Cooking with toaster oven

July 18, 2022 10:35 AM

In week 2 of a kitchen reno and we are sick of eating takeout. I can access my fridge and I have a toaster oven but I don’t want to be washing messy dishes in my bathroom sink. What are some easy meals I can make for a five-year-old and myself for the next few days?

People have suggested full-on ‘cooking’ to me but it’s more the cleanup which is an issue. I can use paper plates but don’t really want to be scrubbing casserole pans in a bathroom sink.

posted by ficbot to Food & Drink (20 answers total)

Melty sandwiches (ie grilled cheese with veggies, meat)

“Pizza” with a pita crust, storebought sauce, bag of shredded cheese, your toppings of choice

Quesadilla - can of beans + some shredded cheese as a filling

For all of the above just use a sheet of foil as your “baking sheet” and broil or bake as needed.
posted by rodneyaug at 10:41 AM on July 18, 2022 [4 favorites]

Save yourself the cooking step and have a salad evening. Tuna mayo or diced store bought cooked chicken on a bed of leaves with some potato salad. You can also make sandwiches from a store bought rotisserie chicken and a bag of salad.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 10:46 AM on July 18, 2022 [2 favorites]

If you like frozen fish sticks or fillets, you can cook those in the toaster oven and use them to make fish tacos or fish sandwiches or just eat as is.

Also was going to suggest pizzas as above, but you can also use hamburger buns for the 'crust'.

Any combination of sandwich toppings can be placed on bread or buns and wrapped in foil and placed directly on the rack of the toaster oven. Bake about 10-15 minutes until warm.

Small sheetpan meals: toss veggies onto the sheetpan (or maybe microwave some potatoes?), and add slices of precooked sausages.
posted by hydra77 at 10:49 AM on July 18, 2022

Anything "sheet pan" style can be done with a good covering of heavy duty foil on your baking sheet. As long as you handle it carefully (don't jab at it with metal-only tongs, forks, knives, etc) the foil won't tear and you will have a clean sheet underneath. If you don't have a decent toaster-oven-sized sheet pan, treat yourself - usually a "quarter sheet" pan will work but confirm the dimensions of the pan to the dimensions of your toaster oven.

Really, anything but casseroles should work okay that way. You can make hot sandwiches/wraps, cook frozen battered fish or chicken strips for all kinds of purposes including tacos, burgers or hot dogs, use plenty of cooking spray on your foil and you can make what I call "sheet egg" for sandwiches or top with omelet fillings. Simple roasted chicken and vegetables would be super easy.

Plus there's all the toast options, including frozen waffles and similar for breakfast or Dinner for Breakfast scenarios.

Just let your pan cool with whatever's left on the foil and throw that out.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:50 AM on July 18, 2022 [4 favorites]

Frozen pizza. Honestly, anything you buy frozen and put in the oven you can put in your toaster oven. Almost anything you can put in a big oven you can put in a toaster oven. line the pan with foil and go nuts. Make sure it's not going to touch the upper heat element or drip on the lower heat element.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:57 AM on July 18, 2022

By the way, if you do happen to have a microwave within reach, you can greatly expand your options with heat-in-pouch/cup ready-to-eat rice, pasta, and sauces. Plus those microwave potatoes in the tub, frozen steamer vegetables or refrigerated deli side dishes, Easy Mac and soup sippers. All of them cook in their disposable containers. Even if you don't normally have a microwave or are getting a fancy one in the reno, it might be worth asking around to borrow one or picking up a cheap low-wattage one just for this.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:57 AM on July 18, 2022

Another pizza option is English muffins.

And there's nothing wrong with having peanut butter sandwiches (allergies excepted, of course).
posted by FencingGal at 11:07 AM on July 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

You don't need to make pizzas on tortillas or hamburger buns or english muffins. Any supermarket will have two aisles of freezers filled with frozen pizzas on actual pizza crusts. Just buy those. Put them directly on the rack and eat on paper plates and there will be nothing to wash when you're done dinner.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 11:11 AM on July 18, 2022 [2 favorites]

peanut butter is really good on english muffins!
posted by supermedusa at 11:11 AM on July 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

We've just finished a kitchen reno (waiting on counters, which means we are still waiting on sinks!)

