SOUP is so versatile – it can be a simple affair with just a handful of ingredients or an intricate blend of meat, vegetables, herbs and spices.
With the advent of soup makers, the cooking process has speeded up, with the best soup makers having your dish ready in just 20 minutes. And there’s also no longer any need to watch over the soup pan, simply pop your ingredients into the machine and get on with the rest of your day.
There’s nothing like it for warming you up when it's cold outside and it’s the ideal portable lunch when you’re at work.
But with a whole range of different soup makers to choose from, it's hard to know where to start.
Consider which features are most important to you, such as how much control you want to have over the consistency of the soup and what capacity you'll need to feed your household.
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You may also want the soup to be kept warm when it's cooked or to be able to reheat it, as well as the ability to use your soup maker for cold drinks, or even different meals such as chilli and curries.
Read on to discover what our reviewer thought of the soup makers she tested and how they make preparing these winter warmers, effortless.
Best soup makers at a glance:
- Best overall soup maker: Drew & Cole Soup Maker
- Best easy-to-use soup maker: Morphy Richards Perfect Soup Maker
- Best soup maker for families: Salter Digital Soup Maker
- Best soup and smoothie maker: Tower Vizion Soup Maker
- Best soup maker for versatile meals: Judge Soup Maker
Drew & Cole Soup Maker
- Drew & Cole Soup Maker, £39.99 from Amazon – buy here
Taste: 10/10
Ease of use: 9/10
Value: 10/10
Overall Rating: 10/10
This is a great soup maker and it whipped up a soup in just 18 minutes.
You can choose chunky or smooth and there's even a 'Smooth+' function if you prefer it extra smooth or want to make something like gazpacho.
If you want to season or add more ingredients while cooking, you don't need to restart it, the soup maker just carries on cooking once you close the lid again.
Washing up is easy too - just add water and detergent and the Auto-Clean function will do the rest.
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The only downside with this is that it's VERY noisy and the beep at the end to tell you it's ready goes on and on if you don't turn it off.
It made great soup though and is one of the cheapest on the market, if you can put up with the noise.
Size: H37 x W22 x D22cm, capacity: 1.6L power: 900W
Salter Digital Soup Maker
- Salter Digital Soup Maker, £60 from Argos – buy here
Taste: 7/10
Ease of use: 9/10
Value: 9/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
Quite a big machine that takes up a lot of space and it was very noisy while in use.
That said, for the price it made very tasty soup and you can basically leave it to do its thing so very convenient.
I had one or two issues with the sensor saying it was too full when it wasn’t.
You could make about four bowls with it so it's big enough for a family, and is great if you're looking to make a dinner for a group.
Size: H29 x W16.40 x D23.50cm, capacity: 1.6L power: 900W
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Morphy Richards Perfect Soup Maker
- Morphy Richards Perfect Soup Maker,
£109.99£79.99 from Amazon – buy here
Taste: 10/10
Ease of use: 10/10
Value: 8/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
Chop your ingredients, pop them in, choose your consistency and away you go - your soup will be ready in 21 minutes.
You’ll have to wait 28 if you want a chunky soup.
This perfect soup maker has a whole host of fancy features including in-built scales which allow you to add the perfect proportion of ingredients.
This is especially handy if you’re on a strict diet plan as all ingredients will be accurately measured.
It’s a good-sized jug - 1.6L - so you can make up to four portions in one go.
It has an easy-to-use LED countdown timer display. It really is the piece de resistance.
Capacity: 1.6L power: 1,000W
Tower 1.6L Vizion Soup Maker
- Tower 1.6L Vizion Soup Maker, £55.99 from Tower – buy here
Taste: 9/10
Ease of use: 9/10
Value: 7/10
Overall Rating: 8/10
What I liked about this model is the transparent body, so you can keep an eye on your soup while it’s cooking.
Most of the others were stainless steel and didn’t have this function and I did find it quite handy.
You can knock up a smooth or chunky soup in just 20 minutes and use it to make smoothies too.
The LED control panel is easy to use, which makes it great for anyone new to using soup makers. It’s pricey, but it did a good job.
