NutriBullet Ultra Plus Review: A 3-in-1 for Small Kitchens

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Overview

Three small appliances usually means three boxes in the cupboard and three plugs on the counter. The NutriBullet Ultra Plus gets by with one 1200-watt motor base that takes whichever attachment the job needs: a grinder for coffee beans and whole spices, a bowl that chops, slices and shreds, or two cups for smoothies.

On Amazon.ca, the Ultra Plus is the gunmetal version (model NB50550) under the same listing number as in the US, sold by a third-party seller rather than by Amazon.ca itself as of November 2026. It is the same system on the same 1200-watt Ultra base, so the blending, prep and grinding results below apply to it; what changes for Canadian buyers is how its price sits against the rivals.

Key Specifications

NutriBullet Ultra Plus Blending Performance

For everyday smoothies, the blender does the job in one press. Fruit, yogurt and liquid came out smooth and drinkable after a single 30-second auto cycle in the hands-on tests, with little more than a few flecks of berry skin left. RTINGS, which tested the standard Ultra (the same motor base and blades, without the extra attachments), found it blends fibrous ingredients very smoothly and expects the Ultra Plus to perform similarly.

Ice and hard-frozen fruit are where it needs help. NutriBullet’s user guide says plainly that the Ultra Plus is not meant to be an ice crusher and should always have enough liquid, and RTINGS lists “Can’t crush ice on its own” among the Ultra’s cons. Homes & Gardens’ team, by contrast, praised the standard Ultra’s ice crushing, but on the Plus its own protein shake with a handful of ice still took two cycles, even with the ice put in first. Tom’s Guide switched to pulse for clumps of frozen berries and still had to step in to break up large lumps. Frozen drinks are possible; they just take pulsing, a little more liquid and some patience.

It is loud on hard jobs in the hands-on tests. Tom’s Guide measured a peak of 85 dB, lower than the 92 dB it recorded from NutriBullet’s Pro 900 but well above the 77 dB of Ninja’s Blast Max. Homes & Gardens found grinding Parmesan especially loud. RTINGS, which tested the standard Ultra, found it not that loud for a personal blender, though it names the Beast Mighty 850 among models that run significantly quieter.

Food Processor and Grinder Attachments

The processor bowl is the part most owners will use beyond smoothies, and it handles wet, soft jobs well. Tom’s Guide made a pesto it was happy with, and its hummus needed only one scrape-down; it loosened the texture by pouring extra liquid through the feed chute. NutriBullet’s user guide says to pour liquid through the chute only with the motor off and the blades stopped. AOL’s tester got silky hummus from it and used it to work cold butter into flour for scones. Homes & Gardens chopped a whole onion finely in about 55 seconds of holding the manual button, less even than knife work but fine for sauces and soups.

Slicing results were split. Homes & Gardens got clean, even carrot slices from the reversible disc, while Tom’s Guide’s soft cucumber came out as a few slices and a lot of mush, and its cheddar shreds were short. On that evidence, firm vegetables suit the disc better than soft ones.

The bowl holds two cups, which testers agree suits a household of one or two; Homes & Gardens suggests a larger family may want a full-size processor.

The grinder is a genuine bonus rather than an afterthought. Homes & Gardens ground a mix of coriander, cumin and cardamom in one 30-second round. For coffee, Tom’s Guide reached a fine grind quickly with short pulses and could watch the texture through the clear top. Hard cheese is the exception: Homes & Gardens found one cycle wasn’t enough for Parmesan, and the second left it warm and clumped rather than fluffy.

Cleaning, Storage and Everyday Use

Cleanup is mostly easy. The blade unscrews from the cup, so there is no fixed blade at the bottom of a jar to scrub around, and the cups, processor bowl, blades and disc are top-rack dishwasher safe. The exceptions are the processor’s base and blade adapter, which NutriBullet says to wash by hand; it also warns against the bottom rack and the heat or sanitize cycle. The motor base only needs a wipe, and its touch controls sit flush, so food has nowhere to collect.

Storage is the main catch in the two full reviews. Homes & Gardens counted 14 pieces in total, including a very sharp chopping blade, and was told no storage case was available at the time of its October 2025 review. NutriBullet’s guide says to store the chopping blade and disc inside the processor bowl with its lid on, which keeps the sharpest parts covered. The base itself stays put on the counter: suction feet hold it steady during heavy jobs. The cord is about 75 cm (29.5 inches) long. Tom’s Guide counts its length as a drawback, so plan for an outlet close by.

How Does It Stack Up Against the Competition?

Here it is against a full-size Ninja system that also blends and processes, and NutriBullet’s simpler Pro 900 for people who only need smoothies.

NutriBullet Ultra Plus: Worth It When Counter Space Is Tight

If your kitchen has room for one appliance and you want smoothies, quick chopping and freshly ground spices or coffee from it, this is the one to buy, though the Canadian price changes what you are paying for. In November 2026 Amazon.ca lists it at $238.99 CAD. As of November 2026 that is about what the full-size Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System in the table costs in Canada, so here the NutriBullet’s case rests on its small footprint and its grinder rather than on costing less. Homes & Gardens’ tester, whose Brooklyn kitchen has little counter space, called it perfect for apartment dwellers and smaller kitchens, and that is exactly the buyer it makes sense for at this price.

Look elsewhere in three cases. Cooking for a family is better served by the Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System, whose 1.9 L (8-cup) bowl, large pitcher and ice-crush program handle the batch sizes the NutriBullet’s small bowl can’t. If smoothies are all you make, Tom’s Guide points to the Pro 900, a simpler blender with no attachments to store. And if noise matters more than versatility, the Beast Mighty 850, which RTINGS names as significantly quieter, is worth a look.

GuideBest Small Kitchen Appliances of 2026: Our Top 3 PicksRead the Guide →

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Sarah MitchellSenior Editor 𝕏 Ⓟ in

Sarah has spent more than a few decades — she's not saying how many — in home design, with a sharp eye for products that deliver real quality without the inflated price tag. Her passion is finding the hidden gem that makes everyday life genuinely better.

How this was made: Built from the 10 sources listed above, including Tom's Guide, Homes & Gardens and RTINGS. AI drafts written to our editorial research and citation standards, then checked claim by claim against those sources by a separate AI fact-checker. We haven’t tested this product ourselves. How we review →