Made In Baking Dish Review

Our tester was sent a free sample of the Made in Baking Dish so she could put it to the test in her kitchen. Keep reading for our full product review.

When the Made In Baking Dish arrived, my first thought was tuna casserole, followed by brownies, and then a side of roast vegetables. I kept thinking of new foods to cook, bake, and roast, and used the dish every day, for everything including salad. Yes, salad. Because maybe it’s a serving dish, too. Keep reading for all my testing insights.

Design: Understated and sturdy

Who doesn’t need a square white casserole dish? The shape is perfect for all kinds of tasty casseroles, baked pasta dishes, roasted meats and vegetables, and even baked goods. The handles on the sides of the pan make it easy to get in and out of the oven, and they get the dish to the table for serving, too.

The single slim dark blue line around the rim finishes off the look without being too flashy. The understated look makes it a perfect fit for most kitchens, and if blue isn’t your color, it's also available with a red rim. The lines are hand-painted, but with precision, so they look neat and clean.

It’s a small thing, but I liked that the size (2.6 quarts) is marked on the bottom of the dish for those recipes that list volume rather than size. The other bit of information on the bottom is that the pan is made in France. 

Material: Heavy duty and glazed

Made from porcelain, this dish is sturdy and just a little heavy. When I picked it up, the heft reminded me of restaurant porcelain ware that’s robust enough to handle the hustle and bustle in a commercial environment—which makes sense considering Made In also wants to appeal to professionals. The glaze gives it a nice shine and keeps food from sticking, no matter what’s cooking.

Of course, the downside to any kind of ceramic is that it’s breakable. This dish is sturdy enough to handle a few bumps in the kitchen, but a long drop onto a hard surface might be more than it could withstand.

Heating Capacity: It takes the heat

Made for oven use, this can handle heat up to 650 degrees Fahrenheit, which is higher than most home ovens can achieve, so of course, it’s safe for baking and roasting. I used it for everything from biscuits and brownies to roasted vegetables.

Like other ceramics, this heats slowly and evenly and then holds onto the heat for a long time. That makes it great for cooking casseroles and baked pastas that cook for a long time, and it’s also just as good for serving them since the casserole dish will help keep the food warm. If anyone wants to go back for seconds, the food will be at a comfortable temperature.

Besides being safe for high-heat use, this is also microwave and freezer safe. While it doesn’t have a lid for storage, with a little foil or plastic wrap, it can keep leftovers safe in the fridge, too. 

Performance: All-purpose. All good.

This dish is made for baking. Wait, maybe it’s for roasting vegetables. Okay, maybe it’s for serving. Yes, it’s pretty much an everything-dish. I gently baked a pasta dish in it and then used it to roast some vegetables. When it was time to serve, I had very few stuck-on bits, and the food cooked evenly without any burned bits on the bottom.

I had a few biscuits that needed to be baked and tossed them in the dish with no baking spray. The biscuits baked well, browned nicely all around, and left almost nothing behind in the pan.

When I baked a batch of brownies, they came out of the dish neatly with nothing at all sticking to the dish’s surface. Leftovers stayed in the dish for later snacking with some cling wrap over the top.

While this isn’t an earthshaking dish design, and there are plenty of other glass and ceramic baking dishes on the market, this one worked well, looked good, and felt sturdy no matter how I used it. When I was done with all my cooking, it even worked well as a serving dish for salad, and it would work well for storing fresh fruit on the counter for easy snacking. 

Cleaning: Dishwasher for the win

After making a somewhat messy pasta bake, I tossed this in the dishwasher, and it emerged sparkling clean. Not much of a surprise, really, since it was easy to clean by hand when I was cooking one thing after another and didn’t want to wait for the dishwasher.

The few times when I had a little food sticking, I simply left water sitting in it, and the food loosened with no scraping needed—just some encouragement from a kitchen sponge. Even when it got brown on the sides, like when I roasted vegetables, it cleaned up easily with no serious scrubbing required.

Price: Yes, it’s expensive

Made In has a reputation for commercial-quality cooking gear for the home kitchen, so I wasn’t surprised at a price tag that was higher than average. Still, this is a piece that should last a long time, so a little extra spent now means there will be no need to replace a chipped or cracked dish in a year or two.

Made In Baking Dish vs. Emile Henry Modern Classics Large Rectangular Baker

There are plenty of casseroles to choose from, and the Emile Henry Modern Classics Rectangular Baker, which I also tested for The Spruce Eats, is one that I particularly like. It’s larger than the Made In that I reviewed, and it’s rectangular rather than square. The aesthetic is different, too, with more rounded shapes than the Made In, which has sharper corners. Which to choose? It really comes down to whether you need a large casserole or a small one. Or, do what I’d do and get both.