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Testing the Instant Pot Blender

By Hannah Crowley Published

Is cooking in your blender finally a reality?

the tests

  • Make fresh kale, frozen pineapple, and orange juice smoothies

  • Make crushed ice

  • Make cauliflower; carrot-ginger; tomato; and asparagus soups

  • Make Mayonnaise

  • Make Almond Butter

  • Make almond milk

  • Wash 10 times

  • Measure noise level with decibel meter

See the Chart > Instant Pot Ace Blender

Over the years, we’ve tested a lot of blenders, with quite a few of them promising to make hot soup and none keeping their promise. This is because they all relied on friction from their spinning blades to heat the food, and it wasn’t enough: They all delivered lukewarm soup at best. So we were intrigued when Instant Pot, the maker of the incredibly popular multicooker, launched the Instant Pot Ace Multi-Use Cooking & Beverage Blender ($99.00), a blender with a heating element built into the base.

To see how well it worked, we bought multiple copies and used them to make smoothies, mayonnaise, almond butter, crushed ice, and almond milk, as well as several soups that we made right in the blender jar, adding raw ingredients such as chunks of carrot, cauliflower florets, and asparagus stems.

The Ace couldn’t make almond butter; it wasn’t powerful enough. However, the Ace did everything else well, most notably the soups. It has two presets. After a preheating cycle (which takes anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the contents), one preset cooks the contents of the jar for 20 minutes before blending them into a chunky soup; the second preset cooks the jar’s contents for 22 minutes and 44 seconds before vigorously blending them into a smooth soup. The soups were all piping hot and easy to make.

The Ace Blender was able to successfully make piping hot soup from raw ingredients, a first in the blender world.

winning traits

  • Unique heating ability

  • Solid blending

See the Chart > Instant Pot Ace Blender

The blender jar is glass, which is a plus for those avoiding plastic but a downside for maneuverability: At 5.5 pounds, it was heavy to pour from. Also, you can’t submerge the jar in water because its electronics are located in the base, which makes cleaning a bit cumbersome. The recommended cleaning method is blending soap and water in the jar, but this doesn’t get the top clean, so you have to finish washing it by hand, taking care to keep the base dry.

For these reasons, we think that if you’re looking for a blender only to make smoothies, mixed drinks, and other typical blender recipes, we have better models to recommend to you. But if you’re interested in cooking in your blender, the Instant Pot Blender is an excellent option, truly the first of its kind.

Equipment Review Instant Pot Ace Blender

Is cooking in your blender finally a reality?

See the Chart

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JC
JOHN C.
16 days

Absolutely the best chicken ever, even the breast meat was moist! It's the only way I'll cook a whole chicken again. Simple, easy, quick, no mess - perfect every time. I've used both stainless steel and cast iron pans. great and easy technique for “roasted” chicken. I will say there were no pan juices, just fat in the skillet. Will add to the recipe rotation. Good for family and company dinners too. I've done this using a rimmed sheet pan instead of a skillet and put veggies and potatoes around the chicken for a one-pan meal. Broccoli gets nicely browned and yummy!

Absolutely the best chicken ever, even the breast meat was moist! It's the only way I'll cook a whole chicken again. Simple, easy, quick, no mess - perfect every time. I've used both stainless steel and cast iron pans. great and easy technique for “roasted” chicken. I will say there were no pan juices, just fat in the skillet. Will add to the recipe rotation. Good for family and company dinners too.

MD
MILES D.
JOHN C.
9 days

Amazed this recipe works out as well as it does. Would not have thought that the amount of time under the broiler would have produced a very juicy and favorable chicken with a very crispy crust. Used my 12" Lodge Cast Iron skillet (which can withstand 1000 degree temps to respond to those who wondered if it would work) and it turned out great. A "make again" as my family rates things. This is a great recipe, and I will definitely make it again. My butcher gladly butterflied the chicken for me, therefore I found it to be a fast and easy prep. I used my cast iron skillet- marvellous!

CM
CHARLES M.
11 days

John, wasn't it just amazing chicken? So much better than your typical oven baked chicken and on par if not better than gas or even charcoal grilled. It gets that smokey charcoal tasted and overnight koshering definitely helps, something I do when time permits. First-time I've pierced a whole chicken minus the times I make jerk chicken on the grill. Yup, the cast iron was not an issue.