Size: H31.8 x W24.1 x D16.4cm, capacity: 1.6L power: 1,000W
Judge Soup Maker, 1.7L
- Judge Soup Maker with Egg Cooker Attachment, £62.99 from Amazon – buy here
Taste: 6/10
Ease of use: 5/10
Value: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10
The ‘smooth’ soup wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked.
I had to stand using the pulse button to blend it down further, which was a bit annoying.
The plastic jug was very light to handle compared to many others though, as some are heavy, and it’s clear so you could see what was going on inside.
You can even cook boiled eggs in it!
Comes with a brush and that makes it easy to clean.
Size: H42.2 x W21 x D21cm, capacity: 1.7L power: 800W
Zanussi SDA ZSB-810-YL Blender and Soup Maker
- Zanussi Blender and Soup Maker, £73.76 from Amazon – buy here
Taste: 6/10
Ease of use: 5/10
Value: 4/10
Overall Rating: 5/10
I preferred the ‘smooth’ programme on this one as the chunky programme left the veggies a bit too big.
I tried adding chickpeas to one recipe and they burned at the bottom, which was a bit of a pain to clean out.
The lid was also quite difficult to get on and off.
Pretty good for simple soups but not my favourite model.
While we didn't have the best experience, Amazon shoppers have found that it was good quality, albeit slightly noisy.
Size: H42 x W28 x D27cm, capacity: 1.7L power: 900W (+ 450W blending)
Where to buy soup makers in the UK?
Soup makers are sold in electrical and homewares stores, such as Currys and Robert Dyas, department stores, including John Lewis, and online retailers such as Amazon.
We found the soup makers included in our feature at:
- Amazon
- Argos
- Morphy Richards
- Tower
How much do soup makers cost?
Soup makers are not the most expensive of kitchen appliances and if you’re going to use one regularly then it is something worth having. Automating the process also saves you time as you don’t have to keep watch on your pan while the soup cooks.
The soup makers in our review feature range from £39.99 up to £109.99, but you will be able to find cheaper and more expensive models. Expect to pay more for a soup maker that has several functions.
Are soup makers worth it?
If you regularly make soup or would like to do so, a soup maker can save you a whole lot of time and effort, making light work of what can be a time-consuming and often messy process.
Although a soup maker isn't an essential kitchen gadget, it's a relatively low-cost way to take the faff out of soup making in terms of the need for chopping and simmering ingredients, and blitzing in a traditional blender.
How to make tomato soup in a soup maker
Pretty much any soup recipe can be adapted for a soup maker, you just have to make sure the quantities are right for your device.
One of the easiest things to make is tomato soup.
You can be lazy and use tinned tomatoes, adding onions, garlic, salt and any herbs or spices for extra flavour.
Or if you have a great crop of fresh tomatoes, you can use these instead.
For best results, roast down the tomatoes in the oven with a sprinkle of salt and cloves of garlic to concentrate the flavours beforehand.
Then add it to your soup maker with a good stock and some fresh herbs and allow it to blend until smooth.
What else can you make in a soup maker?
Soup makers are best for soups, but some models will work with other recipes too, so it’s worth checking the manual for these.
Depending on your device, you can use it to make things like sauces, dips, purees, and baby food. Some will even let you make jams.
Some models also feature a smoothie function so you can use it to make cold and blended drinks like milkshakes, frappes and of course smoothies.
How do soup makers work?
A soup maker has two key features: a heating element to cook the ingredients and cutting blades to mix and blend the soup, so it’s pretty hands-off once you get it going.
To make the most of your soup maker though, you should roughly chop the ingredients first. Make sure they’re around the same size so they’ll cook through evenly.
You’ll also need to add some liquid. Stock is best for flavour but water also works at a pinch.
Some soup makers have a sauté function that allows you to pre-cook ingredients such as onion and garlic, which is well worth doing for maximising the flavour of your soup.
Higher-spec gadgets will also let you choose between chunky or smooth soups, and might even have a smoothie function for cold drinks.
Some even feature delay timers and warming functions as well so you can make sure the food is ready when you are.
Always make sure you read the instruction manual for your soup maker as it might operate slightly differently or offer unexpected features.
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