Green smoothies are a great way to increase your fruit and vegetable intake. And unlike green juices which strip out all the fibre, green smoothies leave all the good stuff in your glass so you're getting the most out of what you put in.
A smoothie should be exactly that: a smooth concoction that lets you gulp down as many fruits and vegies in one go as you can.
But if you've ever made your own green smoothie, you're probably well aware of what happens when you use a sub-standard blender. No-one wants a smoothie they have to chew through – it pretty much defeats the purpose of having your two-and-five in liquid form.
Some smoothie ingredients like kale, hard fruits and other fibrous vegetables can really put a strain on your blender – and some of them just aren't up to the task.
So unless you want to just stick to soft ingredients, you'll need a blender that can turn a bunch of crunchy kale into a silky liquid – and preferably without making you lose your hearing in the process.
Unless you want to just stick to soft ingredients, you'll need a blender that can turn a bunch of crunchy kale into a silky liquid
For the price of some blenders on the market, you could shout yourself a weekend at a health retreat. How can you tell which ones are worth the money? Our kitchen experts whizzed, blitzed, pureed and crushed their way through 37 blenders to give you all the info on how well they work.
Here are our tips for choosing a blender for making great green smoothies. Plus, for CHOICE members only, we'll reveal the blenders that received the top scores for green smoothies and processing kale.
If you're not yet a member, join CHOICE to get instant access to all of our expert, independent reviews.
On this page:
- How we test blenders for green smoothies
- How to choose a good blender for smoothie making
- Which are the best blenders for making green smoothies?
How we test blenders for green smoothies
To assess how well a blender handles making a green smoothie, our expert testers process fruit and vegetables in each blender and assess the quality, texture and mouthfeel of the smoothie.
Then our testers blend kale with a small amount of water and assess how evenly the material is blended by putting it through a fine sieve.
We also conduct a range of performance tests, including blending soft food and crushing ice. Some blenders have different functions and capabilities, so we might also test how well they:
- Chop carrots
- Make nut butter
- Make sorbet
- Blend and heat raw vegetable soup
- Make pizza dough
- Dry mill nuts
- Blitz parmesan cheese
And we take into account how easy each blender is to use, including how easy they are to clean, assemble and disassemble.
How to choose a good blender for smoothie making
Versatility
While our experts might have given a particular blender perfect scores for green smoothies and blending kale, just remember that that's not all there is to it: you'll also want a blender that's easy to use, easy to clean, and versatile.
A good high-performance blender that will whip up perfect green smoothies every time is great, but if you can use it for a range of tasks in the kitchen, it'll be much easier to justify the expense!
Price
High-performance blenders don't come cheap: the cheapest we tested was $250, with the most expensive coming in at an eye-watering $1699. Some of the more expensive models really live up to their price tags, but it is possible to buy a decent high-performance blender without spending four figures.
When you're investing so much in an appliance, you'll want to make sure you're getting it right, so check all of the information in our reviews before deciding which blender you want to buy.
High-performance blenders don't come cheap: the most expensive we tested comes in at an eye-watering $1699
Personal blenders can be more affordable. The models we've tested range in price from $55 to $230. Interestingly, in the past, one of the cheapest personal blenders we tested scored very well, outperforming more expensive models. But some more expensive models also performed well, so it's not exactly black and white.
And then there are standard blenders, which have a bigger capacity than personal blenders, but not quite the same power as high-performance blenders. These can cost as little as $30, but some of the more expensive ones run into the hundreds of dollars. But they can be good all-round kitchen appliances, so if you're not sure whether you'll stick with the green smoothies, you can always put these to use for other kitchen tasks.
Cost-benefit analysis
If this is your first time on the green smoothie train, be careful not to get too carried away. Yes, that $1000 blender may look the business and smash out the smoothest smoothies you've ever tasted – but if you're not going to keep up with your smoothie drinking, that's a lot of money to spend.
It might be a better idea to start with a less expensive model, or even with a good-quality standard or personal blender that's more affordable, until you know exactly how committed you are to the green smoothie lifestyle.
If this is your first time on the green smoothie train, be careful not to get too carried away
And then if slogging your way through lumpy green smoothies for months hasn't put you off them, maybe it's time to upgrade to something that will do the job properly.
Either way, be honest with yourself about how often and for how long you'll realistically be making green smoothies so you can settle on the best combination of cost and performance for your needs.
Which are the best blenders for making green smoothies?
We recommend blenders that earn a CHOICE Expert Rating of 80% or more.
But we also give scores for green smoothie-making and blending kale – two measures that are important if you want a machine that's up to the task of making green smoothies on a regular basis.
Only CHOICE members can access our detailed blenders testing data.
If you're not yet a member, join CHOICE to get instant access to all of our expert, independent reviews.
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