The Kitchen Tool That Levels Up Your Soup Game

From bisques and broths to creamy, cheesy, chunky soups, the dish is an essential comfort food. If you're able, skip the can and make yours from scratch, but know that the right tools are crucial. Convenient cooking starts with your gadget selection; swapping out the bulky and cumbersome tools you never use for useful appliances makes cooking so much easier. When it comes to soups, an immersion blender saves you from sloppy spills, plus it's much smaller and sleeker than your typical blender or food processor.

An immersion blender is one of those kitchen purchases that might look fancy and unnecessary, but it really steps up your soup. Like its name implies, immersion blenders simply need to be immersed into your soup pot and adjusted to the right speed setting. The multi-purpose hand-held tool keeps your counter clean and allows you to easily control the consistency of your soup.

Some smooth soups, such as roasted tomato soup and creamy butternut squash soup, need to be blended to eliminate solid chunks of veggies and create a thick, rich texture. While you could dump the entire pot into the big, clunky blender you usually reserve for your breakfast smoothie, or scoop cups of soup into your food processor in small batches, an immersion blender cuts out this need to juggle multiple servings of hot, messy soup.

As the immersion blender processes your veggies and proteins, you can gently move it throughout the bowl for a smooth, balanced texture. There are also a number of removable attachments available to achieve various results and consistencies. But the magic of the immersion blender doesn't stop at soup: You can also blend batters, make milkshakes, whip cream, froth milk, make a batch of after-school apple sauce, stir up salad dressings, and make sauces and dips.