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6 Best Toaster Ovens of 2022, According to Expert Testing

Top-performing countertop toaster ovens for every budget.

the best toaster ovens 2019
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We updated this article in December 2022 to ensure the information reflected current prices, features and more. Our original top-rated picks selected by the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab remain the same.


Toaster ovens take up minimal space, can replace several kitchen appliances like your toaster and air fryer (Check out these combo air fryer toaster ovens!) and shorten cooking times, especially when you use the convection setting. In addition to toasting bread and bagels, they can cook whole chickens and roast vegetables. Since most toaster ovens don’t require preheating, they’re great for the summer months when you don’t want to heat up your entire kitchen with your full-size oven. They're also energy efficient and use as little as half the energy of a conventional oven.

In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, we've tested about 60 toaster ovens in the past 10 years. We test to see which ones can produce the most even, golden brown toast in the shortest amount of time. We also melt cheese on open-faced sandwiches, bake cakes and air fry chicken wings if there is an air fry setting. Here are our top picks for the best toaster ovens you can buy in 2022 based on testing.

Our top picks:

Scroll to the bottom of this article to learn more about how we test toaster ovens in our Lab — plus everything you need to consider when shopping for one.

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      1
      Best Overall Toaster Oven
      Breville
      Compact Smart Oven
      Breville
      Dimensions 10.2" x 16.7" x 15.6"
      Weight 22.7 pounds
      Bread capacity Four slices
      Settings Toast, bagel, bake, broil, pizza, roast, cookies and reheat
      2
      Best Value Toaster Oven
      Hamilton Beach
      Sure-Crisp Air Fryer Toaster Oven
      Hamilton Beach
      Dimensions 9.41'' x 18.74'' x 15.24''
      Weight 13.7 pounds
      Bread capacity Six slices
      Settings Bake, broil, toast, airfry
      3
      Best Toaster Oven for Toasting
      KitchenAid
      KCO211 Digital Countertop Oven
      KitchenAid
      Dimensions 16" x 17" x 11.3"
      Weight 15.9 pounds
      Bread capacity Nine slices
      Settings Bake, broil, toast, warm, reheat, bagel, pizza, cookies, roast and frozen
      4
      Best Toaster Oven Air Fryer
      Cuisinart
      TOA-65 Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven
      Cusinart
      Dimensions 17" x 21.73" x 15.75"
      Weight 20.3 pounds
      Bread capacity Six slices
      Settings Air fry, bake, broil, toast, bagel, pizza, roast, dehydrate, proof, low, dual cook, reheat and warm
      5
      Best Small Toaster Oven
      Panasonic
      FlashXpress Compact Toaster Oven
      Panasonic
      Dimensions 13" x 10.25" x 12"
      Weight 7.5 pounds
      Bread capacity Four slices
      Settings Toast, frozen waffle, reheat roll, frozen pizza, quick reheat, frozen hashbrown
      6
      Best Smart Toaster Oven
      June
      The June Oven
      June Oven
      Dimensions 19" x 19.6" x 12.75"
      Weight 39 Pounds
      Bread capacity 12 slices
      Settings Convection, toast, air fry, dehydrate, grill, slow cook, broil, proof, pizza, roast, warm and so much more
      How we test toaster ovens
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      In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, we've tested about 60 toaster ovens in the past 10 years.

      toast after toasting in toaster oven
      Good Housekeeping

      A well-performing toaster oven should be able to toast multiple slices of bread evenly. For our most recent test of more than 20 toaster ovens, we toasted more than 500 slices of bread to evaluate whether a toaster oven cooked evenly.

      cakes baked in toaster ovens for toaster oven testing
      Good Housekeeping

      We also check for evenly cooked baked goods as well as the ability to broil steak and melt cheese on open-faced sandwiches.

      chicken wings air fried in toaster oven
      Good Housekeeping

      For toaster ovens with air fryer functions, we test how quickly and evenly they crisp up chicken wings and frozen French fries. We also evaluate toaster ovens based on their design quality, user manuals, control panels, ease of use, number of rack positions, interior visibility, audible alert and cleanability.

      What to look for when shopping for a toaster oven
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      ✔️ Space: Consider how much room you have as well as what you want to use the oven for. If space is not an issue, dream big: Ovens like the Breville Smart Oven Air and the June Oven can fit a small turkey. If space is an issue, there are many compact ovens on the market, like the Hamilton Beach Sure-Crisp, that can still fit six slices of bread at one time, or a 13-inch frozen pizza.

      ✔️ Design: Since your toaster oven will most likely live on your counter, aesthetics are important. Digital toaster ovens with stainless steel housings are typically sleeker and more modern looking than their mechanical counterparts.

      ✔️ Rack positions: Most toaster ovens have two rack positions, but the largest have three. The added rack position allows for even more cooking versatility and usable space, especially for air frying or dehydrating. As a general rule of thumb, the uppermost position is used for broiling, the middle is used for toasting bread and baking and the bottom is used for cooking large roasts or pizzas.

      ✔️ Accessories: Most toaster ovens come with at least one rack and a baking/broiling pan. (Note: a heavier baking pan means less warping over time.) Most toaster ovens now come with a removable crumb tray that is dishwasher safe, too. Being able to toss them in the dishwasher is very important: Dishwasher-safe parts help with toaster oven maintenance by preventing caked-on gunk from building up.

      ✔️ Additional features: Some toaster ovens come with an air frying basket/rack, others with pizza stones or rotisserie spits and many include an interior light that helps you see inside without opening the door. We found this feature to be very useful and were also pleased with toaster ovens that had large, glass doors for the easiest viewing.

      ✔️ Settings: Toaster ovens come with a variety of different settings and functions. While some may only have a few such as toast, bagel, bake, broil, pizza and reheat, others like the June Oven have over 200 settings including convection, air fry, dehydrate, grill, slow cook, proof, roast and warm just to name a few. If you're specifically trying to replace a few different kitchen appliances with one, make sure that the toaster oven you purchase can perform the certain functions you are looking for.

      Which is better, a microwave or toaster oven?
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      Toaster ovens and microwaves can be used interchangeably for kitchen tasks like reheating leftovers or melting butter and both can live on your countertop as a fixture of your kitchen.

      A toaster oven utilizes a heating element to brown and toast food similarly to an oven. A microwave heats water molecules using electromagnetic waves, cooking food from the inside out. While this doesn't in a browning effect like a toaster oven, it is often faster. Ultimately, both perform very different functions and create different results because of how they operate.

      If you cook a lot of popcorn, want quickly steamed vegetables and need to defrost ingredients, a microwave will be your best bet. However, if you are looking to bake golden cakes, toast multiple slices of bread at once and broil steak for a quick lunch, a toaster oven is a good choice. Because of their different strengths, many people have both kitchen appliances in the home.

      Why trust Good Housekeeping?
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      The Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab, Director Nicole Papantoniou oversees all content and testing related to kitchen appliances, tools, gadgets and gear. She's been testing kitchen appliances professionally since 2013 and lends her experience working at kitchen appliance companies where she helped develop popular air fryers and such recipes. Her knowledge extends to this roundup, in which Nicole conducted the testing, analyzed the data and rounded up the best toaster oven picks.

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