Explore the range of techniques at your fingertips with a Vitamix blender, starting with easy how-tos, and progressing to more advanced methods. You’ll be amazed at the diverse array of recipes you can prepare in a Vitamix machine, and how much better dishes can taste when made fresh at home, instead of store-bought. Regardless of your comfort level in the kitchen, Vitamix has an array of blender recipes to fit your palette and your culinary skills.
Level 1: Smoothies
The best introduction to your Vitamix blender is through a simple, fruit-based smoothie recipe like the three-ingredient Basic Fruit Smoothie. Next, move on to a fruit-and-veg combo like our Going Green Smoothie, which calls for green grapes as well as fresh spinach leaves.
After you’ve mastered a few tried-and-true recipes, have fun experimenting on your own with a few tips in mind. Nut milks, fruits like bananas, pineapple and berries, and mild baby greens like spinach are all excellent beginner ingredients. But be sure to add them to the container in the right order for easy processing: add liquids first, then soft fresh fruits and greens, and lastly ice or frozen ingredients.
Level 2: Salad Dressings
Once you see how fast you can blitz together your own dressings in the Vitamix blender (we’re talking as few as 20 seconds), you may never return to store-bought again. Start with a simple Avocado Ranch Dressing that calls for all the ingredients to be added to the container before blending. Then, graduate to recipes like Balsamic Citrus Dressing and Raspberry Vinaigrette, which instruct you to emulsify the dressing by adding oil in a slow, steady stream through the lid plug opening with the motor running.
Level 3: Soups
Begin with an easy recipe like Pumpkin Soup. Simply add all the ingredients to the container and blend to achieve a velvety hot soup that’s ready to serve straight from the container. Then, graduate to more advanced recipes like Cuban Bean and Potato Soup, which builds depth of flavor by calling for vegetables to be sautéed in a pan, then deglazed, before getting blended and topped with a quartet of delicious textured garnishes.
Level 4: Frozen Desserts
You might be surprised to learn that you can make frozen treats like ice creams, popsicles and sorbets in the Vitamix, too. These recipes still come together quickly (most require just 30-60 seconds of blending), but they’re more advanced since you’ll use the tamper to press ingredients toward the blades. Don’t be intimidated by this step: the tamper won’t touch the blades when the lid is secured.
Level 5: Nut Butters
First, whip up a batch of single-ingredient Peanut Butter. (Keep your tamper handy – since there’s no liquid in the recipe, the nuts may need a little help making their way to the bottom of the container.) Then try your hand at Mixed Nut Butter or varieties like almond, cashew, pecan, or macadamia. To make Almond Butter, add a few tablespoons of canola or coconut oil to ensure a smooth texture.
Level 6: Doughs
Compared to kneading by hand, the process of making a yeast dough in your Vitamix machine is a cinch. Our recipe for Thin Crust Pizza Dough calls for just four ingredients you likely already have in your pantry – flour, yeast, salt and olive oil – plus hot water. An advanced recipe, it does require several steps, but it still takes just 25 minutes total to make the dough, let it rise and bake the pizza…which may inspire you to throw away those pizza delivery menus for good.
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