Last Updated on October 30, 2022 by Claire
How to blend food without a blender? No doubt, having a blender as one of your kitchen tools is essential for making your cooking or other blending activities in the kitchen much easier. But what happens if you do not have a blender, yet you desire that finely made smoothie, or a tomato puree?
Some common kitchen utensils can perform the duty of a blender and give you desired results. What is most important is to know the process to follow to achieve it. Not to worry, in this article, you will understand how to blend your food with no blender. Moreover, blending doesn’t have a significant negative impact on fiber, according to The Atlantic.
How to blend food without a blender
After a wide research, and combing through the Internet, we have come up with these options to help you achieve that finely blended food as that of a blender. Consider the options below if you don’t have a blender for your food:
1. Use Soft Foods
The number one factor in helping to get a perfect blend of food is getting soft ingredients. Better still, you can cook them to a soft texture before using any of the following kitchen tools.
In the case of making a smoothie, you need to purchase soft and ripe fruits to get the desired result of a blender. For instance, your type of smoothie may require that you use apple. But apples are usually hard, whether they are ripe or not. In this case, opting for soft fruits such as bananas may do just fine.
2. Use a chef’s knife
You cannot complete a blending process without using a chef’s knife. It is not only sharp but also strong enough to withstand pressure and cut through hard foods such as raw beef.
This knife is handy for cutting your food into tiny pieces to ease the blending process. Whether you want to cut fruits, and vegetables, or slice ingredients, the chef’s knife is the best tool for this purpose. You should place your foods on a hard countertop for better results and to avoid sustaining injury.
3. Use a box grater
It is called a box grater due to its shape. This firm-looking grater, slices, shreds, cuts, and blends your food just the way you want. It has sharp blades designed in different shapes on its four sides to help you achieve your desired result.
The rubber at the base is to keep it firmly on the work surface while you work. It is safe to use and can be easily washed after use. If you want to blend your food without using a blender, this grater has to be part of your equipment to help you achieve a smooth finish.
4. Rolling pin
Consider using a rolling pin to blend your food as an alternative to a blender. Preferably, boil them to a soft texture first before putting them into a clean Ziploc bag for grinding. Roll the rolling pin back and forth on the Ziploc bag, which has your soft foods in it to attain a pureed state.
The rolling pin is ideal for cookies, nuts, biscuits, and the like. When you are done, your food would have been ground to a smooth texture.
5. Get a food mill
A food mill is a hand blender that purees your food just like an electric blender. Only in this case, you are blending it manually by using the hand crank. It has a perforated plate at the base of it that drains your food into that fine and smooth finish of an electric blender.
With a food mill, you can blend any soft food to a pulp. So, the next time you want to make smoothies or mash potatoes, a food mill is an excellent option to consider.
6. Pestle and mortar
This age-long tool is essential for getting your food into a pureed state. In the absence of a blender, a manual wooden pestle and mortar can help you achieve a fine blend. A little grinding or pounding effort is required from you, however. It is better to get soft foodstuffs such as fruits, vegetables, spices, or anything you want to blend.
This is so that you can have that perfect blended state just like that of an electric blender. There are different varieties of mortars in the market, so you can choose any preferred one.
7. Wooden spatula can blend
A hard wooden spatula can help you mash your food into a pureed state. Its rounded base could be used as the grinder for your smoothies, vegetables, purees, jam, or dip.
But first, you have to boil your food to a very soft texture before you begin to use a spatula to mash them. It is ideal for mashing your boiled potatoes, and other well-cooked and soft foods. You can sieve your food afterward, depending on what you intend to achieve.
8. Use a whisk
Aside from being used to beat eggs, a whisk could be used to beat and mix up your pureed foods to a fine and smooth texture. In cases such as making smoothies, the whisk can help you mix your fruits and blend them properly.
You can opt for an electric whisk if it’s available, otherwise use a manual whisk such as the one seen in the image below. They both serve the same purpose.
Sieve to blend
A sieve works similarly to a food mill. With a sieve, you have to use your hand to push your food through the perforation. This is to drain your food into a smooth blend.
The only difference between a sieve and a food mill is that the former requires you to use your hand to push your food through the perforation, while the latter requires you to work the crank to get the same result. Thus, we can say a sieve is a good substitute for a food mill for this purpose.
Store food in shaker cups
Your blended food is best stored in a tight cup such as a shaker cup. A jar with a tight lid is a piece of excellent storage equipment too; anything to prevent contamination. Putting it in the fridge to cool is a plus. Although some of your blended foods may not require refrigeration. So you are in the best position to determine which one should go in there or not.
Conclusion
Using any of or combining kitchen tools can help you achieve a blended food. However, you have to be a bit creative to achieve the texture you want. You could introduce a new technique to blend your food using your common kitchen utensils and still achieve what you want.
It all has to do with what texture you want and how you can combine these tools to get it. Good luck with your creativity.
