The 4 Best Toaster Ovens of 2023 | Reviews by Wirecutter

Today’s high-end toaster ovens are 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 think the small Panasonic FlashXpress Toaster Oven and the large Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven are the best options, depending on your space and needs.

The knowledge gained from hundreds of hours of testing since 2013 has helped us identify the most promising models to test each year.

We’ve been long-term testing our picks to see how they hold up over the long haul—we’ve been using some models in our own homes since 2017.

We used an AI-powered tool to scan more than 6,500 customer reviews across nine toaster ovens to learn what people liked and disliked.

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.

The reasonably priced Panasonic FlashXpress Toaster Oven excels at making toast, cookies, and frozen snacks. In our tests, it cooked food evenly and didn’t generate any hot spots that would cause inconsistent toasting. Impressively, it made toast faster than most of the other models we tried. This oven takes up very little space on a counter, but it’s still large enough to fit four pieces of bread or a slice of leftover pizza. We think the FlashXpress is best for people who want to use a toaster oven just for toast or other small jobs, like preparing a handful of frozen snacks—though it was also one of the only models in this price range that could evenly crisp the skin on chicken thighs. 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.

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 bread and can easily handle a 13-inch frozen pizza or a whole roast chicken (whereas our other pick, the Panasonic FlashXpress, can fit only a handful of frozen snacks). The Cuisinart’s three-year warranty is outstanding, as are its impressive accessories, which include a ceramic pizza stone. Like the Panasonic, this toaster oven 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. Although the Cuisinart is not marketed as such, it can also be used to air-fry food (pod-shaped air fryers are simply mini convection ovens). However, 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 for air frying.

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 features—but it heats evenly. The Hamilton Beach’s humble size makes it ideal for kitchens with limited counter space, but it’s still large enough to fit four slices of bread. This toaster oven runs cooler than other models we tested, so you’ll need to increase the temperature by about 25 degrees when baking or roasting. But we think that’s a forgivable drawback considering the low price.

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 pricier oven shares many of the same features as our main pick, the 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’s fan is a bit more powerful and crisps up food faster. It 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, which costs significantly less.