Ask the Readers: Toaster oven bakeware with lids?
Last month, we received a reader email asking “Where are the best places to find pans with lids for my toaster oven?”
You’d think that after years of shopping for mini pans and toaster oven baking dishes I’d have a bunch of great ideas for that reader.
The Truth: not so much.
The problem is most major stores sell baking dishes and pans that use glass lids. Which means the product’s Use and Care guide will likely state, at a minimum, the lid is not for use in a toaster oven.
That’s why I love the “use another pan to cover your dish” trick we shared in this toaster oven baking dishes post. But that’s more of a quick fix and not the ideal solution for everyone.
So we’re turning to you guys for help!
Right now, we own 2 pieces of cookware with lids that we use in our toaster oven. Below we’re sharing a little about each one and where they can be purchased.
Then we’re asking you, our savvy toaster oven cooking community, to share about your covered baking dishes and where you shop for them.
(NOTE: We purchased these baking dishes and did not receive them for free, all opinions are our own.)
Stoneware Mini Cocottes
Last year, while shopping at Sur La Table I found these cute white stoneware mini cocotte. Each one measures 4″ x 2.5″ and holds 8-ounces.
Pros: They’re great for roasting a head of garlic in and if you remove the lids they double as ramekins for baking individual cakes and crisps.
Cons: The knob handles on the lids are so small they’re nearly impossible to pick up when hot if you’re wearing oven mitts or gloves.
Does your mini bakeware have these little doll-sized knobs too?
Fun tip: we use a pair of tongs to grip the knob and lift the lid. It works so much better than fumbling with a puffy oven mitt.
Le Creuset Shallow Cast Iron Cocotte – 2.75 quart
This 2.75 quart Le Creuset Shallow Dutch Oven measures 9″ in diameter (11″ including handles) x 5″ tall with the lid. At the time of this writing, it’s available on Amazon in cherry red (my favorite!) and this equally eye-catching black oyster color.
You can also find it at Sur La Table online and sometimes in the store. It’s not a piece they keep stocked in store year-round.
I purchased ours there for around $130.00 during a holiday sale.
Shopping Tip: The price fluctuates wildly at both stores.
So if you want to purchase from either Sur La Table or Amazon wait for it to go on sale. Usually, if it’s on sale at one of them it’ll be the same (lower) price at the other store too.
Why we choose the shallow 2.75-quart size
Even though I have the worst track record with yeasted bread, I’ve always wanted to bake a loaf of that gorgeous no-knead dutch oven bread. (If you have a favorite recipe, big or small, please send it my way!)
So when we first started looking for a dutch oven I wanted to find the largest one that would fit with the lid on inside our Breville Smart Oven Pro (BOV845BSS).
A lot of great (and super affordable) options were either too tall or would require cooking without the knob on the lid.
Unfortunately, Tim and I are C-L-U-M-S-Y in the kitchen. We NEED our hot lids to have knobs.
So we kept looking.
Then last year, on our way to visit family in San Diego we happened upon a Le Creuset outlet store.
Once we mentioned the Breville and that we wanted to cook with the lid on, the sales clerk showed us to the 2.75qt shallow dutch oven.
She also helpfully pointed out that although the black composite knob it comes with is heat resistant to 500°F, if we were going to be using it in such close proximity to the Breville’s top center heating element (it’s almost touching!) we should consider purchasing this replacement Le Creuset Stainless Steel Knob↓
You can pick up the Stainless Steel Knob at most places that sell Le Creuset cookware. I got ours, a Medium Replacement Knob, from Amazon. It took about 60 seconds and a screwdriver to make the switch.
Little tips like that are why I love shopping for toaster oven bakeware in smaller stores like Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma. I find the salespeople are knowledgeable about the products, enjoy cooking themselves, and are usually pretty hip to the benefits of a #toasterovenlifestyle too!
I have been using a 2 quart Le Cesar
Pot without the lid. With the lid on it almost fits. It would work if the pot
Thing was shorter. But I have a
Cuisinart Oven/Toaster which Is also
wider. I roasted 3 port ribs and they came out perfect and juicy. Which lent me to a great idea to have this type of ovenware for roster type ovens. Would like to give a gifts for Christmas.
Hi!
I came across your blog when searching weather I can put my le creuset baking dish in my cusinart toaster/oven/air fryer…and I’m thinking it’s a yes. Having lots of people over and my oven won’t accommodate all the dishes I need to put in the oven.
