Spoiler alert! If you are in a rush and just want to know what the best blender for frozen fruit is, then we recommend Vitamix Professional 750 as our top pick.
From chopping and crushing to pureeing and mixing all things, blenders are the quintessential tool in the kitchen. It makes food preparation a breeze, and if you love fruit smoothies, it’s perfect for creating those, too. In fact, it’s necessary!
Before you head out to find the best blender for frozen fruit, you should consider size, speed, functions, and strength that’s required to blend frozen fruit smoothies perfectly.
However, one of your first questions when looking at any of these machines is, “can you blend frozen fruit?” We found the best personal blender for frozen fruit as well as commercial and countertop blenders for creating all of your favorite drinks, butters, nut milks, soups, and much more.
Here are the blenders we will be reviewing:
- Blendtec Professional 800 Blender with Wildside +Jar, Sealed Enclosure
- Vitamix Professional Series 750 Blender
- Ninja Professional Countertop Blender
- Blendtec Designer Series Countertop Blender
- Nutri Ninja Auto iQ BL480D
- Hamilton Beach Professional 1500 Watt Blender
- Ninja BL456 Blender
- Cleanblend Commercial Blender
Guide to Best Blender for Frozen Fruit
So what should you look for in a high-quality machine, and what type makes the best blender for frozen fruit smoothies? If you mainly want a good blender for frozen fruit for making smoothies and other frozen drinks, then you’ll need a powerful, ice-crushing blender. There are certain power specifications and sizes of best blenders for frozen fruit that handle difficult ingredients better than others.
If you’re looking for the best blender to make smoothies and frozen drinks with, then we know some of the best options based on power and speed options. These are some of the things that we look for in the best blender for frozen fruit smoothies.
Things to Look for in Best Blenders for Smoothies with Frozen Fruit
Speed and Power
For blending frozen fruits, blenders that create the smoothest smoothies have powerful blades and high wattage. For ice-crushing power, the best blenders have over 500 watts of power. You should also look for blenders with multiple settings. However, you don’t need over ten different settings.
Also, you want to get a fruit blender that has more than 15,000 RPMs, and if you are looking to crush big frozen fruits in your smoothie and want the creamiest texture, you should probably get a blender over 20,000 RPMs.
Size
Blenders are sized by the amount of cups they can produce. For example, a fruit blender can vary in size between 3 and 14 cups. The larger blenders can do 8 or more cups. It’s essential also to pick a blender that will fit on your kitchen counter and not take up too much room. If you are constantly making smoothies for your family and need a blender that can handle bulk ingredients, then a larger size makes more sense.
Cost
Price is a big factor in choosing the right blender. You want to pick one with lots of options for speed and power, but you don’t want to spend over your budget for something that you won’t use often. Before you pick any blender, you should look at your budget and determine what’s most important to you. If you want special features, then you may pay more for a professional-grade blender.
Sound
There are some silent blenders out there, but they are generally smaller and priced high for their design. They still aren’t as quiet as you’d want them to be, but if you are looking to save your voice from yelling matches with a roommate in the early morning, you should check out the noise specifications for any blender you purchase. Typically, a frozen fruit blender will be a bit louder to run, so you may have to deal with the noise anyway.
Safety
When considering the best blender for frozen smoothies, you should consider that most machines a failsafe switch or an automatic switch that will turn the frozen fruit smoothie blender off if it overheats. In other cases, you may need to buy a tamper if your food gets stuck in the frozen smoothie maker and causes it to malfunction.
Multiple Functions
A typical frozen fruit smoothie machine has a list of buttons that you can use to change the speed and style of blending frozen fruit. These are best when you need blended frozen fruit that is the perfect consistency. Here are a few of the best ones:
- Mix
- Chop
- Blend
- Puree
- Dice
- Crush (ice)
- One-touch
- Pulse
When you spot a blender with multiple speed settings, then it’s clear it knows how to blend frozen fruit to a creamy texture with no chunks or runny liquid problems.
Special Features of the Best Blender for Ice Smoothies
Some blenders come with a package that includes everything you need, such as personal cups and mixing bowls. There could also be additional attachments for making other types of blends, such as nut butters or coffee grinders. These special attachments add a lot of value if you plan to use your blender for all kinds of food prep and blended creations.
Is it better to use frozen fruit or fresh fruit?
In general, frozen fruit is better to use for smoothie creations. Frozen fruit provides a rich, thick, creamy texture that you want in a smoothie, whereas fresh fruit can make your smoothie too watery. While many people use fresh fruit in their smoothies, it’s typically only a small amount, and the rest is frozen fruit. Also, frozen fruit is picked at it’s peak and can contain just as much if not more nutrients than fresh.
Can you put frozen fruit in a blender?
