The $17 Pizza Pan I Use for Everything Except for Pizza

These plates (it’s a set of four) are the size of a small salad plate. It turns out that’s the perfect size for a reasonable serving of nachos for me. Since they’re unbreakable, they’re great for kids’ meals, too. Perfect for singles, but also great for couples and families who want to heat—or reheat—separate portions. And did I mention that they’re great for portion control? Yeah, that.

Making nachos with these plates is simple in my countertop oven set to broil. The cheese gets all melty and bubbly while the chips also get warm and toasty. When they’re done, I usually place the plate on top of a 10-inch bamboo-wood serving plate so it’s easier to handle, since the stainless steel stays pretty warm for a while.

Oh, but that’s not all. After having these plates for a short time, I realized they’re the perfect way to reheat leftovers of all kinds in a countertop oven—or they could even be used in a larger oven. From sandwiches to pizza slices to lasagna to a slice of apple pie, the plates are ideal for that single-serving reheat. And there are times when I reheat things on two plates at once, if I’m not sure if they’ll warm up at the same rate. Then I’ll slide everything onto a normal plate to enjoy the meal.

Reheating isn’t the end of the usefulness of these sturdy stainless steel plates. They can be used like little baking sheets to cook a single cookie (I have logs of dough in the freezer, so I can slice off one at a time) or a few biscuits or dinner rolls. And, like the name of the product says, these can be used to make personal-sized pizzas. Although that’s the one thing I haven’t done yet.

Unlike my aluminum baking sheets that I was using before, these are dishwasher safe, and they don’t take a lot of space. In the rare cases where something has burned or stuck a bit, a little soak in water does the trick, then the stuck bits can be scraped off before tossing them in for a wash. At worst, these can be scrubbed with products meant for stainless-steel cookware.

On the cold side of things, these could be placed in the freezer or refrigerator to get them chilly before serving cold foods like salads or chilled desserts. They can also be used as unbreakable dishes for outdoor use.

After a year of regular use and dishwasher cleaning, the plates are showing just a little bit of wear and tear—but then again, I don’t treat them gently. A few scratches certainly don’t affect their usefulness at all.

While I haven’t had a need to, I’d be confident dropping one of these on the barbecue grill to corral small foods or to keep a sauce warm for basting. At worst, the dish might discolor and be less attractive in the kitchen, but at the price, buying replacements isn’t much of a burden.

After all this praise, is there anything these little plates can’t be used for? Well, yes. Since they’re metal, they can’t be used in the microwave.

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Donna Currie is a Colorado writer who have found her niche writing about kitchen gear and cooking products for over a decade. Beside writing for The Spruce, she has writer for Serious Eats online as well as multiple print publications. She has developed recipes.