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9 best budget toastie makers for making the ultimate cheese toastie
Toast, toast baby
So you’ve cooked up the TikTok eggs one too many times and now you’re after new WFH lunch ideas? Yeah, us too. That’s why we’re here to recommend investing in a trusty toastie maker.
Plus, if you thought these sandwich-making machines were only good for your classic tuna melts or cheese and ham toasties, they can actually do so much more if you're willing to try something new. Swap in fruit and some nut butter, for example, and you’ve basically got yourself pudding for lunch. Aka, the dream.
This affordable kitchen gadget will also make the perfect companion for your bread maker, giving you endless options for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Which toastie maker is best?
Our expert testing team put 29 models to the test, whipping up endless cheese, ham and tomato toasties (our go-to) to find the best sandwich toasters for delicious results every. single. time:
- Best toastie maker: Breville VST091 Deep Fill 2 Slice Toastie Maker
- Best toastie maker to splurge on: Cuisinart Overstuffed Toasted Sandwich Maker GRSM1U
- Best toastie maker for small kitchens: Breville VST077 2 Slice Sandwich Toaster
- Quirkiest design: Salter Rose Gold Edition Handbag Sandwich /Toastie Maker
- Best toastie maker under £15: Breville VST057 2 Slice Sandwich/Toastie Maker
- Best toastie maker for maximum filling: Quest Deep Fill Toastie Maker
- Best toastie maker for waffles: Breville Ultimate Deep Fill 2 Slice VST082 Toastie Maker
- Best toastie maker under £10: Logik Stainless Steel Sandwich/ Toastie Maker
What makes a good sandwich toaster?
When it comes to making a delicious sarnie, a toastie maker that heats up quickly and forms a reliable seal (so that no filling is lost) makes all the difference.
Even cooking that results in crisp, golden bread is a must, and removable plates are our best friends at clean-up time, especially when they’re dishwasher-proof. Non-slip feet and an indicator light that signals when it’s hot also help with stability and safety.
How we test sandwich toasters
We can’t lie, testing toastie makers is a tasty business, but we’re not just chowing down on cheesy goodness. Our trusted testers cooked several toasties with each appliance and judged how long they took to heat up and cook their food. They measured the internal temperature of each toastie to see if the cooking was uniform and checked how hot the outside of the machine got, because #safetyfirst.
Before they tucked in (it's a tough life), they noted how evenly the sandwiches had toasted and how faff-free the toastie maker proved to clean up.
Time to get your melt on…
Breville VST091 Deep Fill 2 Slice Toastie Maker
If you like to minimise the amount of time you spend in the kitchen, this is your dream toastie maker. During testing, it took less than two and a half mins to heat up and a speedy four and a half mins to crisp up our sandwiches. If you’re quick at prep, this means you could whip up a toastie in ten.
It’s breezy on the clean-up front too – the plates aren't removable but an effective seal function meant our tester's fillings stayed put. The browning and heating wasn’t quite even, turning out one half of the sandwich that was warmer than the other. That aside, this compact snack buddy impressed.
Key specs
Size (cm): 23.5 x 24 x 9.6
Colour: White
Plates: Fixed
Temperature settings: Automatic
Cuisinart Overstuffed Toasted Sandwich Maker GRSM1U
Fancy yourself a bit of a Master Chef? Then you’ll love the recipe booklet that comes with this toastie maker – it's packed full of ideas to take the humble toastie to the next level, from flatbreads to delish desserts. Better still, its variable temperature dial helps you make your snacks exactly to your liking, with no burning in sight.
It gets the simple stuff right too, producing evenly crisp toasties for our tester, and its removable plates earned a big thumbs up. The outer casing got very hot, so be careful when you're cooking up a hangover feast, but this is worth the money.
Key specs
Size (cm): 28 x 24 x 12
Colour: Silver
Plates: Removable
Temperature settings: Variable dial
Squeezing all your pots, pans and kitchen possessions into one cupboard in a cramped shared kitchen? This toastie maker should slide in nicely, thanks to its compact design. Proving size doesn't matter, it scored highly for its overall performance, serving up crisp toasties that were evenly golden and warm throughout.
Happily, there was no leaky filling either – our tester's only niggles were that the outer casing got quite hot and the cooking plates weren’t removable. Otherwise, it’s a mean little sandwich-making machine.
Key specs
Size (cm): 24 x 23 x 10.6
Colour: Black and silver
Plates: Fixed
Temperature settings: Automatic
Salter Rose Gold Edition Handbag Sandwich /Toastie Maker
No you’re not imagining things, this kitchen appliance really does look like a handbag, and frankly with that price tag, what’s not to love?! It makes more than a rose gold statement on the counter, though – it’s seriously speedy, heating up in under two mins and cooking our tester's sandwiches in less than six.