Yes! You want to get a high-powered blender to create the smoothest smoothies, however. We recommend a blender with at least 500 watts for crushing and slicing through frozen fruit. Still, you may want to look at the blender’s specifications before purchasing if you only plan to use frozen fruit. Some blenders do not have the right blades to cut through hardened fruit, and if you are using larger strawberries, smaller blenders may struggle to blend it at first.
How to choose a powerful blender?
If you are looking for a blender that specifically handles frozen fruit, then you’ll want to pick one with a large body, ice crushing ability, and at least a 500-watt motor. Anything less will likely struggle too much to blend hardened frozen fruit, such as strawberries.
What are the advantages/benefits of a frozen fruit blender?
These blenders typically have stronger blades and high-powered motors. High-quality, ice-crushing blenders usually have two-prong blades and can rotate over 25,000 RPMs. If you find that the blender doesn’t mention frozen fruit or power in the specifications, then you may have a smaller blender that won’t be able to handle larger frozen fruits. Unless you plan on making blueberry and banana only smoothies, you’ll want something that can handle frozen strawberries too.
Do You Need a Blender Tamper?
If food does get stuck in your blades and your blender isn’t working right, you’ll need a tamper. A tamper is a crucial tool to use when you need to get food out of the stubborn corners in your blender.
Frozen Smoothie Hacks
Looking for the best smoothie hacks? There are some ways to improve your smoothies before blending. For example, if you want to make a smoothie thicker, then frozen fruit is the best way to go. When you find the best blender for frozen fruit smoothies, it certainly makes things a lot easier, too.
- Let your frozen fruit thaw for 5-10 minutes while you get the other ingredients ready
- Add small amounts of milk if you want a thinner smoothie
- Follow this order when loading your blender: liquids first, then frozen fruits, then greens (optional) and ice on top
- Pineapple and oranges add a lot of sweetness. A banana will neutralize bitter flavors. Strawberries neutralize green smoothies into sweeter smoothies.
- This ratio always works for liquid to fruit: use 1 ripe banana or 1 cup of other fruit with ¾ cup of liquids, whether it’s nut milk, juice, or water. If using fresh fruit, then you’ll need to add a few ice cubes to get a creamier texture
Best Blender for Frozen Fruit Reviews
Now that you know a little bit more about blenders, the following choices were selected based on their superior capabilities and power. We chose the blenders that were best suited for frozen fruit smoothies, ranging in cost and strength.
Blendtec Professional 800 Blender with Wildside +Jar, Sealed Enclosure
Why We Like This Blender:
For a frozen fruit blender, the Blendtec 800 is quite possibly the best option on the market because of its 1800-watt motor and 3.8 horsepower. You’ll always get a rich, creamy smoothie, and it can slice through any frozen fruit, even large strawberries. Also, it’s known for its quiet mode, which isn’t exactly noiseless, but it’s a lot less noisy than competitive blenders.
There are 11 different modes with the Blendtec as well, and it has a touch slider that you can use to change the speed. The Pro 800 is the largest blender available from Blendtec, but it is still comfortable on any kitchen counter. The sound enclosure helps to contain the noise, and it’s very easy to open and close around your blender. You don’t have to worry so much about waking your whole family for your morning power smoothie.
This blender comes with a Smart-Touch Technology button that allows you to program a smoothie function, and with one-touch, you have your smoothie creation waiting for you after a minute. It’s very convenient and straightforward to use. While a bit expensive, the Blendtec Pro 800 is at the top of our list for frozen fruit blenders.
Pros:
- Extremely powerful, 3.8 horsepower
- 1800-watt motor
- 360-degree sound barrier enclosure
- Lots of extras
Cons:
- Bit expensive
- Difficult to clean
Verdict:
Need the best blender for frozen bananas and strawberries? The Blendtec Pro 800 is one of our favorite frozen fruit blenders because of its high-powered motor and sound enclosure. You can essentially make everything, whether it’s a smoothie or nut butter with this kitchen appliance. It’s an excellent time-saver and practically noiseless. You can create all kinds of morning smoothies for your family with this best blender for fruit smoothies.
Vitamix Professional Series 750 Blender
Why We Like This Blender:
Want one of the best blenders for frozen drinks? Vitamix came out with its G-Series of blenders, and the 750 is one of the best to purchase if you are looking for a frozen fruit smoothie maker that can do it all. For smoothies, the Vitamix 750 blends to the perfect thick consistency. You get a rich and creamy fruit smoothie, but it can do so much more than that.
You can create all types of drinks with this delightful smoothie maker. It’s great for pureeing, chopping, soup, frozen ingredients, nut butters, dough, and so much more. It’s also key to grinding up coffee beans, grains, and herbs for other drinks that you need.
