What’s the point in buying a blender if it can’t crush ice? You’ll be left making shakes or smoothies with fresh fruit–not frozen!
And if you are inters ted in buying small personal blender that can handle single serve smoothies and ice, then it’s even more important that you do your research.
What I’ve done here is compile a list of the best small sized personal blenders for ice. I’m also going to give a brief review of each blender and highlight the pro’s and con’s of each one.
If you want the TL,DR vertion, and just want my picks for the best personal blenders for crushing ice, then here they are:
Why Buy A Personal Blender For Crushing Ice?
The simple reason for buying a personal blender for crushing ice is that you make smoothies with ice or frozen drinks and need to crush ice, but you don’t need to make a lot!
If you buy a big blender then you are going to have some difficulty making a single size frozen fruit smoothie or other frozen drinks.
Personal blenders are perfect for making a single smoothie or shake. There will be no excess or waste.
Also, let’s not forget that when you are making a crushed ice drink for yourself, you don’t need a huge blender. They only take up space. So, a personal blender is a space saver.
If you’re planning on making things like frozen drinks, then you need to get a blender that will handle crushing ice. While it’s true that most blenders will work (I would not recceomend immersion blenders, even though they are great) you should spend some time reviewngs things like cost efficenty, space (a smaller blender for a smaller space) and how loud the blender is (some blenders are designed to be quiet, not loud).
Important Features For A Small Blender That Crushes Ice
Before I get into my picks for which blenders I recommend, I wanted to discuss what different features you need to look for. While all blenders essentially function similarly, a personal blender will require a bit more research when making the best choice.
Small blenders, especially personal sized blenders, sometimes are cheap and made with inferior quality production and parts.
So I’ve outlined the important features you want to review before buying a personal blender for crushing ice.
Make It Personal: Size Matters For Personal Blenders
The first thing to review when buying a blender is size. While this might seem obvious, many people overlook it.
A personal size blender is ideal for when you are making drinks for yourself and need to crush ice. A shaker bottle might work fine with protein powder, but when you have to crush ice, you need a blender.
It is important to note that size does not equal power! There are small, personal sized blenders that are more powerful than bigger blenders! And vice versa.
Size is important because you don’t need to waste counter space or make excess frozen drinks when you’re crushing ice for a single serving.
Ice Isn’t Easy on Blender Blades- So Choose Quality
The next thing you want to do is investigate the quality of the blender. Low quality blenders are sadly not strong enough to crush ice. You’ll end up jamming up the blades and having to use a wooden spatula or something to get the ice out
Or, worse, the blenders motor will begin to malfunction. And when that happens, it doesn’t matter how much money you saved by buying a cheap blender…you’ll be stuck with a broken blender and in need of a replacement.
So it’s important to make sure you choose a blender with a strong motor and strong blending blades. My go to options remain Ninja, Vitamix, and BlendTec. If you’re looking for a good entry level blender the Vitamix might be out of your budget, but a Ninja is a great affordable option.
Price Point and Warranty
Finally, check the prices and warranty. Not everyone has the same budget, and you don’t want to fall in love with a blender just to find out it’s too expensive!
And make sure that you have reviewed the manufacturer’s warranty. You don’t want to get home and find that it’s not warrantied for more than like a week.
Best Personal Blenders For Crushing Ice: My Picks!
The Ninja Compact Personal Blender (Click Here For More Reviews)
The Ninja is going to be my first choice when it comes to personal sized blenders that can crush ice. First, Ninja is a great brand that puts out a quality product. I am a big fan of their blenders because, for the money, they are some of the best affordable blenders around.
It’s a powerful little blender. 1100 watts of power to be specific. That’s enough power to blend up frozen fruit as well as crush ice.
In addition to a strong motor, the blender also is designed to be dishwasher safe and is made of all BPA free parts.
The Ninja comes with a good warranty. But take note that there are issues when it comes to the blending container. That’s something that is not covered under most blender warranties. You see this come up a lot when people write in emails about having to replace a blending container. So make sure to read the fine print on the warrenty on Amazon.
