The Best 13

Jun 23, 2023

Emile Henry no longer glazes the underside of our top pick, the Modern Classics Rectangular Baker. The dish is otherwise the same, and we’ve updated this guide accordingly.

A 13-by-9-inch casserole dish is useful for making so many things—from lasagna to bread pudding to a small roast. Even better, a nice one will probably be good-looking enough to go straight from the oven to the table, saving you dishes and classing up even the humblest tuna noodle casserole. We’ve tested 15 dishes since 2014, and we recommend the Emile Henry Modern Classics Rectangular Baker because it bakes evenly, holds a lot, and looks great for any occasion.

This casserole dish heats evenly and holds a lot. It’s not too fancy for everyday use, but it’s still pretty enough to bring to the holiday table.

The Emile Henry Modern Classics Rectangular Baker holds a whopping 5 quarts, which is more than any other dish we tested. That means you should have no trouble layering in a full box of lasagna noodles. It baked bread pudding beautifully (most pans we tested did), and it’s broiler-safe. It also has a 10-year warranty. The Emile Henry’s large handles are easy to grab with oven mitts, and this dish comes in four bright colors, in addition to white.

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This relatively lightweight pan has generous handles, making it easy to carry around.

May be out of stock

If you’re looking for a pan that has a really good grip and that you don’t mind being on the smaller side, consider the HIC Lasagna Pan. It has large, loop-shaped handles that you can wrap your hands around—even when you’re wearing oven mitts—and it’s about a pound lighter than the Emile Henry. The HIC is not our top pick because it holds about 2 quarts less than the Emile Henry does, making it one of the smallest dishes we tested (and therefore a bit less versatile). It also lacks a warranty. But the HIC’s size makes it easier to maneuver, even when full. And let’s face it, there are times when you don’t need an extra-deep pan. (This pan is also available in red, as the Mrs. Anderson’s Baking Lasagna Pan.)

For informal brunches and everyday meals, we like this inexpensive glass dish, which comes with a convenient storage lid.

We like the OXO Good Grips 3-Qt Glass Baking Dish with Lid as a budget option. It’s made of borosilicate glass, for better thermal shock resistance than tempered glass Pyrex (in other words, it’s less likely to break when exposed to sudden temperature changes). And though it’s more utilitarian looking than our other picks, the OXO dish bakes just as evenly and has large handles that are easy to grasp firmly. This dish is great for making baked goods like raspberry squares or blondies, because you can see through the glass to monitor how a crust is browning. The OXO also comes with a lid, so you can easily store leftovers or transport your dish to a potluck.

This casserole dish heats evenly and holds a lot. It’s not too fancy for everyday use, but it’s still pretty enough to bring to the holiday table.

This relatively lightweight pan has generous handles, making it easy to carry around.

May be out of stock

For informal brunches and everyday meals, we like this inexpensive glass dish, which comes with a convenient storage lid.

Just about every cook needs a casserole dish, for making everything from easy weeknight meals to a sophisticated gratin of vegetables. It’s the baking dish to choose for candied sweet potatoes, lasagna, or a Sunday roast with potatoes.

Casserole dishes come in a variety of shapes—square, round, oval, rectangular—and range in capacity from 1 to roughly 6 quarts. It’s nice to have a few sizes on hand, since various recipes call for differently sized dishes. But the standard rectangular, 13-by-9-inch (or 3- to 5-quart) dish is the most basic and versatile, because the shape is so great for entrées like macaroni and cheese or enchiladas, and for baked goods like bar cookies and coffee cakes. Oval and round dishes may be pretty for presentation, but they’re not as practical for making things like lasagna, and they hold less than their squared-off counterparts.

Just about every cook needs a casserole dish, for making everything from easy weeknight meals to a sophisticated gratin of vegetables.