It’s compact – making it flatshare friendly – while still offering plenty of room for well-stuffed sandwiches. It didn’t leave any crusts sticking out when shut and, although it left one side looking more toasted than the other, it's easy to clean. Add one to your basket ASAP for some much needed culinary pizzazz.
Key specs
Size (cm): 9 x 24 x 25
Colour: Black and rose gold
Plates: Fixed
Temperature settings: Automatic
Breville VST057 2 Portion Sandwich Toaster - Black
You don’t have to splash the cash to enjoy delicious toasties every day – in fact, this bargain machine is so affordable, you’ll quickly break even from not buying lunch out. Our tester's toasties were cooked quickly, crisply and evenly throughout. They looked uniformly golden, too.
Its plates disappointed a tad, pushing the crusts out, but give them a quick trim and you're sorted.
Key specs
Size (cm): 8.2 x 22.8 x 21.4
Colour: Black
Plates: Fixed
Temperature settings: Automatic
Quest Deep Fill Toastie Maker
Get stuffed with this toastie maker that lets you pack in plenty of your fave fillings, thanks to its deep plates. The sandwiches cooked evenly during testing, emerging with a lush gold colour, but it got very hot by the handle.
It claims to cook toasties in two to four mins, but our tester's took seven and a half. The seal feature works impressively, though, with none of our precious cheese making a bid for freedom.
Key specs
Size (cm): 27 x 12 x 31.5
Colour: Black
Plates: Fixed
Temperature settings: Automatic
Breville Ultimate Deep Fill 2 Slice VST082 Toastie Maker
Keen to whip up waffles for brekkie like Meghan Markle does for Archie? Then opt for this toastie maker that has removable plates (a washing up win) and the option of jazzing up your machine with waffle plates.
Back to toasties, and this slick machine doesn’t let the side down – our tester's snacks were oozing with melted cheese, looked like they’d got a great tan and there was no leakage whatsoever. Expect it to smell plasticky the first time you use it, as warned in the instructions, but this dissipated after only one batch of butties. The casing also reached over 80C during use, but as long as you’re careful, it’s a great cooking companion.
Key specs
Size (cm): 13.46 x 31.75 x 26.67
Colour: Black
Plates: Removable
Temperature settings: Automatic
Logik Stainless Steel Sandwich/ Toastie Maker
If you’re prepping for uni, you don’t want to splash your party fund on a gadget that'll live in a shared kitchen. Coming in at under £10, this bargain toastie maker is a real staple that'll have your back whenever snack cravings strike (usually at 3am, let's face it). It’s also compact with built-in cable storage, making it easy to stash away.
Given its price tag, it’s impressively reliable – it took four mins to make a well-cooked toastie, just as the instructions promise. There was a bit of leakage, we can't lie, and it didn’t toast evenly on the outside, but the temperatures inside were consistent. Just watch the casing - which reached over 77C during cooking - because nobody wants to get burnt on a hangover.
Key specs
Size (cm): 25 x 24.7 x 10.8
Colour: Black and silver
Plates: Fixed
Temperature settings: Automatic
If you're constantly experimenting with different types of bread for your toastie, one day it's a classic white loaf, the next you've got crusty sourdough, then this toastie maker is ideal for you. The floating hinge system allows you to use all different thicknesses of bread for your toasties.
It's easy to store and carry with a cool-touch handle, and even the remnants of the cheesiest of toasties are easy to clear up with the non-stick plates. What's more, when you get bored of toasties (could never be us), you can use the machine to grill meats, fish and veggies.
Key specs
Size (cm): 26 x 21.5 x 6.5
Colour: Black
Plates: Fixed
Temperature settings: Automatic
Hannah is our homes editor, specialising in reviewing the latest kitchen appliances, cleaning products, mattresses and bedding, and crafting equipment. Hannah has written about hundreds of products, from air fryers to smoothie makers to pillows, and is committed to finding the most reliable and best value for money buys.
Hannah is also interested in sustainability in the home and has completed a course with the University of the Arts London in sustainable textiles, so she can help cut through the noise on what’s green and what’s not. Hannah has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously worked as a freelance lifestyle and women’s sports journalist, working for Stylist, Sky Sports and more.
Hannah has also previously worked in a florist and can normally be found caring for her house plants or sewing something new for her home or wardrobe.
Lydia Venn is Cosmopolitan UK’s Senior Entertainment and Lifestyle Writer. She covers everything from TV and film, to the latest celebrity news. She also writes across our work/life section regularly creating quizzes, covering exciting new food releases and sharing the latest interior must-haves. In her role she’s interviewed everyone from Margot Robbie to Niall Horan, and her work has appeared on an episode of The Kardashians. After completing a degree in English at the University of Exeter, Lydia moved into fashion journalism, writing for the Daily Express, before working as Features Editor at The Tab, where she spoke on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Talk Radio. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of Gilmore Girls and 00s teen movies, and in her free time can be found with a margarita in hand watching the Real Housewives on repeat. Find her on LinkedIn.
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