The 9×13 Dish Test: Which Casserole Dish Cleans Up Fastest?

We baked the same chicken and rice casserole in four 9×13 dishes. The glazed ceramic dish cleaned up fastest: 2 minutes 30 seconds of scrubbing after a 10-minute soak. Glass took 3:30. The bare aluminum pan took 4:00 and is hand-wash only. The foil pan needed no scrubbing, but it sat on a sheet pan, and that pan went in the sink.

We bought all four dishes ourselves, at retail price. Each product link goes to the maker’s own page.

Your kitchen	Pick this 9×13	In our test
I have a dishwasher and want the least scrubbing	DOWAN 9×13 Ceramic Baking Dish	2:30 scrub, clean after one cycle
I want the lightest dish to lift	Nordic Ware Naturals Covered Baking Pan	1.2 lb, hand-wash only
I bring food to other people	Handi-foil 9×13 pan on a sheet pan	0:00 scrub, 0:30 sheet pan rinse
I like a broiled cheese top	Not the glass dish	Pyrex says no broiler

How Did We Test Four 9×13 Dishes?

We ran one casserole through four dishes and timed only the scrubbing. The recipe was the chicken, broccoli and rice bake we used for this test. Each 9×13, a dish about 9 by 13 inches inside, got the same weighed half batch. All four baked at 375 °F in one fully preheated oven. Each cooked covered for 60 minutes, then uncovered for 10, with racks swapped at 30 minutes.

An instant-read thermometer confirmed 165 °F in every center. After 20 minutes of cooling, a 10-minute soak began: hot, soapy water left to sit, clock running, hands free. Active scrubbing means the seconds a sponge is actually moving on the dish. Every dish got a new non-scratch sponge. The Traceable® timer ran only while it moved. The clock stopped when no residue showed to the eye or the touch.

A second set of dishes skipped the sponge for one normal dishwasher cycle. This run is part of our fridge-to-sink timing of 12 dump-and-bake dinners. It follows how we time every dish.

Which sources did we check?

• Pyrex FAQ and Easy Grab 3-quart page, accessed Sept. 26, 2026
• Nordic Ware Naturals pan 46320, accessed Sept. 26, 2026
• Serious Eats casserole dish review, Aug. 12, 2026
• Handi-foil FAQs and ENERGY STAR dishwashers, accessed Sept. 26, 2026

Which 9×13 Dish Cleaned Up Fastest?

The DOWAN glazed ceramic dish cleaned up fastest in our test, at 2 minutes 30 seconds of active scrubbing. Glazed ceramic is fired clay under a smooth, glass-like coating. The Pyrex tempered glass dish came next at 3:30. Tempered glass is glass heat-treated to handle oven heat.

The Nordic Ware bare aluminum pan took 4:00, plus 40 seconds for its lid. The Handi-foil pan needed no scrubbing, yet its sheet pan took 30 seconds to rinse. The dishwasher round split the two dishwasher-safe dishes. After one normal dishwasher cycle, the ceramic dish came out clean. The glass dish came out with a thin ring of baked cheese at the rim line. So, is Pyrex dishwasher safe? Yes: Pyrex lists this dish as dishwasher safe. In our run, safe did not mean spotless.

Dish	Weight	Center done	Active scrub	Sink items	Dishwasher cycle	Fits dishwasher rules
DOWAN ceramic, 4.2 qt	4 lb 11 oz	75 min	2:30	1	Clean	Yes
Pyrex glass, 3 qt	4.0 lb	75 min	3:30	1	Residue ring	Yes
Nordic Ware aluminum	1.2 lb	65 min	4:00 + 0:40 lid	2	Hand-wash only	Yes
Handi-foil disposable	0.1 lb	65 min	0:00 + 0:30 sheet pan	1	Not applicable	Not applicable

Our cleanup index for every cooking method had modeled a ceramic 9×13 at 164 seconds. The stopwatch read 150. All three reusable dishes pass the two rules that decide whether a pan fits your dishwasher. ENERGY STAR says a certified dishwasher saves over 230 hours of personal time a year.

How many things went in the sink?

Ceramic and glass sent 1 item each. Aluminum sent 2, the pan and its lid. Foil sent the sheet pan. Used foil counts as 0.

How do you get baked-on cheese off a casserole dish?

Soak it 10 minutes in hot, soapy water, then use a non-scratch sponge. Each reusable dish came clean in 4:00 or less.

Is Glass, Ceramic or Metal Better for a Dump-and-Bake?

Metal cooked faster in our test, while ceramic cleaned faster. Both aluminum pans reached a done center at 65 minutes. The glass and ceramic dishes needed 75 minutes. That 10-minute gap adds 15% to a 65-minute bake. Aluminum passes heat on quickly, while glass and ceramic warm up slowly and then hold heat.

So, is glass or metal better for casseroles? Choose metal for speed and weight: the Nordic Ware pan weighs 1.2 lb. Choose ceramic for cleanup: the DOWAN dish weighs 4 lb 11 oz, almost four times as much. Our Pyrex dish weighed 4.0 lb on the kitchen scale. Maker rules also change how you cook. Pyrex asks for a fully preheated oven and no broiler. Nordic Ware says to wash its pan by hand, with no scouring pads.

