisingly, this model excels at mixing fruity drinks, and it comes with an array of cup attachments for topping up on vits and mins before and after training. Far from a one-trick pony, it also took chopping nuts and blending batter in its stride.
Suction feet on the base kept it from rattling around, but even the slowest of its three speeds was powerful, meaning it struggled with tasks that required a softer touch, such as making mayonnaise. The blades are also fiddly to remove, making cleaning a faff.
Key specifications
Dishwasher-safe attachments: Yes
Guarantee: 1 year
Jug capacity: 1.8L
Weight: 5.7kg
Wattage: 1200w
Removable blades: Yes
Presets: Extract
Pulse action: Yes
Variable speeds: 3
Sage The Fresh & Furious
Style might not be your top priority when buying a blender, but nobody wants an eyesore blighting their kitchen. Fortunately, Sage has delivered a trendy silver design that’ll look classy on any worktop. Not just a pretty face, it performed impressively during testing, earning near perfect scores in every task other than chopping nuts.
It also automatically switches itself off when it reaches its maximum run time, stopping it from burning out and increasing its lifespan. It did prove a bit of a pain to clean, however, as the blades aren’t removable.
Key specifications
Dishwasher-safe attachments: Yes
Guarantee: 2 years
Jug capacity: 1.5L
Weight: 5kg
Wattage: 1300 litres
Removable blades: No
Presets: Smoothie, green smoothie, ice crush
Pulse action: Yes
Variable speeds: 5
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