Hi Francesca,
We have a few Le Creuset stoneware baking dishes and use them in our toaster ovens. I don’t think we’d ever air fry with them but they seem to do well with the standard Bake setting.
I have just purchased the Sage Smart Oven Air Fryer BOV860, Sage is the European brand for Breville. I, too am looking for a casserole dish that will fit it so that I can use the slow cook facility, any suggestions Brie
Regards
Rita
Hi Rita,
Congrats on your new oven 🙂
To avoid buying a dish or pot that won’t fit, I’d recommend you start by measuring the interior of the oven. This post will help you with that: https://toasterovenlove.com/how-to-measure-toaster-oven/.
For slow cooking (and a host of other things) I like to use a small enamel-coated dutch oven and look for ones where the knob can be removed/replaced. Right now we own two, the one featured in the post above and a small 2-quart one made by Martha Stewart that I purchased from Macy’s. You can see both of them in this post for No-Knead Bread: https://toasterovenlove.com/small-no-knead-bread/.
The Martha Stewart dutch oven just barely fit without touching the center element and I would accidentally scrape it sometimes. So I swapped the knob it came with for a small Le Creuset knob.
I’ve also seen some people remove the knobs on larger dutch ovens (like the 3-quart ones made by Lodge) and fill the hole with a small piece of foil during cooking.
One last thing, when shopping online it’s best to always double-check the height measurement of any baking dish or dutch oven that you’re considering. Many sellers don’t include the height of the lid or knob/handle in their measurements.
Sorry I don’t have any specific recommendations for you but I hope this info helped a little 🙂
Happy Cooking!
~ Brie
I have a Lodge Enameled 6 Quart Dutch Oven. It fits in the Breville if I remove the knob on top. I have to be careful removing the lid, but you can do it with a towel or thin heat resistant pads. I use it to slow cook chili.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Deborah, that’s super helpful!
Is your Breville the 860 version with the 3 rack placement markings on the door or the 900 model with 6 rack placement markings?
Thank you for this post. I’ve referred to it a few times in the last year and a half.
I bought a Le Creuset 2.75 qt round dutch oven knowing it would fit in my six year old Breville BOV800XL, but it’d be a tight squeeze without the knob. In one of my social media cookware groups, I lamented the oven’s interior space limitations. Someone posted photos of her larger pots fitting just fine with knobs. Well, I didn’t realize there was a larger Breville, the BOV900 air fryer toaster oven. That was on a Monday and I searched online to find only Best Buy had them in stock, for $400+. Groan. So I checked secondhand options and found one on Facebook Marketplace that had purportedly been used around eight times… and the seller was the sister of an old classmate! (I don’t think I would have handed over 200 bucks for a used appliance from a complete stranger.) Three days later, I had the BOV900 and my two Le Creuset pots, the 2.75 qt and a 3.5 qt Sauteuse, fit beautifully with plenty of breathing room. The BOV900 is everything I love in the BOV800 plus the wonderful air fryer setting.
Megan, congrats on the oven and the great deal you scored! Even better you could get it from someone you knew. My mom has the 900 and loves that all of her cookware fits in it – I think it’s the largest countertop oven available that isn’t for a commercial kitchen 🙂
Since you mentioned social media, there are a few Facebook groups for the Breville Smart Oven Air that you might want to join if you haven’t already. They share recipes and help with troubleshooting the different settings.
I hope you have lots of fun with your new oven. Happy Cooking!
Thanks for the interesting tidbit the BOV900 might be the largest non-commercial countertop. I googled for interior dimensions (16 x 13 x 7) and it is spacious! I’ve bought a couple new (open box) Le Creuset pieces and a handful of vintage pieces to fit. One of them is a a lidded stoneware casserole(?) measuring 8″wide x 4″tall without lid and I truly don’t know what to do with it. Any ideas? I am a single person who isn’t familiar with making casserole-type foods.
On your suggestion, I joined a FB Group for this model oven. I haven’t had the time or energy to thoroughly explore the group yet.
Hi Megan,
We have an 8 x 8 baker by Le Creuset that I love to use to make a double batch of baked oatmeal (https://toasterovenlove.com/toaster-oven-baked-oatmeal/) or this toaster oven egg bake (https://toasterovenlove.com/toaster-oven-egg-bake/).
With the 4″ height you could definitely use your dish to make lasagna, baked pasta, or a tortilla casserole – the leftovers will freeze and reheat well.
