Immersion blenders, also known as hand blenders or stick blenders, are the unsung heroes of the kitchen. These skinny devices combine the power of a full-sized blender, the portability of a hand mixer, and the convenience of a food processor into one versatile package, making them perfect for those with limited storage space—and those who just really love to cook. Trust us, they’re good for more than butternut squash soup.

Our favorite immersion blender, the Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender (available at Amazon for $119.95), handled everything we threw at it with ease, thanks to its well-designed blender head and versatile accessories. While we think Breville is the best fit for most people, shoppers who prefer to spend less should consider the Braun Multiquick Hand Blender, (available at Home Depot) a capable runner-up.

Reading: Best hand blender for soup

To find out which immersion blenders are capable of whipping up anything without making a mess, we tested 13 of the best on their abilities, also taking into account their accessories, build quality, speed, noise level, and how easy they were to use and clean. After a week of making pesto, whipped cream, soup, and more with all the contenders, we knew exactly which products deserved our badge. An immersion blender may just become your new favorite kitchen appliance.

Here are the best immersion blenders we tested, ranked in order.

Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender
Braun Multiquick Hand Blender
GE Immersion Blender
All-Clad Stainless Steel Immersion Blender
Hamilton Beach Hand Blender
Braun 4-in-1 Immersion Blender
OXA Smart 2-in-1 Hand Blender
Chefman 12-Speed Immersion Blender
Mueller Austria Ultra-Stick Hand Blender
Vitamix Immersion Blender
KitchenAid 3-Speed Hand Blender
Chefman 2-Speed Immersion Blender
KitchenAid 2-Speed Hand Blender

The Breville immersion blender is our best overall pick.

We love the rippled blending head on the Braun MultiQuick 5 MQ505.

Table of Contents

How We Tested Immersion Blenders

I first used each blender to make whipped cream, mayo, and pesto, which proved to be the most challenging.

The Testers

Hi, I’m Madison, the Kitchen & Cooking editor. The immersion blender might be my single favorite small kitchen appliance because of its versatility and portability. I use mine for everything from smoothies to soups and sauces, and I love that I can easily disassemble it when I’m finished and pop it in a drawer.

Hi, I’m Cassidy, former Reviewed kitchen editor who also happens to be a recent college grad, meaning I live in an apartment with a ton of roommates and have little space (or money) to spare. That’s why multi-purpose tools like immersion blenders are wildly appealing to me—they’re easy to store, relatively cheap, and pack a punch where it matters.

Since immersion blenders have such a wide range of capabilities—from homemade mayo to personal smoothies—we developed a series of tests to evaluate them on as many skills as possible, including chopping, whipping, emulsifying, pureeing, and good old-fashioned blending.

The Tests

First, we tasked all 14 blenders with making three main foods: whipped cream, mayonnaise, and pesto. For each of these tests, we used the proper blender attachments—whisk for whipped cream, food processor for pesto—when available. We took into account the time and effort required to achieve the desired results, as well as how heavy the blenders felt in our hands, how difficult they were to clean, and how happy we were with the final products.

The blenders with deeper blending heads often trapped sticky foods, which had to be removed with a spoon.

After these tests were completed, we combined their results with the blenders’ “subjective” scores (things like appearance, build quality, and how much we enjoyed using them) to come up with an initial ranking. The four highest-ranking blenders from this list moved onto the final round of testing, which consisted of preparing a green smoothie and a pot of butternut squash soup. Then, after the final tests were completed, the winners were rightfully crowned.

While some were clearly more powerful than others thanks to their higher wattage and larger size, we found that bigger didn’t always mean better—these blenders were usually louder, heavier, and more difficult to use. To us, the ideal immersion blender balances power with agility—blending or pureeing soup shouldn’t feel like taking a trip to the gym.

What Is An Immersion Blender Used For?

Immersion blenders can be used to make so many different things, it would be easier to list the tasks they can’t achieve (e.g. toasting bread, deboning fish, cleaning your sink) than the ones they can. But they’re especially great at substituting full-sized blenders in small-batch recipes without moving ingredients from the pot or bowl they’re already in. This makes pureeing soups, sauces, and dressings in a multi-step recipe even easier (with fewer dishes to wash).

Personal Blender, Immersion Blender, or Full-Sized Blender?

While this ranking focuses on the best immersion blenders, there’s also your personal blenders and regular, full-sized blenders to consider. If you’re not already a kitchenware connoisseur, you’re probably wondering, “Why are there so many types of blenders? Are they actually that different? Do I need to own every single one?!”

The answer to that last question is no, you don’t necessarily need all three. When it comes down to it, they all use the same mechanics to blend, mix, and pulverize food and drinks into whatever form you choose—but choosing which blender for your kitchen will make life a lot easier.

Full-sized blenders are great for making icy cocktails, health smoothies, milkshakes, and other drinks for more than one person at a time. High-end models, like our favorites from Breville and Vitamix, can also be used to make soups, dips, nut butters, and other tricky foods. Most people have some kind of this blender sitting around their house, and they’re the ideal choice for larger households and people who like to entertain.

Personal blenders, however, are ideal for individuals or couples who rarely need to blend a lot at once—they’ve exploded in popularity since everyone started juicing and making healthy smoothies for those post-gym vitamins. They’re easier to store, clean, and transport than full-sized blenders and their containers are ideal for on-the-go sipping. If you’re looking for a quick blending solution and don’t need to make a lot of anything at once, you can probably forgo a full-sized blender in favor of a personal one.

Immersion blenders are the odd-one-out, but they’re incredibly useful—and more versatile than the rest. Also called hand blenders, their wand construction and lack of fixed blending containers make them portable, simple, and perfect for hot liquids or foods. They often come with food processor and whipping attachments that make them true multi-use tools.

If you enjoy cooking but aren’t trying to feed a family or outfit a full kitchen, an immersion blender can help you cover all your blending bases without taking up too much room.

The blenders with food processor attachments were best for making pesto and other dips.