Can You Put Ice In A Nutribullet? Let's Find Out

Mini blenders like the NutriBullet are great for making the perfect smoothie. In fact, the NutriBullet is one of the most popular personal-sized blenders on the market. They are designed to be quick and efficient in blending soft and hard ingredients into the smoothest consistency.

Though smaller than the average industrial blender, they yield quite a lot of power. But just how powerful are they? A bigger question is, can you put ice in a NutriBullet? As effective as they are in creating a delicious fruity mix, is it capable of crushing a hard ingredient such as ice? Read on to get the answers to these questions.

Overview of Nutribullet

NutriBullet has an enviable history as one of the leading innovators of personal, single-serve blenders that caters to millions of customers worldwide. Designed to cut prep time while making nutritious drinks, the NutriBullet is easy to use, easy to clean, and comes with a powerful blade that can crush fruits and vegetables in mere seconds.

In comparison, industrial countertop blenders are far more versatile capable of pulverizing more diverse foods. They can crush anything into any consistency due to their variable speed and power settings, unlike the NutriBullet which comes with only one speed setting. Countertop blenders have specific controls for crushing ice because they are specially designed to take on that job.

What Does NutriBullet Say About Crushing Ice?

The company says NutriBullet blades are not designed for crushing dry ice. In other words, this gadget is not intended to crush ice without any liquid. The general guide is that you can add frozen ingredients, but you will only get a smooth consistency when you add a good amount of liquid to the container.

Read More: How to make crushed ice

The fact is, the NutriBullet is not an ice crusher and was not made for that purpose. Yes, it is capable of crushing ice, but that is not what it is intended for. The user manual warns that the blender is not intended to crush ice without adding liquid to the container. In other words, do not use this as a dry ice crusher.

If you insist on using it to crush ice, don’t be surprised if it loses its functionality quickly.

What Will Happen If I Crush Dry Ice In My NutriBullet?

First of all, don’t. Do not subject this mini blender to an ice-crush durability test. If you insist on taking the risk, then be prepared for anything. Using only blocks of ice, you will find it does not do a good job of getting the vortex going. As a result, the blades may become jammed. And even if the vortex gets going, the blades might be pressured to work overtime to crush the ice and before you know it, they start to overheat. You do not want this and you will most likely notice a burning smell.

So, Can You Put Ice In A NutriBullet?

So now you know that you cannot crush ice in a NutriBullet with no other ingredients. The blades are not designed to work without liquid, and even if you fill it with soft fruit it will still have a hard time mixing the ingredients and pulling them toward the blade.

However, if you like an ice-cold smoothie in the morning then you will be pleased to know that you can put ice in a NutriBullet. You just have to ensure that there is enough liquid base (such as water, milk, coconut water, etc,) so that the ingredients are fully covered.

When there is enough liquid in the NutriBullet, you can add a few ice cubes to make it colder, and the blades will have no problem blending the ice cubes. I personally don’t add ice cubes to my smoothies as I feel like it dilutes the taste. I like to add frozen fruit instead which gives the same coldness as ice cubes without losing any of the flavor.

Can The Magic Bullet Crush Ice?

When it comes to crushing ice in a NutriBullet, the power of the motor is just as important as the blades. You can have the sharpest blades in the world but if the motor is not powerful enough, then the blender will struggle.

The Magic Bullet, Magic Bullet Mini, and the Baby Bullet are budget models from NutriBullet and they all have a motor that is under 300 watts. They are not as powerful as the Full-sized NutriBullets, but they still have the power to crush ice. Even if you add a few ice cubes to your liquid base, you will still find that these models are powerful enough to blend the ice.

The original NutriBullet, or the NutriBullet 600, has a 600-watt motor. This model is powerful enough to add a few ice cubes to your smoothie, but again you must ensure there is liquid covering all of the ingredients. This model is not as powerful as the newer NutriBullets, so if you regularly blend ice cubes into your smoothie you may need to replace the blades more frequently.

The NutriBullet Pro 900, NutriBullet Prime 1000, NutriBullet Rx, and the NutriBullet Select all have much more powerful motors and will easily blend ice cubes when added to your smoothie. Even though they have more powerful motors, they still can’t blend ice on its own due to the way the blades are designed. Liquid has to be added to the smoothie along with the ice cubes.

Read More: Can a Vitamix Crush Ice?

Can The NutriBullet Countertop Blenders Crush Ice?

All of the blenders above are personal blenders and they are what we usually picture when we think of NutriBullet. NutriBullet now has a range of countertop blenders that look a lot more like conventional blenders. Some of these models include the NutriBullet Blender, the NutriBullet Blender Combo, and the NutriBullet Smart Touch Blender.

When I heard about this new range of blenders I thought to myself ‘Great, I can finally crush ice in my NutriBullet!’. Sadly, this is not the case. Unlike Vitamix, Ninja, and Blendtec countertop blenders, the NutriBullet countertop blenders cannot crush dry ice. You still have to add liquid to the blender if you are adding ice cubes to protect the blades and motor.

How To Make A Cold Drink With Your NutriBullet

It’s a hot summer day and you and the kids are really in need of a refreshingly cold beverage to cool down. Here are a few tips to get the best out of your NutriBullet blender:

Use no more than 3-4 cubes of ice in addition to your other ingredients to make a refreshingly cold beverage. Of course, do not forget to add liquid and make sure the ice is less than 25% of your total ingredients.
Use small ice cubes with your other ingredients instead of larger ones. Larger cubes are harder to blend, even when you add water to the mix. For a better-quality blend, I suggest using only small ice blocks.
Cut up your fresh fruits and freeze them for later use. When you are ready, add the frozen fruits along with the liquid into the NutriBullet container, and in seconds you will have a tasty chilled beverage to awaken your taste buds.
Do not overfill the container with the ice and ingredients. This can lead to jamming of the blades because there is no space for the contents to move around in the container. It is also probably a good idea to add the ice at the top or middle of your ingredients. Adding it to the bottom could see your blades working harder than necessary to break the ice into chunks to get to the rest of the ingredients. An overworked machine is destined to become damaged, so be careful.
Pulse and shake in between blending. Hold down the container for a few seconds then take a break before going again. This will ease the pressure off the blades when blending with ice. Also, every now and again, you can take the container off and give it a little shake to move the ice around so the chunks can blend more efficiently.

Can You Put Ice In A NutriBullet: Final Thoughts

The NutriBullet is a nifty gadget best suited for making you a nutritious and healthy mix packed with your favorite fruits and veggies. The blades are specifically designed to handle these ingredients, but not powerful enough to handle ice-crushing.

The reality is that crushing ice without any liquid added to the container can cause irreparable damage to the blades. Due to the lack of friction, the blades can get jammed, or even worse it is possible for the motor to break. Blocks of dry ice without any liquid to help smooth out the process will see your NutriBullet struggling.

For effective mixing, a base liquid must be added along with no more than 3-4 small cubes of ice and other ingredients. You must also ensure the ice is less than 25% of the overall ingredients in the NutriBullet container.