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Can You Use an Immersion Blender in an Instant Pot?

By: Author Jeff Campbell

Posted on  - Last updated:

Categories Appliances

I love both my immersion blender and my Instant Pot. But since I sometimes like to use my Instant Pot to make soup, I’ve wondered can you use an immersion blender in an instant pot?

You can use an Immersion Blender in your Instant Pot. However, if the immersion blender has a stainless steel shaft & blade assembly, do not scrape it across the bottom of your Instant Pot stainless steel insert as it could scratch. Also, make sure to remove the steamer rack before using the immersion blender.

But there’s more to know about Instant Pots and how they may work together with immersion blenders. But we’ll also look at the new Instant Pot blenders and see if you even need an immersion blender.

So let’s dive in!

Also, make sure and check out my Best Fast and Slow Cookers Buyer’s Guide.

I take the guesswork & leg work out of researching kitchen equipment for you. I only list the best of the best, conveniently broken down by category, including pressure cookers.

These are items I own, have used, or in some instances just researched thoroughly so I know they are the highest-rated and will get you exactly what you need. Just click that link to see it on my site.

Does an immersion blender work in an Instant Pot?

The short answer is yes.

An immersion blender, of course, is a long-handled stick blender. It has a small blade on the end, but the blade is mostly covered by a surrounding shell.

The shell protects fingers from getting too close to the blade. But it also prevents splatter if you are running the immersion blender above the level of the food or liquid.

Full disclosure. It doesn’t fully prevent splatter, so use caution with your immersion blender.

Your Instant Pot is a pressure cooker with a stainless steel insert. Most Instant Pots come with a metal rack which is designed to sit in the bottom of your insert. Just make sure if you do decide to use an immersion blender in your Instant Pot that you do NOT have the metal rack in the bottom, or anything other than food and liquid.

Just immerse the immersion blender into the Instant Pot.  Then once the blade is submerged below the level of the food and/or liquid, gently begin to pulse the blade with the finger trigger on the immersion blender.

You can move the immersion blender around at different depths and angles to get your Instant Pot dish pureed to the amount you like.

One common concern people have about the Instant Pot is whether or not it’s true that they sometimes explode.

I recently dug into that topic in a recent article, and the results really surprised me; especially what I saw on Snopes!

Will an immersion blender scratch the bottom of my Instant Pot?

In short, it could, but not from the blade.

Most immersion blenders, or stick blenders as they are sometimes called, have a stainless steel shaft and blade assembly. Some, however, have a plastic shaft and housing around the blade. Those are far less likely to scratch your Instant Pot.

With the stainless steel ones, you’ll want to make sure and keep the bottom of the stick blender a little bit away from the bottom of your Instant Pot.

Because the blade is housed inside the blade housing, the blade itself can’t come into contact with the Instant Pot insert. But the housing, if it’s made of stainless steel (or any kind of metal) could definitely scratch the bottom of your Instant Pot insert.

So just use caution when moving your stick blender around the food in your Instant Pot.

DO move it around, pulsing as you go, at different angles and at different depths. Just avoid scraping it across the bottom of your Instant Pot insert, and you’ll be just fine.

While some immersion blenders do come with rubber feet on the bottom of the blade assembly, my favorite immersion blender is still the Kitchen Aid 2 speed hand blender (click to see current price on Amazon).

It features a removable blade/arm assembly for super-easy cleanup, is dishwasher safe, and comes with a 3-Cup BPA-Free blending jar for crushing ice, frothing milk, or chopping veggies.

Is an Instant Pot blender better than using an immersion blender with a regular Instant Pot?

An Instant Pot Ace is basically an Instant Pot and a blender all in one.

Ultimately as to whether the Instant Pot Ace Blender is better than using a regular Instant Pot and an immersion blender, I’d have to say no.

The Instant Pot Ace looks a lot like a regular blender, so right away, you know the capacity to hold food is a lot smaller than a regular Instant Pot.  Now if you just want soup for 2 people, the Instant Pot Ace might be just fine. But the capacity is just 7 cups.

By comparison, while there are a few different models of Instant Pot they typically start at 3 quarts (12 cups), and go as large as 8 quarts (32 cups).

It can, however, do a whole lot more than just soup, which I get into below.

But considering the Instant Pot Ace isn’t dishwasher safe and can’t be immersed in water due to the heating element, it lacks not only the large capacity but also the convenience. After all, stick blenders usually have a detachable shaft that is dishwasher safe, and the Instant Pot stainless steel insert pan is also dishwasher safe.

You also can’t adjust the temperature on the Instant Pot Ace, making it a lot less flexible than your Instant Pot/Immersion Blender combo.

Ultimately, I would rather have an Instant Pot and an Immersion Blender. But the convenience and flexibility are only a couple of the plusses of the Instant Pot.

I covered ALL the advantages and disadvantages of Instant Pots and other pressure cookers in a recent article. Take a look and see exactly what those are, especially some of the food items you should NEVER cook in an Instant Pot.

What does the instant pot blender do?

The Instant Pot Ace Blender is designed to blend AND cook all at the same time.

Just drop in your soup ingredients and blend away while cooking it simultaneously. In that regard, it’s great in that with 1 device you can crank out some heated soup that’s smooth and creamy.

But that’s not all it does.  You can also:

  • Make ice cream
  • Blend your own smoothies
  • Make your own alternative milk like almond, soy, etc.

So obviously it doesn’t just heat up.  It is not, however, a pressure cooker in the same way as an Instant Pot is. The Instant Pot Ace also takes about 10 minutes to get to the right temperature. So make sure and account for that in timing your soup.

Since it has a heating element in it, you can’t just throw it in the sink or dishwasher like you would a regular blender. Luckily, it comes with a cleaning function to help with that.

Lastly, since we’re not used to a blender being hot, just remember that the glass pitcher and the lid will be hot if you’re using it to heat. So use caution when grabbing any part of it

Final Thoughts

In this article, we took a quick look at the world of Instant Pots.

We explored whether or not you can use an immersion blender with yours, and if there is a danger of scratching the bottom of your Instant Pot with an immersion blender. We also looked at Instant Pot blenders to see if you even need an immersion blender if you have one of those.

Specifically, though, we answered the question of can you use an immersion blender in an instant pot, with the definitive answer of yes!

Do you use your Instant Pot to make soup?

Again, make sure and check out my Top 11 Recommended Small Kitchen Appliances Ultimate Guide.

I take all the headache out of kitchen shopping by only listing the best of the best, conveniently broken down by category, including pressure cookers like the Instant Pot.

These are items I either own, have used, or in some cases just researched thoroughly so I know they are the highest-rated and will get you exactly what you need.

As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases if you click to Amazon from my site and choose to make a purchase. You can read my complete affiliate disclosure for more details.

Jeff Campbell
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By Author Jeff Campbell

Posted on  - Last updated:

Categories Appliances