I write this post after spending a few days researching the best personal blender that can crush ice perfectly. As someone who likes their smoothies and shakes icy cold, my older blender was not very good with crushing ice. It was time for an upgrade.
When looking for a new blender, I knew there are two things I needed:
- I needed a blender that will crush ice and blend it well with my drinks.
- I also wanted a blender that has personal size cups.
Here’s how my search went and what I chose eventually (and highly recommend).
What To Look For When Buying a Blender For Ice Crushing:
As a rule, first thing you’ll want is a high-power blender. Anything of 1000-watts and higher will perform best at crushing ice as well as creating smoother drinks with no lumps. Most personal blenders come with a motor power of 300watts to 600watts, which could possibly handle ice crushing or frozen/hard ingredients, but will not last over time.
The design of the blades also plays a big role in how your drinks will turn out. You’ll want high quality, stainless steel blades with proper design to handle ice as well as tough ingredients.
Included accessories will vary from one blender model to another. Personal blenders will mostly include cups of various sizes. These are good for frozen drinks, smoothies, juices, and small cooking tasks like chopping. However, if you’d ever need to make drinks in larger patches, it is recommended that you get a blender that has both full pitcher as well as personal cups.
Which Personal Blender is Best For Frozen Drinks, Ice Crushing and Smoothies?
- ULTIMATE POWER: 1000-peak-watt motor powers through the toughest ingredients and pulverizes ice to snow in seconds for creamy frozen drinks, smoothies, sauces, and more
- 2 VERSATILE PROGRAMS: 2 Auto-iQ preset programs are uniquely timed for smoothies & crushed ice - remove the guesswork with easy one-touch results.
- NUTRIENT EXTRACTION: Unlock hidden nutrition from whole fruits and veggies. Extract a drink containing vitamins and nutrients from fruits and vegetables. By blending whole fruits and vegetables including portions that are usually discarded.
- FROZEN BLENDING: Crush ice and pulverize frozen ingredients for resort- like frozen drinks, smoothies, frozen treats, and more.
- ON-THE-GO CONVENIENCE: Blend directly in the 24-oz. single-serve cup, attach the spout lid, and enjoy your creations on the go.
If your pick is a personal blender, then you’ll love Ninja’s Nutri Pro with Auto iQ. With a 1100-watts power motor, this blender will power through any type of ingredient you add to it.
Auto-iQ, which is Ninja’s pre-set programs delivers the power and time for each program to give you the best results. This blender has two preset programs: Crush and Smoothie. Each of these can create anything from frozen drinks, smoothies, liquefying whole fruits and making homemade dips and dressings. If you don’t want to use the presets, you’ll find two manual options and a timer to help you time your recipes.
The blender includes two 24 oz cups with spout lids that allow you to take your drinks on the go. In case you need more cups, additional ones can be purchased separately and they’re available in other sizes, too.
This type of blender is great for making one-person drinks, either to take on the go or enjoy on the spot. It’s a small appliance so it won’t take up a lot of counter space. It is a lot more convenient than using a larger blender, and it’s easier to clean. However, if you plan on using your blender to entertain (make larger patches of frozen drinks) or for cooking purposes, a blender with larger pitcher would be more convenient to you (if you don’t already have one).
Nutri Ninja Personal and Countertop Blender – For a Full Pitcher + Personal Cups
- PROFESSIONAL POWER: 1200-watt motor powers through the toughest ingredients and pulverizes ice to snow in seconds for creamy frozen drinks, smoothies, sauces, and more.
- TOTAL CRUSHING: The rustproof Pro Extractor Blades break down whole fruits, vegetables, ice and seeds for maximum nutrient & vitamin extraction, blending entire fruits and vegetables & minimizing nutrients that go to waste.
- AUTO-IQ TECHNOLOGY: Take the guesswork out of drink making with intelligent programs that combine unique timed pulsing, blending, and pausing patterns that do the work for you.
- XL CAPACITY: The 72 oz Total Crushing Pitcher is great for making large batches for the whole family. (64 oz max liquid capacity).
- ON-THE-GO CONVENIENCE: Choose from 3 sizes of single-serve cups (18 oz, 24 oz, and 32 oz.) with spout lids to make it easy to take delicious nutrient-rich smoothies on the go.
This is the blender that I opted for, personally. This model includes a full pitcher as well as three personal cups of various sizes.
The motor of this blender has 1500-watts power, so it’s even more power. For the pre-set Auto iQ programs, you’ll find 3 auto programs to choose from. You’ll also find 5 manual programs.
The 72oz pitcher comes with Ninja’s total ice crushing blade, which has a total of three blades vertically positioned to easily crush ice or other tough ingredients.
The included cups are sizes 18, 24 and 32 oz. They are great for a variety of things, wither you are making drinks or prepping food.
Two things to keep in mind though:
- The base of this blender is significantly larger than the personal blender. If you have limited countertop space, this could be an issue.
- If you’re on a budget, this one is also quite expensive in comparison to a personal blender. So you really have to think about what you need most out of your blender, so you don’t over pay for something that you would not use.
Please note that in the video above, it’s not the exact model I mention, but they do have the same pitcher and same ice crushing blade so you’ll get an exact idea of how it works.