Today’s toaster ovens are like Mini Me versions of full-size ovens, and they’re useful for so much more than making toast. They preheat in just a few minutes and can do everything from reheating leftovers to baking a cake. Larger toaster ovens can even roast a beautiful, golden-brown chicken.
After many hours of testing since 2015—making stacks and stacks of toast, mini pizza bagels, and cookies—we recommend the small Panasonic FlashXpress Toaster Oven and the large Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven, depending on your space and needs.
Some toaster ovens (ones with convection technology, like our larger pick) can even work with air frying recipes, though that may require some adjustments. But if you’re looking to do a lot of air frying in your toaster oven, you may want to check out our separate guide to air fryer toaster ovens.
This compact toaster oven was among the best at evenly toasting bread, baking cookies, and bringing frozen foods to life. It performed as well as or better than competitors that cost significantly more.
This Cuisinart model provides impressively even cooking, a whopping nine-slice toast capacity, a three-year warranty, and some useful accessories.
This small, affordable oven is ideal for those who want something simple. It performed far better than the others we tested at this price level.
This convection toaster oven has a slightly more powerful fan for air frying than the Cuisinart model, plus convenient markings on the door and the easiest-to-clean interior. It also has additional settings for proofing bread, slow cooking, and dehydrating.
This compact toaster oven was among the best at evenly toasting bread, baking cookies, and bringing frozen foods to life. It performed as well as or better than competitors that cost significantly more.
The Panasonic FlashXpress Toaster Oven is best for people who want a machine just for toast or other small jobs, like preparing a handful of frozen snacks. Impressively, it made toast faster than any other model we’ve tried. It cooked food evenly and didn’t generate any hot spots that would cause inconsistent toasting—it was also one of the only models in this price range that could evenly crisp the skin on chicken thighs.
This oven takes up very little space on a counter, but it’s still large enough to fit four pieces of sandwich bread or a slice of leftover pizza. For accomplishing bigger tasks, consider getting one of our other picks, the Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven or the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro, each of which holds a 13-inch pizza or up to nine slices of bread.
This Cuisinart model provides impressively even cooking, a whopping nine-slice toast capacity, a three-year warranty, and some useful accessories.
The large Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven TOB-260N1 has nearly all of the capabilities of a full-size oven. It delivers even heat to up to nine slices of sandwich bread, a 13-inch frozen pizza, or a whole roast chicken (whereas the Panasonic FlashXpress Toaster Oven can fit only a handful of frozen snacks). The Cuisinart toaster oven’s three-year warranty is outstanding, as are its impressive accessories, which include a ceramic pizza stone. Like the Panasonic FlashXpress model, it was one of the fastest at preheating to 350 °F in our tests.
Since this model is so large (it measures roughly 20.5 by 13.25 by 11.25 inches), we recommend it for households with ample countertop space. And although it’s not marketed as such, it can also be used to air fry food (pod-shaped air fryers are simply mini convection ovens).
If you plan to air fry on the regular, you may want to consider getting our upgrade pick, the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro, which has a slightly more powerful fan.
This small, affordable oven is ideal for those who want something simple. It performed far better than the others we tested at this price level.
The inexpensive Hamilton Beach 4 Slice Toaster Oven toasted bread better than any other oven under $100. This no-frills model lacks many of the features included in our other picks—such as digital controls and preset cooking programs—but it heats evenly. The Hamilton Beach toaster oven’s humble size makes it ideal for kitchens with limited counter space, but it’s still large enough to fit four slices of bread.
It runs cooler than other models we tested, so you need to increase the temperature by about 25 degrees when baking or roasting. But that’s a forgivable drawback considering the low price.
This convection toaster oven has a slightly more powerful fan for air frying than the Cuisinart model, plus convenient markings on the door and the easiest-to-clean interior. It also has additional settings for proofing bread, slow cooking, and dehydrating.
If you plan to air fry often or don’t mind paying top dollar for a more polished overall experience, we’d recommend the snazzy Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. This oven shares many of the same features as our main pick from Cuisinart, including a large oven capacity, two oven racks, and two convection fan speeds for more control over how you cook your food.