If you have only a metal 13-by-9-inch pan, consider adding a ceramic or glass one to your arsenal. The common ingredients in casseroles (eggs, cheese, pasta) fare better in a vessel that conducts heat a bit more slowly and evenly; this will protect them from curdling, scorching, or drying out. And, unlike aluminum cake pans, dishes made of ceramic, glass, or enameled cast iron aren’t reactive, so you can cook acidic foods such as tomatoes in them.

If you have a rectangular dish that you like and it bakes evenly, you probably don’t need a new casserole dish. But if you dislike your dish’s shape or find that its handles are cumbersome—or you’re simply looking for something more presentable—you might want to upgrade. And if you don’t have a broiler-safe dish (if, say, you have only a Pyrex dish), consider buying a ceramic or enameled cast-iron pan, which you can put under the heat to brown a crumb topping.

Sharon Franke, who worked on our 2019 update, tested and wrote about kitchen equipment at the Good Housekeeping Institute for more than 30 years. Before that she spent seven years rustling pots and pans as a professional chef in restaurants in New York City.

Christine Cyr Clisset, who wrote the original guide, has reviewed pie plates, baking sheets, and other kitchen equipment for Wirecutter, and she is now a deputy editor. In the past she’s also helped edit several baking-related cookbooks, including Martha Stewart’s Cookies and Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes.

To help us pick the best models to test, we looked closely at user reviews on Amazon and Williams-Sonoma, and we considered editorial reviews on Serious Eats and Cook’s Illustrated.

The best casserole dishes bake evenly, with no cold or hot spots that leave part of the dish either underdone or scorched. Ideally, the pan will create a delicious browned crust, when you want it, and leave the interior of your casserole moist and creamy. Beyond that most important feature, a number of other details help make a dish more versatile and pleasant to use. Here’s what we looked for in the dishes we tested:

Glass or ceramic: Much of how evenly a dish bakes depends on the material it’s made of. We focused mainly on dishes made of either ceramic (stoneware or porcelain) or glass, because these materials conduct heat slowly, so they bake gently and evenly. Thin metal pans conduct heat much more quickly, and this can lead to overdone bottoms and sides on long-cooking casseroles. (If you’re looking for a similarly sized metal pan to bake brownies or cakes in, we have picks here.)

Heavier enameled cast-iron pans heat more evenly than thin cake pans, but they also hold a lot of heat, which can result in overcooking on the bottom and sides. We’ve tested pricey enameled cast-iron pans in the past, and we’ve found they don’t produce better results than glass or ceramic dishes. Although enameled cast-iron pans are durable and can be used for high-heat roasting or on the stovetop, they’re also heavy and often expensive, so we decided not to include them in subsequent updates.

Large handles: A dish’s handles should be big enough that you can grip them comfortably with oven mitts or a folded kitchen towel. It’s easier to travel from the kitchen to the table when you don’t have to hold a dish around its sides or bottom.

Generous capacity: Although all of the dishes we tested were about the same length and width, they ranged greatly in capacity, from under 3 quarts to 5 quarts. An extra ½ inch of depth can make it possible to use up every single noodle in the lasagna box, and generally we preferred larger-capacity dishes for their versatility. However, very large dishes can also be too heavy (particularly when fully loaded), so we included some shallower ones in our testing as well.

Easy to care for: We looked for bakeware that didn’t have a lot of crevices, which can accumulate grease and grime and make the dish tough to clean by hand. And (though this wasn’t a dealbreaker) we preferred dishes that were dishwasher-safe. Ceramic dishes should also resist scuffs and scratches when you use metal utensils with them.

Good looks: Because casseroles are often brought to the table for serving, we gave points to dishes that looked nice enough to be used during the holidays as well as for family meals. That said, we also included some more humble-looking glass dishes, because they’re typically cheaper than ceramic ones.

For our 2014 review, we tested five dishes, and for our 2015 update, we tested an additional two. For the 2019 update, we tested eight additional casseroles against our previous three top picks, the HIC Lasagna Pan, the Revol Belle Cuisine 3.8-quart Rectangular Roasting Dish, and the Arcuisine Rectangular Roaster.

