The Best Waffle Makers to Make All Your Brunch Dreams Come True

The best waffle makers aren’t mere kitchen appliances—they’re wish-granters. You know the fantasy: You awaken on a Sunday morning to the sweet scent of butter and freshly brewed coffee wafting through your home. You tiptoe to the kitchen. There’s the love of your life at the counter with a stack of just-made waffles, still steaming from the iron. You pour on the maple syrup, dig in, and then go back for more. You stay in your pajamas all day and pretend you run your own diner.

Of course, none of that glorious waffle making happens unless you own a waffle iron first. And while the same machine may spend the other six days of the week wedged in the back of your cabinet, when that craving strikes, it better be ready. Because if you’re going to go through the motions—the ceremony—of making homemade waffles, you should not have to endure mediocre results. If all you wanted was a waffle-shaped vehicle for syrup, you could just defrost any old frozen ones.

We rounded up 19 well-regarded waffle makers in a range of styles and price points and headed into the kitchen to run them through their paces. Many, many batches of batter and “test bites” later, we determined our winners. Read on for our top picks; for the specifics of how we tested, scroll further down the page.

When we first tried the Presto Flipside we thought it made a great budget choice. But as we continued using it over the course of several years, we realized that its convenient-to-use features and the quality of the waffles it produced time after time made it our favorite waffle iron regardless of price.

The Presto Flipside’s design is unique in the world of waffle makers. It has a plastic hinge at the bottom that anchors two folding sides, and an ergonomic plastic handle on top of its round waffle plates. The compact, narrow machine can stand upright when it’s not in use, so it’s easy to store in a cupboard alongside, say, cutting boards or sheet pans.

While our other preferred waffle maker, the Belgian Waffle Iron All-Clad, senses the doneness of your waffles and alerts you with a beep, the Presto asks you to take a little more ownership over your waffle’s cook time. There’s a timer on the base, which you set yourself depending on your waffle crispness preferences. We found this design pleasantly straightforward and loved that it allowed you to more easily control the doneness of your waffle. The instructions recommend a four-minute cook time, but we suggest cooking the waffles for five minutes for a crisp exterior.

Epicurious staffers who tasted the Presto’s waffles described them as “fluffy, but still nice and crisp along the edges,” and appreciated their deep wells, which could “hold maximum syrup and butter.” Every waffle we made with the Presto came out golden brown and evenly cooked on both sides, a rarity for inexpensive waffle makers.

And while most waffle makers with attached cooking plates are a nightmare to clean since you can’t remove them, the flip design does a lot to mitigate any issues. Simply unplug, set the Presto upright and open, tilt the plates down and watch the crumbs roll out onto the counter where you can wipe them away.

To remain so affordable, the Presto Flipside sports a lot of plastic, which makes it less durable than waffle irons with metal bodies and handles. That said, we’ve used one in testing for years without issue. It also only cooks one waffle at a time, while many of the other models we tested made batches of two or four. Again, though, that cuts both ways. The single set of waffle plates is one of the features that makes the Presto ideal in small kitchens where storage space is limited.

If Presto’s waffle iron is a zippy and affordable compact, the All-Clad Belgian Waffle Iron is a luxury sedan. It’s a hulking, shiny, stainless-steel behemoth capable of turning out batch after batch of five-star hotel-buffet-quality waffles. Despite its steep price and mammoth size, the resulting waffle quality has impressed us for years.

Made of the same 18/10 stainless as All-Clad’s prized cookware, the 4-square model we tested weighs about 14 pounds, so lifting it will give you a nice little bicep workout to offset all that maple syrup. That said, the exterior dimensions are not considerably larger than other 4-square models on our list. In fact, this waffle maker was smaller than some. So, though heavy, the All-Clad doesn’t take up appreciably more storage space. Regardless, this waffle maker might make more sense for someone with a permanent spot for it on their countertop or on an easy-to-reach shelf; moving it in and out of storage is a bit cumbersome.

All-Clad’s Belgian Waffle Iron offers a few extra features, including a a small clip-on drip tray attached to the rear of the waffle maker to catch any errant drips (it really works), and a sturdy dial that allows you to adjust your browning preferences along a fairly wide scale from one to six. Indicator lights and a chime let you know when your waffles are done cooking.

