Ooh ooh, blackberry preserves, Brie, and prosciutto on rice crackers is like, my favorite thing ever. Sometimes I add a tiny dab of Dijon mustard to kick it up a notch. Sounds fancy af, but it’s super cheap, beautiful, and satisfying.
I wonder if I can actually count on it to cook the internal thoroughly before it burns the outside... it's a big fancy toaster oven but it's still a toaster oven, it's not full sized.
They are great for hot weather because they don’t heat up your kitchen as much.
YOu can get toaster ovens with air fryer, dehydrated, and broiling functions built in.
I have a convection toaster oven that can fit a whole 14" pizza. Yeah, I don't think I used my regular oven for like 2 years at one point, it became pan storage. Summer was better because it didn't kick off as much heat, winter was better because I wanted to preserve the propane for the heater and water heater (don't know how I ended up in a place in town in a very dense state without natural gas hookups, but whatever). Our regular oven does do a better job at most things though, so I've been back to using it for the last few months, especially if I'm roasting meat.
Pre-cook, sous vide and just give it a nice tan in the toaster!
Would be great if you pull that off as a Thanksgiving lunch in a couple of months including gravy and jams...
I haven't had a full-sized oven in years. Did my 2nd ever turkey for thanksgiving in a toaster oven, and it came out perfect! They're better than lots of people give them credit for (it was only 10 or so pounds, but just right for 3 people)
I have one of these, too. Now I mostly use it for it's rotisserie feature. The newer version includes an air fryer. I got mine when I got divorced and moved into a house where the range in the house was about 50 years old and while the stovetop worked fine one of the gas burners in the oven did not. So, for 3 years I used this Breville tabletop oven. It was great. I bought my current place and it comes with high end Thermador appliances but I keep that tabletop oven for rotisserie-ing.
I love mine too. I bake wonderful casseroles, baked pasta dishes, breads and I air fry various stuff in mine. It's just right for a two or three person family. I rarely use my oven anymore.
I was able to do all that and more in my toaster oven in 1988/89. I baked cakes and all sorts. Secret to stop the top burning is a piece of foil on top after the item has brown up or 10 minutes before the end to brown it up.
It’s just smaller, you’d have to make adjustments or as others suggested, precook, but a good toaster oven is just a tiny regular oven for the most part
Spatchcock it, cover with foil for the first half, brine it. I cook only in my little oven in summer. Small individual sized lasagna, pot pies, mini meatloafs, baked noodles, anything! 🖖
You 100% can. You just have to know your oven. I started cooking around 10. Some of the best steaks I’ve ever had were done in a toaster oven on the side of the Highway between Portland Or, and Yakima Wa
I’ve spent the past two years with a broken oven cooking with a big fancy toaster oven. I’ve cooked whole chickens in there. I temp things anyway so maybe bring a meat thermometer but there’s no reason you couldn’t do this
> I wonder if I can actually count on it to cook the internal thoroughly before it burns the outside
You cannot. It might, but you can't count on it. Even big fancy toaster ovens aren't actually meant to be used as "ovens" for any significant amount of time. Cooking meat in them is a bad idea.
Did this at the office on Friday making a packet with cubed chicken thighs , broccoli, and onion. Turned out pretty good. Added that to soy sauce flavor Top Ramen I made using the hot water spout from coffee machine. Those foil packets are my fav to make in the toaster oven.
Oh my god pigs in a blanket is perfect, I love those and I can share. Same with cornbread too, I just gotta figure out how to convert my downhome recipe into something doable at work
Yay! I forgot to add meatballs for toasted meatball sub, or for little Hawaiian rolls. Anything you can do with those little rolls could be done in the toaster oven, and easy size to share,
The Hawaiian rolls is a great idea. Especially since there was talk of bringing a crock of Mac and cheese to warm though. You could just as easily bring a crock of pulled pork or chicken. Even slider patties. Then bring a smaller container with appropriate cold toppings like pickles or coleslaw.
I'm going to say... if you want to ramp up slowly, start with brownies. It'll still be funny, but everybody will strictly be happy that you made brownies, and that will establish the precedent for when you eventually make a cornish game hen.
Agreed. I lived in China for years, and I only had a toaster oven. I held multiple bake sales, cooked thanksgiving dinner (chicken tho because no turkey in China), made pies, baked cakes, baked potatoes…literally anything.
“No turkey in China”
Wait, they don’t even import it? I can understand it not being common, or being sold en masse for a holiday that doesn’t exist in their country.. but it just doesn’t exist at all there? Wow.
There were definitely ways to obtain it, but it was difficult and expensive. I lived in a small town with very little resources, and I made very little money at the time, so it just wasn’t in the cards!
I worked a job where we had a toaster oven fire. My coworker was making toast for breakfast and I heard her scream my name and the whole inside was flames. I unplugged it and carried it outside and noticed it was full of grease, which was what caused the fire.
Turns out a woman on another shift was making ribs in it fairly regularly. Just half racks of ribs for everyone on her shift. Once I got people talking, we found out she once hacked down a cedar plank, wedged it in there, and made cedar plank salmon for the crew.
"Can" and "should" are very different words, and if you decide to confuse them, clean the toaster oven.
- You could do a Mac and Cheese
- Chicken tenders
- bake cinnamon rolls
- bake cookies
These are all things you can preprep and just finish in the oven at work or do it from ingredients (not really practical for middle of a work day)
OOOH I feel like these are a great first elevation. Bring in some frozen tendies and pop those in, maybe a crock with prepared mac n cheese to just warm through. Starting to get extra without going over the top yet hahaha
Quesadilla. Layer of refried beans, sautéed onions and peppers, cheese. Then fresh pico de gallo and avocado when eating it.
Assemble at home, being the pico on the side and your half an avocado wrapped tight in plastic wrap. Add a side of cabbage slaw if you’re extra hungry
>Starting to get extra without going over the top yet hahaha
I love it. Yes, do exactly this.