To see how evenly a dish cooked and how easy it was to put in and take out of the oven, we roasted chunks of butternut squash and baked an eggy breakfast strata for our 2014 tests, baked decadent mac-and-cheese for our 2015 update, and made a bread pudding (using a recipe from Maida Heatter) for our 2019 review. We chose a bread pudding recipe because custard is difficult to cook evenly. It needs to be just set in the middle, without being overcooked or curdled at the edges.

After taking each bread pudding out of the oven, we timed how long each stayed at a safe serving temperature of over 140° F, as well as how long it took until we could handle a dish without oven mitts. Since you may often bring a casserole dish directly to the table, it’s helpful if a dish is insulating enough to keep your food warm through dinner. At the same time, handles should cool relatively quickly, so that they’re not a safety risk.

We noted how much scrubbing it took to clean each dish, checking to see whether any staining remained and whether a dish’s surface had scratches from metal utensils we’d used (none did). As we cleaned, we also banged each dish’s handles and sides against the porcelain sink and the faucet to see if they would chip or break (again, none did). Finally, we measured the length, width, and height of each dish. We weighed the dishes empty and then filled them to the brim with water to compare how many quarts each could fit.

This casserole dish heats evenly and holds a lot. It’s not too fancy for everyday use, but it’s still pretty enough to bring to the holiday table.

The Emile Henry Modern Classics Rectangular Baker is a great-looking, generously sized pan at a reasonable price. Like all of the other dishes we tested, the Emile Henry baked evenly. And of all the pans we tested, it has the largest capacity, meaning you can easily pack in that last layer of lasagna noodles. Its tab-shaped handles flare up slightly, but they still allow you to get a good grip with bulky oven mitts. This dish comes in four bright colors, in addition to white, and its simple, slightly rustic design works equally well for weeknight dinners and special occasions.

As with the other dishes we tested, the Emile Henry handled bread pudding beautifully. After 40 minutes at 350° F, the custard no longer wobbled but was creamy in the center, and the bread was nicely browned on top and at the edges of the dish. The dish also provided enough insulation to keep the custardy pudding at a safe serving temperature for 50 minutes, about the same as most of the other dishes we tested. About 12 minutes after we took the dish out of the oven, we were able to grasp the handles with no mitts, also similar to other ceramic or glass dishes we tested. Though the handles on the Emile Henry didn’t cool unusually fast, they cooled fast enough to allow us to pass the dish around the table without having to pass the oven mitts, too.

Where the Emile Henry dish varied more from other dishes we tested was size. When we measured this dish, we found it was actually about 13¾ by 9½ inches and 2½ inches deep on the inside. So even though recipes for baked goods will still fit in the Emile Henry, much thicker lasagnas and hearty casseroles will too. This dish was able to accommodate 5 quarts of water to the very brim, and it should easily serve a family of four (and, most likely, leave you with leftovers). Only two of the other dishes we tested, the Revol and the Rachael Ray Cucina, came close in capacity. Most dishes could hold only about 3 to 4 quarts of water.

The tab-shaped handles on the Emile Henry are easier to grab than they appear, given their upward slant. They’re wide enough to grip with oven mitts or a folded towel, and a lip on their underside helps keep your fingers from slipping. Alternatively, they hook securely over your hands if you hold the dish with palms flat against its sides.

There are no seams or crevices on the Emile Henry to harbor grime, and it didn’t show any marks from the metal spatula and knife we used for serving. It's also dishwasher-safe.

We really like the look of the Emile Henry dish. With its thick walls and off-white interior glaze, it has a slightly rustic look that’s easy to coordinate with all but the most formal table settings. If you like color, you can get this dish with a bright red, blue, green, or yellow exterior instead of the neutral white option. The Emile Henry is manufactured in France and comes with a 10-year warranty. The dish can be used at temperatures up to 500° F, which is equivalent to a low broiler setting. The Emile Henry is also microwave-safe, but because of its size, it probably won’t fit in a compact or midsize model.