There are various settings and modes for the Vitamix 750. It’s incredibly powerful and can achieve 2.2 HP at its peak. Using ball bearing technology and sharp blades, the Vitamix can cut through anything. Slicing, dicing, chopping, pulsing, and mixing are some of the options for settings, but it also has a safety stop button. However, it’s still noisy without any enclosure, though the manufacturer states it only goes to a maximum of 70 decibels.
Pros:
- High-powered motor
- All settings for chopping, pureeing, dicing, etc
- Different speed settings
- Does way more than making great smoothies
Cons:
- Bit expensive and noisy
Verdict:
While Vitamix is one of the top blender and juicer manufacturers, the 750 is not quite as powerful as the Blendtec with its 2.2 HP max motor. However, that doesn’t affect its ability to crush frozen fruit as well as coffee beans, difficult grains, nuts, and so forth. You can do just about anything with this blender, including making soup or grinding down coffee beans.
Ninja Professional Countertop Blender
Why We Like This Blender:
The Ninja Professional BL660 blender is another top-of-the-line blender that combines two blenders into one. Whether you are making a lot of drinks for your family or want to create a personal cup, you’ll get both with the Ninja Pro BL660. It combines a countertop blender with a 72 oz large pitcher, and then a personal-sized blender with a smaller 16 oz cup.
The large Ninja can crush anything. The consistency is creamy and rich, but it doesn’t always crush all of the nuts or frozen fruit. There will be some small chunks occasionally left behind. There are three speeds and a pulse button on the larger blender. The single-serve blender has a pulse button that must be held during operation. Both offer exceptional power, but you won’t be able to crush frozen fruit as well as the larger blender with the personal size.
At 1100 watts, it’s not as strong as the full-size Vitamix or Blendtec blenders. However, it’s still quite powerful, although the plastic mounting and locking parts for the containers do not help with the noise. Also, the machine is noisy because of the blades. Since it’s a plastic pylon blender, it uses three 2-prong blades made from steel. These swivel around the pylon and slice through most ingredients, but may have difficulty with larger frozen strawberries.
Pros:
- Great value
- Decent wattage and power
- Includes limited warranty
- Uses three 2-prong steel blades
Cons:
- Not as strong as competitors
- Quite noisy
Verdict:
For those who want a creamy smoothie and don’t mind some small chunks or longer wait time to create that perfectly smooth drink, the Ninja is a good value. With its lower price tag and smaller size, the Ninja is an excellent addition to any kitchen in need of a smoothie maker that gets the job done.
Blendtec Designer Series Countertop Blender
Why We Like This Blender:
The Blendtec Designer Series is a great value if you consider that it has six preset options for making different smoothies, juices, nut butters, and so forth. It’s also quite powerful at 1560 watts. This blender also comes with a longer 8-year warranty, and it’s quite appropriately sized for a home kitchen.
It’s easy to pulverize any frozen fruit with this blender. You won’t get any resistance thanks to the powerful motor. Tests done showed it could even pulverize and whip a solid cheese block in under a minute. It’s also quite stylish and comes in a variety of colors to suit your kitchen decor.
Everything is also digital on this blender and controlled by touch. You can set the speed, choose a mode, or set up pre-programmed settings so that you can have a one-touch smoothie in the morning. You can get your perfect smoothie in under 40 seconds with this blender, too.
Pros:
- 1560-watt motor
- Pulverizes anything, even blocks of cheese
Cons:
- Expensive
- Does not make personal cups of smoothies
Verdict:
The Blendtec Designer Series is another winner from the blender brand that values power and consistency. While you probably want to create your own smoothies every morning, you’ll get more than one cup with this blender. It’s impossible not to admire the way that it crushes everything with its 1560-watt motor, but the price may throw those who are on a budget.
Nutri Ninja Auto iQ BL480D
Why We Like This Blender:
Due to its small size and low cost, the Nutri Ninja Auto iQ is one of the best blenders for fruit and vegetable smoothies. You can blend about three smoothies a day, and the BL480D just keeps going. It can also grind down coffee beans, nuts, and makes ice cream. You’ll get a single serving with its cup, so it’s easy for personal use.
One of the drawbacks, however, is that it isn’t as powerful as some of the other frozen fruit smoothie blenders on this list. There will still be some chunks left behind unless you do multiple rotations. Still, the smoothie consistency is relatively smooth and thick. It is also not designed for hot ingredients, and while it can produce nut butter, it will damage the blades and motor. It’s not made for these types of activities.
The Nutri Ninja Auto iQ is best for a quick personal-sized smoothie in the morning. With just 1000 watts, it’s great for light pureeing, chopping, and mixing as well. It comes with multiple containers, but you will spend time making multiple smoothies for the entire family.
