Written by Lara Yehia. Lara researches home and kitchen products for Cupindy.
Published October 2026 · Last reviewed October 29, 2026 · Cupindy is not affiliated with any brand on this page.
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Our quick pick
Newness 304 Stainless Steel Soup Ladle
Bowl and handle are one piece of 304 (18/8) stainless steel, so the only thing that touches your soup is steel, and there is no joint for food to hide in.
See the Newness ladle on AmazonThe drawback: the round handle is hollow and sealed, and at 13.7 in (35 cm) it is long for a shallow drawer.
The short answer
A ladle is a deep spoon on a long handle for moving soup, stock, sauce or batter from pot to bowl. The best one for most kitchens is a single piece of stainless steel that holds about 5 oz (148 ml), with a handle near 10 in (25 cm) and a lip that pours cleanly.
Our quick pick wins on material. If you want the 5 oz size and pouring rim that ATK's testers liked best, go for the Rösle.
Most people own a ladle they never chose. It came in a utensil set, the bowl is nylon or black plastic, and it has sat in a lot of simmering pots. That is the part we looked at first: which material sits in hot liquid while you serve. Then size, handle and pour, because a ladle that drips on the stove gets annoying fast.
The 7 ladles at a glance
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| Ladle | Best for | Holds | What touches food | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newness 304 one-piece | Everyday soup and stew | Not stated | 304 stainless steel | See it |
| Winco LDI-4 | Small budget, exact portions | 4 oz (118 ml) | Stainless steel (grade not stated) | See it |
| Winco LDI-8 | Big batches, chili, stock | 8 oz (237 ml) | Stainless steel (grade not stated) | See it |
| Rösle 10009 | Clean pouring, buy once | 5.4 oz (160 ml) | 18/10 stainless steel | See it |
| DI ORO silicone | Nonstick and enameled pots | Not stated | Silicone over a steel core | See it |
| Norpro canning ladle | Filling jars | 7 oz (207 ml) | Stainless steel (grade not stated) | See it |
| Winco LDI-10SH | Gravy and sauce | 1 oz (30 ml) | Stainless steel (grade not stated) | See it |
Capacities are the makers' own numbers. Wood is not on the list on purpose; our wooden utensils guide covers wooden ladles.
What makes a good ladle
America's Test Kitchen tested ten ladles and wrote down what separated the good ones.
- About 5 oz (148 ml) in the bowl. ATK found 4 oz bowls meant extra trips to the pot, and 6 oz or more started to feel unwieldy. If you mostly serve big bowls of chili, go bigger anyway.
- A handle around 9.5 to 10 in (24 to 25 cm). Long enough to reach the bottom of a stockpot, short enough to control.
- A gentle angle, close to 45 degrees, between handle and bowl. Steeper angles put your hand over the steam.
- A curved pouring rim. ATK's testers got the neatest pours from a rim that curves all the way round. Side spouts work, but only from those two points.
- One piece, no seams. ATK preferred one-piece handles with no seams to trap debris. A riveted joint between bowl and handle is the same problem.
- A rigid bowl. A floppy bowl bends under a full scoop of stew.
A one-piece ladle (left) has no joint. The riveted one (right) has two rivets, and rust has started to show around them.
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Our quick pick: one piece, all steel
Newness 304 Stainless Steel Soup Ladle, 13.7 in
The bowl and the round handle are formed from one piece of 304 stainless steel, which is the grade also sold as 18/8. Nothing plastic sits in the soup. It was the stainless ladle showing the Best Seller badge when we searched Amazon for “ladle” on October 29, 2026.
Good for: everyday soups, stews and porridge from a deep pot.
The drawback: The handle is hollow and sealed (the listing calls it a vacuum handle). If that seal ever failed, water could get inside, and you could not dry it out. At 13.7 in (35 cm) long it also needs a tall pot and a long drawer.
See the Newness ladle on AmazonIf pouring is what you care about most, a pouring rim is worth paying for.
Soup leaves the rim in one clean ribbon, with no dribble down the outside of the bowl.
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Best pour, buy once
Rösle 10009 Stainless Steel Ladle with Pouring Rim
One piece of 18/10 stainless steel, about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick, with a pouring rim that runs all the way round the bowl. It holds 5.4 oz (160 ml), right where ATK says a ladle should be, and ATK named this Rösle model its best overall. Rösle backs it with a lifetime warranty.
Good for: cooks who ladle every day and want one ladle for good.
The drawback: On October 29, 2026 it cost about four times as much as the Winco 8 oz, and the main Amazon offer was sold and shipped by Amazon Germany, with a later delivery date than our other picks. The hooked handle also means it will not stand up on its own.