Although we were able to get a secure grip on the Emile Henry, you do get a better grasp with loop-shaped handles, like the ones on the HIC dish. However, the HIC’s handles are more likely to break because they stick out more and are attached to the dish at just two small points.

Also, there is unfortunately a tradeoff between capacity and weight. At 5½ pounds when empty, the Emile Henry was one of the heaviest dishes in our tests, and it could get much heavier when filled to capacity. You will definitely need to use both hands to transfer it from the oven to the counter. This dish’s size also means that some recipes may look skimpy in it. Even though the Emile Henry is great for thick lasagnas and generous casseroles, if your favorite recipes fit easily in, say, a shallower Pyrex dish, they may seem a bit dwarfed by this deep pan.

A previous version of this dish was glazed over most of the bottom, but Emile Henry now leaves the underside unglazed “due to production inconsistencies in glazing on the bottom,” a representative told us. The unglazed surface picks up stains more easily, but we don’t think it’s a dealbreaker, since it won’t affect the performance of this dish, and won’t be visible when you set your casserole on the table.

This relatively lightweight pan has generous handles, making it easy to carry around.

May be out of stock

The handles on the HIC Lasagna Pan are among the easiest to grasp of those on all the dishes we tested. The HIC is lighter in weight than most of the dishes we tried, making it easier to maneuver. If you have butterfingers or are daunted by heavy pans, this is the one to get. The trade-off with the HIC is that it’s smaller in capacity than the Emile Henry by 2 quarts, making it one of the smallest dishes we tested. It’s also a little tougher to clean than the Emile Henry is, and it doesn’t come with a warranty. But we do like its simple yet elegant design. And, as with all the other dishes we tested, the HIC dish baked very evenly.

The HIC’s handles have slots that are big enough to slip your fingers into, even when you’re wearing oven mitts, so you get a really secure grip. Our only minor complaint is that this dish’s design appears to have changed since we first tested it, in 2014. The handles on the new dish slant downward more, enough so that it may be tricky to fit a bulky oven mitt underneath them to lift the dish off the counter. The handles also jut out 1¼ inches on each side, which could make them susceptible to breakage, but we haven’t had an issue with the dish we’ve been testing since 2014.

The HIC dish weighs 4.6 pounds empty, making it almost a pound lighter than the Emile Henry. (Porcelain dishes like this one tend to be thinner and lighter than dishes made from other ceramics, though they’re still strong.) The combination of the light weight and those easy-to-grip handles means this dish is easy to maneuver when full. You can even transfer the dish one-handed from the oven to the counter.

Bread pudding that we cooked in the HIC came out smooth and custardy in the center and browned around the edges. After removing the dish from the oven, we had to wait about 12 minutes before we could hold the handles bare-handed. The dessert itself stayed hot for about 50 minutes. On all counts these results were very similar to the results we got with the Emile Henry dish and most of the other dishes we tested.

The HIC dish is safe for use in an oven up to 500° F and in the microwave, and you can put it in the dishwasher. The HIC cleaned up beautifully, although it takes a little bit of effort to clean around the slotted handles. This dish’s unglazed bottom does scuff slightly from oven racks, and it can pick up stains from oil and food over time.

With its Shaker-chic look, the HIC works great as a weeknight serving dish, but it is also elegant enough to place on a holiday table. It comes in white or red (though the red version is sold under the name Mrs. Anderson’s Baking Lasagna Pan).

Although the HIC is advertised as being 13 by 9 inches and 2½ inches deep, we found that the accurate interior measurements are 12 by 8½ inches and 2 inches deep. Filled to the brim, it holds 3 quarts—2 quarts less than the Emile Henry—making it one of the smallest dishes we tested. When we first tested it, in 2014, the HIC dish held 3½ quarts filled to the brim, but it appears that when the design changed, the capacity may have shrunk. Still, though the HIC is not as versatile as the Emile Henry, it will easily serve a family of four if it’s used for mains like lasagna or other casseroles, and it will serve six to eight sides for a larger gathering.