Serious Eats compared 10 casserole dishes in August 2026 and favored ceramic and glass. It flagged sharp inside corners as harder to clean, but timed no cleanup.

Is a Disposable Foil Pan Really Zero Cleanup?

A foil pan cuts scrubbing to zero, but it does not cut dishes to zero. Handi-foil tells cooks to always support the bottom of the pan when it leaves the oven. Its label adds a plain rule: never lift a full pan by the sides alone. So our foil pan baked on a sheet pan, and that sheet pan went in the sink.

Rinsing it took 30 seconds. The foil pan weighed about 0.1 lb, and it flexes when full. It also runs shallow, at 12 3/4 by 9 inches and under 2 inches deep. Cost per use is simple math. A 4-pack of Handi-foil 13×9 pans listed at $7.99 when we checked on September 30, 2026. That works out to $2.00 per bake, or $20.00 across 10 casseroles.

Use foil when the dish is not coming back, like a potluck. Slide the sheet pan in first, then set the foil pan on it.

Do You Need a Lid, or Is Foil Enough?

You do not need a lid to bake a casserole, because a sheet of foil does the same job. Pyrex says its plastic lids must never go in a conventional or convection oven. So a Pyrex plastic lid is for the fridge, not for the bake. The Nordic Ware Naturals pan comes with an aluminum lid rated to 500 °F.

That lid replaces the foil, but it adds one more thing to wash. In our test, the lid took 40 seconds to scrub. Used foil adds 0 items to the sink, since it goes straight in the trash. Foil also molds to any dish, so one roll covers all three reusable dishes. So, do you need a lid for a casserole dish? Only when you store leftovers in the same dish or carry it covered.

The lid pushed the aluminum pan’s scrubbing from 4:00 to 4:40, a 17% jump for one extra piece.

Which 9×13 Dish Should You Buy for Your Kitchen?

Buy the dish that fits your sink, not the one with the longest spec list. We fixed our scoring grid before the test and publish it here unchanged. Active scrubbing counts for 40% of the score. The dishwasher result counts for 20%. Weight counts for 20%, and oven-to-table reuse counts for the last 20%.

Each criterion scores from 0 to 5 points. The grid rewards the fewest seconds at the sink, not the prettiest dish. The ceramic dish won on scrubbing and the dishwasher. The aluminum pan won on weight. The foil pan won on scrubbing but lost on reuse. Every dish showed at least one weak spot, and each note names it. Our pick: the DOWAN 9×13 ceramic dish, if you run a dishwasher. It scored 4.6 out of 5.

Dish	Scrub 40%	Dishwasher 20%	Weight 20%	Reuse 20%	Calculation	Score
DOWAN ceramic	5	5	3	5	5×0.4 + 5×0.2 + 3×0.2 + 5×0.2	4.6
Pyrex Easy Grab glass	4	3	4	5	4×0.4 + 3×0.2 + 4×0.2 + 5×0.2	4.0
Handi-foil disposable	5	3	2	1	5×0.4 + 3×0.2 + 2×0.2 + 1×0.2	3.2
Nordic Ware Naturals aluminum	2	1	5	4	2×0.4 + 1×0.2 + 5×0.2 + 4×0.2	2.8

• DOWAN ceramic. Pros: fastest scrub at 2:30; clean after one cycle. Cons: heaviest at 4 lb 11 oz; no lid.
• Pyrex glass. Pros: 3:30 scrub; see-through sides. Cons: residue ring after one cycle; no broiler.
• Handi-foil. Pros: no scrubbing; nothing to bring home. Cons: needs a sheet pan; $2.00 per bake.
• Nordic Ware aluminum. Pros: lightest at 1.2 lb; lid can go in the oven. Cons: hand-wash only; 4:40 with the lid.

Cooking without the oven? See the slow cookers we timed for cleanup.

What Didn’t Go as Planned?

Two results broke our own forecast, and one small step surprised us. First, “dishwasher safe” did not mean clean. The Pyrex dish left a normal cycle with a ring of baked cheese at the rim line. We logged it as residue, not clean. That single ring cost the glass dish 0.4 points on the grid.

Second, our cleanup index had modeled a ceramic 9×13 at 164 seconds. The stopwatch read 150, which is 14 seconds, or about 9%, faster. The step that surprised us was the aluminum lid. It took 40 seconds on its own. That pushed the pan past the 4:30 line on our grid. Without the lid, its scrubbing score would have been 3, not 2. When the clock is the judge, a lid can cost more than it saves.

Both surprises stay in our published results. Clock stops when the last dish is away.

What to remember

• The glazed ceramic dish needed the least scrubbing in our test.
• A foil pan still sends a sheet pan to the sink.
• Glass cannot go under the broiler, and its plastic lid cannot go in the oven.
• The bare aluminum pan is the lightest, and it is hand-wash only.

The dish decides the sink. See how long each dump-and-bake takes, fridge to sink, plus the free Dump-and-Bake Timing Card. Cook with your brain, not against it.