I work from home a lot. Since Covid, lockdowns, and the rise of hybrid working, I’ve had the same experience as many: initially trying my best to instil healthy working-from-home habits but ultimately falling foul to near constant snacking, quick and easy lunches between Teams calls and making excuses not to make healthier choices in favour of mountains of carbs.

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As we move into autumn and winter, the time is right to delve spoon-first into soup season, but the idea of spending precious time wresting with a hand blender over a hot stove has always turned me off. Thankfully there’s a solution: a soup maker.

These kitchen wonders look a bit like kettles on steroids. They operate much like a kettle does, too - heating the ingredients through an element built into the base, and then using a blade, typically attached to the lid, to blend the ingredients to create a smooth soup. Depending on which model you choose, there are options for chunky soups too. Some even have blending functions for smoothies or modes for making soya or nut milk.

I opted for the Morphy Richards Compact Soup Maker, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Morphy Richards Compact Soup Maker

This easy-to-use soup maker can make up to a litre of delicious, homemade soup in less than 25 minutes. With four different settings, an easy-to-clean pot and blade, and a compact design for easy storage, it’s a great addition to any kitchen this winter.
The Morphy Richards Compact Soup Maker has transformed my working-from-home lunches

Morphy Richards Soup Maker review: delicious homemade soup in less than 25 minutes

The process of using the Morphy Richards Soup Maker is almost unbelievably straightforward. Essentially, all you have to do is chop up your ingredients, chuck them in the soup maker, add some stock, attach the lid (with its in-built blade), and turn it on.

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The soup maker’s lid has a really easy-to-understand LED display, with buttons for each of its two soup settings - smooth and chunky, as well as options for making smoothies or manual blending. Select the soup function you want, and in less than 25 minutes, you’ve got soup. There are, however, a couple of important things to keep in mind during prep.

The most laborious task here is chopping up your ingredients. With the Morphy Richards Soup Maker, you want to make sure you’re not including massive chunks of hard root veg for the machine’s blade to contend with. I’ve found that chopping your veg no bigger than an inch should do the trick.

Make sure to chop your vegetables well before putting them in the soup maker
Make sure to chop your vegetables well before putting them in the soup maker. (Credit: Ruairidh Pritchard)

Depending on the recipe you’re following, if you’re using tougher vegetables, you may have to roast them ahead of time (like butternut squash, for example), but when it comes to most veggies - like potato, onion, leek and carrots - they can go straight into the pot.

As the machine heats ingredients via the element in the base, you want to ensure you’ve got enough liquid in there to prevent ingredients from being burnt onto the bottom of the pot. Each time I’ve used the soup maker, I make sure I’m adding enough stock and stirring everything together before popping the lid on, making sure the liquid has reached the bottom of the pot to prevent a burnt bottom.

Aside from those two points, there’s really not much else to forewarn about. Since purchasing my soup maker earlier this month, I’ve enjoyed countless bowls of hot soupy goodness: mixed vegetable, carrot and coriander, spiced sweet potato, broccoli and blue cheese. Each soup has only taken 21 minutes to make, from chopping board to bowl, something my parents, OG soup-heads, were mind-blown over.

My parents couldn't get over how quickly the soup maker works
My dad, a seasoned soup maker himself, couldn't believe how quickly the machine worked. (Credit: Ruairidh Pritchard)

Each time I’ve used the soup maker, it’s created three generous portions of soup, making meal prepping for my three days working from home an absolute doddle. With its 19-21 minute running time (depending on your chosen setting), it's also much more time and energy efficient than making a soup on a gas or electric hob.

While I haven’t managed to kick my bread habit entirely (who can really deny a slice or two of liberally-buttered sourdough with a bowl of freshly made soup?), my new favourite kitchen appliance has made my working-from-home lunches far more healthy, supercharging the amount of veg in my diet. I can count a full dose of my five-a-day in one sitting and feel fuller for longer as a result.

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Want to read more of our writer's recommendations? Check out our reviews of Fussy natural deodorant, Nike Dri-FIT Stride 2-in-1 running shorts and TP-Link smart plugs - all tested and loved by our team.

Authors

Ruairidh Pritchard
Ruairidh PritchardDigital Editor

Ruairidh Pritchard is the Digital Editor of The Recommended, and interviews some of the world's most knowledgeable product experts to help readers make smarter decisions about which products they buy online.

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