So you’re in the market for a blender; have you considered looking for the more multitasking soup maker instead?

Every kitchen needs some kind of blender, and a good one will be able to make all sorts of sauces, smoothies and salsas. But for a lot of us, our blending needs are pretty much restricted to soups and the occasional cold drink – so perhaps a soup maker would be more appropriate than shelling out for a super hi-tech machine.

Soup makers often cost less than most jug blenders, have an inbuilt heating function, and can make smoothies, iced coffees or milkshakes if you like too. We’ve tested a series of different blenders and soup makers and settled on this Morphy Richards compact soup maker as one of our best buys.

Established in the 1930’s, Morphy Richards boasts a strong history of manufacturing cleaning, beauty and kitchen appliances and remains popular for its everyday household electricals. And this machine, like most of its wares, is simply designed but innovative and comes in at an accessible price point. But is it worth your cash or should you plump for a basic hand blender instead? We found out.

How we tested

We put the compact soup maker through its paces by cooking up a series of different soups – both smooth and chunky – to see how it dealt with varying ingredients and flavours, as well as checking out its straight up blending power using frozen fruit and nut butters (often tricky to blend). We were looking for even, consistent textures, ease of use and how loud the functioning unit was.

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Morphy Richards compact soup maker 501021

Buy now £54.99, Lakeland.co.uk

Power: 900W
Dimensions: 1l jug
Weight: 1.8kg
Colours: Brushed silver
Guarantee: 3 years when purchased from Lakeland

Design and features

Compact really is the name of the game when it comes to this soup maker. A corded jug-style blender with inbuilt blades and removable lid, this blender is designed to be small enough to fit either into a cupboard, or sit on the worktop.

The one litre capacity brushed silver jug will provide a generous two person lunch; simply load up the machine with your desired raw ingredients and liquid of choice. Choose from a smooth or chunky heated soup pre-set function, with 19 and 25 minutes cook time respectively, or opt for the manual blend to whizz up already cooked soups, sauces or chilled drinks.

The interface uses one-touch controls with an easy-to-read LED countdown timer which beeps once complete, and an auto shut-off function. To clean, use a soft cloth and soapy water taking care not to submerge the jug.

Performance

This machine really is as simple as it sounds. There’s a small booklet for instructions and recipes, but it is also easy to improvise.

We decided to cook up a carrot and coriander soup with one eye firmly on how velvety smooth the machine could make the finished dish as some blenders don’t handle stringy herbs or hard carrots too well. We chopped the carrot into inch thick pieces, added some chopped potato, stock and the herbs then selected the smooth pre-set function. After 19 quiet (!) minutes we were alerted to a perfectly silky soup without a hint of graininess and no nasty burnt or stuck bits on the base.

If you prefer things a bit more rustic then the chunky function will deliver an equally quiet and piping hot soup. We went for minestrone but would alert you to the fact that you should go easy on any alliums as this soup maker does not have a sauté function (more expensive models sometimes do), so raw onion and garlic may be off-putting. To get round this, you’ll need to cook out the onions first before using the soup maker.

We like the fact that this machine is genuinely quiet enough to work next to without any problem – handy for small flats and work from home days. It was a pleasure to use the machine and be able to enjoy a hearty yet wholesome lunch without the headache of too much prep or washing up. In all honesty we’d love a sauté function, as the base for so many soups requires onions but not to the extent that we’d be happy to spend an extra £100 or so; we’ll satisfy ourselves with alternative recipes instead.

The manual blend function handles most ingredients well, so if you’re only going to be making the occasional smoothie, milkshake or iced coffee then this machine will be fine – just don’t expect it to match expensive blenders when it comes to ice or particularly hard or claggy ingredients.

The verdict: Morphy Richards compact soup maker 501021

This Morphy Richards compact soup maker is a triumph and will transform your work from home lunches for the better with very little fuss. We love it for its simplicity and can see ourselves using it daily; think butternut squash soup, roasted tomato and basil, chicken noodle soup and more. Its cold drink function is a happy addition, but not something we’d choose this machine for if you’re a protein smoothie or nut butter junkie. A great little machine for a great price.

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Morphy Richards compact soup maker: WFH lunches just got easier

Compact, purse-friendly and smoothie-ready; sometimes good things do come in small packages

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How we tested