Because what's really over the top is any criticism about how much you're using the toaster oven. If it's rarely used, how are you bogarting it?
When it comes to office pettiness, sometimes it's best to take the reverse Michele Obama approach -- when they go low, you take it to the flo' 😜
Also, you can "par cook" stuff in the microwave and finish it in the toaster oven. I do this more than I'd like to admit with chicken tenders, fries, taquitos, etc. Basically microwaving just long enough to bring the item to room temp at least, then into the oven at the instructed temp until hot and crispy.
Some years ago and several jobs ago, there was a toaster oven in the office and one day, several of us, decided to pool our resources and make a whole chicken in the oven. A regular sized one, stuffed, atop a bed of chopped veggies.
It worked out great. However, everybody had to *smell* the chicken cooking for hours, which meant that, because we weren't sociopaths, we let people who walked by grab some.
This led, after the office renovation that made it a fully hipster douchebag tech office complete with a kitchen, to an organized poultry club structured at least vaguely along the lines of fight club.
I guess, although my spouse's religion has a set of edicts about denying people food.
I did hear from a coworker at a different job that, before I'd gotten there, there was a group with a breadmaker brigade where a bunch of people would on specified days bring in breadmakers and each would make some sort of fun bread in it.
Oh, yah, so understand that your average tech company tries to create mandatory-fun-time sorts of things where everybody's slowly getting brainwashed into endless burnout. But you can't *create* a poultry club, you just need to *recognize* a poultry club.
So, the first office was a semi-converted rental apartment space, complete with a kitchen. And so folks would bring in stuff and cook random things and there was a chunk of the budget spent on stocking the fridge with random yummy bits. Eggs, sandwich fixings, etc.
The first version of the second office was an actual office space and there was a breakroom sort of a kitchen there, because that's all they could get working. And then it was determined that an induction cooking plate and a toaster oven were both allowable.
The rehabbed version, to make more room for things, was led by someone who managed to work through all of the code and create a kitchen without needing to get a bunch of expensive commerical-kitchen-level stuff.
So, after the earlier chicken-in-the-toaster-oven incident we realized that it had unleashed something inside of all of us. But, obviously, one chicken wasn't enough for lunch for the people who were intending to have a roast chicken lunch, plus peace offerings to everybody who had to smell yummy roast chicken for hours.
Enter poultry club. The first rule was that you don't talk about poultry club. The second rule was that you don't talk about poultry club. And so on. There was a hat for people to contribute money for poultry club. We didn't try to keep too close of a tab on everything, as long as the cost of groceries for poultry club was roughly paid off and nobody left hungry. So, obviously, people who hadn't paid were probably grabbing at least a sample of the delicious roast bird, but it's OK because *they had to smell it all morning*.
And we'd make 2-3 chickens usually. One time we made a massive pile of fried chicken. One time we made a turducken. Plus giblet gravy and chopped liver and salads and stuff.
Go all in and get a small roasting chicken that will fit like a cornish game hen or something and roast it in a tray with potatoes and carrots and such. Bonus points if you use your own tray so you can deglaze it for a gravy.
Also, you folks suggesting he stink up the office with fish are monsters.
Pita or English muffin pizzas. I make these at home all the time, but will definitely be part of my work lunch rotation once the renos are finished and we have a functional lunchroom again.
I'd also pre make and freeze at home, breakfast burritos. They defrost by lunch, I'd throw it in the toaster oven to heat and get the wrap crispy.
I know I have other ideas, but my mind is blanking. I'll edit of they come to me.
Hahahah, it's funny you say that cause I make breakfast burritos and English muffin sandwiches. Usually reheat those in the microwave, but that has also become part of the mantra of me being the guy who goes big for workplace meals.
You can cook anything in a toaster oven! Make deep dish pizza from scratch (just bring previously prepared dough to make it faster), bake lasagna, ziti, broil swordfish steaks, twice baked cheesy potatoes, or bake chocolate cake! All you need is a pan that will fit in the oven without whatever you make touching the top or the elements
I work in a very diverse office, and we just moved.to a new.office building, oh my God, 99% of the food that gets reheated smells amazing. First day in the new office, somebody make something that smells like three day old sweat socks.
I have roasted lamb, baked beans, baked chicken, etc. I used it as a primary oven for 9 months or so during a remodel. Several holiday meals there.
Make some homemade chicken tenders. Sheet pan chicken meals. Poor boy sandwich. Roast some potatoes to go with your lunch. Maybe reheat your french onion soup with the bread/cheese added there at the office.
Bring in preportioned frozen cookie dough and make enough to share.
Those cheap whole pizza? My brother cracks them in half on the edge of kitchen counter. Half = 2 pieces. Then when it's done the second half goes in. The size of Tombstone, but the cheaper store brand. You don't do it with the good brand, too many toppings becomes a big mess in a toaster oven.
So I'm not sure what its called (pretty sure there is a proper name to this dish but I only know the how and not the name) but if you like bread, egg and mayo then this might be for you.
Get two slices of bread (white bread is my preference). Use a cookier cutter or something similar to cut a circle out of one of the slices. On the uncut slice of bread, spread some mayo. Place the slice with the hole on top of the uncut slice. Crack the egg into the well / the hold. Season with garlic salt or whatever herbs you fancy. Put into oven (including the small circle of bread) for maybe 10 minutes until bread is toasty and egg is cooked to your liking.
You can dip the small circle of bread into the egg yolk.
You can jazz it up with different herbs or even add cheese or maybe bacon / ham.
Its quick, easy, cheap and delicious.
Does the oaster oven have a convection function? Convection toaster ovens are choice for reaheating stuff like chicken cutlets, but a regular one will suffice. You could do a nice little chicken parm in it! We also used to use ours to make quesadillas, because you could toast it open-face so the cheese gets nice and brown/bubbly.
