You pull up a dinner recipe, get every ingredient prepped on the counter, and then it hits you: your oven broke. Or you live in a tiny apartment that never had one. Or it’s 90 degrees outside, and turning on the oven will turn your whole home into a sauna. You don’t have to skip the meal, and you don’t have to order takeout. This guide to 10 Alternatives for Oven will show you reliable tools most people already own, that can bake, roast, crisp, and cook almost anything you would make in a standard oven.

Most people only think about ovens for baked goods or roasts, but every cooking method has its own advantages. Many of these alternatives use less energy, heat up faster, and produce better texture for certain foods than a traditional oven. A 2023 energy efficiency study found that most home ovens waste 60% of the heat they generate, while smaller countertop alternatives cut that waste by more than half.

Over this guide, we’ll break down each option with use cases, pros, limitations, and real cooking tips. You’ll learn which ones work for cookies, which can roast a whole chicken, and which you can pack up for a campsite kitchen. No fancy chef skills required.

1. Countertop Convection Toaster Oven

This is the closest swap you will get for a full oven, and it fits on most kitchen counters. Most people only use their toaster oven for frozen waffles, but it can do 90% of the jobs you use your regular oven for. It works the same way: it has heating elements on top and bottom, and a fan circulates hot air evenly around the food.

Food Type	Cook Time vs Regular Oven
Frozen Pizza	15% faster
Roasted Vegetables	20% faster
Chocolate Chip Cookies	Same time, crispier edges

Unlike a full oven, a toaster oven preheats in 3 to 5 minutes, instead of 15. That alone saves you time on every single meal. On hot summer days, it won’t heat up your whole kitchen the way a built-in oven does. You can run one while your oven is already in use for big holiday meals, which is a trick most home cooks don’t think about.

There are a few limitations you need to plan for. Most standard models can only fit one baking sheet at a time, so you won’t bake two dozen cookies all at once. You also need to rotate food halfway through cooking, even on convection models, because the heating area is smaller and hot spots are more common.

This is the best first alternative for anyone who regularly uses their oven. You don’t have to learn new cooking techniques, and almost all regular oven recipes will work with just small temperature adjustments. Most good models cost under $100, making it one of the most affordable permanent swaps.

2. Air Fryer

Air fryers exploded in popularity over the last five years, and for good reason. They are essentially tiny, high-powered convection ovens that move air extremely fast. This creates that crispy, golden exterior that people love on fried foods, without all the oil.

Most people only use air fryers for frozen fries and chicken nuggets, but they can do much more. You can roast vegetables, bake small cakes, cook salmon, and even toast bread in one.

• Preheats in 2 minutes or less
• Uses 75% less energy than a standard oven
• Produces far less steam and indoor humidity
• Easy to wipe clean after every use

The biggest downside is size. Even large home air fryers only have enough space for 2-3 servings at a time. You won’t roast a whole turkey in one, but you can easily cook a whole chicken breast or 4 pork chops. Food also cooks extremely fast, so you need to check on it 2-3 minutes earlier than recipe timings suggest.

If you already own an air fryer, you can stop using your regular oven for almost all weeknight meals. Most cooks find that once they get comfortable with their air fryer, they only turn on their main oven for big batches of baking or large roasts.

3. Slow Cooker

Slow cookers are famous for soups and stews, but very few people realize they make an excellent oven alternative for roasts. The low, steady moist heat breaks down tough meat better than most ovens can, and you can set it and forget it for 8 hours while you work.

1. Line the bottom of the slow cooker with foil balls to lift food off the base
2. Use the lid vent if you want a crispy exterior
3. Turn to high for the last 30 minutes for browning
4. Avoid lifting the lid at any other point during cooking

You can even bake bread, cakes, and casseroles in a slow cooker. The results will be slightly moister than oven baking, which many people actually prefer. This is the perfect option for anyone who hates standing around watching food cook.

Obviously, this method is not fast. You can’t throw in a frozen pizza and eat 15 minutes later. But for weekend meals, or meals you prep before work, there is no more low-stress oven alternative on this list.

Slow cookers also use less electricity than a single light bulb while running. Even if you run one all day long, it will cost you less than running your oven for 45 minutes.

4. Dutch Oven (Stovetop)

A heavy cast iron Dutch oven is one of the most versatile tools in any kitchen. When used with a tight fitting lid on the stovetop, it traps heat perfectly and creates exactly the same environment as a small oven. Professional bakers have used this method for hundreds of years.

You can roast whole chickens, bake bread, cook casseroles, and even make cookies this way. The cast iron holds heat evenly, so you won’t get the hot spots that ruin many stovetop cooking attempts.

Stove Setting	Equivalent Oven Temperature
Low	325°F
Medium Low	375°F
Medium	425°F

You only need to remember one rule: always use the lowest heat setting that will maintain temperature. Cast iron holds heat so well that turning the burner too high will burn the bottom of your food before the inside cooks. Start low, and you can always turn it up slightly later.

This alternative costs you nothing extra if you already own a Dutch oven. It works during power outages, on camping stoves, and anywhere you can create a steady flame. This is the most reliable oven alternative that has existed for centuries.

5. Microwave With Convection Setting

Most modern microwaves have a convection setting that almost no one uses. When enabled, the microwave turns off the microwave radiation and runs as a small convection oven, exactly like a countertop toaster oven.

This is the best hidden oven alternative that is already sitting in 80% of home kitchens. You can bake, roast, crisp, and brown food exactly like you would in a regular oven. It even preheats faster than most standalone toaster ovens.