One of the main differences is that the Breville toaster oven’s fan is a bit more powerful and crisps up food faster. The oven also has just a slightly bigger cavity and comes with a few additional settings some people may find useful, including: proof, air fry, reheat, cookies, slow cook, and dehydrate.
However, if you don’t think you’d take advantage of these added features, you’ll probably be just as happy with the Cuisinart toaster oven, which costs much less.
How the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro has held up
Supervising kitchen editor Marilyn Ong has been using the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro at home for about a year. It’s done a great job toasting bread and reheating leftovers. But since her wall oven doesn’t work well, she’s also relied on the Breville toaster oven for baking brownies and cookies, roasting veggies and whole chickens, and even braising stews. And, of course, its air fryer setting makes for perfect frozen french fries and chicken nuggets, which her kids appreciate. After a year of regular use, the oven is still in great shape.
Budget pick: Hamilton Beach 4 Slice Toaster Oven
This small, affordable oven is ideal for those who want something simple. It performed far better than the others we tested at this price level.
If our other picks have more features than you need, we recommend the inexpensive, no-frills Hamilton Beach 4 Slice Toaster Oven. It toasted bread faster and more evenly than any other oven we’ve tested that’s under $100, and its small footprint is ideal for kitchens with limited counter space.
It has a few quirks that are expected with cheaper models (such as running several degrees cooler than its set temperature), but on the whole those flaws are negligible.
The manual controls are easy to use. The knobs adjust the temperature (from 150 °F to broil/toast mode), the function (broil, toast, and bake), and the 30-minute timer. This oven lacks most of the features included in high-end models—such as preset cooking functions, a convection setting, and an internal light—but it excels at the basics, like making toast or frozen snacks.
It heats evenly. This toaster has only two heating elements, but since the oven cavity is so small, it still heats impressively well. It takes about 5 minutes for the oven to preheat.
Pricier models will alert you once the oven is preheated, but the Hamilton Beach does not—though it does have a charming ding when the timer is up.
Like most toaster ovens, the Hamilton Beach toaster oven will get hotter after each batch of toast you make in a row, so you need to manually reduce the toast shade setting for each subsequent batch to prevent burning.
This model comes with the most basic accessories: an oven rack, a baking pan, and a crumb tray.
It runs cooler than other models we tested. You need to increase the temperature by about 25 degrees when baking cookies or snacks. But this is a forgivable drawback considering the low price tag.
The biggest drawback is the toast shade setting on the timer dial. You have to turn the knob past the 10-minute mark and then reverse it to the desired shade setting. It can be difficult to determine where the dial should be placed for your preferred toast shade.
It lacks a strong spring mechanism to keep the oven door from falling open. This means you need to open it carefully to avoid putting unnecessary strain on the hinge.
The Hamilton Beach toaster oven comes with a one-year warranty. Contact Hamilton Beach for repairs or a replacement.
The Best Toaster Ovens
Are convection toaster ovens good value?
Convection toaster ovens are reasonably priced and are a good value kitchen appliance. Particularly for people who are looking to save time and who cook smaller batches of food, the convection toaster oven can be a great option. These appliances are also very energy efficient.
What is the best air convection toaster oven?
The 1,800-watt Breville The Smart Oven Air Convection is the crème de la crème of toaster ovens. Yes, it’s pretty pricey, but its baking results, eight rack positions, and temperature range of 80° F to 480° F help to justify the cost.
What is a convection toaster oven?
Convection Toaster Ovens. Standard toaster ovens with an added fan are known as convection toaster ovens. Its purpose is to direct a hot air flow onto the food, facilitating more rapid and uniform cooking. Consequently, this reduces your toaster oven’s environmental effect and monthly energy costs.
Which is better Cuisinart or convection toaster oven?
This convection toaster oven has a slightly more powerful fan for air frying than the Cuisinart model, plus convenient markings on the door and the easiest-to-clean interior. It also has additional settings for proofing bread, slow cooking, and dehydrating.