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See why.Disposable Bowls
Disposable bowls may seem like an afterthought, but we found one that’s both durable and comfortable to use—ideal for your next picnic or outdoor gathering.
Top Picks
Dixie Ultra Heavy Duty 20oz Disposable Paper Bowls
Dixie Everyday 10oz Disposable Paper Bowls, 36 Count
What You Need To Know
What do macaroni salad, baked beans, and ice cream all have in common? You’ve probably, at one point or another, eaten them out of a disposable bowl.
Disposable bowls are ubiquitous at picnics, family gatherings, and birthday parties for their convenience and ease of cleanup. But when you think about it, your disposable bowl experience may well be unfavorable: bowls that crush too easily in your hands, fly away with a whisper of the wind, or develop soggy bottoms within minutes of being filled with food.
We set out to find the best disposable bowl—one that was durable and comfortable to hold and eat from—and tested 12 models, priced from about $0.05 to about $0.80 per bowl. First, we ate fruit salad from each and evaluated their abilities to withstand repeated slices and pokes of a disposable fork and knife, and then we ate hot baked beans from them with a disposable spoon. Next, we let hot soup and ice cream cake sit in separate sets of each bowl for 30 minutes before checking them for any signs of sogginess or damage.
Which Disposable Bowls Were the Most Comfortable to Hold and Eat From?
Since we often hold a disposable bowl while eating from it, such as when at a party or picnic, we knew that a good disposable bowl needed to feel comfortable in our hands, especially when filled with hot food. We were looking for a few key attributes: a wide rim, a wide base, and short walls. A wide, sturdy rim would allow us to easily pick up the bowls, especially when they were full of hot baked beans or when we were removing them from a microwave. A bowl with a wide base would be more secure to hold and easier to grip.
Bowls with smaller bases were typically more tapered in shape and therefore had taller walls than those with wider bases. The higher the walls, the tougher it was to eat from the bowls, as the angles made it harder to see food and use utensils. Bowls with shorter walls allowed us to more easily access our food, whether we were scooping beans with a spoon or piercing and cutting pieces of fruit with a fork and knife.
Which Disposable Bowls Were the Most Durable?
Durability depended on the materials the bowls were made from (foam, compostable materials, or coated paper) and whether or not they were coated with a waterproof seal. The two foam bowls in our lineup were too flimsy and too easily punctured with a disposable fork and knife. They were also the only two models that weren’t microwave-safe.
While the seven compostable models held up to repeated cuts and pokes and contained the ice cream cake without becoming soggy, they struggled with hot foods. When we added hot baked beans and chicken nood...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Durability : 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
Our favorite disposable bowls had a wide base, generous rim, and short walls that made them comfortable and easy to lift, hold, and eat from. They were also durable: Their waterproof coating kept them from becoming soggy after containing hot or cold foods for prolonged periods of time. They also showed little damage after we used disposable forks and knives to cut food in them and poke them. These bowls are large, which makes them ideal for main courses or large salads but a bit too big for just a slice of ice cream cake or a side of potato salad. However, these are an excellent overall option.
- Durability : 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
These disposable bowls were durable and easy to use, but their rims were small, so they were tougher to grab and lift than our winner. Outside of that, we found these bowls to be easy to hold and eat from, thanks to their wide bases and short walls. They were also durable and weren’t damaged by disposable utensils or hot or cold foods because of their waterproof coating. The size of these smaller bowls makes them excellent for side dishes or desserts.
Recommended
- Durability : 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
These cylindrical bowls resembled to-go soup containers. Their high sides kept food contained, but they obscured our view of it as well as our access to it, making it more difficult to cut, spear, and retrieve food. We liked their wide bases, which were comfortable to hold, but they lacked a rim, so they were a challenge to pick up or retrieve from the microwave. They were very durable, standing up to disposable utensils and hot or cold foods well. We also liked that these bowls came with lids, which would make them great for packing snacks for a road trip or preportioning food for lunch on the go.
- Durability : 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
These bowls were the most durable of all the commercially compostable models we evaluated. Their thicker sides helped compensate for their thinner bottoms: While their bottoms softened when holding hot foods, their walls didn't soften or become sweaty. We also liked their wide rims and bases and short sides, which made them easy to grasp and lift, comfortable to hold, and a pleasure to eat from. These bowls are fine as long as you’re not eating hot foods out of them and would fare well with most picnic foods, such as potato or pasta salad.
- Durability : 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
We really liked the wide, slightly upward-slanted rims of these bowls, which made them easy to grab and lift. However, the hot baked beans and chicken noodle soup made them soft and sweaty and turned their bottoms soggy. The bowls did, however, fare well in the disposable utensil and ice cream cake tests.
- Durability : 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
We liked the overall construction of these bowls—with their wide bases and large, flat rims—but they did not hold up well to hot foods. The bottoms of these bowls became soft when we used them to hold baked beans and chicken noodle soup. However, they performed well in our other durability tests and did not become damaged by the disposable utensils or ice cream cake.
Recommended with reservations
- Durability : 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
These tall, commercially compostable bowls did not hold up well to hot foods and had some usability issues. While their taller sides helped contain food, they also made it harder to retrieve foods and use utensils in them. These bowls also had smaller rims, which were not as easy to grasp. They did stand up to being poked with a disposable fork and cut in with a disposable knife and held cold foods without issue. If you’re looking for large, compostable bowls, these are a fine option, as long as you avoid serving hot foods in them.
- Durability : 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1.5 stars out of 3.
As with the other commercially compostable bowls, these did not handle heat well. The bottoms turned soggy and sweaty from the heat of the beans and soup. We also didn’t like the shape of these bowls; they were more square than round, which made them less comfortable to hold. However, their short sides made it easy to retrieve food. They also weren’t damaged by the disposable cutlery or the cold ice cream cake.
- Durability : 0.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
These bowls were comfortable to hold and eat from, but like other commercially compostable models, they did not withstand hot foods well. Their bottoms became soggy and sweaty with the baked beans and soup, and the rims became even flimsier and softer after a stint in the microwave. However, the bowls didn’t become soft or damaged from the ice cream cake, and they didn’t tear or develop holes from the disposable cutlery.
- Durability : 0.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
Like their larger siblings, these commercially compostable bowls were not durable when it came to hot foods. The bottoms and sides of these bowls turned soft and sweaty with the baked beans and soup, and the rim turned flimsy after a stint in the microwave. These bowls were easy to eat out of, thanks to their short sides and wide bases. They also held up fine to the disposable cutlery and the ice cream cake.
Not Recommended
- Durability : 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
These foam bowls were not durable, and we couldn’t use disposable cutlery in them without cutting through them or poking holes in their bottoms. These bowls weren’t microwave-safe, but they didn’t become flimsy when holding hot soup or beans or cold ice cream cake. However, their rigidness meant that they cracked easily when they were held too hard.
- Durability : 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
Like the other foam model, these larger, square-shaped bowls were among the least durable we tried. They were easily damaged by the disposable fork and knife and were not microwave-safe. While they did hold up fine to hot soup and baked beans and cold ice cream cake, we disliked their square shape, which wasn’t comfortable to hold.
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