See the Rösle ladle on AmazonLadle materials compared: what sits in your soup
| Material | Fine in hot soup? | Safe on nonstick? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stainless steel | Yes | With care | Will not melt or stain. 304 (18/8) and 18/10 are the usual food grades. |
| Silicone | Yes, within its rating | Yes | Look for a steel core. The DI ORO listing gives 600°F (316°C). |
| Nylon | Keep contact short | Yes | Germany's food-safety agency advises short contact with hot food. See below. |
| Black plastic | We would skip it | Yes | Some recycled black plastic carried flame retardants in a 2024 study. |
| Wood | Yes | Yes | Soaks up liquid and needs oiling. See our wooden utensils guide. |
Are plastic and black plastic ladles safe?
The advice that exists for nylon is about keeping hot contact short, and a ladle often sits in a simmering pot.
In 2019 the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) looked at nylon, or polyamide, kitchen tools such as cooking spoons, spatulas and whisks. Of 33 tested, 10 released more small plastic building blocks (oligomers) in lab tests at 100°C (212°F) than the 5 mg per kg the agency uses as its guide. The BfR says health effects are unlikely below that value and that it needs more data above it. It did not tell people to throw nylon tools out. It advised keeping contact with food “as brief as possible”, especially above 70°C (158°F). A simmering pot of soup is well above that.
Black plastic is a separate question. A 2024 study in the journal Chemosphere, whose lead author works at the advocacy group Toxic-Free Future, tested 203 black plastic household products and found flame retardants in some of them, which the authors link to plastic recycled from electronics. In December 2024 the authors corrected a math error: the estimated daily intake from a contaminated utensil came out more than ten times below the EPA's reference dose, not close to it, as Live Science reported. The authors still stand by their concern, and you cannot tell from the outside which black utensil is contaminated.
Our view: you do not need to panic about the ladle in your drawer. But when you buy the next one, a steel bowl takes plastic out of the question, and silicone over a steel core is the better option if you need something gentle on a coated pot. The same logic runs through our non-toxic cooking utensils guide.
Ladle sizes and types
Ladle sizes are counted in ounces of liquid. Restaurant ladles, like the Winco ones here, have the size stamped on the handle, which makes them handy for portioning.
| Size | Use it for | Our pick |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz (30 ml) to 2 oz (59 ml) | Gravy, sauce, salad dressing, pancake batter | Winco LDI-10SH |
| 4 oz (118 ml) | Everyday serving; two scoops fill a cup | Winco LDI-4 |
| 5 oz (148 ml) to 6 oz (177 ml) | The all-rounder for soups and stews | Rösle 10009 |
| 8 oz (237 ml) | Big batches, chili, filling containers | Winco LDI-8 |
| Canning ladle | Filling jars, often with two spouts | Norpro |
| Skimmer / spider | Lifting solids, skimming foam (it has holes) | not covered here |
A gravy boat, then a small, a medium and a large ladle: bigger bowl, longer handle.
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For big batches
Winco LDI-8 One-Piece Stainless Steel Ladle, 8 oz
One piece of stainless steel, NSF listed for restaurant use, with the 8 oz (237 ml) size stamped on a 12.5 in (32 cm) handle. On October 29, 2026 it was sold by Amazon itself, and the Winco family led Amazon's Kitchen Ladles best sellers.
Good for: chili, stock and filling freezer containers fast.
The drawback: Winco does not state the steel grade on the listing, and the steel is thin (the listing says 1 mm). A full 8 oz scoop is also more than ATK found comfortable for everyday serving.
See the Winco 8 oz on AmazonA soup ladle is far too big for a gravy boat.
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Gravy and sauce
Winco LDI-10SH Stainless Steel Ladle, 1 oz
A 1 oz (30 ml) bowl on a 6 in (15 cm) handle, one piece of stainless steel. It is the size a gravy boat or a sauce cup actually needs.
Good for: gravy, pan sauce, dressings and drizzling batter.
The drawback: The short handle is made for a gravy boat, not a stockpot. It will not reach the bottom of anything deep.
See the Winco 1 oz on AmazonCanning ladles
A canning ladle is a wider, deeper ladle with spouts, built for filling jars through a wide-mouth funnel without splashing the rims. A ladle that pours where you aim it means fewer rims to wipe before the lids go on. Leave the headspace your tested recipe gives.
A canning ladle and a wide-mouth funnel keep jam off the jar rim.
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For canning
Norpro Stainless Steel Dual-Spout Canning Ladle, 7 oz
All stainless steel with two pour spouts, a 7 oz (207 ml) bowl, an 11.5 in (29 cm) handle and a hook that holds it on the pot rim. The listing calls it plastic-free.
Good for: jam, salsa, tomato sauce and pickles into jars.
The drawback: It has far fewer Amazon ratings than the other picks, and the steel grade is not stated.
