“I couldn’t believe that I had made a healthy, quick dinner in under five minutes – start to finish.”
We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales from the links on this page.
So, Google throws up almost 4.5 million results for "Pinterest Vitamix recipes".
If you're someone that doesn't know a lot about kitchen gadgets, it might sound bonkers for a blender to be so popular.
What's unusual about the Vitamix is that the heat generated by the blades can actually *cook* foods – so you can make a pasta sauce from scratch in the blender, or a soup – and serve direct from the jug.
Because of this heating element, "Blender soups" are a huge sub-category on Pinterest.
And this Taco Soup recipe from Blender Happy is known as a ~ conversion recipe ~ ie – one that makes people go 'woah, I'm going to buy this blender!'
The author writes: "In fact, I know personally a couple of people that purchased their Vitamix after seeing this recipe made. Being able to enjoy fresh soup to your own specific tastes is a huge selling feature."
The most important thing is to add items in the right order – so I began by putting carrots, tomatoes, celery and stock in the blender, then turning it onto the "soup" setting for five minutes.
I'd also recommend having everything measured out and to hand – unlike when you're making a regular soup, you don't have time to do bits and bobs while the stock reduces (for example).
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
It's souper (sorry!) noisy, and really powerful – play this video to hear it go.
Once the soup base was cooked, I threw in a can of beans and some corn, then pulsed once or twice to give it some texture. (There's no need to blend it though, if you like a chunky soup!)
The end result was easy as pie and so so delicious.
I couldn't believe that I had made a healthy, quick dinner in under five minutes – start to finish. This tasted so good, had no oil, and loads of fibre. If I had a busy home, or needed to cater for lots of people, I could see this being a lifesaver.
This was absolutely delicious, and I'm giving it 5/5 rating.
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
Next I tried to make some homemade Peanut Butter.
Homemade nut butter has hundreds of pins on Pinterest including this one from Amy's Healthy Baking. A big advantage to having a powerful blender is that you could also easily make nut or oat flour at home too.
I decided to try the peanut butter recipe that came with the blender – and chose cashew nuts and almonds. The success of the taco soup had me chasing a powerful blender high.
Although I used the quantities given by the blender cookbook, this took ages to get smooth, as the nuts kept sliding up the sides of the jug. I followed the advice and pushed them down with the tamper, but I wasn't really getting anywhere – so cut my losses after 10 minutes of pulsing.
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
The end result was a little grainy, but super-spreadable. I'd recommend adding in some oil – or really upping your quantities.
I'm willing to admit that if I'd used an oilier nut (like peanuts, rather than almonds), this might have turned out better, so I'm giving it a 3/5.
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
I wanted to see how the blender would hold up for more textured recipes, and happened upon this recipe for falafel.
I often make falaffel from a packet mix – or I use my stick blender at home to mush up tinned chickpeas – so the idea of being able to make super-smooth falaffel at home was super-appealing.
Things did not go to plan.
So, I realised that directions for a "blender" were not the same as those for a "2L Vitamix". The proportions were way off – the mixture was really really dry, and kept getting stuck in the blades. I tried everything: I pushed the mixture down, I blended it more, I stirred it. Nothing was working.
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
So, I added a small amount of water (in retrospect I should have just doubled the ingredients), and accidentally made a falaffel smoothie.
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
I tried to salvage it, but even after 20 minutes of cooking it was An Absolute Disaster.
No matter how I cooked this mush, it stayed wet. 0/5
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
A recipe that I kept seeing on Pinterest was Blender Guacamole.
So inspired by my beloved Antoni from Queer Eye, I said "yes to life! yes to guac!" and tried out this recipe by Baker Mama.
I love the taste of coriander, but hate chewing the stalks – so making an initial paste with onion, garlic and coriander appealed to me.
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
The mixture didn't go as paste-like as I wanted, but I figured that with the creamy avocado blended, it would all mush together better.
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
But it tasted pretty good – there was a strong flavour base and it was perfect for dipping.
The end result? The guacamole was smoother than I would normally make – if I were making it again I would keep half the avocado back to chop roughly and stir through. 3/5
Ailbhe Malone/ BuzzFeed
– OK, this blender is expensive, it's almost £500. But's very very easy to clean, and comes with excellent customer service – think of it like a Kitchenaid. The Vitamix rep who lent me the machine for this piece tells me that some people have their blenders for over ten years.
– This blender is also powerful enough that I can see it being useful for anyone who has food intolerences – you can easily make your own oat flour, or cashew milk etc. It seems particularly good if you're vegan or considering going vegan.
– Overall this blender isn't right for my lifestyle – I seldomly cook for more than two people at a time, and counter space is at a premium in my home. But if you're someone who has chronic pain issues (for example), then it's a quicker, easier way to make a swift meal than a slow cooker (it's cool to say 'make a chilli! but that involves planning a meal 12 hours in advance). If you're also catering for a large group regularly, then it's a solid investment.
via BuzzFeed/Food
