How to Find the Best Toaster Oven for Your Kitchen

If you have a small kitchen or a limited budget, or you need a toaster oven only for basic tasks like reheating pizza and making toast, you’ll probably find that a simple smaller-capacity pick meets your needs.

Models in this category can make toast in a range of colors, though sometimes the process is longer than with a regular toaster. They can also reheat leftovers and heat up snacks.

Basic toaster ovens take up much less space than some of the newer, more versatile models. They usually have one rack, which means only a single dish fits inside. And they generally don’t have enough internal height to, say, roast a chicken or a head of cauliflower. Because of the size, the heating element is closer to the food, so these ovens aren’t ideal for baking anything that might rise in the oven.

If much of your cooking doesn’t require a full-sized oven (say, you’re generally cooking dinner for just one or two people), you’re a good candidate for a larger, more feature-laden toaster oven. Size is a key consideration. Lisa Keon, a CR senior technician who does kitchen appliance testing, says that when looking for a stand-in oven, “go big or go home.”

You’ll need to make sure your kitchen can accommodate one of these larger countertop appliances, which require ample counter space, adequate clearance under cabinets, and several inches around the sides (they can get hot).

A model with an almost full-sized oven capacity (roughly 4,500 cubic inches or more) will allow you to cook a 12-inch pizza or an 8-pound chicken, and fit a 9x13-inch baking pan. Models with several rack positions let you cook two dishes at a time—say, a Cornish hen and a side of brussels sprouts—further justifying their countertop real estate.

The best pick for you will offer functionality that matches your cooking habits. Here are the most common features.

Air-frying: Like a typical air fryer, these combo models use high heat and a convection fan to circulate hot air to “fry” food with little or no oil.

Steaming: A steam function can bring that day-old baguette back to life by enveloping the bread in moisture and lightly toasting its surface. This process revives the loaf’s inner moisture and keeps its flavor from escaping.

Convection: This feature evenly distributes hot air inside the oven and removes extra moisture, producing flakier crusts, deeper flavors, and more tender meats in less time than conventional baking. (It also makes certain other features possible, such as air-frying and dehydrating.)

Rotisserie: A spit-and-fork assembly rotates food inside the oven while it roasts so you get rotisserie chicken without a trip to the supermarket.

Proofing: A bread-baking craze has infiltrated the toaster oven market. Some models use a halogen light to create the perfect environment for activating yeast.

Slow cooking: Soups, stews, and fall-off-the-bone meat get the low-and-slow treatment over the course of several hours. Choose from high and low slow-cook modes to accommodate your dish.

Dehydrating: Use this feature to make your own dried fruit snacks.

Preprogrammed cook settings: Some models have set-it-and-forget-it modes to simplify tasks such as baking cookies and achieving the perfect crust on homemade pizza. Just keep in mind that these appliances have their limitations. For cookies, you’re limited to a half-pan (a small batch). And you won’t be able to accommodate a 16-inch pizza, but most store-bought frozen varieties will fit.

It’s important to note that our toaster oven ratings don’t reflect how well these special features work. CR’s ratings are based on in-depth testing of the functions that all toaster ovens share—toasting, reheating, baking, and the like—as well as brand reliability and owner satisfaction data derived from our surveys of CR members who bought 30,619 toaster ovens between 2016 and 2024.

No matter the size, a good toaster oven shows solid performance when reheating and baking, and it’s easy to use and clean. It can also turn out great toast in a range of colors. Here are some of the best models on the market right now, from basic units to major multitaskers.