The HIC doesn’t come with a specific warranty, but HIC customer service says it tries to replace items that break due to manufacturer error. That is no substitute for a guarantee, of course.

For informal brunches and everyday meals, we like this inexpensive glass dish, which comes with a convenient storage lid.

If aesthetics aren’t playing into your dish choice, and you just want something that’ll get the job done, the OXO Good Grips 3-Qt Glass Baking Dish with Lid is the way to go. This inexpensive dish turned out bread pudding that was on a par with those we made in the Emile Henry and the HIC, and the OXO kept it hot for about 50 minutes. It also comes with a snap-on plastic lid that’s handy for storing leftovers or transporting potluck dishes.

We love the OXO’s large, wide handles, which offer an excellent grip. We also appreciate that the dish’s measurements and use-and-care instructions are very clearly stamped on the bottom of the pan. This means you don’t have to pull out a ruler or make a guess as to whether the pan is the right size for your recipes. Likewise, you don’t have to question whether or not you can run your green bean casserole under the broiler to crisp up the top. The dish clearly says it isn’t broiler-safe. You can use it in the oven up to 450° F and in the microwave, and you can put it in the dishwasher. OXO also claims that you can transfer the dish directly from the freezer to a preheated oven, but that’s not a practice we recommend.

We also like that this dish is slightly bigger than other glass dishes. Despite the “3-Qt” in its name, the OXO held 3¾ quarts of water when filled to the brim, while the Pyrex dishes we tested held an even 3 quarts. Nonetheless, the OXO dish weighs only 4 pounds, making it one of the lightest dishes we tested (even lighter than the Pyrex).

We found that the glass was harder to get really clean than the porcelain, stoneware, or enameled cast-iron dishes we tested. Brown, caked-on gunk clings to the corners of this dish. But you can usually take care of it with baking soda and a little elbow grease (see our cleaning tips in the Care and Maintenance section).

We are aware that there are persistent concerns about glass cookware breaking abruptly. However, since the OXO is made from thermal shock-resistant borosilicate glass, we’re not worried about it shattering unexpectedly. If you want more information you can read about why we’re not concerned here. That said, risk of breakage from thermal shock is the reason the OXO is not broiler-safe, and it’s the reason we don’t advise transferring it directly from the freezer to the oven.

We also read a number of reviews on Amazon complaining that new OXO bakeware was prone to breakage. In view of this we reached out to OXO. Its product development team told us the following: “We did notice a small uptick in complaints about breakage with this product (with that said it’s a relatively small amount of complaints, given that this is a glass product). We’ve worked with our factory to institute some new processes, that we hope will cut back on potential issues.” OXO promises to replace its bakeware or offer a refund to anyone who experiences a problem with it, and we’ve found the company to have very responsive customer service.

Regardless of how resistant it is to thermal shock, any ceramic or glass dish can break under certain conditions (you can read more about glass breakage here). It’s best to avoid putting an empty dish in a hot oven, because this can cause a ceramic or glass dish to crack. For the same reason, you should make sure foods are evenly distributed on the surface of the dish. When you’re roasting meat, try to keep a little liquid at the bottom of the dish. Never add cold liquids to a hot dish (use hot liquid instead), and don’t place a hot dish on a wet or cold surface.

Although technically you can freeze stoneware, porcelain, and borosilicate glass dishes and put them directly into a hot oven, it’s probably not the best idea. By allowing the dish to defrost first, you will avoid potential thermal-shock issues, and this will also help it cook more evenly.

If you happen to overfill your casserole dish and you’re worried about ingredients bubbling over the sides, you can use the old pie-baking trick of placing the dish on top of a sturdy sheet pan. The sheet pan will keep drips contained, and you can also use it to transport the casserole dish in and out of the oven.

