I thought I had a reasonable idea of what the Nutribullet Immersion Blender would be like before I used it. Clichés like 'cheap and cheerful' immediately sprung to mind. For under $40, I didn't expect much.
However, the Nutribullet took my preconceptions and whizzed them up. It's surprisingly well built and powerful, with a considerable range of functions. The tactile dial allows for you to adjust speed, the blending shaft is long enough for deep pots and pans, and the whisk gives it a completely different use.
If you're shopping on a budget, you're in luck. This is durable, powerful, and well-designed. It's one of the best immersion blenders on the market. It's missing all the bells and whistles of other models, but you'll have to triple your money to match the performance of the Nutribullet.
Specifications
Unboxing
For a $40 appliance, the unboxing process was everything I expected. There was a considerable amount of non-recyclable packaging, which always gets a thumbs-down from me. At least all the parts arrived scratch-free.
The main body feels surprisingly durable. There's a considerable amount of plastic, which, when shiny looks a little cheap. Paired with stainless steel and the rubber grip and it feels like a solid, but not super premium appliance.
Most immersion blenders come with a blending jug. This is useful if you're precious about your pans and want to avoid lots of scratches. The Nutribullet doesn't come with one, instead offering a whisk.
Although this might be frustrating for some, I actually quite like it. The — normally plastic — jug ends up collecting dust in my cupboards, because I blend straight into the pan or bowl. The Nutribullet has some pan protecting distance between the blades at the end of the shaft in the hopes of stopping scratches from damaging any non-stick.
The whisk attachment feels a little flimsy. I expect it wouldn't rival any handheld whisks, but if you like in a small home and will use it for basic batters, it would do the job well.
Who would it suit?
This is the perfect 'first immersion blender'. It's low-cost with enough versatility to cover a range of kitchen needs.
The variable speed dial is a feature I've seen lacking from more premium models. It's really useful if you prefer more control over textures of soups, smoothies, and sauces, because you can use lower-power for adding texture as and when you need to.
The whisk attachment is really an added extra. I wouldn't buy this for the whisk, but if this is part of a kitchen starter set, it'll be really useful for making meringue or pancake batters.
If you consider yourself to be quite a chef, you'll start to see the limitations of the Nutribullet, You'll also quickly get frustrated by the cord. There are plenty of cordless immersion blenders that offer much more versatility and power. They just cost more money.
What is it like to use?
I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the Nutribullet was to handle. It has a comfortable silicone grip, which I was grateful for, since this is heavier than most other models I tested.
Getting started, I didn't have to struggle with any safety switches. It was incredibly straightforward. The only time this blends is when you depress the switch, which is a little frustrating, but a feature of lots of blenders.
My only frustration was with the variable speed settings. You have to pre-set which speed you want to use and then start blending. You could adjust it whilst the Nutribullet is running, but I imagine you'd splatter batter or soup everywhere.
There's really one test that matters when you're using an immersion blender: how well it makes soups and purées. I boiled some cubes of carrot, sweet potato, and butternut squash. These root vegetables can be tough to purée, but, even on the lowest setting, the Nutribullet made a smooth mix in a matter of seconds. It did make 80 dBA of noise at the same time though. At least you don't need to use it for long.
I added some ginger to the mix and could see a few fibers left over. After blending on the highest setting, the puree was almost back to it's super smooth puree. I could see more texture than I could taste. In my mouth, it felt like the perfect baby food or purée.
Test 2: whisk
I wanted to give the whisk attachment a trial. If it's included, it's important for you to know how good it is. I made pancake batter using the whisk attachment and it's close to faultless. You'll only need to use a low speed, because as it gets more powerful, the whisk makes a mess.
Using the lowest setting, I used my whisk to give some air to my batter and you can see in my picture that this did an excellent job. It created lots of air and bubbles in my batter and was much quieter than the immersion blender.
Cleaning, storage, and maintenance
No part of the Nutribullet is dishwasher safe. Whilst this isn't ideal, it's also not a big issue. All you have to do is wash the attachment in the sink. It's small, doesn't collect much food inside it, and so, in the grand scheme of kitchen utensils, this isn't a disaster.
Whilst I commented on this as heavy to hold after a long time, it's pretty compact. You won't struggle to store it in a drawer or cupboard. It's perfect for small kitchens.
How does it rate online?
Generally, this reviews really well. On Amazon, it has 4.6 stars out of 1,700 reviews, which speaks for itself. Most people say that it's easy to clean, easy to use, and they say that it's surprisingly high quality. Plenty of people used it to make sauces and baby food, but next to nobody makes use of the whisk. After my tests, I recommend they do.
Where this begins to falter is in big batches. Reviewers generally say it's okay for small batches of fibrous ingredients, but is a little grainy as soon as you move to multiple servings. It's also not made for crushing ice or making nut butters: you'll need a proper blender for that.
How does it compare?
If you double you money, you can buy the KitchenAid Go Cordless Hand Blender. This feels like a more premium product and is a lot nicer to hold. The variable speed is controlled by the button you press: for more power, press harder, for less, loosen your grip. This mechanism makes the KitchenAid much more convenient than the Nutribullet.
When not in use, I needed to lie the Nutribullet down, but the KitchenAid comes with its own stand and blending jug. When I used them both to blend, the purées were almost identical. The only difference was in the user experience, where the KitchenAid feels more premium.
However, for the price of the KitchenAid, you could buy two Nutribullets. If you want a blender that will purées without the niceties of the KitchenAid, you'll be grateful you saved the money instead.
Should you buy it?
For a budget immersion blender, you won't get much more for your money. This is powerful, has variable speeds, and is well-built. There are some fiddly features, including having to constantly depress the switch, but, for the price-savvy it's a compromise worth making.
How we test
At Homes & Gardens we like to test every appliance before we recommend it to you. Our expert testers took this immersion blender to our test kitchen where we used it to puree root vegetables and leafy greens. Our experts also made notes on every aspect of the Nutribullet, from unboxing to washing up so that you don't have any surprises waiting for you when this arrives in your home. If you want to find out more, you can visit our page dedicated to how we test blenders.
