diff --git a/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/map/main.py b/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/map/main.py
index 8c055c8c..e19007ca 100644
--- a/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/map/main.py
+++ b/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/map/main.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 from blendsql.ingredients.ingredient import MapIngredient
 from blendsql._program import Program
 from blendsql import generate
+from blendsql._exceptions import IngredientException
 
 
 class MapProgram(Program):
@@ -157,6 +158,10 @@ def run(
         Returns:
             Iterable[Any] containing the output of the Model for each value.
         """
+        if model is None:
+            raise IngredientException(
+                "LLMMap requires a `Model` object, but nothing was passed!\nMost likely you forgot to set the `default_model` argument in `blend()`"
+            )
         # Unpack default kwargs
         tablename, colname = self.unpack_default_kwargs(**kwargs)
         # Remote endpoints can't use patterns
diff --git a/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/qa/main.py b/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/qa/main.py
index 05413bbc..20eff5d2 100644
--- a/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/qa/main.py
+++ b/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/qa/main.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from blendsql.ingredients.ingredient import QAIngredient
 from blendsql.db.utils import single_quote_escape
 from blendsql import generate
+from blendsql._exceptions import IngredientException
 
 
 class QAProgram(Program):
@@ -91,6 +92,10 @@ def run(
         long_answer: bool = False,
         **kwargs,
     ) -> Union[str, int, float]:
+        if model is None:
+            raise IngredientException(
+                "LLMQA requires a `Model` object, but nothing was passed!\nMost likely you forgot to set the `default_model` argument in `blend()`"
+            )
         if context is not None:
             if value_limit is not None:
                 context = context.iloc[:value_limit]
diff --git a/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/validate/main.py b/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/validate/main.py
index 33c12167..00971d48 100644
--- a/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/validate/main.py
+++ b/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/validate/main.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from blendsql._program import Program
 from blendsql.ingredients.ingredient import QAIngredient
 from blendsql import generate
+from blendsql._exceptions import IngredientException
 
 
 class ValidateProgram(Program):
@@ -38,6 +39,10 @@ def run(
         long_answer: bool = False,
         **kwargs,
     ) -> Union[str, int, float]:
+        if model is None:
+            raise IngredientException(
+                "LLMValidate requires a `Model` object, but nothing was passed!\nMost likely you forgot to set the `default_model` argument in `blend()`"
+            )
         if context is not None:
             if value_limit is not None:
                 context = context.iloc[:value_limit]
diff --git a/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/vqa/main.py b/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/vqa/main.py
index 2482124a..d3495bbe 100644
--- a/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/vqa/main.py
+++ b/blendsql/ingredients/builtin/vqa/main.py
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ class ImageCaption(MapIngredient):
 
     def run(self, model: Model, values: List[bytes], **kwargs):
         """Generates a caption for all byte images passed to it."""
+        if model is None:
+            raise IngredientException(
+                "ImageCaption requires a `Model` object, but nothing was passed!\nMost likely you forgot to set the `default_model` argument in `blend()`"
+            )
         if not all(isinstance(value, bytes) for value in values):
             raise IngredientException(
                 f"All values must be 'byte' type for ImageCaption!"