11 Summer Meals You Can Make With A Blender Besides Frozen Margaritas

I honestly don't know how I would survive without my blender.

In addition to your standard smoothie, I make just about everything in my blender from soups and salad dressings to nut butter and oat flour. If there's the remote possibility of blending something, I've probably tried it at one point or another.

To be clear, you don't need a fancy-shmancy blender either. After my Magic Bullet fell apart, NutriBullet kindly sent me one of their $20 personal blender kits and it works like a charm. (I swear this isn't an ad; I just read "The Secret," put my love for blenders into the universe and look where it got me: paradise.)

If you have a blender gathering dust on your kitchen counter, it's time to step up your game and put that baby to work. Here are my favorite blender recipes that'll get you from breakfast to dinner (and you can't forget about dessert).

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Remember how I said I use my blender to make oat flour? All you have to do is add some bananas, eggs and yogurt to those oats and you've got muffin batter ready to pop in the oven. Well Plated has a great recipe that couldn't be simpler.

Quiche

If you prefer a more savory breakfast, why not whip up a quiche? Blend some eggs, biscuit mix, salt, garlic and milk to pour over a layer of veggies, and BOOM you have a quiche. Here's the full how-to.

Salsa

The great thing about blender salsa is that it's super easy to make and tastes better than hours spent chopping tomatoes. The Kitchn's recipe is where it's at.

Pesto

I love, love, love making pesto in a blender. Within minutes, it's ready to coat pasta, slather on potatoes, drizzle over avocado toast or be guzzled by the gallon. It's really good on just about anything. You can make any pesto recipe in a blender but I like this vegan one by Vegan Miam.

Cauliflower Rice

If you've ever attempted to make cauliflower rice by chopping it up into tiny pieces, you know that goes south real fast. Keep things simple (and significantly less messy) by throwing your veggies in a blender. Use the cauli-rice in place of regular rice for stir-fries and as a side dish. Dula Notes knows how it's done.

Tomato Gazpacho

Gazpacho is great because it's basically just a soup you don't have to slave over the stove to make. Bonnie Rush's recipe for tomato gazpacho is a true winner.

Fondue

Fondue is coming back in a big way -- trust me. It's easy to make and good for dinner party situations or date nights at home. Vitamix has a good recipe, though you can use any blender to make it.

Holy Crêpes

Sticking with the French theme, you can mix up a crêpe batter quickly and easily before cooking a thin layer in a hot pan. Depending on what you fill them with, you can make your crêpes sweet or savory. Click on the Instagram pic above for the full recipe.

Brownies à la Blender

Using ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, you can whip up some brownies in no time. Running With Spoons has you covered.

Banana "Nice" Cream

Banana "nice" cream is my all-time favorite blender hack. All you have to do is blend up some frozen banana slices with a splash of your favorite milk for a sweet treat that's honestly better than regular ice cream. You can add peanut butter, chocolate, nuts, Nutella, candy or all of the above to really deck it out.

Watermelon Slushies

You need something to drink with all your blender foods, so why not sip on a delicious, frozen watermelon juice? I make this all the time using half frozen and half fresh watermelon chunks with the juice from half a lemon and one whole lime. Add some water if you're having trouble getting it started. It's easily the most refreshing summer drink on the planet.

P.S. You can also make this a frozen margarita by adding tequila. Go ahead, I won't judge.