NutriBullet High Speed Blender- Click Here To View
The NutriBullet is another big name in personal blenders. They made a name for themselves pioneering single serve smoothies and smaller blenders.
I used a NutriBullet for years. It was a great blender for making personal sized smoothies. It handled crushing ice really well, and you could also blend up greens if you wanted to make a green smoothie.
The great thing about this particular personal blender is that you get so many extras! It comes with blending jars,take away smoothie containers, lids, and a whole bunch of extra accessories. So, if you are looking to make a frozen fruit smoothie and bring it to work, then you’ve got the carrying container on hand!
All told, it is a serious small sized blender that will handle all of your blending needs.
The Magic Bullet Personal Blender (Click Here To View on Amazon)
This one’s super cheap, but well made!
The Magic Bullet is like the NutriBullet in that it’s designed and marketed to people who want a single serve blender.
I had a Magic Bullet for years. A friend who was not into blending got one as a gift and gave it to me. And it was such a great little blender. It worked day in and day out for years!
Not only did the Magic Bullet handle frozen fruit and crush ice, it also worked really well at making fresh fruit smoothies and even green smoothies.
Like the NutriBullet, you get a lot of extras in the way of blending jars and carry lids.
Personally, this is my pick for anyone on a budget who wants a blender that will crush ice. But…it’s not the best for making green smoothies with kale. I had to use microgreens when blending. Regular kale or other leafy greens didn’t blend up as well because it’s got less power than some of the other blenders on the list
The Hamilton Beach Personal Blender-Entry Level Option For Crushing Ice
Check out more reviews on this blender on Amazon here.
This is not a top of the line blender, but if you are on a budget and don’t have the money to spend on a personal blender from a brand such as Vitamix,NutriMix,or Ninja…then you could do worse than the Hamilton Beach personal travel blender
It has a 175 Watt motor. While that is not strong enough to handle leafy greens and make green smoothies, in my opinion, it is certainly good enough to handle crushing ice cubes.
In fact, the images used in the promotional heavily feature ice and fruit, which suggests that these blenders are in fact designed to handle crushing ice and fruit.
This is not a battery operated blender, so be warned. It’s a great travel blender in that it’s small and you can pack it up with you, but you will need to plug it in.
Ninja Personal Blender / Food Processor Combo
Get it here on Amazon & Read Other Customer Reviews
This is a small blender combo food processor from Ninja. It is an attempt to combine the best of both machines.
Benefits of Crushing Ice with Smoothies
Before we wrap up our discussion on blenders and crushing ice, I wanted to briefly go over some of the reasons that I like to add ice to smoothies.
Some points will be obvious, some might be new to you.
- Crushing Ice Makes Smoothies Taste Better
The number one reason I like to crush ice with my blender is that it makes smoothies taste better. A warm smoothie isn’t a good tasting smoothie. End of story!
- Ice Helps with Fat Loss
This reason is a bit more scientific. There have been several studies which show that when you ingest ice, athletic performance and fat burning improves. So, I like the fact that adding ice to a pre-workout smoothie will help and is safer than some of those wacky “pre workout” supplements that stores like GNC sell. Ice is only water,after all.
If oyu’re looking for a good blender to crush ice, then you should read my overview. I covered a whole variety of blenders including the best personal blender for crushing ice.
- Helps With Mixed Drinks
While mos tof the content that I have is in the “healthy” space, there are times when you’re looking to make things like Coquito ( a egg nog type drink popular in Puerto Rico) and Pina Coloda, and many other adult beverages. Things like frozen daiquiris and other cool drinks need blenders. You can’t make a frozen margarita, for instance, without a good blender. You can put alcohol in a blender, just so you know. It’s perfectly fine.
Hi Everyone!
Jenny O’Brien here. Nutritionist & personal trainer. Just your average vegetarian and smoothie fanatic!
If you have any questions, or you’d like me to cover a particular topic, drop me a line and let me know!
Thanks!