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See why.Mini Prep Bowl Sets
Mini prep bowls allow cooks to measure out, separate, and organize these elements, making cooking tidier and more efficient.
Our favorite mini prep bowl set, the Anchor Hocking 6-Piece Nesting Prep Bowl Set, has been discontinued. Our top choice is now Anchor Hocking's Custard Cups.
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What You Need To Know
Following the lead of professional chefs seen on television, many home cooks now use mini prep bowls to help them complete their mise en place, or the preparation and arrangement of the various ingredients needed to execute a recipe. Mini prep bowls allow cooks to measure out, separate, and organize these elements, making cooking tidier and more efficient.
Since we last tested these bowls in 2009, two of our three recommended sets have been discontinued, so a second look was warranted. First, we ruled out bowls with a capacity of 2 ounces or less for being too small. We then gathered seven sets of the most widely available mini prep bowls, covering a range of sizes and materials, and put them through a battery of tests. We wanted to see how easy they were to fill and empty, how well they contained different volumes of food, how vulnerable they were to staining and odors, how well they stood up to repeated washing, and how breakable they were when pushed off the counter. We also wanted to evaluate their versatility: Could they be microwaved and/or put in the oven? Could they handle both wet and dry ingredients? (Several of the bowl sets came with lids, which come in handy if you’re prepping and storing your ingredients ahead of time. However, while we liked having them, the performance of the bowls themselves was more important to us than this extra feature.)
With the exception of the silicone bowls, which were small, floppy, and retained food odors, most of the sets worked pretty well. Glass mini prep bowls dominate the market, and for good reason. They’re oven-, microwave-, and dishwasher-safe; they tend to be fairly sturdy; and they’re easy to clean, retaining no off-odors or food stains. Their only drawback is that they are slightly susceptible to static cling, making it a little more difficult to extract fine or dry ingredients like chopped herbs or ground pepper. Sets made of stainless steel or recycled materials like bamboo had less of a problem with static cling but were demoted for various reasons—among other problems, they couldn’t be microwaved, limiting their functionality.
While most of the sets we tested contained bowls of only one size (usually between 4 and 8 ounces), our favorite set had six nested bowls of different sizes, including two medium-size bowls of 10 and 16 ounces. Made of heavy glass, the relatively wide and shallow bowls were easy to fill, empty, and clean. And with a slight lip on the outside, they were also comfortable to grip while whisking or scooping out ingredients. The only problem: They were the only glass bowls that broke when we pushed them off the counter during our durability test. H...
Everything We Tested
Recommended
- Footprint: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Versatility: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Stain and Odor Resistance: 3 stars out of 3.
The cheapest of the bowl sets was also the best single-size set, nicely containing and emptying ingredients of different sizes and textures. Each 6-ounce bowl was wide, shallow, smooth, and substantial, as these were the heaviest of the glass bowls we tested. A small lip on the outside of the bowls made them comfortable to grip. Lids for the bowls can be purchased separately.
- Footprint: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Versatility: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Stain and Odor Resistance: 3 stars out of 3.
Our previous winner performed well once again; we liked the bowls’ thick, heavy glass and roomy interiors, which accommodated larger spatulas. This time, however, testers had mixed feelings about the bowls’ scalloped edges. The scallops were attractive and improved the grip of the bowl but also made it harder to remove ingredients in one clean sweep, with stickier substances like tomato paste getting stuck in the indentations. They also prevented the bowls from being stacked quite as smoothly.
- Footprint: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
- Versatility: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Stain and Odor Resistance: 3 stars out of 3.
Although one cook compared their appearance to “dog-food bowls,” we generally liked this stainless-steel set. There was virtually no static cling in their interiors, making it a breeze to get out fine or powdery ingredients. And a ½-inch-wide lip made these bowls the easiest to grip, especially while whisking. But these were the biggest and heaviest of the bowls tested; our testers generally preferred a slightly smaller and lighter size for prep work. The bowls also couldn’t be microwaved.
Recommended with reservations
- Footprint: 2 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Versatility: 2 stars out of 3.
- Stain and Odor Resistance: 3 stars out of 3.
The lidded bowls in this set had ridges on the outside that made them easy to grip. They were also nicely weighted and didn’t stain or retain odors. But, despite the manufacturer’s claims, the bowls in this set held only about 5 1/3 ounces, not 6 1/2, making each bowl too small to hold a single chopped onion. Testers also found them tall and narrow; as a result, maneuvering a whisk or large spatula around the interior was difficult.
- Footprint: 2 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Versatility: 2 stars out of 3.
- Stain and Odor Resistance: 1.5 stars out of 3.
Testers loved the look of these colorful, lightweight, eco-friendly prep bowls; the graceful pour spout was both pretty and helpful, allowing liquid ingredients to be added with ease. The bamboo-based material kept static cling low, preventing fine-textured ingredients from sticking to the interior. But the bowls were on the small side and couldn’t be microwaved. And while they didn’t retain off-odors, they stained slightly but permanently when yellow mustard was left in them for 2 hours.
Not Recommended
- Footprint: 3 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Versatility: 1 stars out of 3.
- Stain and Odor Resistance: 1 stars out of 3.
These silicone bowls were too small, too lightweight, and too staticky, making them nearly impossible to empty of dry ingredients. Although they didn’t stain, they tenaciously retained odors, smelling of garlic and mustard even after 10 cycles through the dishwasher.
Discontinued
- Footprint: 3 stars out of 3.
- Durability: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
- Versatility: 3 stars out of 3.
- Stain and Odor Resistance: 3 stars out of 3.
Coming in a variety of useful sizes that nest for compact storage, our winning set performed ably on almost every test. Its wide, shallow bowls were easy to hold, fill, empty, and clean. They can be used in the microwave and the oven. While the bowls in this set were the only ones to break when dropped, the heaviness of the glass with which they’re made makes it unlikely that they’ll easily fly off the counter.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
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