See the Norpro canning ladle on AmazonUsing a ladle in nonstick or enameled pots
A ladle mostly scoops, it does not scrape, so a steel ladle is fine in a stainless or cast iron pot and can be used with care in most others. Coated pans are the exception: many nonstick and ceramic-coated pan makers ask you to keep metal tools off the coating. Our spatula guide lays out eleven pan makers' metal-utensil rules side by side, and they apply to a ladle too.
If your soup pot is nonstick or enameled, silicone is the gentler choice; ATK notes that silicone and plastic bowls are kinder to enamel and nonstick surfaces. ATK saw several nylon and rubber ladles melt along the handle when they were left resting in a hot pot, so pick one with a high heat rating and a steel core, and do not leave any plastic ladle sitting in a simmering pot.
A silicone ladle is gentle on enamel and nonstick surfaces.
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For nonstick and enamel
DI ORO Silicone Ladle with Stainless Steel Core
Food-grade silicone (the listing says LFGB certified) over a stainless steel core, rated to 600°F (316°C), seamless and dishwasher safe. The core keeps the bowl from bending under a full scoop.
Good for: nonstick, ceramic-coated and enameled pots.
The drawback: You cannot see or check the steel core. If the silicone ever tears and the core shows, replace it.
See the DI ORO ladle on AmazonWhich stainless steel is best for a ladle?
For a ladle, 304 stainless (also sold as 18/8) and 18/10 both work well; the numbers are the share of chromium and nickel. Whether the ladle is one solid piece matters more than which of the two it is. Our stainless steel grades guide explains 18/8, 18/10 and nickel-free 18/0.
What we left out
- OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Ladle. Epicurious picked it, though ATK found its spouts made pouring messier. The soft handle is not steel (ATK lists polypropylene and rubber), and ATK found the grip thick. We kept this list to ladles that are steel or steel-cored all the way through.
- KitchenAid Classic nylon ladle. The first result when we searched Amazon for “ladle” on October 29, 2026. But the bowl is nylon, the same kind of hot contact the BfR advice on nylon spoons and spatulas covers, and ATK rated it not recommended.
- Cuisinart stainless steel ladle. ATK's best buy. We left it out because it had far fewer Amazon ratings than our picks on October 29, 2026, and the Winco 4 oz fills the same slot.
- All-Clad Cook and Serve ladle. Seamless, but it holds just 2 oz (59 ml), well under ATK's 5 oz ideal.
Questions people ask
What is a ladle used for?
Moving liquids and loose foods from a pot to a bowl, jar or pan: soup, stew, stock, gravy, sauce, punch and pancake batter. Restaurant kitchens also use sized ladles to portion food exactly.
How much does a ladle hold?
Most soup ladles hold 4 oz (118 ml) to 8 oz (237 ml). Gravy and sauce ladles hold 1 oz (30 ml) to 2 oz (59 ml). If the maker stamps the size on the handle, as Winco does, you can use it to measure.
Are black plastic ladles safe?
A 2024 study found flame retardants, likely from recycled electronics, in some black plastic products, including kitchen utensils, and its authors later corrected their risk math downward. You cannot tell which black utensil is affected by looking at it, so we would choose steel or silicone over a steel core when you replace one.
What is a ladle with holes called?
A skimmer, or a spider if it is a wire basket. It lifts solids out of liquid and skims foam off stock. It does not replace a ladle.
Are ladles dishwasher safe?
Stainless steel and silicone ladles usually are; the Newness, Winco and DI ORO listings all say dishwasher safe. With a hollow-handled ladle, dry it handle-down after washing and check that the end is still sealed. Wooden ladles should be washed by hand.
How we put this together
On October 29, 2026 we pulled the seven ladles on this page from Amazon's US product data, checked each one's material, capacity, seller and stock, and re-checked them through Amazon's product feed. The Newness ladle is our quick pick because it was the stainless ladle carrying the Best Seller badge in Amazon's results for “ladle” that day, and it is one piece of 304 steel. We read America's Test Kitchen's ladle review for what to look for, the BfR opinion on nylon kitchen tools and coverage of the 2024 black plastic study and its correction. We did not test any ladle ourselves, and no brand saw this page before it went up.
Sources (opened October 29, 2026). Product facts come from each Amazon listing on the same date.
- America's Test Kitchen: The Best Ladles
- Epicurious: The Best Ladles, Tested and Reviewed
- BfR Opinion No. 036/2019: Polyamide kitchen utensils, keep contact with hot food as brief as possible
- Live Science: Recycled black plastic can contain flame retardants (updated after the December 2024 correction)
Newness, Winco, Rösle, DI ORO, Norpro, OXO, KitchenAid, Cuisinart and All-Clad are trademarks of their owners and are named here only to identify their products. Listings change; check the listing before you buy.
