7 Great Reasons to Buy a Hand Blender
If you are looking for a versatile, easy-to-clean, small device that will make your cooking much easier, an immersion hand blender may be the one for you.
This handheld stick blender with a single rotary blade can be used to emulsify, purée, blend, or whip ingredients, and it’s fast too! Save time and energy with a handy immersion blender that makes every day recipes like sauces and smoothies easy tasks when you are in a rush. Your standard blender and food processor will be envious.
The main advantage of having a hand blender is that it makes meal-prepping for the week a simpler task, keeping you from having to drag out (and later, clean up) your bulkier appliances to get the job done. Here are 7 of our favorite recipes to use a hand blender:
1. Whipped Cream
Finish off your morning parfait or evening dessert with a fresh dab of whipped cream. Whipping in a tall container will allow the blade to incorporate the air more efficiently into the mixture. If you have caster sugar lying around, adding one little scoop and some vanilla extract will give your whipped cream a sweet twist.
2. Milkshakes and Smoothies
Start your day with a healthy smoothie or treat yourself after dinner with a delicious milkshake: the hand blender can do both! However, this appliance can only make one or two beverages at a time, so it’s best when you only need to make one milkshake or smoothie for yourself.
3. Mayo
Skip the shelf-stable fake mayo at the supermarket, and try making the real thing at home. Mayo is an emulsification of egg yolks and oil, and these ingredients don’t bind together easily, so an immersion blender is amazingly useful. The key to a smooth mayonnaise is adding the oil as slowly and constantly as possible!
4. Tomato Sauce
Simmer your tomatoes to a soft texture and use the hand blender to purée them into a thick sauce. Toss in a handful of freshly chopped aromatic plant, add meatballs, or use the smooth sauce for some homemade lasagna. Freeze the leftovers, and pull them out on a busy weeknight for some pasta and dinner is solved!
5. Soup
Roasted squash or cauliflower turns into soft, rich soups easily with a whirl of the hand blender and some warm broth or water. Pro tip: add some roasted garlic cloves or onions and blend it all together.
6. Pesto
Leave your bulky food processor on the shelf, and use your hand blender to make pesto sauce in no time. Spread it on a sandwich, have it with pasta or chicken, or use it on pizza. You can use any nut for this recipe: pecans, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, or any nut you have on hand.
7. Hollandaise Sauce
Hollandaise sauce is a complex recipe. You may break the sauce or accidentally cook the eggs. Don’t be intimidated, you can do this. Beat the eggs, lemon juice, and water with the hand blender and gradually add melted butter into the egg mixture. The slow pouring helps the butter emulsify with the eggs, with no scrambling, for a smooth and smooth sauce. Once you learn this simple trick, you can make restaurant-style eggs benedict at home with no difficulty.