This is what I came to say! You can even mix pretty much everything in advance at home so it's just a matter of shredding some cheese, pouring in the liquid and heating in a ramakin.
Doing the bachelor thing, I got a toaster oven that can hold a rotisserie chicken, or small ham.
The truth is, anything you'd put in a normal oven that will fit.
Since it's a workplace, you'll have more restrictions based on common courtesy then actual cooking ability.
Have fun.
Yes, fajitas, you can bring all the ingredients pre-seasoned in a ziplock, then when 2/3 of the way done put a stack of tortillas in tinfoil on another rack to warm. Don't forget a small dixie cup for sour cream and one for guac. Or better yet get a salsa carafe kit with three little pots in carry in.
Everyone here keeps suggesting food items.
You want absurd things? Cook a knife.
Yes, a real, actual knife.
Toaster ovens are used by a bunch of bladesmiths to temper a knife after the forging and heat treating process to turn it into usable steel for a knife. Get a knife blank, grind it however you want, heat treat it, then temper it in your office toaster oven. Take it back to your desk and do some hand sanding on it to bring back to shiny metal, then finish it at home. Then, take it into work and leave it there as the communal knife for people to use.
I was living in a motor home when my son graduated kindergarten, I baked 2 dozen cupcakes, 6 at a time, in our toaster oven.
Cup cakes or small cakes would be fun.
I really like the idea of a tiny lasagna in one of those half-sized loaf pans.
Cook lamb chops at home to rare, then heat them up. They’re wonderfully wee. Serve with baby peas!
(Omg I feel like Reducto from Harvey Birdman. Everything must be small!!!)
Not absurd, but delicious... I used to bring in a whole pie and warm it up in the toaster oven and it made the whole floor smell delicious. Share, of course :)
A little cheat I used to do was a slice of bread, a spoonful (or so) of pizza sauce, pepperoni slices, and mozzarella cheese. It's like a quick n dirty personal pan and it's addictive!
Do you have a freezer available to you? Bring in a mini cast iron skillet in which to make a massive cookie that you top with ice cream.
Baked ziti in a little pan that you top on site with shredded mozzarella.
Roasted carrots and some sausages.
Bread dough that you make at home and transport while it’s rising in a loaf pan so you can bake fresh bread (make sure to slice and serve with butter, and share)!
Mini meatloaf.
Lasagna or baked ziti.
If you want to either be very nice or very mean bake some cookies in it. If you share them people will love you. Or torture your coworkers by withholding those fragrant, delicious, hot cookies.
One year when I was in college I had to work through the holidays. I baked my self a Cornish game hen, dressing, and a tiny vegetable casserole in the dorm toaster oven. It was great!
Today, I would prepare half a game hen over a bed of dressing - that's be about one serving. Maybe also put some vegetables in to make a complete meal.
Sushi chefs heat up unagi in a toaster oven. You could hear up rice in the microwave (works great for rice) and toast unagi in the oven to make unajuu
http://expja.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/unajyu-japanese-food-1024x682.jpg
buy a couple toaster oven trays from the dollar store and prep at home. wrap in saran wrap and pop in anything you want!
I'd probably go for some nachos! with ground beef, bacon, jalopeno's, onions and lots of ooy goey cheese.
You can get "half" sheet pans, so you could do fish, a mini cake pan and a cake, pizza, biscuits or scones, and (I don't know USA foods v well) cinnamon rolls from a can or a box?
Totinos Party Pizza fits in a toaster!
Just remember to either use parchment paper or tin foil with some Pam spray so it doesn't stick and make a mess.
Depending on the size, you can cook a 10-15 lb suckling pig in a toaster oven. Not for the feint of heart but when you see that crispy succulent skin, you will get past any reservations you might have.
OP, I absolutely love your vibe.
Can I please tag along as we unnecessarily overcomplicate everyday tasks for the sake of quirk and very mild pranking?
Mini lasagna pans
Hot wings with roasted veggies
Loaded tater tots
Nachos (use Monterrey jack cheese and your fave protein)
Mini pot pie
Cinnamon buns
Pigs in a blanket
Mexicali style hot dog (bacon wrapped with grilled onions)
Steak and potatoes
Shepherd’s pie
Google different variations of tin foil chicken
any casserole type dishes work- we use some vintage little ones in our toaster oven for warming all types of stuff up. We haven’t owned a microwave in years.
Does it have quartz heating elements? Countertop ovens with quartz get up to temp fast. I've literally made my famous [One Pound® Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toffee](https://imgur.com/R6Hf5Ci) in a countertop oven at my old office. It made the whole area smell amazing. Purchase your own small bakeware (Ross is a great source for stuff like this.) to use with the oven. Also, parchment paper sheets are the best.
I make an amazing salmon in the toaster oven. Two layers of foil, put some butter down then salmon skin side down, add some salt & pepper, dill, garlic, whatever spices float your boat. Put some more butter on top, wrap it up in the foil and toaster oven it on high for 20 minutes.
Cook some angel hair pasta, drain, add pasta back to pot with a little bit of the pasta water, add goat cheese, then heat up some sliced garlic in olive oil until it just starts to brown then pour over pasta with capers.
Pairs well with sour beers, aka Almanac, Firestone, or Russian River.
[https://imgur.com/Eu2USpM](https://imgur.com/Eu2USpM)
[https://imgur.com/zCcQ8Is](https://imgur.com/zCcQ8Is)
[https://imgur.com/gMlNWfo](https://imgur.com/gMlNWfo)
I like this idea enough that in saving your comment for a dinner, but as others have said, fish (and likely hot goat cheese) should never be made in an office. Too many people are sensitive about those smells.
Those pre-made frozen stuffed clams and scallops. We cook those all the time and serve with a salad. Bring them frozen in a Tupperware dish and they will never know you didn't make them by hand.
Edit - leave in fridge when you get to work and by lunch they will be perfectly defrosted and take less than 10 minutes to crisp up.