Pros:
- Low-cost, small-sized blender
- Lightweight
- Creates quick personal-sized smoothies with a press of a button
Cons:
- Doesn’t work for other functions like nut butters, hot ingredients like soup, or grinding coffee
- Only 1000 watts
Verdict:
For making smoothies in the morning quickly, this blender gets the job done. It’s relatively easy to use, and although it’s not quiet, it’s fast, which means you’ll get a personal smoothie ready to go in about a minute. While it’s well known for its low cost, the Nutri Ninja is not good as a strong all-purpose blender. You really can only use this little guy for personal smoothies.
Hamilton Beach Professional 1500 Watt Blender
Why We Like This Blender:
With its sound shield and high-powered motor, Hamilton Beach knocks it out of the park with their professional 1500-watt blender. This thing is made for creating smooth, rich, and creamy smoothies at the press of a button. From frozen strawberries to difficult kale, you can chop, dice, puree, blend, and crush any ingredient with its powerful motor.
While it’s not made to create soups and other hot ingredients, you can blend up hot ingredients for soup. It can also puree, chop, and blend quite well. You can grind up coffee beans, oats, and chop nuts. It isn’t designed to make dough, but it can blend batter decently.
There are four program settings and a speed dial to help you control the power level of the blender. It’s easy to use and has ten speeds. You can take apart the jar from the base and remove the blades for cleaning. It takes about 30 seconds to disassemble and clean, then another 30 seconds to put back together. Hamilton Beach has also included a safety system, tamper, and different color options.
Pros:
- Mighty 1500-watt motor
- Ten-speed settings, lots of programmable buttons
- Easy to clean
- Very sturdy
Cons:
- Sound shield barrier doesn’t prevent enough sound
- While it can handle other functions like making dough and soup, it’s not made for these purposes, and it can wear down the blades.
Verdict:
Hamilton Beach has created one of the most powerful frozen fruit smoothie makers on the market. This is a great blender for anyone who doesn’t want to spend as much on a Blendtec or Vitamix, but you’ll get nearly the same power and functionality.
Ninja BL456 Blender
Why We Like This Blender:
Nutri Ninja makes a few basic blenders that are small and lightweight. They are made specifically for crushing ingredients together with a simple press of a button. While not extremely powerful, the Ninja BL456 can blend frozen fruit smoothies for a personal cup in the morning. However, it’s only 900 watts.
With that said, it’s very easy to use. You simply add the ingredients into the cup, screw the blades in, flip over, and place on the base. You turn it clockwise and start blending. It takes about 60 seconds to blend. You pull off the cup, put on the lid, and you’re ready to go.
It’s also simple to clean the cup and blades. You remove and rinse off for about 30 seconds. The cup is dishwasher safe as well. It comes with different cup sizes including a 18 oz and 24 oz cup. If you want a personal to-go ready blender, this would be an excellent choice for your home.
Pros:
- Blends frozen fruit and green smoothies for a personal to-go cup
- Great value
- Easy to use and simple to clean
Cons:
- Only 900 watts for power
- Not durable
- Plastic blades
Verdict:
If you are looking for a to-go blender with decent power, the Nutri Ninja BL456 is a great choice. With a small footprint, you can place this blender anywhere on your kitchen countertop and get a quick to-go smoothie in record time. It’s also quite efficient to clean.
Cleanblend Commercial Blender
Why We Like This Blender:
Do you like commercial blenders for frozen drinks? If you want the most powerful blender, then the Cleanblend 1800-watt commercial blender may be precisely the thing for your morning smoothies. This blender can do so much more, however. While it’s made to deliver crushing power, you can use it for soups, nut butters, juicing, and so much more.
This blender produces fantastic smoothies, and you can blend with difficult frozen fruits like large strawberries or even juice kale, carrots, ginger, and celery together. It can crush any frozen ingredients, and it’s also capable of making hot soups or pureeing vegetables for quick food prep.
This blender delivers the same power of a Vitamix, if not more. It also comes with multiple cups and jar attachments so you can create personal smoothies or blend a bunch of drinks for your whole family. It’s also well-built and includes a five-year limited warranty.
Pros:
- 1800-watt motor
- Multiple cups and attachments
- Heavy-duty machine designed for commercial use
- Includes 5-year limited warranty
Cons:
- Quite large
Verdict:
The Cleanblend does a fantastic job of blending smoothies. It delivers a rich, creamy finish whether you are creating frozen fruit smoothies or vegetable drinks as well. There are several speed settings too. However, it can be challenging to take apart.
Conclusion – Which is the Best Blender for Frozen Fruit
While we love all of the blenders on this list for different reasons, there is one clear winner to us in terms of quality, price, power, and capabilities. The Vitamix Professional 750 is the best full-size blender option, followed by the Ninja Professional Countertop for a good budget option.
The Vitamix 750 has all of the power that you want in a frozen smoothie blender, and its multiple power settings allow you to create almost anything with a touch of a button.
As a runner-up, the Ninja Professional Countertop creates personal-sized smoothies and offers a great value to those who want a morning smoothie to go with no fuss.