Best Immersion Blenders for Home Cooks (2026): 5 Stick Blenders That Actually Blend

Braun MultiQuick 7 — Smoothest blends, least splatter, no drama

The blending bell actually reduces suction instead of fighting you, so soup gets silky in seconds without redecorating your backsplash. It is the one I use without thinking about it.

Braun MultiQuick 7: The One That Just Works (~$150)

Most immersion blenders have one job and do it about 80% well. The Braun is the first one I used where the last 20% actually showed up. The trick is the bell-shaped guard at the bottom: instead of clamping onto the floor of your pot and forcing you to fight the suction (and wear the splatter), it lets liquid circulate so the blades keep pulling food in. You end up with genuinely smooth soup instead of smooth-with-a-few-stubborn-chunks.

The variable-speed trigger is the other thing I’d miss if it were gone. Ease into it for a gentle start so you don’t launch hot broth at your ceiling, then squeeze all the way for full power on fibrous stuff like celery, kale stems, or roasted carrots. It comes as a 3-in-1 with a chopper bowl and a whisk, and unlike a lot of “bonus” attachments, the chopper is genuinely useful for onions, nuts, and quick salsas.

Downsides? It is not cheap, and the motor body is a little chunky in a small hand. But it is quieter than you’d expect for the power, everything but the motor goes in the dishwasher, and I have never once thought “I wish I’d bought a different one.” That is worth $150 to me.

Usually $130–160 · Look for the MQ7035X 3-in-1 set; the version with the chopper and whisk is the one worth having.

Breville Control Grip: The Anti-Suction Nerd Favorite (~$130)

If the Braun edged it out for me, the Breville is the one the recipe-testing crowd has sworn by for over a decade, and I get why. Its whole identity is the bell guard, which is designed so it does not vacuum-lock to the bottom of the pot. In practice that means you can actually move the blender around the pot instead of prying it up every ten seconds, and less hot soup comes flying up the shaft.

It also has a smarter grip than most: the trigger sits under your fingers so you squeeze naturally, and there are 15 speeds if you like dialing things in. It runs quieter than the competition too, which matters more than you’d think at 6 a.m. or with a sleeping kid down the hall.

The catch is that it is a touch less powerful on paper than the Braun, and the tall body makes it slightly awkward in a short jar. But for smooth soups, emulsified dressings, and controlled work where you don’t want a splatter bomb, it is fantastic. Honestly, Braun vs. Breville here is a coin flip; buy whichever is cheaper the day you’re shopping.

Usually $120–140 · The chopper-and-whisk bundle exists but the base BSB510XL is all most people need.

KitchenAid Variable Speed Corded: The Smart Money Pick (~$60)

If you don’t want to spend triple digits but you’re done with junk, this is where I’d point you. The KitchenAid does maybe 90% of what the Braun and Breville do for roughly half the price. The variable-speed trigger is genuinely intuitive, the four-point blade chews through soup and smoothies without complaint, and the 8-inch arm pops off with a twist for cleaning.

It also comes in about a dozen colors, which is either irrelevant or the whole reason you buy it, depending on your kitchen. I will not judge. Build quality feels a step above the bargain-bin stuff, and it has the KitchenAid name behind it if warranty matters to you.

Where it gives ground: it does not have a fancy anti-suction bell, so you will get a little more suck-down and splatter than the two above, and it slows on the really tough, fibrous loads. For weeknight soups, sauces, and shakes, though, you will not feel like you settled.

Usually $50–70 · The plain blender is the value buy; add-on attachment sets cost more and most people skip them.

Mueller Ultra-Stick: The $30 Gateway Drug (~$30)

Not everyone needs to spend real money to find out if they even like using one of these. That is exactly what the Mueller is for. It is the everywhere-on-Amazon budget stick blender, it costs about what two lunches out do, and it will absolutely make you a smooth pot of soup or a morning smoothie.

You get a 500-watt motor, a handful of speeds plus a turbo button, and a whisk, frother, and beaker in the box. For light-duty stuff it punches above its price, and if you’re outfitting a first apartment or just testing the waters, it is a smart, low-risk buy.

Be honest with yourself about the limits, though. Load it with big chunks of raw fruit or fibrous vegetables and it bogs down; you’ll want to pre-chop and work in smaller batches. The plastic feels like $30 of plastic. But as a starter or a backup, it earns its keep and then some.

Usually $25–35 · Pre-cut tough ingredients into small pieces and it’ll keep up just fine.

KitchenAid Go Cordless: Cut the Cord for Big Pots (~$100)

The cord is the one annoyance every corded immersion blender shares: you’re always working around it, and if your only outlet is across the kitchen, you’re stretching a live wire over the stove. The KitchenAid Go solves that with a removable 12-volt battery that shares a charger with the rest of KitchenAid’s cordless line, so if you already own their cordless stuff, one battery runs everything.

It is rated for about 30 minutes of continuous run time, which is far more than any single cooking session needs, and the variable trigger works just like the corded version. Being able to walk a tall stockpot to the counter and blend without hunting for an outlet is genuinely freeing, especially if you cook big batches or can tomatoes in late summer.

The tradeoffs are the usual cordless ones: it costs more than the corded KitchenAid for similar blending power, and you have to keep the battery charged. If you’re the type who forgets to charge things, a corded model will never let you down. But for outlet-poor kitchens and big-pot cooking, the freedom is worth it.

Usually $90–120 · Get the “battery included” version (KHBRV71) unless you already own a compatible KitchenAid Go battery.

👋 The Practical Move

Stop batch-ladling hot soup into a countertop blender. Get one good stick blender, keep it in a drawer near the stove, and you’ll use it way more than you expect. Start with the Braun and you won’t be shopping for another one.

Start with the Braun MultiQuick 7 →