It’s time to knock the dust off your toaster oven and bring it back to life! This small appliance isn’t just for cooking frozen pizza and re-heating leftovers and can perform way more kitchen wonders than you may think.

Embrace the Toaster Oven

Toaster ovens help get meals on the table in minutes. Due to its smaller size, it heats up in seconds and can cook and crisp food with less effort, time and energy consumption than a full-sized oven (plus it won’t heat up your entire house in the dog days of summer!). The compact size of the toaster oven also makes it perfect for preparing small-batch recipes to feed 1-2 people.

What You Need

Toaster ovens are just mini ovens, so if you can bake it in the oven, it more than likely will work in the toaster oven. However, your typical sheet pans and muffin tins won’t quite fit in the smaller space. You’ll need to scale down recipes to 1-2 servings and arm yourself with these tools:

• Small Sheet Pan: Most toaster ovens come with a sheet pan or tray, but if yours doesn’t (or if you want to keep an extra on hand), an 8x11 inch sheet pan fits most standard toaster ovens. Check your model’s instruction manual or measure the inside compartment before purchasing to be sure it’ll fit.
• Aluminum Foil: If you’re in a pinch and don’t have a sheet pan, foil will always work. It’s also handy to cover the sheet pan in foil for easier clean-up.
• Ramekins: These small cups are perfect for cooking individual portions of recipes. Just be sure to use oven-safe varieties so they won’t shatter under the heat.
• 6-Cup Muffin Tin: Most, but not all, 6-cup muffin tins should fit in a standard toaster oven. However, measure twice, buy once.

Get Cooking!

Now that you have a newfound love and respect for your forgotten toaster oven and are armed with the essential tools to use it to its full capacity, start experimenting with recipes. From eggs to fish to muffins, the toaster oven can do it all!

The next time you’re in a pinch for time, need to get a meal on the table in minutes and only need to prepare one or two servings, call on your toaster oven. Check out this video to see just how easy it is.

 

Toaster Oven Recipes

These recipes are all portioned for one, but you can easily double them to feed two people. If you need to feed a family of 4 or more, you’re probably better off cranking up the full-sized oven (the recipes will still work great, just quadruple them). For more recipe ideas, check out 60 Meals You Didn’t Know You Could Make in a Toaster Oven.

You can also make these recipes in a full-sized oven, if desired. The timing may vary so just keep an eye on it.

In a pinch for time? Need to get a meal on the table in minutes? Use your #toaster oven! #saslife Click To Tweet

Baked Eggs in Marinara

Recipe Adapted From: Mountain Mama Cooks
Makes 1 Serving

PRINT RECIPE

Ingredients

2 eggs, preferably pastured-raised
½ cup no sugar added marinara sauce
1 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Fresh basil to garnish, optional

Directions

1. Pre-heat toaster oven to 400ºF.
2. Grease oven-safe ramekin.
3. Pour marinara in the base of the ramekin.
4. Crack two eggs into ramekin.
5. Top eggs with milk and Parmesan cheese.
6. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.
7. Bake in toaster oven for 10-15 minutes or until white of eggs are cooked and yolk is desired doneness.
8. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.

 

Italian Stuffed Tomatoes

Recipe Adapted From: Hamilton Beach
Makes 1 Serving

PRINT RECIPE

Ingredients

2 large (or 4 medium) tomatoes
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
¾ cup cooked brown rice
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Pre-heat toaster oven to 350ºF.
2. Line toaster oven tray with aluminum foil or spray
3. with nonstick cooking spray.
4. Cut the top off each tomato and scoop out the centers. Place tomatoes on prepared tray.
5. Chop the insides of the tomatoes and add to a large bowl. Add shredded chicken, rice, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir until combined.
6. Stuff each tomato evenly with the chicken mixture, about 1 cup per tomato.
7. Top with mozzarella cheese.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is heated through.

Dijon Salmon with Green Beans

Recipe From: Hamilton Beach
Makes 1 Serving

PRINT RECIPE

Ingredients

4oz salmon fillet
1 Tbsp olive oil
½ Tbsp soy sauce
½ Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
6oz green beans, fresh or frozen*
½ small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
½ small yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
Black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Pre-heat toaster oven to 400ºF.
2. Line toaster oven tray with aluminum foil or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Place salmon skin-side down in center of tray.
4. Combine olive oil, soy sauce, mustard and garlic. Set aside.
5. Combine green beans and bell peppers in a large bowl.
6. Add 2 Tbsp of the Dijon soy marinade and toss until vegetables are evenly coated.
7. Arrange vegetables evenly on tray around salmon.
8. Drizzle salmon with remaining marinade.
9. Bake until salmon is done and vegetables are tender-crisp, about 15 minutes.

Notes
* If using fresh green beans, trim the ends. If using frozen green beans, thaw before cooking.