• Never use metal cookware on convection mode
• Reduce recipe temperature by 25°F
• Rotate food once halfway through cooking
• Leave the door cracked for 1 minute after cooking to release steam

Many people avoid this setting because they tried it once and got bad results. Almost always this happens because people use the wrong cookware, or forget to adjust the temperature. Once you get these two details right, it works just as well as a dedicated countertop oven.

You don’t need to buy any new tools to use this alternative. Pull out your microwave manual this evening, look up the convection setting, and test it with a batch of frozen fries. You will be shocked at how well it works.

6. Outdoor Grill

Your backyard grill is not just for hamburgers and hot dogs. When used with the lid closed, it is a fully functional outdoor oven that can cook almost anything you would make inside. This is the perfect alternative on hot summer days when you don’t want to heat up your house.

You can bake pizza, roast whole turkeys, bake cakes, cook casseroles, and even make cookies on a grill. The smoky flavour adds an extra layer that you can never get from an indoor oven.

1. Turn off one side of the grill to create indirect heat
2. Place food on the unlit side of the grates
3. Keep the lid closed at all times
4. Use a grill thermometer to track internal temperature

Gas grills are easier to control for oven use, but charcoal grills work perfectly too. You just need to let the coals burn down to grey ash before you put food on, to avoid burnt bitter flavours.

On warm days, cooking on the grill will make your whole house feel cooler, and your neighbours will definitely smell the good food. It is also a great excuse to get outside while you wait for dinner to finish.

7. Electric Skillet

An electric skillet is a flat heated pan with a lid that most people own and only use for frying eggs. With the lid on, it creates an enclosed heat chamber that works exactly like a small oven. It heats evenly, holds temperature perfectly, and fits on any counter.

You can roast vegetables, bake pancakes, cook small pizzas, make frittatas, and even bake small cakes in an electric skillet. It preheats in 2 minutes, and you can set an exact temperature just like you would on an oven.

Food	Average Cook Time
Roasted Broccoli	12 minutes
Personal Pizza	10 minutes
Pork Chops	8 minutes

The biggest advantage of an electric skillet is that it lays flat. You can cook large flat items that won’t fit in a round air fryer or toaster oven. This makes it the best option for flatbreads, pizzas, and sheet pan meals.

Most good electric skillets cost under $50, making them one of the most affordable options on this list. They are also very easy to store, and work perfectly for small apartments or dorm rooms.

8. Pressure Cooker

Modern electric pressure cookers do far more than just pressure cook. Most models have a bake setting, roast setting, and air fry lid options that turn them into very capable oven alternatives.

Roasts cooked in a pressure cooker will be tender in a fraction of the time they take in an oven. A whole chicken that takes 90 minutes in the oven will be fully cooked and juicy in 25 minutes in a pressure cooker.

• Use the trivet to lift food above the water line
• Use natural release for all roasted meats
• Brown the exterior first for best flavour
• Add 1 cup of water for all roast recipes

You won’t get a very crispy exterior just using pressure mode. But if your model has an air fry lid, you can crisp the outside in 5 minutes after pressure cooking. This creates the perfect combination of tender inside and crispy outside that most people spend hours trying to get right in the oven.

This is the fastest oven alternative for large cuts of meat. If you regularly forget to thaw meat for dinner, this will become your new favourite cooking tool.

9. Solar Oven

Solar ovens use nothing but sunlight to cook food. They are completely off grid, use zero electricity, and will not heat up your kitchen at all. On a sunny day, they reach the same temperatures as a regular home oven.

You can roast meat, bake bread, cook casseroles, and pasteurize water in a solar oven. They work best between 10am and 4pm on clear days, and will hold temperature even through light cloud cover.

1. Face the oven directly at the sun
2. Adjust the angle every 30 minutes
3. Keep the glass cover clean at all times
4. Never open the lid early to check food

Solar ovens cook slower than regular ovens, but you don’t have to do any work while they run. You can put food in before you leave for work, and it will be perfectly cooked when you get home. They also work great for camping trips and emergency preparedness.

Even a basic homemade solar oven will work perfectly for most meals. You don’t need an expensive commercial model to get good results. This is the only oven alternative that costs you absolutely nothing to run.

10. Stovetop Steamer Basket

Most people only use steamer baskets for vegetables, but they make an excellent oven alternative for many soft baked goods. You can bake bread, cakes, puddings, and custards perfectly in a stovetop steamer.

Steamed baked goods are softer and moister than oven baked versions. They will never get burnt edges, and they stay fresh for much longer after cooking. Many traditional baked goods from around the world are exclusively cooked this way.

Baked Good	Steam Cook Time
Banana Bread	45 minutes
Sponge Cake	30 minutes
Rice Pudding	25 minutes

You only need a pot with a tight fitting lid, and any standard metal steamer basket. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of your baking dish, and keep the heat at a gentle simmer the whole time.

This is the only alternative on this list that will work on literally any stove. You don’t need any special tools, and almost everyone already owns everything they need to try this today.

You don’t need a fancy full-size oven to cook great meals. Every one of these 10 alternatives for oven has its own strengths, and most people will find that they already own at least two of these tools right now. You don’t have to pick just one either; many home cooks use a combination of these to cover every meal type without ever turning on their main oven.

Take 10 minutes this week to test one of these options. Next time you pull up a recipe that says “preheat oven”, pause for 10 seconds and ask yourself if you can use one of these alternatives instead. You’ll save time, cut your energy bill, and you might just end up liking the results better.