The locking lid is sturdy and the handle feels comfortable in hand. The interior heats up evenly and is generously proportioned to produce one-inch-thick waffles with deep, crisp wells. Most importantly though, the All-Clad now only comes with removable plates. Previously there was a less expensive model that did not have removable plates and was a nightmare to clean. With this one just pop the plates out of the machine and into the dishwasher and your work is done.

You won’t appreciate the All-Clad if you don’t make waffles regularly. In fact, you might even grow to dislike its hulking, briefcase shape that consumes precious space in your cabinets or on your countertop. Also, clean up is tough. Digging out bits that get left behind and burn on is not fun. All-Clad offers a model with removable plates that are a breeze to clean and we’d recommend spending the extra 50 bucks to save yourself the headache.

The Dash Mini made its rounds on TikTok, with claims that it is a waffle maker both exceptionally cheap and exceptionally good. Incidentally, a source who worked at an upscale restaurant used several Dash waffle makers during brunch service there. Use at a busy, pricey restaurant is a good endorsement for something that costs about the same as one bloody Mary.

At $10 (at the time of writing), the Dash was the cheapest model by far in our head-to-head tests, and while it is not the best waffle maker, it’s more than serviceable for the price. There are no bells or whistles to the Dash, just a light to let you know that the iron is heating up. Once the light turns off, the waffle plates are ready for batter. There’s no overflow protection, so you have to be careful with your measurements—you shouldn’t use more than three or four tablespoons of batter—to avoid spills over the sides. If you’re willing to put up with some trial and error, the Dash can indeed make crisp, evenly cooked waffles. Just know that they’re mini waffles, so you’ll have to work a little more for a full meal, but the results won’t disappoint. We tried a batch of regular buttermilk waffles, and a savory cheddar-scallion experiment as well, both of which came out wonderfully.

We found the small size actually worked in the Dash’s favor, minimizing opportunities for inconsistency that really show up in larger waffle makers. The Dash is perfect for college students, single people, and apparently, restaurant line cooks who need to send out short-order mini waffles during a hectic Sunday brunch.

While the Dash is cute, it’s definitely not using any cutting edge waffle making technology. Like we said, there’s just a light that flickers on and off to let you know it’s heating up. This machine doesn’t have a built-in timer that lets you know when your waffles are ready like some of the other options on this list, so you’ll have to experiment to figure out the perfect cooking time (we liked waffles cooked for about 2 minutes). It’s also small, which works great for storage but less so if you’re aiming to cook for a crowd.

The ideal waffle may be different for different people: Some of us like our waffles crunchy on the outside but fluffy in the center, others prefer a crispy waffle all the way through, and still others like a blond, entirely fluffy waffle. However, some technical standards are universal. So we made multiple batches of waffles using this buttermilk waffle recipe and judged them on the following criteria.

Unless you lead a life of leisure (or run a bed and breakfast) chances are your waffle iron is not going to be a daily-use appliance, so ideally you shouldn’t have to allocate much kitchen real estate to store it. Since most waffle irons are pretty bulky, we paid special attention to the design—does the size of the machine need to be as big as it is or could it do the same job with less? Does it feel solidly built? Does it seem like it will hold up well to cleaning and other wear and tear?

A perfect waffle is a thing of beauty. A limp, floppy waffle, or a waffle with burnt patches and pale raw spots feels like a crime against breakfast. We paid close attention to consistency and even-waffling ability, subtracting points for poor or unreliable performance.

These days, lots of waffle irons have nonstick surfaces—a convenience that can greatly reduce prep (no greasing necessary) and simplify cleanup. We kept an eye on how well the surfaces released waffles after cooking.

Many classic waffle makers are equipped with nothing but an on-off light and a “ready indicator,” but now even budget-friendly models have extra features, like numbered dials to adjust the doneness, beeps or buzzers that indicate when the cook time is finished, and removable plates that can be popped into the dishwasher for easy cleaning.

