Every kitchen needs a casserole dish, which is ideal for preparing your favourite comfort foods. When making a quick and simple weeknight pasta bake or baking lasagna, this is the ingredient to use. It’s the go-to recipe for creating enchiladas, a beloved side dish like green bean casserole, or a delicious fruit cobbler for dessert.
The amount of food you can prepare, the quality of your product, and how simple it is to get it into and out of the oven all depend on which of these oven-safe bakeries you choose. As these foods frequently move straight from the oven to the table, presentation and practicality as a serving dish are also crucial factors to take into account.
Our best pick is the stunning but useful Great Jones Hot Dish (available at Great Jones), which we thoroughly tested out of 14 well-liked options over the course of the last year. Nevertheless, if money is tight and aesthetics isn’t a big issue, you’ll be more than happy with our top value option, the Pyrex Easy Grip 3-Quart Glass Baking Dish with Red Lid.
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Ceramic Baker by The Pioneer Woman with Lid
Everything is in favour of the Pioneer Woman Heritage Porcelain Bakeware with Lid, including an excellent price. Its sole flaw is that it is embellished with a floral pattern that will appeal to people who adore the Pioneer Woman’s home-on-the-range aesthetic but not to others who choose a more minimalistic, neutral aesthetic.
This was the deepest of all the goods we examined, giving you plenty of room to stuff in enough baked ziti for an entire team. Even with a potholder, it’s simple to loop fingers around the big handles, providing a firm grip even when the dish is completely laden and quite hot.
This bakeware may be used in the microwave, freezer, or dishwasher and is oven safe up to 450°F. Also, there is a plastic cover with a tight clasp that may be used to store leftovers in the refrigerator or to transport banana pudding to a potluck dinner. There are three distinct flower designs to choose from.
Pros
-Handles provide a firm grip.
-Safe for dishwasher
-includes a cover for storing
Cons
-Unsafe for broilers
-Not everyone may find pattern appealing.
Rectangular Le Creuset Heritage Dish
The Le Creuset Traditional Heritage Rectangular Dish was one of our top recommendations throughout testing because of its attractiveness and adaptability.
This 4-quart dish has enough depth to hold nearly 5 quarts of food. Because the Traditional Heritage Rectangular Dish is broiler-safe, you can top an eggplant parmesan recipe with a layer of melty cheese without worrying about breaking it. The fact that it comes in 11 distinct colours, including the brand’s iconic flame, red, several blues, and numerous neutral tones, is the cherry on top.
It’s not flawless, though; in our testing, we discovered that its big, textured handles are tilted in a way that makes it feasible to grasp the Traditional Heritage Rectangular Dish reasonably firmly. However, you can’t thread your fingers through all of the grips to provide further support since they are too tiny.
Pros
-500°F oven safe
-in 11 different hues
-Safe for dishwasher
Cons
-Handles lack further support.
Le Creuset Rectangular Stoneware Baking Dish
The Stoneware Rectangle Baking Dish has traditional style similar to the original Le Creuset Heritage Dish, but unlike its predecessor, it has long open handles that can be looped through for an amazing grip.
This one only has a 4-quart capacity, compared to the Heritage’s over 5-quart capacity. It held our three-layer lasagna recipe with no trouble, but if you want to pack in more, you might want to think about the alternative option.
This meal may be safely baked at a temperature of up to 500 °F, which is more than hot enough to melt cheese or brown crumbs on a casserole of noodles. There are three colour options: white, grey, and red.
Pros
-Handles offer a secure grip.
-500°F oven safe
Cons
-restricted accessibility
Delicious Jones Hot Dish
For modern elegance, the Great Jones Hot Dish is unbeatable! Yet using it is also really convenient. It may be filled with enough scalloped potatoes for a dinner party because it holds approximately 5 quarts. While using oven mitts, you may loop your hands over the handles for a highly tight grip, even when the container is fully loaded.
The Hot Dish is dishwasher safe and may be used in an oven up to 450°F. The pattern is offered in mustard, marinara, blueberry, and broccoli hues. But, neither a large retail chain nor Amazon carry this meal. Only the Great Jones website sells it.
Pros
-Beautiful design
-Handles offer a very secure grip.
-available in a variety of hues
-Safe for dishwasher
Cons
-Unsafe for broilers
3-quart glass baking dish with a red lid from Pyrex.
The Pyrex Easy Grab 3-quart Glass Baking Dish is a great option if you’re searching for an affordable open baker. While it doesn’t hold as much as the Great Jones, its identical dimensions of 13 x 9 x 2 inches make it a fantastic option for baked products like lemon squares or brownies. The Pyrex is also big enough to accommodate most other recipes, like lasagna and common berry cobbler.
This dish is made of tempered soda-lime glass, which is susceptible to breakage and has been reported to shatter in the oven (it is not thermal shock resistant). The manufacturer’s instructions should thus be strictly followed. Never put Pyrex under the broiler and always preheat the oven before using it. Be care to thaw a frozen lasagna before baking.
Even when using large pot-holders, you may wrap your hands around the handles for a really strong grip. The dish has a plastic storage lid that is useful for carrying to potlucks or keeping a casserole snugly covered in the fridge or freezer.
Pros
-Handles offer a secure grip.
-Safe for dishwasher
-include a storage lid
Cons
-looks utilitarian
-only suitable for preheated ovens
-Unsafe for broilers
How Casserole Dishes Were Tested
The Examiner
Hello, my name is Sharon Franke, and as a cook with a dream career as a kitchen equipment tester. I’ve tested everything from wire whisks to smart refrigerators throughout my more than 30 years at work. I examine both how well tools function and how easy they are to use using my expertise as a former professional chef and an active home cook. There is nothing I enjoy looking at more than essential kitchenware for both regular cooking and exceptional occasions.
The Exams
I put 14 oven-safe casserole plates to the test. I prepared a lasagna with meat sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella cheeses in each, along with a peach cobbler. While I worked, I saw how simple each recipe was to prepare, how pleasant it was to handle, how beautifully the foods cooked, and how simple it was to serve. Of course, I also took into account how handy it was to keep each dish and how simple it was to clean. Lastly, I added points for aesthetic appeal because these pans are meant to be used at the table.
Things to Consider When Purchasing a Casserole Dish
In our tests, each dish quickly and satisfactorily created lasagnas and baked cobblers. The main distinctions between them were in their sizes, how easy it was to put them in and take them out of the oven, and how they looked. Finding a dish with a strong grip when using potholders or oven mitts is particularly vital because these items are heavy, and more more so after laden with hot food.
Glass or pottery will always be our first choices. We decided against using metal bakeware or enamelled cast iron for a number of reasons. Secondly, since metal retains heat and gets considerably hotter, especially on the bottom and sides, it cooks food less evenly. If you’re cooking anything custardy like bread pudding, this is extremely difficult.