To deal with tough stains and baked-on food, you can use a cleaning method similar to the one we recommend for cleaning stainless steel cookware: Cover the stains with a slurry of baking soda (or another powdered cleaner like Bon Ami or Bar Keepers Friend), let it sit for a few minutes, and then scrub hard with a green Scotch-Brite sponge.

We really liked the pricey Le Creuset Signature Roaster 3 Qt., but we think it is splurge-worthy only if you really like cooking with enameled cast iron. It’s heavy (6.3 pounds when empty), but it has nice handles and would make a great dish for roasting small cuts of meat. We cooked a 3½-pound chicken in this dish, and it was just the right size (although there wasn’t any extra room for potatoes). But this dish is just too expensive to recommend solely as a casserole dish. It didn’t perform better than the other dishes we tested, and we could also see it getting pretty heavy when fully loaded with lasagna. It did retain heat for about 1½ hours.

The French-made Ôcuisine Rectangular Roaster is composed of borosilicate glass. At 3 pounds, 9 ounces, it was the lightest dish we tested. And at 12 by 8 by 2 inches, it was also the smallest. It has a capacity of only 3¾ quarts. It has small tab handles that are not easy to grab, and it was one of the few dishes that did not cook totally evenly.

Our former upgrade pick, the 3.8-quart Revol Belle Cuisine Rectangular Roasting Dish, is similar in appearance to the HIC and also has handles that you can slip your fingers into for a very secure grip. It is larger than the HIC, with an ample, 18-cup capacity, and it’s safe for temperatures up to 572° F. Plus, it comes with a lifetime warranty. Its big drawback is its price tag: It’s almost twice the price of the Emile Henry or the HIC, without offering any major improvements.

The stoneware Lodge 9″ x 13″ Baking Dish has tab handles that are a tad small for this heavy, deep pan. And there’s a crevice under the lip that makes this dish slightly more difficult to clean than our picks.

The Pyrex Basics 3-Quart Glass Oblong Baking Dish is a simple glass dish that’s a good choice for making casseroles or baked goods, like coffee cake or bar cookies. But the handles are on the small side, and over time you may find that residue bakes into the corners. And since it’s made of tempered glass rather than borosilicate glass, it’s less resistant to thermal shock and more likely to shatter from sudden temperature changes than the glass OXO dish we recommend.

If you like the simplicity of Pyrex but want a better grip, consider the Pyrex Quart Oblong Baking Dish. It has large handles with slots that you can slip your fingers through, but it is otherwise similar in characteristics and performance to the basic Pyrex dish.

The Williams-Sonoma Essential Rectangular Baker is another plain white baking dish that would look good on any table. It was among the lightest pans we tested, but it was one of only two that didn’t cook completely evenly. The handles are small and not easy to grasp.

With the Rachael Ray Cucina Stoneware 9″ x 13″ Rectangular Baker dish, you get a pretty country look in a soft blue color. This pan is deep and the heaviest we tested. But the handles are small, so when it’s hot and loaded up, you need to be careful when transporting it from the oven to the countertop.

13 by 9-Inch Broiler-Safe Baking Dishes, Cook’s Country

William Carty, professor of Ceramic Engineering at Alfred University, interview

Product Review: Pyrex Glass 9 x 13 Cake Pan #6001040, Good Housekeeping Institute

Sohla El-Waylly, The Best Baking (Casserole) Dishes, Serious Eats, December 19, 2017

Anthony Irizarry, The 10 Best Casserole Dishes of 2019, The Spruce Eats, September 18, 2019

Christine Cyr Clisset

Christine Cyr Clisset is a deputy editor overseeing home coverage for Wirecutter. She previously edited cookbooks and craft books for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and she started reviewing kitchen gear back in 2013. She sews many of her own clothes, which has made her obsessive about high-quality fabrics—whether in a dress or bedsheets.

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