Batter is messy stuff, and all those nooks and crannies in a waffle iron can be tough to get clean, so any model that made the task easier—whether with attachments to catch wayward drips and spills or with dishwasher-safe, removable plates—got points from us.

There’s no easy way to say this: The real revelation of this test was just how mediocre most waffle irons are. But at least they were consistent in the ways in which they were mediocre. Far and away, the most common problem was one of uneven cooking, or what we like to call the two-faced effect: waffles that emerged from the iron evenly browned on one side but pale and doughy on the other. It is not a good look.

stood out as a possible contender for our budget top pick. The build certainly isn’t as solid as the All-Clad—there’s some plastic, no 18/10 stainless here—but like the All-Clad, it is generously proportioned to yield four tall, deeply grooved Belgian-style waffles per batch and, with an adjustable dial for cook control and an audible chime that signals doneness, it doesn’t skimp on extra features. It also has nonstick and dishwasher-safe removable plates for easy cleaning. But all the features in the world can’t beat consistency, and that’s where the KRUPS 4-Slice didn’t deliver. Some batches turned out strong, but others showed signs of uneven heating or inefficient steam release. Some waffles had over-crisped spots while others were golden on the bottom but soggy and undercooked on top, as though they came from two different irons. Still, the KRUPS was a solid performer, especially given its capacity, reasonable price, and rave reviews online (it has more than 600 five-star reviews on Amazon). We feel confident recommending it as a wallet-friendly alternative to the All-Clad, though its results are not as consistently delicious as our actual budget winner, the Presto Flipside.

This Breville waffle maker won us over with its solid-feeling body and smartly designed drip-catching moat, but it cost almost as much as the All-Clad and just didn’t produce waffles as crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside as our splurge pick.

Breville’s Smart Waffle Pro is larger and more luxe than the No-Mess model. It had precise browning controls and a spacious cooking surface, but it was also by far the bulkiest machine we tested. More importantly, our taste-testers found the waffle grid to be too shallow; the All-Clad that we tested produced waffles that offered a superior texture.

This Hamilton Beach model was very compact and modest in price, but inconsistent in performance, with waffles coming out at different levels of crispness over the same time period.

While the Chef’s Choice looked very promising, with a generous size, sturdy build, and dials that adjusted doneness and waffle preference (“crisp and moist” or “uniform texture”), the execution didn’t live up to the appearance and waffles on different settings were quite similar.

The top-loading design of this Cuisinart seemed like a cool riff on a classic waffle maker. It stands vertically like the Presto, but you pour batter into an opening in the top. In practice though, the results were underwhelming and it wasn’t as pleasant to use as the Presto.

This model produced the floppiest waffles of the bunch regardless of which setting we chose.

This Double Belgian Waffle Maker cooks waffles on two levels and you have to flip it over to load each one. The doneness slider doesn’t have any numbers on it and we found the whole operation a little too fussy. The waffles also paled (literally, they were paler) in comparison to other high-end options.

This one overflowed quite a bit and felt flimsily constructed.

While we like simplified functionality for a waffle maker, the Oster Diamond Force was perhaps a bit too simple. It had no alarms, no timers, no browning settings, no safeguards for excess batter, or even an on button for that matter. The removable plates were a huge plus but the cooking surface lacked even heat distribution, and produced inconsistently cooked waffles.

GreenPan waffle makers are well-made, compact, counter-space-conscious machines. Rare for waffle makers, they have removable ceramic nonstick plates rather than Teflon-coated ones. However, the Elite model was a little over-engineered. The preset functions, which include classic and Belgian modes, did little beyond adjust the cook time and seemed unnecessary, especially when there were adjustable crispness and browning controls as well. If these precise controls produced precise results, that would be one thing, but in testing we found them to be very inconsistent. While the machine is capable of producing great waffles, it took lots of trial and error. Waffle making doesn’t need to be this complicated.

Even though the Bistro Waffle Maker is a simpler version of GreenPan’s Elite model, it also suffered from convoluted functionality. However, this model lacked the removable waffle plates and neat storage setup that the Elite offered.