If the measurements of your dish are 8 x 8 x 4 you can make half of any recipe that’s meant for a 13 x 9-inch pan. Keep the baking temperature the same, start check on it halfway through the larger recipe’s cooking time, and add more time as needed.
The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the casserole but I find things like baked pasta are usually ready about 3/4 of the way through the stated cooking time of the original recipe.
Hope that gave you a few ideas 🙂
Thanks Brie, I have a Corning ware microwave browning dish that I bought over 20 years ago I haven’t used it since then as I no longer use a microwave. I’m a little worried as it’s got a glass lid, what do you think?
😀Rita
Thanks Brie,
I have a Corning ware microwave browning dish that is over 20 years old. It just fits into to oven, I’m not sure what the lid is made of, looks like Pyrex! I’m going to try this to make a casserole.
Regards
Rita 😊
Hi Rita,
Like most things, you’ll find that people have lots of different opinions on this subject 🙂
We ran into an issue with a glass baking dish that was around 10 years old and wrote a post about it along with some other things we choose not to use in our toaster ovens for various reasons – you can check it out here if you’re interested: https://toasterovenlove.com/never-use-in-toaster-oven/
In the US, as far as I know, with the exception of their “Littles” style dishes, Pyrex advises against using their dishes in a toaster oven. Corningware gives similar directions to not use their baking dishes in a toaster oven, countertop oven, or air fryer. I believe it’s due to the uneven heating and proximity of the elements.
When a company’s been around for decades and produced so many different dishes, the best way to know for sure is to contact the manufacturer and ask them.
Sometimes that’s not an option for stoneware or porcelain dishes, especially if the company has gone out of business. In those instances, I try to use my best judgment. If I want to give it a go I put the baking dish on a sheet pan so if it does crack or break it will be easier to clean up.
Vermicular of Japan makes an enameled dutch oven that is only 5.1 inches tall. Handles on sides. Beautiful, but expensive at $400.
They really are beautiful, especially that handle design. Thanks for the suggestion, Jerry!
Lodge makes a wonderful, deep, double-handled cast iron “baker’s skillet” in a variety of sizes. The 8 inch skillet fits perfectly in my Cuisinart TOA-60 with room to spare. You have to purchase the lid separately, but the total cost is still a great deal for a beautiful item that you’ll have forever. You can find the skillet and lid on Amazon, but will pay less if you buy them at Target.
That’s an awesome suggestion, Janis! Especially since you can use it for all of your oven and stovetop needs. Like you said a solid investment that will last forever. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and for sharing your tip about the savings at Target 🙂
I just bought this Le Creuset “Essential Oven” 3.5 quart at Williams Sonoma and it fits perfect in my Oster Toaster Oven.
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/le-creuset-signature-cast-iron-3-5qt-essential-oven/
Aparently the essential oven is exclusive to Williams Sonoma and it’s on sale right now
The main difference is that its got rounded sides and it’s shorter than their normal dutch oven. Perfect for us right?
Thanks for your blog!!
Wow, that dutch oven is awesome L. Stone! The larger but shallow size is so cool and perfect just like you said.
Thank you for taking the time to share your great find. I hope you have lots of fun cooking ALL the things with it 🙂
Got my Le Creuset 2.75 qt. dutch oven at amazon warehouse (damaged box, dutch oven perfect) for $89; don’t hate me. I LOVE it for “almost-no-knead” rye bread (cook’s illustrated recipe). I aim for more whole grains & a white/whole rye (2 cups/1 cup) loaf rises much more than a white/rye/whole wheat one (1 cup each) & for the latter I use a little 1.5 qt Lodge enameled dutch oven that was only $40. Its size perfectly supports the loaf so it ends up rounder & higher. And the lid comes with the steel knob. The recipe is for a 1-lb loaf so I’m going to try a 1.5 lb in the Le Creuset next. By the way, Lodge also makes a cast iron 2-qt. dutch oven (no enamel); but I don’t know how tall it is. In my opinion, the no-knead recipes all recommend pots that are WAY too big. P.S.: LOVE your website.
What a steal Joanne!! Amazon warehouse is such a smart suggestion, thanks for the reminder (I’d take a big discount for a damaged box any day).
Glad to hear you like the 1.5 Lodge Enameled Oven, it looks cute and is a nice price (especially since it comes with the right knob too!).
Just Googled the Lodge 2qt and it looks like with the lid it’s 5″ tall. On the Smart Oven Pro, I think it might scrape that middle top heating element that sits lower than the other two elements. I discovered the other day Lodge has photos for all of their pots with the dimensions shown (here’s the one for the 2-quart in case you or anyone else is curious) – if only every manufacturer would do that!
