Ninja BN801 Review: Blender and Food Processor

Making drinks, dips and other foods at home gives you a clear ingredient list and a choice of texture. A blender or food processor helps with the work between the prepared ingredients and the finished food: blending a drink, chopping moist vegetables or combining a dough.

I use the Ninja BN801 Professional Plus Kitchen System for blending and food processing. It is also the blender I use when a homemade nut-milk recipe needs its own blending and straining method. My Almond Cow separates the pulp inside its filter basket; the Ninja gives me a blender route for recipes that need a different method.

The useful part of the BN801 is the combination of a pitcher, a food-processor bowl and personal blending cups on one motor base. It is worth considering if you want both drinks and ordinary food preparation from the same system. The containers still need room in the cupboard, and changing from one task to another includes unloading, changing parts and cleaning them.^[1][2]

See the Ninja BN801 Kitchen System in my Amazon storefront. The linked style is the grey Kitchen System with a pitcher, processor bowl and two personal cups.

Three Containers, Different Jobs

Choose the container for the food and the result you need. A larger vessel is useful for a larger compatible batch; it does not mean that every ingredient or processing method belongs in it.

Those are different kinds of capacity. The pitcher holds up to 64 ounces of liquid even though its total capacity is 72 ounces, and a cup’s nominal size is not a promise of that much finished drink. Leave the measured recipe intact and work within the actual vessel’s marked limit.^[1][3][4]

The processor also has two different blades. Its chopping blade and Dough Blade do different work. The manufacturer’s examples use the chopping setup for moist vegetables and meat, while the Dough Blade combines dough ingredients. Ninja describes the dough function as forming a dough ball, with any further kneading done by hand.^[1][2]

What the Controls Do

The base detects the container you have fitted and lights the programs available for that container. The pitcher has Smoothie and Ice Crush; the personal cup also has Extract; the processor has Chop and Dough. A button available with one vessel is not necessarily available with another.^[1]

Auto-iQ programs include both blending and pauses. Those pauses let ingredients settle toward the blades. Wait for the program to finish, or press the active program button again to stop it early. Pulse gives you shorter bursts under your control, which is useful when you want to stop while visible pieces remain instead of continuing toward a puree.^[1]

A Pitcher Batch From Start to Finish

For a recipe suited to the pitcher, this is the work around the blending cycle:

1. Start with the base on a clean, dry, level surface. Keep it switched off and unplugged while assembling the parts.
2. Place the pitcher on the base and turn it clockwise until it locks. Holding the stacked blade by the top of its shaft, place it onto the drive gear inside the pitcher.
3. Add the recipe’s prepared ingredients, keeping below the MAX LIQUID line. Do not load hot liquids.
4. Align the triangle on the lid with the triangle on the handle, then lower the handle until the lid clicks shut. Plug in the base, switch it on and choose an illuminated program suited to the recipe.
5. Wait until the blades have completely stopped, then switch off and unplug the base before removing the pitcher. For a thin mixture, keep the lid locked and pour through the spout. For a thick mixture that needs the lid removed, lift out the loose blade assembly by its shaft before emptying the pitcher.

The blade is removable, not fixed to the bottom of the pitcher. That last handling step matters when you pour or scrape out a thick mixture.^[1][2]

Keep the base switched off and unplugged while assembling the other containers, too. Lock the processor bowl onto the base, install the blade before adding food and keep below MAX FILL. Lock its lid before connecting power and starting a program. After the blades stop, switch off and unplug the base before disassembly. Lift the chopping blade out by the top of its shaft before emptying the bowl.

For a personal cup, add ingredients below MAX LIQUID and screw the matching Pro Extractor assembly on tightly, handling it by the outer rim of its base. Invert the cup and lock it onto the motor base before connecting power and starting the program. When blending has stopped, switch off and unplug the base, then remove the cup and unscrew the blade assembly. Use the spout lid if you are keeping the drink in the cup.^[1]

Blending Is Different From Juicing

The Extract button blends whole produce, including its fibrous parts. It does not separate juice from pulp. The BN801 is also a countertop system, not an immersion blender you put into a pot.^[1]

That distinction matters in my GAPS kitchen. My family’s daily GAPS milkshake starts with fresh-pressed vegetable juice. Blending whole vegetables changes that preparation. My Ninja JC151 juicer review explains the separate juicing job; the blender comes into a recipe when its actual method calls for blending.