This is one of the most inexpensive flip waffle makers on the market. Our testers enjoyed the texture and grid shape this waffle maker offered, but the ready light was glitchy, and the plastic body felt cheap and not long for this world.

This machine’s design mirrors the briefcase silhouette of the All-Clad, just a little smaller. But the similarities end there. The Black+Decker has a lighter, flimsier build. It has no doneness settings, just a red and green light on top to let you know it’s preheating or ready. The Black+Decker does come with removable plates for waffles, grilling, and to make sandwiches, so in theory it’s versatile. The issue though, was that it took over 10 minutes to make a waffle, far and away the longest of any waffle maker.

We added stovetop waffle makers in our most recent round of testing. Overall they were challenging to use (more on that below) primarily because you have to flip the maker over frequently to ensure even cooking on both sides. That’s a hassle we don’t think anyone should have to endure when making waffles. That said, this was our favorite of the stovetop waffle irons we tested. It’s made of aluminum, so it’s fairly light. It also has a heat resistant handle. Still, stovetop makers require a lot of trial and error. We wound up with plenty of both pale and burnt waffles. Even the best waffle we got out of the NordicWare had flecks of undercooked and overcooked batter speckled throughout. But if you’re dead set on a stovetop maker, this one’s sturdy and easy to handle.

We love a good cast iron pan, even a hefty one. Cast iron stove top waffle makers on the other hand? Not so much. While the cast iron means the waffle maker maintains heat well, it also means the thing is heavy, unwieldy and stressful to use. Adding to the stress, the whole waffle maker gets really hot—especially the handle—so you have to be really careful to grip it with a towel or oven mitts.

We can’t recommend a stovetop waffle maker when you can get a much easier-to-use electric one, which will certainly be easier and safer to use. We asked around and found one staffer, associate director of creative development Adam Moussa, who wanted to stand up for the merits of stovetop models—namely that they can be a lot easier to store than electric ones. But that was not a majority opinion. You just need to pay so much more attention to the process with a stovetop waffle iron. Typically they come as two separate plates that lock together. Each plate needs to get pre-heated separately on its own burner. Once hot, you pour the batter onto one of the plates, pick up the other and lock it on top. Then you need to flip constantly, about every minute or so, to ensure even cooking. Unless you’re camping or short on space, there’s really no reason to go the stovetop route.

In addition to taking up a lot of counter space, waffle makers are hard to clean. The only ones that offer reprieve are the models with removable plates that can go in the dishwasher. If you are cleaning your waffle maker by hand, we recommend letting the machine cool down completely before cleaning and using a toothbrush (yes, you read that right—it’s the right size) to dislodge any bits from the ridges, so you can sweep them away or dump them out by tilting the machine. If the machine is too big to tip, you can use a canned computer duster or one of these mini USB vacuums that food stylists love. After that, wipe any excess oil away with a paper towel.

If you are contending with more aggressive crud from burnt on cheese or chocolate, making a paste out of baking soda, dish soap, and water and applying it to the surfaces will help loosen things up before you go in with the toothbrush and paper towel.

Whatever waffle iron you end up buying, there are a few things you can do to ensure your waffles come out as tasty as possible:

Resist the urge to over-whisk your waffle batter. You want there to be a little bit of lumpiness to the texture. If you overmix, it will result in a chewier end product.

Those indicator lights are there for a reason! Just like when you’re using an oven, you have to wait until the waffle iron is preheated to start cooking. This will ensure that the entire surface is evenly heated and ready to go. If you don’t wait, some spots on your waffle can end up more like a floppy, waffle-shaped pancake.

Just like with a pan, you need to grease the surface with butter, oil, or cooking spray. If you forget this step, you’ll leave half your waffle behind when you try to pry it out of the pan. If you do have a nonstick waffle iron, you can skip the grease.

We know it’s tempting, but do not open the lid until the indicator light says the waffle is done. If you open the lid and the waffle isn’t finished, you will literally rip the waffle apart—and there’s no coming back from that.

Always use a utensil that is made out of plastic, silicone, or rubber when prying out the waffle, because metal utensils will definitely scratch your waffle maker. The best waffle makers are an investment, so you definitely want to keep them scratch-free if possible.