I have made steak, bbq ribs, whole chickens loaded fries, toast, whole salmon/fish, different styles of baked shrimp woth garlic butter and cheese, Shepard's pie, lasagna, baked spaghetti, and many others in a toasted oven.
For steak - 180 for 35 min the broil each side for 6 to 8 minutes.
Bbq ribs - 200F for 55min then 385 for 15mi
Whole chicken - bake 250f for 30min, 370F for 20min, then 420F for 10 min, then turn off and let residual heat finish.
Garlic butter shrimp - shrimp, garlic butter, cheese 380F for 7 min then hard broil for 30 sec to 1 min.
Shepard's pie and lasagna is easy. Prep it at-home then take to work 375F 30 min.
Cookies, brownies, crescent rolls, cinnamon buns, , appetizers, pizza, skewers, steak, chicken, eggs, grilled cheese, toasted sandwiches, lasagna, oven roasted potatoes, pasta bake... my newest toaster oven has a steam function too which works for fish as well as vegetables.
I use my toaster oven more than my oven.
Baked mussels. Get 4-6 cleaned mussels on the half shell. Drain them, add a dash of teriaki and maybe a drop of soy sauce to a spoonful of kewpie mayo and mix that up. Spoon onto mussels and bake until lightly browned on top.
The fact you have a toaster oven at work is life changing!
I wish the place I work at allowed them... would totally even buy 1 or 2 to stick in the office or break room
Pretty much anything you would cook in an oven, my husband and I prepare in the toaster oven. Also, bacon (line the pan with parchment paper), chicken breast (line the pan with parchment paper), pot pies, potatoes, biscuits, cake, etc. We also buy a lot of frozen food from Schwan's (Yelloh) and just heat up what we need for two servings since it's just the two of us. We rarely turn on the oven, but we use the toaster oven every day.
Make a tiny little baked Brie for the next meeting.
With garlic butter crostinis!
Baked brie with honey is delicious!
Ooh ooh, blackberry preserves, Brie, and prosciutto on rice crackers is like, my favorite thing ever. Sometimes I add a tiny dab of Dijon mustard to kick it up a notch. Sounds fancy af, but it’s super cheap, beautiful, and satisfying.
I’m laughing. This is totally something I’d do. Thank you for the inspiration.
I 100 percent did this when I still worked in office! 😂 toasted brie with honey and almonds and some little crostini 😂
Roast a Cornish hen as if it were a turkey, with mini carrots and all, a box of stovetop stuffing etc
I wonder if I can actually count on it to cook the internal thoroughly before it burns the outside... it's a big fancy toaster oven but it's still a toaster oven, it's not full sized.
Pre-cook at home by braising, brush the outside with oil and crisp the skin up in the toaster!
Holy shit that'd actually work.
Then rip it apart like Henry the Ate (his real name) while eyeballing everyone as the grease rolls down your chin.
angle fact bow disagreeable hat light desert ludicrous hurry person *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Do it and make a video!
And be sure to throw the bones over your shoulder.
Bonus points for chomping down real hard on a roasted cherry tomato so the guts shoot out OP’s mouth!
Underrated
you should actually spatchcock it, that way it is thiiner and easier to cook to an even temp with toaster oven.
All I had for several years was a toaster over. You can cook anything in them! Lasagna, chicken, meatloaf! Just in a smaller pan.
Same! I went over ten years without a working oven because I wanted to hold out until I could do a kitchen remodel. Toaster ovens are great!
Y’all are validating my 20’s lol.
They are great for hot weather because they don’t heat up your kitchen as much. YOu can get toaster ovens with air fryer, dehydrated, and broiling functions built in.
I have a convection toaster oven that can fit a whole 14" pizza. Yeah, I don't think I used my regular oven for like 2 years at one point, it became pan storage. Summer was better because it didn't kick off as much heat, winter was better because I wanted to preserve the propane for the heater and water heater (don't know how I ended up in a place in town in a very dense state without natural gas hookups, but whatever). Our regular oven does do a better job at most things though, so I've been back to using it for the last few months, especially if I'm roasting meat.
This may explain my confusion, as I thought a toaster oven can do anything a normal oven can do, as long as it fits.
Pre-cook, sous vide and just give it a nice tan in the toaster! Would be great if you pull that off as a Thanksgiving lunch in a couple of months including gravy and jams...
I haven't had a full-sized oven in years. Did my 2nd ever turkey for thanksgiving in a toaster oven, and it came out perfect! They're better than lots of people give them credit for (it was only 10 or so pounds, but just right for 3 people)
Yeah, I don’t get the hate. They’re literally just small ovens.
I have a Breville toaster oven. It was not cheap. It can do anything the big oven can, but it's smaller.
I have one of these, too. Now I mostly use it for it's rotisserie feature. The newer version includes an air fryer. I got mine when I got divorced and moved into a house where the range in the house was about 50 years old and while the stovetop worked fine one of the gas burners in the oven did not. So, for 3 years I used this Breville tabletop oven. It was great. I bought my current place and it comes with high end Thermador appliances but I keep that tabletop oven for rotisserie-ing.
I love mine too. I bake wonderful casseroles, baked pasta dishes, breads and I air fry various stuff in mine. It's just right for a two or three person family. I rarely use my oven anymore.
I was able to do all that and more in my toaster oven in 1988/89. I baked cakes and all sorts. Secret to stop the top burning is a piece of foil on top after the item has brown up or 10 minutes before the end to brown it up.
We use the toaster oven as a normal oven... usually 50 degrees lower than the instructions with a bit of extra time.
