Yes, this blender will make Muscle Milk protein shakes with crushed ice like a champ. This hand blender is an exceptional buy for its performance and features at a cost of under 14 bucks. Two blending speeds, a detachable blade stem for easy cleaning and a nice graduated clear plastic tumbler, perfect for making shakes or smoothies. This blender works flawlessly for those purposes if you use crushed ice - not whole cubes.My old hand blender from 1992 finally died and I wanted a new one just for the purpose of making protein shakes. I was concerned that the product details for this model stated "not for crushing ice", but it was the same size and power rating as my old one that had worked for 25 years. For the price, the Betty Crocker was worth the chance, because it was cheaper than the lowest cost hand blender for sale at my local Walmart.If you are looking for a hand blender for making protein shakes, just buy this one. You won't be disappointed. The crushed ice dispenser on my refrigerator spits out small to medium sized chunks (larger than the bagged crushed ice at the grocery store) and this blender handles them with no problems. I wouldn't try whole cubes though, as the bell that surrounds the blade is thin plastic and could possibly crack if a large cube got jammed into it. Don't worry about the one minute use warning either. One minute of use on full power is more than enough time to fully blend a smoothie or protein shake. The instructions advise that after one minute of use on full power, give one minute of rest. Typically, you are going to pulse blend a smoothie or shake, so you shouldn't find the need to run this blender for a full minute at high power anyway. If you want this blender for making soups or sauces, check other reviews, but I would expect that it will do a fine job for that purpose too.The best feature besides its performance is the fact that the blending wand detaches from the power unit for cleaning - that's awesome!I have used this for a couple of months now, and it works like a champ. I am confident that it will be reliable for many years.