Cooking on a budget with a toaster oven
A toaster oven can do most of what a full-size oven can.
Key points
- Toaster ovens bake, roast, broil, toast, and reheat food
- They are a great option for small spaces or anyone without a full kitchen
- They are ideal for cooking small portions
- They heat up faster and are cheaper to run than full-size ovens
A toaster oven makes a lot of sense, especially for small households. It does nearly everything a full-size oven can: baking, roasting, broiling, toasting, and also reheating food, but faster and at a fraction of the cost.
Beyond heating frozen convenience foods, it lends itself well to cooking ‘from scratch’ and reheating leftovers. Bread stays crisp, and casseroles heat through evenly. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggs, and vegetables are budget staples that cook well in a toaster oven, as do small cuts of meat or fish.
Note: It's best to monitor a toaster oven closely and follow a few rules. Non-tempered glass dishes can shatter, and paper plates, wax paper, or thin plastics will melt or ignite. Splashing broth or sauces from dishes that contain a lot of liquid can short-circuit the appliance or ignite on exposed heating coils. Grease drippings from fatty meats like bacon trigger flare-ups and cause smoke.
There are many toaster-oven recipes to discover online. Here is just a small sampling:
- Baked Potatoes by MomCrieff
- Rosemary Potatoes (plus many more ideas) by toaster oven love
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes by Simply ceecee
- Egg in a Hole by skinny fork
- Roasted Broccoli by food fanatic
- Roasted Root Vegetables by eat Fresh
- Toaster Oven Dinners by Taste of Home