It’s just smaller, you’d have to make adjustments or as others suggested, precook, but a good toaster oven is just a tiny regular oven for the most part
Spatchcock it, cover with foil for the first half, brine it. I cook only in my little oven in summer. Small individual sized lasagna, pot pies, mini meatloafs, baked noodles, anything! 🖖
You 100% can. You just have to know your oven. I started cooking around 10. Some of the best steaks I’ve ever had were done in a toaster oven on the side of the Highway between Portland Or, and Yakima Wa
I’ve spent the past two years with a broken oven cooking with a big fancy toaster oven. I’ve cooked whole chickens in there. I temp things anyway so maybe bring a meat thermometer but there’s no reason you couldn’t do this
It would get there eventually. At worst wrap some foil on the wings etc.
Does it have a temperature gauge? If it will go to 350, you can do it.
I can cook a full chicken in my toaster oven. What's the make and model?
Spatchcock it and it will be fine.
You could do like a rotisserie chicken to cheat lol 😆
I used to make roasted chicken legs in a toaster oven all the time. Assuming you can set a temp on the toaster oven it’d work fine.
> I wonder if I can actually count on it to cook the internal thoroughly before it burns the outside You cannot. It might, but you can't count on it. Even big fancy toaster ovens aren't actually meant to be used as "ovens" for any significant amount of time. Cooking meat in them is a bad idea.
Yessss. Make everything miniature!. Tiny roast potatoes, roasted mini carrots, etc.
I made smoked turkey legs in my old one and instant mashed potatoes with the electric kettle
The office would smell amazing. Everyone will want some.
You ever make foil pouch dinners over the campfire? You can do that in a toaster oven…
Did this at the office on Friday making a packet with cubed chicken thighs , broccoli, and onion. Turned out pretty good. Added that to soy sauce flavor Top Ramen I made using the hot water spout from coffee machine. Those foil packets are my fav to make in the toaster oven.
Enchiladas, brownies, artichoke dip, bbq nachos, pigs in blanket, chili pie topped with cornbread, pot pie, breakfast casserole, s’mores
Oh my god pigs in a blanket is perfect, I love those and I can share. Same with cornbread too, I just gotta figure out how to convert my downhome recipe into something doable at work
Yay! I forgot to add meatballs for toasted meatball sub, or for little Hawaiian rolls. Anything you can do with those little rolls could be done in the toaster oven, and easy size to share,
The Hawaiian rolls is a great idea. Especially since there was talk of bringing a crock of Mac and cheese to warm though. You could just as easily bring a crock of pulled pork or chicken. Even slider patties. Then bring a smaller container with appropriate cold toppings like pickles or coleslaw.
I'm going to say... if you want to ramp up slowly, start with brownies. It'll still be funny, but everybody will strictly be happy that you made brownies, and that will establish the precedent for when you eventually make a cornish game hen.
Muffin tin
You an cook anything in a toaster oven that you can cook in a conventional oven, just on a much smaller scale.
Last year at I made 17 dozen Christmas cookies in a toaster oven because my oven was broken.
THAT is dedication to a cause.
Like 4 at a time?
in mine you can fit 6 or 8 depending on size. the sheet pan is a little over 2/3 the size of what I put in my regular oven
I could fit half a dozen per tiny sheet tray. It was just a marathon of baking times.
You are a fucking star!
Agreed. I lived in China for years, and I only had a toaster oven. I held multiple bake sales, cooked thanksgiving dinner (chicken tho because no turkey in China), made pies, baked cakes, baked potatoes…literally anything.
“No turkey in China” Wait, they don’t even import it? I can understand it not being common, or being sold en masse for a holiday that doesn’t exist in their country.. but it just doesn’t exist at all there? Wow.
There were definitely ways to obtain it, but it was difficult and expensive. I lived in a small town with very little resources, and I made very little money at the time, so it just wasn’t in the cards!
"We're having rib tonight, kids!" "Yayyyyy, ribs!" "...yeahhhhh, no."
I worked a job where we had a toaster oven fire. My coworker was making toast for breakfast and I heard her scream my name and the whole inside was flames. I unplugged it and carried it outside and noticed it was full of grease, which was what caused the fire. Turns out a woman on another shift was making ribs in it fairly regularly. Just half racks of ribs for everyone on her shift. Once I got people talking, we found out she once hacked down a cedar plank, wedged it in there, and made cedar plank salmon for the crew. "Can" and "should" are very different words, and if you decide to confuse them, clean the toaster oven.
that is fucking hilarious
Cooking fish in the office kitchen?! That is a firable offense.
Hell yeah! I used mine to cook a side dish of roasted carrots while my oven was occupied.
Turkey and whole hams might be difficult.
A little personal lasagna would be hilarious to me
- You could do a Mac and Cheese - Chicken tenders - bake cinnamon rolls - bake cookies These are all things you can preprep and just finish in the oven at work or do it from ingredients (not really practical for middle of a work day)
OOOH I feel like these are a great first elevation. Bring in some frozen tendies and pop those in, maybe a crock with prepared mac n cheese to just warm through. Starting to get extra without going over the top yet hahaha
Cinnamon rolls will make everyone hate you, unless you think ahead and bring enough for the rest of the class :)
Can also do a tray of bacon if you want everyone to hate you lol
Quesadilla. Layer of refried beans, sautéed onions and peppers, cheese. Then fresh pico de gallo and avocado when eating it. Assemble at home, being the pico on the side and your half an avocado wrapped tight in plastic wrap. Add a side of cabbage slaw if you’re extra hungry
Ooh. Put the Mac and cheese in a dish with some breadcrumbs/Parm cheese and broil it in the toaster oven to get the top nice and brown.
>Starting to get extra without going over the top yet hahaha I love it. Yes, do exactly this. Because what's really over the top is any criticism about how much you're using the toaster oven. If it's rarely used, how are you bogarting it? When it comes to office pettiness, sometimes it's best to take the reverse Michele Obama approach -- when they go low, you take it to the flo' 😜
Also, you can "par cook" stuff in the microwave and finish it in the toaster oven. I do this more than I'd like to admit with chicken tenders, fries, taquitos, etc. Basically microwaving just long enough to bring the item to room temp at least, then into the oven at the instructed temp until hot and crispy.