Hot Soup and Dry Flour Need Another Method

Ninja’s manual rules out hot-liquid blending. Its cooked-dip example is cooled to room temperature before blending and then reheated. For a cooked mixture, plan for the cooling and transfer that the complete recipe and appliance instructions require. Do not blend straight from a simmering pot in this system.^[1][2]

The manual also excludes dry processing and grinding with the named pitcher/stacked-blade, cup/Pro Extractor and processor/chopping-blade combinations. I would not choose this model to mill dry nuts into flour. That is a different task from chopping moist food or combining dough ingredients with the separate Dough Blade. For example, its quick-start guide shows moist vegetable chopping separately from dough mixing.^[1][2]

Keep the recipe’s preparation and proportions when choosing equipment. Adding water to make a dry flour-grinding task behave like a drink would produce a different ingredient, not the flour the recipe called for.

Materials, Cleaning and Storage

The food-contact materials are worth considering alongside the functions. Ninja lists plastic for the compatible pitcher and Tritan plastic for the compatible personal cups. A grey or stainless-looking exterior does not make those vessels glass or stainless steel.^[3][4]

In the kitchenware guidance in Gut and Physiology Syndrome, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride recommends materials including glass, stainless steel and enamel and advises avoiding plastic. This Ninja is the appliance I use; its plastic vessels remain a limitation for someone choosing a strictly nonplastic food-contact setup.^[5]

For cleaning, switch off and unplug the base, then separate the containers, lids and blade assemblies. Wash the food-contact parts in warm, soapy water, using a handled washing utensil around the sharp blades, then rinse and air-dry them. Ninja also permits the attachments in the dishwasher and directs placing the containers, lids and blade assemblies on the top rack, with the blades removed from the containers.^[1]

Wipe the unplugged motor base with a damp cloth and keep it out of water. Remove the Pro Extractor blade assembly after blending; use the cup’s matching spout lid for storing a drink. Store the other blade assemblies in or attached to their matching containers with the lids secured, as the guide directs. The complete system needs storage for those separate parts as well as for its base.^[1]

Who the BN801 Suits

I would consider this system for someone who wants to prepare more drinks and everyday foods from their own ingredients and needs both blending and food processing. The useful combination is a pitcher for compatible liquid mixtures, cups for smaller drinks and a processor for chopping or dough mixing. That range can make one motor base useful across several recipes, with the separate containers and cleanup to plan for.

If your main aim is filtered homemade milk with the straining step inside the machine, read my Almond Cow review as well. If you need separated fresh juice, read the juicer review. For the BN801, I would make the decision around its compatible blending and processing jobs, usable fill limits, food-contact materials and the space for the whole set.

Take a closer look at the Ninja BN801 Kitchen System in my Amazon storefront.

Recipes and More Kitchen Help

Rich Homemade Coconut Milk for Full GAPS is a separate blender recipe with its own boiling, cooling, blending and straining steps. Follow those quantities and directions rather than substituting an appliance program for the food preparation.

My Drinks Cookbook and Dairy-Free GAPS Cookbook are listed in the WFLI Shop. For the other tools I use, see my GAPS Kitchen Equipment guide.

References

1. SharkNinja. BN800 Series Professional Plus Kitchen System Owner’s Guide. BN801 applicability; parts, operating conditions, container methods, cleaning and storage. Accessed October 21, 2026.
2. SharkNinja. BN800 Series Quick Start Guide. Container setup, programs, care and complete manufacturer food examples. Accessed October 21, 2026.
3. SharkNinja. 72-Ounce Total Crushing Pitcher and Lid, 678KKU800. BN801 compatibility, total and maximum liquid capacities, and plastic construction. Accessed October 21, 2026.
4. SharkNinja. 24-Ounce Tritan Nutri Ninja Cup, 483KKU486. BN801 compatibility and material. Accessed October 21, 2026.
5. Campbell-McBride, Natasha. Gut and Physiology Syndrome. 2020. “What We Shall Eat and Why, With Some Recipes,” opening kitchenware guidance.