We love our Hot Logic Mini and we use it every day in our house. These meals are my favorite ones to pack for lunch at school. We recently got a Sabot Heat that we use in the car and our love of the portable oven has grown and grown.
My favorite thing about portable ovens is that you can eat the foods that you already enjoy. You can eat real food away from home. I work as a school teacher and seeing the line at the microwave always makes me smile because my food is already hot and waiting for me in my Hot Logic.
When you first start making meals for a portable oven you may need some inspiration for meals to prep for the portable oven.
How to Prep Meals for a Portable Oven
Containers
Choose glass containers that will fit in your portable oven. We have the Sabot Heat and the Hot Logic (affiliate links) and they both work well with 3 and 6 cup rectangular Pyrex containers like these on Amazon, these links are Amazon affiliate links and if you make a purchase after clicking these links I will earn a small commission at no cost to you.
These portable ovens will also work with plastic or paper meal prep containers, but I find that glass is my favorite.
You may choose these take out style containers if you are going to do a HUGE batch cooking prep and want to keep some in the freezer, otherwise go with the Pyrex.
Proteins
The magic of portable ovens is that they can cook meat from raw. Really, put the meat in raw!
Cooking the meat is often what keeps me from getting meal prep done on the weekend, so this is a game changer.
You can see my meal prep in this video, it took less than 10 minutes to meal prep one dinner and 5 lunches.
We have also purchased individual steaks and added those. Fancy eating on the road.
Vegetables
Another great shortcut with these portable ovens is using frozen vegetables along with a raw protein to make meal prep effortless.
I like to use the traditional broccoli, peas and mixed veg sides, but creative ideas like frozen butternut squash, stir fry vegetables, cauliflower mash or even instant potatoes.
It can be very simple.
If you live close to a Trader Joe’s or Aldi, they often have interesting seasonal frozen veg. I love Trader Joes for frozen bell peppers, and Aldi for their affordable organic options.
So, now that you are set to start making some meals for your portable oven, lets start assembly.
Meal Ideas
I find meal ideas lists uninspiring. I tried to get creative and specific in this list. You can print my meal plan mix and match guide linked here or use my printable meal plan worksheet and assemble your own ideas.
Hot Logic Ideas for Chicken
Thin Sliced Chicken Breast with Stir Fry Sauce and Peppers and Onions
I like to use the pre-sliced chicken breast for my meal prep because the amount is usually just right for a week of meals for me. You can grab frozen peppers and onions at Dollar Tree too.
Throw in some cooked rice and that is a great meal with very little prep.
Thin Sliced Chicken Breast with Fajita Seasoning and Peppers and Onions
Tacos and other meals in tortillas are really super convenient with a portable oven and a large family.
The portable ovens that I own max out at 6 cups. This is plenty in most cases for my family of 6, but with just the main protein in the Pyrex makes the meal stretch further.
Chicken Sausage with Apples and Sweet Potato
Chicken sausage are easy to grab and they are excellent in the portable oven. Remember that portable ovens are basically ultra portable slow cookers. A sausage and sweet potatoes with onions is a delicious casserole type meal.
This is a really delicious dinner.
Hot Logic Ideas for Beef
Stew Beef and Gravy
Grab a pack of stew beef and lay the gravy on top and let it cook down. This is a hot meal for a cold day. You could add some instant mash, mix it up cold and add to the Pyrex and that is a very filling meal while on the road.
Steak
We have done steak. It is not gourmet, it is a basically steamed steak. You can cook it with the lid off, which I would recommend.
I would also say, add some soy sauce or steak sauce.
Don’t forget to pack a knife! You may not think to pack a serious knife with your lunch, but keep one in your dine in kit.
We have needed ours a bunch of times, cutting sandwiches in half, slicing an apple. If you can secure it, keep a good knife in your car.
Fajitas
I know, I know, I already said fajitas with chicken, but they are great with beef too!
Meals on tortillas work really well for us.
This is also really awesome over a bagged salad! So good.
Taco Meat
Not to sing the same song, but ground beef tacos are easy to cook in bulk and store the extras in a portable oven friendly container.
This is great on lots of toppings. I like to scoop ground beef on top of a bagged salad for a really delicious meal.
Vegetarian Hot Logic Ideas
Sweet Potato with Black Beans
If you are short on time you can pre cook your sweet potato. Otherwise just chop up some sweet potato, mix in some canned black beans, sprinkle with cumin or salsa and pack an avocado!
So delicious, in my vegetarian days I ate a lot of sweet potato and black beans.
Mashed Potatoes
The ultimate vegetarian comfort food, you can make packet mashed potatoes or reheat mashed potatoes in your hot logic.
I recommend that you grab some carrots and onions and throw those in, *chef’s kiss.*
Veggie Chili
Remember that the portable oven is just a slow cooker for the car, you can make a dump and go chili by just mixing ingredients in a bowl and divide it into your containers and cook it in the Hot Logic. I would not recommend the Sabot Heat for this one as it turns itself off after 2 hours and that might not be quite enough time here.
A Note About Pasta
You cannot cook rice or pasta in the Hot Logic or the Sabat Heat. They both heat to only 180 degrees. This is not hot enough to boil water, so these staples just turn to mush.
If you are looking for these I would recommend the pre cooked vacuum sealed options available on Amazon and in most grocery stores.