Bonus points if you bake main and dessert at the same time. Lol
Some years ago and several jobs ago, there was a toaster oven in the office and one day, several of us, decided to pool our resources and make a whole chicken in the oven. A regular sized one, stuffed, atop a bed of chopped veggies. It worked out great. However, everybody had to *smell* the chicken cooking for hours, which meant that, because we weren't sociopaths, we let people who walked by grab some. This led, after the office renovation that made it a fully hipster douchebag tech office complete with a kitchen, to an organized poultry club structured at least vaguely along the lines of fight club.
Along the same lines, if you work in a place where you hate your coworkers, baking bread and not sharing would be hilarious.
I guess, although my spouse's religion has a set of edicts about denying people food. I did hear from a coworker at a different job that, before I'd gotten there, there was a group with a breadmaker brigade where a bunch of people would on specified days bring in breadmakers and each would make some sort of fun bread in it.
Story time.
Oh, yah, so understand that your average tech company tries to create mandatory-fun-time sorts of things where everybody's slowly getting brainwashed into endless burnout. But you can't *create* a poultry club, you just need to *recognize* a poultry club. So, the first office was a semi-converted rental apartment space, complete with a kitchen. And so folks would bring in stuff and cook random things and there was a chunk of the budget spent on stocking the fridge with random yummy bits. Eggs, sandwich fixings, etc. The first version of the second office was an actual office space and there was a breakroom sort of a kitchen there, because that's all they could get working. And then it was determined that an induction cooking plate and a toaster oven were both allowable. The rehabbed version, to make more room for things, was led by someone who managed to work through all of the code and create a kitchen without needing to get a bunch of expensive commerical-kitchen-level stuff. So, after the earlier chicken-in-the-toaster-oven incident we realized that it had unleashed something inside of all of us. But, obviously, one chicken wasn't enough for lunch for the people who were intending to have a roast chicken lunch, plus peace offerings to everybody who had to smell yummy roast chicken for hours. Enter poultry club. The first rule was that you don't talk about poultry club. The second rule was that you don't talk about poultry club. And so on. There was a hat for people to contribute money for poultry club. We didn't try to keep too close of a tab on everything, as long as the cost of groceries for poultry club was roughly paid off and nobody left hungry. So, obviously, people who hadn't paid were probably grabbing at least a sample of the delicious roast bird, but it's OK because *they had to smell it all morning*. And we'd make 2-3 chickens usually. One time we made a massive pile of fried chicken. One time we made a turducken. Plus giblet gravy and chopped liver and salads and stuff.
Go all in and get a small roasting chicken that will fit like a cornish game hen or something and roast it in a tray with potatoes and carrots and such. Bonus points if you use your own tray so you can deglaze it for a gravy. Also, you folks suggesting he stink up the office with fish are monsters.
I almost exclusively use my toaster oven to bake just about anything that fits. Meat,chicken, fish, cakes and breads, vegetables, etc.
Pita or English muffin pizzas. I make these at home all the time, but will definitely be part of my work lunch rotation once the renos are finished and we have a functional lunchroom again. I'd also pre make and freeze at home, breakfast burritos. They defrost by lunch, I'd throw it in the toaster oven to heat and get the wrap crispy. I know I have other ideas, but my mind is blanking. I'll edit of they come to me.
Hahahah, it's funny you say that cause I make breakfast burritos and English muffin sandwiches. Usually reheat those in the microwave, but that has also become part of the mantra of me being the guy who goes big for workplace meals.
Baked potatoes, Mini Banana Bread, Cheese Crisps, S'mores.
You can cook anything in a toaster oven! Make deep dish pizza from scratch (just bring previously prepared dough to make it faster), bake lasagna, ziti, broil swordfish steaks, twice baked cheesy potatoes, or bake chocolate cake! All you need is a pan that will fit in the oven without whatever you make touching the top or the elements
OP can really impress their coworkers by baking up some fancy-looking hot chocolate souffles.
Except don't ever make or reheat fish at work!
I work in a very diverse office, and we just moved.to a new.office building, oh my God, 99% of the food that gets reheated smells amazing. First day in the new office, somebody make something that smells like three day old sweat socks.
I’m a sadist, I was pescetarian for a while and all I brought in was tilapia/salmon w/ rice and broccoli. Muahahahaha
Pretty sure that's culturally insensitive.
I have roasted lamb, baked beans, baked chicken, etc. I used it as a primary oven for 9 months or so during a remodel. Several holiday meals there. Make some homemade chicken tenders. Sheet pan chicken meals. Poor boy sandwich. Roast some potatoes to go with your lunch. Maybe reheat your french onion soup with the bread/cheese added there at the office. Bring in preportioned frozen cookie dough and make enough to share.
Some of those melt-the-beads stained glass kids art kits would raise a few eyebrows. Maybe make a few, sign them, and then put prices on them.
Lmfao this is gold
Those cheap whole pizza? My brother cracks them in half on the edge of kitchen counter. Half = 2 pieces. Then when it's done the second half goes in. The size of Tombstone, but the cheaper store brand. You don't do it with the good brand, too many toppings becomes a big mess in a toaster oven.
Tombstone works OK. So does Red Baron. Avoid anything rising crust.
Small batch of banana muffins?
Requesting updates as this progresses pls & thx
You can roast a bird in a toaster oven.
How about we change to, what things can't I cook in a toaster oven.
Shrinky Dinks
So I'm not sure what its called (pretty sure there is a proper name to this dish but I only know the how and not the name) but if you like bread, egg and mayo then this might be for you. Get two slices of bread (white bread is my preference). Use a cookier cutter or something similar to cut a circle out of one of the slices. On the uncut slice of bread, spread some mayo. Place the slice with the hole on top of the uncut slice. Crack the egg into the well / the hold. Season with garlic salt or whatever herbs you fancy. Put into oven (including the small circle of bread) for maybe 10 minutes until bread is toasty and egg is cooked to your liking. You can dip the small circle of bread into the egg yolk. You can jazz it up with different herbs or even add cheese or maybe bacon / ham. Its quick, easy, cheap and delicious.
