Do You Need a Blender to Make Smoothies?

Is it absolutely necessary to use a blender to make a smoothie? Or can you make do with something else?

That’s what I’m setting out to answer in this blog post. I want to briefly go over some of the big questions (namely if it’s essential to use a blender) and also cover some of the related questions that sometimes come up (like if you can use a blender bottle or a food processor to make a smoothie).

Do You Need A Blender To Make A Smoothie?

Let’s address this one first off. Yes, I’m going to come out and say it. You do need a blender in order to make a smoothie.

Any blog posts or video guides that suggest otherwise are basically nonsense. They are created as clickbait for people looking for a work around. They don’t work.

It’s the same as with juicing. You need a juicer to make juice. You can’t use a blender as a juicer.

The reason that you need a blender to make a smoothie comes down to just what a smoothie is.

A smoothie isn’t a juice, the pulp and fiber is not separated and removed. It’s completely different than a juicer.

A smoothie isn’t a protein shake (though a smoothie can have protein in it). So you can’t make a smoothie in a blender bottle (though you can transfer the smoothie to a blender bottle to drink it).

A smoothie is made of fruits or vegetables (if you’re a serious smoothie enthusiast) along with a liquid, ice and other ingredients (nuts, protein powder, etc…).  And you can’t blend up fruit or ice in a blender bottle.

You could use a food processor, but that would be a messy task and if you’re planning on making smoothies on a regular basis, it is worth it to buy a blender.

So, as a wrap up, yes you need a blender to make a smoothie.

What Kind Of Blender Do You Need To Make A Smoothie?

So, here’s where it gets a little more helpful. You need a blender, ok, got it. What kind of blender do you need?

As a rule, most blender will work for making smoothies. The main thing you want to focus on is:

Size of The Blender Jar

Power

The smaller the blender jar, the smaller the smoothie you are going to have to make. Duh.

But really, when you’re planning on making a smoothie it makes sense to consider how much smoothie you’ll make on a regular basis. If you’re not planning on making a large amount of smoothie, then you only have to get something like a bullet blender. If you are planning on making multiple smoothies for several people, then I would suggest that you get a jar blender.

Power is another consideration. If you’re only going to be making smoothies with fruit or protein powder, then it’s not an issue. However, if you are planning on making green smoothies or any sort of smoothies with nuts, then I’d make sure to get a powerful blender. (I’ve got a whole write up on the best blenders for green smoothies here).

Do You Need A Special Blender to Make Smoothies?

As I mentioned, sort of. You will either need a bullet blender or a jar blender. I don’t advise that you use a stick blender.

Any hand blender is going to be lacking in design when it comes to smoothies. There are plenty of ways that you can use a stick blender (I wrote a blog post that covers 10 cool things you can do with a hand blender).

But yes, as a rule you’re going to need a special blender. One that has a container (so, sorry, no stick or hand blenders will work) and also one that’s powerful enough to blend up what you need blended.

But do you need a special blender? That word is kind of loaded. What exactly is a special blender? Is that some sort of magic blender that only makes smoothies? No, you just need a strong blender capable of blending up fruits and, if you want, vegetables.

Can You Use A Hand Blender To Make Smoothies

You can but I would suggest that you don’t do it. It doesn’t matter if the salesperson in BJs or Costco claims you can use a hand blender to make a smoothie….they are salesman!

Do not believe the salesmen that you see in Costco or BJs or any other of those big box stores. They are there to sell you on something, not inform you.

A hand mixer is a great tool, but it’s not something that you can use to make a smoothie. The reason is that a smoothie requires a closed container. If you use a hand mixer, you’re by default using an open container.

Hand mixers work best with making soups, or making milkshakes (vegan milkshakes count as well). They are even good for making things like cold processed soaps.

Can You use a Mixer Instead of a Blender to Make Smoothie

Yes, but again this is going to be something that causes a mess. It’s not an ideal use of a mixer. When you look at a Cuisinart food processor or a food mixer (which is what a lot of people call it) they are technically capable of blending up a smoothie, but they are not really ideal.

The problem with a food processor is that it’s wide. Look at a food processor vs a blender. The blender is tall and narrow. This creates an issue when it comes to making a smoothie. When you’re making a smoothie, you will want to blend the ingredients in a tall and narrow container. That allows the blending blade to process and blend with the most efficiency.

If you were to blend it in a food processor, you would have to use a lot more liquid because of the way the container is designed.

Additionally, the blade in a food processor is more designed for chopping and processing food and not blending. If you were to look at a blender blade and a food processor blade, they are two different designs.

Can You Make A Smoothie in a Blender Bottle

No, you can’t. A blender bottle is designed to hold a smoothie after it’s been made. But because a blender bottle doesn’t have blades, it can’t make a smoothie.

There are two main uses for a blender bottle.

1. Protein Shakes- You add protein and water/milk and shake it up and you have your protien shake (this is why you often see people refer to blender bottles as shaker bottles.
2. Holding an already made smoothie- Once the smoothie has been made in a blender, then you can transfer it to a blender bottle. They make transporting the smoothie much easier.

As a final thought, if you’re going to be making a smoothie and storing it in your fridge, I suggest that you use glass.

While a blender bottle that is made from plastic (BPA free plastics) is ok for a short duration, I don’t advocate for it if you’re using the container as a storage holder. Anything held overnight should be in glass. I cover this in more detail and also give some good glass blender bottle recommendations in a prior article that discussed storing smoothies in the fridge.