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The baking dish you use when you’re cooking for one is very important. Here are the best small baking dishes.
There are two essential things you need to know when you’re baking and cooking for one. The first is that you’ve got to know how to reduce a recipe. Some recipes are easy to reduce and others are a little bit more involved. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered here. At One Dish Kitchen, we have hundreds of tested recipes that we’ve already scaled down for you.
The second important part is using the right baking dishes. With each recipe, I reference the baking dish or bowl I use and often provide a link to purchase it from Amazon or from another retailer. The size of the dish used in the recipes at One Dish Kitchen is very important. The recipes are developed and tested using the dish that is recommended. One thing to remember, if you use a much larger baking dish for the recipes featured, the cooking time will be different than listed in the recipe and the results may not be the same.
The 5-inch Baking Dish
The most used and recommended baking dish on our site is the 5×5-inch baking dish which has a base of 25 square inches. It’s the perfect size when cooking for one or two people. In the early days of One Dish Kitchen, we referenced the Le Creuset 5-inch x 5-inch dish. You’ll still see it in many of our recipe photos. However, it appears that this wonderful little dish has been discontinued by the company. You may still be able to snag one at a discount home store, but you cannot purchase it from Amazon or from Le Creuset at this time.
This discovery led us to test other similarly sized dishes to use with the recipes requiring a 5-inch dish. The good news is that we have found a 5×5-inch baking dish that we use and love and are now selling it here on our website. This dish, made by Peugeot is absolutely beautiful. It’s sturdy and deep and ideal for every one of our recipes that call for using a 5×5 or a 4×6-inch baking dish.
Other Dishes We Love
- The Sweejar ceramic baking dish measures 6.5×4.9×1.8 and works very well in our recipes calling for a 5-inch dish. We have found this baking dish on Amazon and we link to it on the 5-inch dish section of our Store Page.
- Corning Ware 5×5-inch dish
In addition, we tested 6 different small baking dishes. These dishes or similarly sized dishes should be easy for you to find in your local stores and on Amazon.
Other Dishes We Tested
We took our Mini Pound Cake recipe and baked it in 6 different baking dishes.
- 5 x 7-inch Le Creuset (20 fl oz)
- Round 6 x 2-inch Wilton Cake Pan
- Pyrex Littles: 6-inch square baking dish (24 fl oz)
- Pyrex Littles: 5-inch square baking dish (18 fl oz)
- Chantal: 5-inch square baking dish (16 fl oz)
- Pyrex: 5 x 9-in (1.5-quart) Loaf Pan
Our Findings
Every one of these baking dishes worked perfectly! Below you will see how full the pans were with the same pound cake batter before and after baking.
I used the same baking time for each of the pans with similar results.
5×5 Peugeot – Click to purchase
5×7 Le Creuset
Round 6-inch Wilton Cake Pan
Pyrex Littles: 6-inch square
Pyrex Littles: 5-inch square
5×5 Chantal
Pyrex 5 x 9 inch Loaf Pan
Ramekins
Many of our single serving desserts are baked and served in ramekins. We use and recommend these sizes:
- 8.5-ounce ramekin
- 10-ounce ramekin
Where To Find Small Baking Dishes
We sell the Peugeot 5×5-inch baking dish on our website.
Many other small baking dishes can be found at Amazon, and at Home Goods, Target, Walmart, Macy’s, and other department stores in the US. If you live outside the United States, you should be able to find similarly sized dishes at your local stores.
Hi,
I have a question. I ahve several 9 inch ramikins . Do I need to buy the 10 inch ones or can i use what I have on hand?
Thank you.
Kaen
Our recipes have been tested using 10 ounce ramekins. If you use anything smaller, the recipes may not work the same.
I’ve had a pair of corningware French dishes 24 ounce that I’ve had for about 15 years I got them for a buck each at a garage sale and I just loved them. I moused them away because with the two of us. i would make bigger dinners, so we have leftovers for two or three nights which we just loved. it’s like cook once and warm it up twice.
but. Being widowed now twice, I still use those for like apple cobblers or a small cornbread, so open up your. opportunities you will find something for those special dishes that’s just your size, otherwise just make a bigger meal and eat on it two or three nights. Do you know why????? because you are worth it? ❤❤😁😁😁😁
I just thought I would mention that you can usually find the 5×5 Le Creuset baking dish on ebay and it is worth looking for.
I live by myself and I need someone dish recipes
Enjoying my Cooking for One cookbook so much, I got one for my granddaughter that lives alone.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for your ingenious and tasty recipes ! Love also the info on all your baking utensils, tools and cookware … you are awesome ! And a life saver!
The 5″ square Le Creuset dish can be bought as part of a set, with an 8″ dish, at WIlliams-Sonoma and other department stores. I love mine and bought one for my daughter. I love your recipes.
Thank you, Betty.
I just wanted to say thank you for this site! I am cooking for just myself now and that is saying something, let me tell you. I hate to cook! But I am tired of take-out and sometimes I just don’t feel like going out, so it’s either cook for myself or go hungry! LOL!
I don’t do “hungry” very well and I’m just starting to travel down this road to “one serving” meals! I must say that 99 % of my recipes are all for at least 4 and more and trying to scale down a recipe is the pits for me! I am so happy to have found you that I can hardly stand myself! I will be using your recipes more and more until I transition myself to using them all the time.
Jessie, GOOD FOR YOU!
When you do shop pre prep your counter for when you get home and split the food pkgs right away. I buy a whole cooked chicken and debone it in less than five minutes.OR, buy a whole chicken and either cook it first or cut it up for several recipes and freeze. There you go…If you get the rotisserie chicken, put the Bones into a pot of broth, add a chopped up onion, turn on low for 30 mins. Divide the chicken meat into a few bags and freeze. follow Joan’s awesome recipes to make many main meals. tacos, burritos, enchiladas, chicken salad, chicken soup. sandwiches, Remove the bones from the broth, use broth for chicken noodle soup and other recipes. You will be proud of yourself. I had to go from cooking for EIGHT to one…got tired of living on cold sandwiches…good luck
This was a very informative post. Thank you for all the work showing us the baking dish options and the before and after baking photos.
Hi Joanie:
I have recently found your site and am happily baking and cooking my way through some of your recipes. I came across this blog and thought I would add my 2 cents worth. 2 years ago I moved into a small studio apartment with only a two burner stove, a table top oven and a microwave. Had to rethink all my cooking/baking items. I came across Fat Daddio pans. And I wish that I had found them decades ago. They come in a tremendous number of shapes and sizes (well, a lot more before the pandemic). They are generally inexpensive, bake evenly, release well, are very easy to clean, lightweight –for those with dexterity and weight issues with hands/arms like me. Just of few of FAtDaddio baking pan attributes. As I have so little space I bake and store in them. I do like to use parchment paper with them for ease of clean-up, but even when I don’t, a little soaking and they clean readily. Check them out on Amazon.! Oh, and I generally double your recipes, as there are two of us! But when I just want something for me, or hubby has a particular request, these recipes are great size as written. Thanks so much.