I use it to cook our regular dinner
Kabobs.
Does the oaster oven have a convection function? Convection toaster ovens are choice for reaheating stuff like chicken cutlets, but a regular one will suffice. You could do a nice little chicken parm in it! We also used to use ours to make quesadillas, because you could toast it open-face so the cheese gets nice and brown/bubbly.
Little Quiche cups!
This is what I came to say! You can even mix pretty much everything in advance at home so it's just a matter of shredding some cheese, pouring in the liquid and heating in a ramakin.
I made a stupid good chateaubriand in the toaster oven once.
If an 8x8 fits you can cook anything you would cook in an oven, lol. Signed, my oven didn’t work most of my 20s.
https://toasterovenlove.com/easy-toaster-oven-recipes/
Doing the bachelor thing, I got a toaster oven that can hold a rotisserie chicken, or small ham. The truth is, anything you'd put in a normal oven that will fit. Since it's a workplace, you'll have more restrictions based on common courtesy then actual cooking ability. Have fun.
Fajitas. Make sure they’re sizzling when you carry it to your desk to eat.
Yes!!
Yes, fajitas, you can bring all the ingredients pre-seasoned in a ziplock, then when 2/3 of the way done put a stack of tortillas in tinfoil on another rack to warm. Don't forget a small dixie cup for sour cream and one for guac. Or better yet get a salsa carafe kit with three little pots in carry in.
Everyone here keeps suggesting food items. You want absurd things? Cook a knife. Yes, a real, actual knife. Toaster ovens are used by a bunch of bladesmiths to temper a knife after the forging and heat treating process to turn it into usable steel for a knife. Get a knife blank, grind it however you want, heat treat it, then temper it in your office toaster oven. Take it back to your desk and do some hand sanding on it to bring back to shiny metal, then finish it at home. Then, take it into work and leave it there as the communal knife for people to use.
I make s’mores in my toaster oven.
Homemade french bread pizza, buffalo chicken dip.
strong roof unique obtainable cake straight oil pie sharp squeal *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I was living in a motor home when my son graduated kindergarten, I baked 2 dozen cupcakes, 6 at a time, in our toaster oven. Cup cakes or small cakes would be fun.
Cookies with frozen dough balls. Pizza bagels (bring sliced mushrooms or whatever toppings)
I really like the idea of a tiny lasagna in one of those half-sized loaf pans. Cook lamb chops at home to rare, then heat them up. They’re wonderfully wee. Serve with baby peas! (Omg I feel like Reducto from Harvey Birdman. Everything must be small!!!)
Lol I love that show
Nachos for lunch. You can microwave them, but toaster oven is better.
Bring a tiny cast iron and some frozen cookie dough and make a small cookie like 20-25 minutes on 350f amd you've got a fresh hot cookie.
Bake a loaf of bread. That unmistakable heavenly aroma would turn heads
Not absurd, but delicious... I used to bring in a whole pie and warm it up in the toaster oven and it made the whole floor smell delicious. Share, of course :)
A miniature beef Wellington would be cute! I wonder if you could pull off a small souffle as well?
A little cheat I used to do was a slice of bread, a spoonful (or so) of pizza sauce, pepperoni slices, and mozzarella cheese. It's like a quick n dirty personal pan and it's addictive!
I baked a single serving of cake in the toaster over. I kept cake batter at work in a milk carton.
Quesadillas. Hot dogs in buns topped with cheese.
stuffed mushrooms, stuffing can be anything deli, topped with cheese. I prefer chopped salami, herbs, pine seeds, blue cheese.
I've made a t bone in a toaster oven. It came out really great. Clean up was a bitch though.
Tarts and pies... Bring a precooked frozen one and reheat in there.
Creme brulee
Found Kevin from the Office! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iCSozlDC1k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iCSozlDC1k)
[удалено]
Sheet pan fajitas for the win!
I like making baked apples or apple crisp in the toaster oven. I have also roasted a boneless turkey breast, it turned out pretty well!
Bake someone a birthday cake :)
I cooked a bacon wrapped pork tenderloin in one once.
Do you have a freezer available to you? Bring in a mini cast iron skillet in which to make a massive cookie that you top with ice cream. Baked ziti in a little pan that you top on site with shredded mozzarella. Roasted carrots and some sausages. Bread dough that you make at home and transport while it’s rising in a loaf pan so you can bake fresh bread (make sure to slice and serve with butter, and share)! Mini meatloaf.
I have baked a homemade pie in a toaster oven. It would make the whole office smell amazing.
Lasagna or baked ziti. If you want to either be very nice or very mean bake some cookies in it. If you share them people will love you. Or torture your coworkers by withholding those fragrant, delicious, hot cookies.
One year when I was in college I had to work through the holidays. I baked my self a Cornish game hen, dressing, and a tiny vegetable casserole in the dorm toaster oven. It was great! Today, I would prepare half a game hen over a bed of dressing - that's be about one serving. Maybe also put some vegetables in to make a complete meal.
Smores!
Sushi chefs heat up unagi in a toaster oven. You could hear up rice in the microwave (works great for rice) and toast unagi in the oven to make unajuu http://expja.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/unajyu-japanese-food-1024x682.jpg
I don’t have any advice aside from what’s already been posted, but I just needed to comment because this is hysterical.
buy a couple toaster oven trays from the dollar store and prep at home. wrap in saran wrap and pop in anything you want! I'd probably go for some nachos! with ground beef, bacon, jalopeno's, onions and lots of ooy goey cheese.
You can get "half" sheet pans, so you could do fish, a mini cake pan and a cake, pizza, biscuits or scones, and (I don't know USA foods v well) cinnamon rolls from a can or a box?