Our meals
- rotisserie chicken and a prepped salad from the grocery store. We ate this a lot.
- the kids ate a lot of microwaved burritos (Amy's?)
- kielbassa, cheese, crackers
- prepped fruit trays
- couscous salad (made at home, one bowl prep)
- bbq'd chicken thighs and sausages once a week, along with peppers/onions. Ate in tortilla wraps
- premade fresh lasagna and other pastas. Just cut what you want and microwave.

We alternated above with takeout. LAst night we had bbq ribs (homemade), grilled corn, and couscous salad. Nice home meal, but no dishes.

For dishes, we pulled out our camp bins. Filled from the bathroom sink, and then dumped down the toilet. Pain in the butt, so we pretty much limited cereal bowls, cutlery, and mugs.

We just got our dishwasher back (and laundry!) HURRAH. So we are still on easy meals, but at least the dishwasher has expanded our repertoire.
posted by Ftsqg at 11:33 AM on July 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

If you're going to make nut butter sandwiches, don't just limit yourself to jelly/jam - you can add thinly sliced apples/pears, bananas, and/or strawberries. There are probably other fruits that would also work.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 12:23 PM on July 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'd suggest using oven roasting bags or cooking things "en papillote" in parchment paper. Seriously minimal cleanup, just throw the bag/ paper away. Here's a salmon dish and a roasted chicken in an oven bag.
posted by Pretty Good Talker at 12:34 PM on July 18, 2022 [4 favorites]

English muffin pizzas – classic kid food.

Molletes – good for breakfast, or anytime. (You'll probably want to omit the jalapeños for the kid, of course.)

Black bean tacos (hard or soft shell). Just use the toaster oven to heat the beans and warm the tortillas.

Shrimp.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 1:01 PM on July 18, 2022

Frozen mini corn dogs and french fries would be fun and easy enough to deal with in the toaster oven, bonus points if you can borrow an air fryer.
posted by advicepig at 1:04 PM on July 18, 2022

And if you have access to a microwave and a local Indian grocery, you can eat pretty decently from the Indian heat-and-eat meals, with microwave rice and frozen naan reheated in the toaster oven. Serve on paper, throw away the containers.

I mean, you could probably manage to heat the Indian in a bowl full of boiling water out of a kettle, if pressed.
posted by Kyol at 1:08 PM on July 18, 2022

Usually muffin tins with six muffin capacity work in the toaster oven. I have also baked soda bread, small cakes in small ceramic dishes. I like to make potato slices baked with a little olive oil, chopped garlic and seasoned salt. 18 minutes is all it takes to bake whatever potato variant, sliced. Broiled cheese and tomato toasts, broiled tuna and cheese toasts. Baked corn on the cob. You can bake meatballs in a toaster oven. You can bake a big enough piece of salmon for two in a toaster oven. You can put eggs on top of those potato wedges to cook for breakfast, once the potatoes are nearly finished.
posted by Oyéah at 2:04 PM on July 18, 2022

Go to YouTube and search “get toasted with Eric Ripert” wherein noted chef (and loveable person) Ripert makes amazing high-end dishes in a toaster oven
posted by clownschool at 5:01 PM on July 18, 2022 [2 favorites]

I regularly cook chicken nuggets in our toaster oven. I put foil on the toaster oven's baking pan, and then just throw the foil away after. Zero cleanup, kid approved.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:54 PM on July 18, 2022

I do the "put stuff on a a tortilla, heat in the toaster oven, roll into a wrap and eat" thing from time to time. I'll note that often the tortilla gets crisp before the food get very hot. If you want your tortilla warm and soft, it may work better to warm the "stuff" and then proceed as before.

The single serving frozen pizzas from our store take forever, say, 25 minutes. This probably also true of other single portion frozen foods. I'd try defrosting beforehand, maybe by moving them to the fridge the night before.

If you want to make pizza from scratch, maybe for child amusement, look into chef John's Flash Pizza.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:10 AM on July 19, 2022

Do you happen to have a Trader Joe's nearby? They have a great freezer section with lots of very convenient toaster oven meals. They've got little pizzas sized for a toaster oven, spanakopita you can bake off easily with no dishes dirtied, quesadillas and burritos and spring rolls galore, and lots of other options.
posted by ourobouros at 4:04 PM on July 19, 2022 [1 favorite]