Thanks so much for all of the suggestions, especially the rye bread! I hope you have lots of fun with your new dutch oven 🙂
Happy Cooking!
I bought the $130.00 Le Creuset Shallow Dutch French Oven, 2.75 quart, Cerise (Cherry Red)
BASED UPON YOUR RECOMMENDATION. Sorry I did.
** This crockery DOES NOT FIT ** in our
Breville Model BOV650XL toaster oven –> Internal cooking area measures 12″ W x 10″ D x 4.25″ H
This blog is only for larger ovens, NOT medium size or smaller. Don’t waste your time if you don’t have the same oven size as this bloggers. You’re on your own.
Hi Kay,
I’m sorry you were confused, but we never recommended that dutch oven for the Breville BOV650XL.
The post clearly states we purchased it for our Breville Smart Oven Pro and even includes a photo of it inside of our Smart Oven Pro.
Mistakes are a bummer and super frustrating but that’s why it’s nice to have the option of returning something 🙂
Best Wishes,
Brie
Hi. I know this is an older article, but I hope someone sees my comment. Yesterday I bought the shallow dutch oven at the Le Creuset Outlet in Carlsbad, CA. It was on sale for $99. The color choices were cerise and oyster. I surprised myself by opting for Oyster and buying the large stainless steel knob. It’s a beautiful piece of cookware. It does indeed fit nicely in my Breville Smart Oven. I saved $150, and I am thrilled!
Well done, that’s a fantastic price, Kristy! I was kicking myself for not purchasing ours when we were at the outlet – you can’t beat their prices and the quality is 100%. Congrats on your steal, the Oyster is sooo pretty and classy I bet it looks great in your kitchen.
Also, thanks for leaving a comment and letting other’s know, I’m sure many will find it helpful!
Happy cooking 🙂
Here are a few options I like for covered casseroles —
1) Nordic Ware Pro Cast Traditions Mini Cocottes – 12 ounces
https://smile.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Traditions-Cocottes-Cranberry/dp/B008XGXWKI/
Nice for mac & cheese or (my favorite) braised chicken thigh w/ sauce and veggies of various kinds. They’re cast aluminum, non-stick, really nicely made. I can fit both in my Cuisinart Toaster Oven at the same time.
2) Sophie Conran Mini Baker – 20 ounces
https://smile.amazon.com/Portmeirion-Sophie-Conran-White-Baker/dp/B00BSWRO08/
I love this Portmeirion line (I own several open baking dishes that I use often in my toaster oven). It’s high-grade porcelain so it can be used in the microwave as well. This piece with the lid is about 6″ high.
3) Another Sophie Conran piece — technically a butter dish, but the size is PERFECT for a toaster oven baking dish.
https://smile.amazon.com/Portmeirion-Sophie-Conran-Covered-Butter/dp/B000JJBSBC/
It’s the same high-quality porcelain, so it works fine. It’s about 5″ x 6″ and about 3.5″ high with lid.
Lana, those are ALL such great suggestions!
The size of the Nordic Ware Cocottes are just perfect for single servings and ooh la la that butter dish is so pretty and stylish 🙂
Thank you for sharing your picks and for taking the time to gather the links too!
Believe it or not but I find quite useful cooking contraptions at second hand stores. I would certainly love to be able to shell out 130.00 bucks for cast iron but those who can’t get imaginative.
Checking thrift stores is a great idea, Lisa!
Ours are awesome for clothing but unfortunately slim pickings in the housewares department. I’d love to hear more about the different second hand dishes you’ve been able to find that work for your toaster oven.
One of my favorite bloggers, The Frugal Girl recently wrote a fantastic post on the pitfalls of judging how others choose to spend (or not spend) their money: http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2018/01/we-are-all-making-choices-with-our-money/ I found it very insightful.
Sorry, I cannot find any mid-size pots with lids either. I am looking for one that is in-between your size and the small ones. I found a great place to purchase a lot of my small utensils and I plan to ask them about the pot with a lid. It won’t help you much as it is my local grocery store. If they find them I will send you the brand name. However, I wouldn’t hold my breath. LOL I think we have both looked to hard for them!
Hey, Fran! It’s so nice to hear from you 🙂
Lol, you are right, that mid-sized dish has been alluding us both for far too long!
But it sounds like you have an awesome local grocery store so who knows maybe they’ll come up with a genius find. If they do I’d LOVE to get the brand name.