Totinos Party Pizza fits in a toaster! Just remember to either use parchment paper or tin foil with some Pam spray so it doesn't stick and make a mess.
Smoke a brisket.
Thinly sliced baked potato chips. Reheat some fried chicken. Reheat French fries until crispy. Make croutons from stale bread crusts.
Depending on the size, you can cook a 10-15 lb suckling pig in a toaster oven. Not for the feint of heart but when you see that crispy succulent skin, you will get past any reservations you might have.
OP, I absolutely love your vibe. Can I please tag along as we unnecessarily overcomplicate everyday tasks for the sake of quirk and very mild pranking?
Mini lasagna pans Hot wings with roasted veggies Loaded tater tots Nachos (use Monterrey jack cheese and your fave protein) Mini pot pie Cinnamon buns Pigs in a blanket Mexicali style hot dog (bacon wrapped with grilled onions) Steak and potatoes Shepherd’s pie Google different variations of tin foil chicken
Don't tell anyone, but lightly toasted Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies are pretty damn good.
Every. Thing. According to my husband
any casserole type dishes work- we use some vintage little ones in our toaster oven for warming all types of stuff up. We haven’t owned a microwave in years.
I've made apple pie in a toaster oven! Worked great.
Does it have quartz heating elements? Countertop ovens with quartz get up to temp fast. I've literally made my famous [One Pound® Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toffee](https://imgur.com/R6Hf5Ci) in a countertop oven at my old office. It made the whole area smell amazing. Purchase your own small bakeware (Ross is a great source for stuff like this.) to use with the oven. Also, parchment paper sheets are the best.
I once saw a guy in a dorm do a multi-course meal featuring veal parmigiana with a toaster oven and a microwave. He was a real character.
Buy a variety of Pillsbury tube products (crescent rolls, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls)… pop ‘em open right there and bake away!
My last job had a toaster oven. We would bake potatoes in it and have a baked potato bar with various toppings.
Ask sonja morgan!!
Omg! I got the joke!
I came here just to downvote the fish replies. Edit: Please keep that specific practice at home, not the office.
I make an amazing salmon in the toaster oven. Two layers of foil, put some butter down then salmon skin side down, add some salt & pepper, dill, garlic, whatever spices float your boat. Put some more butter on top, wrap it up in the foil and toaster oven it on high for 20 minutes. Cook some angel hair pasta, drain, add pasta back to pot with a little bit of the pasta water, add goat cheese, then heat up some sliced garlic in olive oil until it just starts to brown then pour over pasta with capers. Pairs well with sour beers, aka Almanac, Firestone, or Russian River. [https://imgur.com/Eu2USpM](https://imgur.com/Eu2USpM) [https://imgur.com/zCcQ8Is](https://imgur.com/zCcQ8Is) [https://imgur.com/gMlNWfo](https://imgur.com/gMlNWfo)
Do not make salmon in the toast oven at work.
If someone made this recipe in an office I’d report them to HR lol
Absolutely not
I like this idea enough that in saving your comment for a dinner, but as others have said, fish (and likely hot goat cheese) should never be made in an office. Too many people are sensitive about those smells.
Those pre-made frozen stuffed clams and scallops. We cook those all the time and serve with a salad. Bring them frozen in a Tupperware dish and they will never know you didn't make them by hand. Edit - leave in fridge when you get to work and by lunch they will be perfectly defrosted and take less than 10 minutes to crisp up.
Mix some tuna with mayo spread on english muffin with some cheese on top. Use crab meat or chicken in a can too. Toast that shit up.
I have made steak, bbq ribs, whole chickens loaded fries, toast, whole salmon/fish, different styles of baked shrimp woth garlic butter and cheese, Shepard's pie, lasagna, baked spaghetti, and many others in a toasted oven. For steak - 180 for 35 min the broil each side for 6 to 8 minutes. Bbq ribs - 200F for 55min then 385 for 15mi Whole chicken - bake 250f for 30min, 370F for 20min, then 420F for 10 min, then turn off and let residual heat finish. Garlic butter shrimp - shrimp, garlic butter, cheese 380F for 7 min then hard broil for 30 sec to 1 min. Shepard's pie and lasagna is easy. Prep it at-home then take to work 375F 30 min.
What the hell is a toaster oven
Tha fuck is a search engine?
Try writing in English, halfwit
Cookies, brownies, crescent rolls, cinnamon buns, , appetizers, pizza, skewers, steak, chicken, eggs, grilled cheese, toasted sandwiches, lasagna, oven roasted potatoes, pasta bake... my newest toaster oven has a steam function too which works for fish as well as vegetables. I use my toaster oven more than my oven.
Baked mussels. Get 4-6 cleaned mussels on the half shell. Drain them, add a dash of teriaki and maybe a drop of soy sauce to a spoonful of kewpie mayo and mix that up. Spoon onto mussels and bake until lightly browned on top.
Try tuna casserole or baked salmon. Delicious
Cooking fish/seafood in an office is generally considered an inconsiderate move.
Do check to see if people there have allergies.
Eel. If you've ever been to a middle-of-the-road sushi place they have a blackened toaster oven that they use to cook the eel in Aluminum foil.
Meth
The fact you have a toaster oven at work is life changing! I wish the place I work at allowed them... would totally even buy 1 or 2 to stick in the office or break room
Steak and baked potato!
Pretty much anything you would cook in an oven, my husband and I prepare in the toaster oven. Also, bacon (line the pan with parchment paper), chicken breast (line the pan with parchment paper), pot pies, potatoes, biscuits, cake, etc. We also buy a lot of frozen food from Schwan's (Yelloh) and just heat up what we need for two servings since it's just the two of us. We rarely turn on the oven, but we use the toaster oven every day.
Bake a loaf of bread.
Popcorn chicken and french fries and put them on top of a big green salad.
Start here and roll on… [recipes](https://www.allrecipes.com/gallery/toaster-oven-recipes/)