Lidl Mini Oven Review – Worth £35?

by Barry Lewis

Testing the Lidl £35 Mini Oven – Can It Actually Cook Properly?

This one came straight from the Video Ideas section on my Discord server. Someone mentioned Lidl were selling a mini oven for just £35, and naturally, I had to check it out.

I filmed myself in the car heading to Lidl, found it sitting on the shelf (big win), and gave it the usual “I’ve got it!” reflection from the front seat. The question now: can this little thing actually cook?

Below is a breakdown of the tests I ran to find out if this bargain oven is just a cheap gadget—or something genuinely useful.

Test 1: Baking – Frozen Pizza vs. Fresh Dough Pizza

I started with something simple and very real-world: pizza. I tested both a frozen one and a homemade version using fresh dough.

Frozen pizza: Took a little longer than usual, but it cooked through and crisped up fairly well. Decent result.

Fresh pizza: A better test of the oven’s overall control. The base rose, the toppings cooked evenly, and while the underside could have used more direct heat, it actually worked surprisingly well.

Test 2: Baking – Cupcakes (Lidl vs. Sage)

To test consistency, I made cupcakes using a pre-mix—one batch in the Lidl oven, the other in my Sage Smart Oven Pro.

The Sage handled them easily. Even colour, well-risen, fluffy texture.

The Lidl oven? Not bad. A little uneven in colour and one cupcake wasn’t quite baked in the middle, but most of them came out fine. For a fanless £35 oven, it did alright.

Test 3: Reheating – Leftover Oven Chips (Three Ways)

I made oven chips the night before and left them in the fridge, then tried to bring them back to life three different ways:

  • Microwave: Hot, but floppy and lifeless.

  • Lidl oven (no oil): Some crisp returned, though a bit dry.

  • Lidl oven (with a light spray of oil): Easily the best. Decent crisp, nice texture, and far better than the microwave version.

Quick takeaway: use a bit of oil if you want the best results.

Test 4: Grilling – Cheese on Toast and Burn Test

I tested how well the grill actually works with a classic: cheese on toast.

It melted the cheese, but the browning was slow and uneven unless I gave it a lot of time. To push it further, I did a “burn test” with a plain slice of bread to see how evenly it browned. There were some hot spots, so not the most consistent grill in the world.

It’ll do the job, just not quickly or perfectly.

Test 5: Roasting – Whole Chicken (The Final Boss)

This was the big one: could the Lidl oven roast an entire chicken?

I found a small one (just over a kilo), seasoned it simply, and got it in there. It was a tight fit—no room for roast potatoes or veg—but it cooked through, the skin crisped up fairly well, and it tasted great.

Was it the most efficient roast ever? No. But the fact that it managed it at all was honestly impressive.

Conclusion

This oven won’t replace your main cooker if you’re doing serious meal prep or cooking for a family, but it’s not trying to. It’s simple, small, and surprisingly capable in the right context.

It’s ideal for:

  • Students

  • Campervans or caravans

  • Small kitchens or studio flats

  • Anyone on a tight budget who just needs something that works

As long as you manage expectations, it’s a solid little machine for £35. Definitely not just a gimmick.

Watch the Full Video Above

If you haven’t already, give the full video a watch to see how it handled each test—and of course, how the final boss chicken turned out. Let me know in the comments what you’d like to see cooked in it next. Here’s another fun review if you enjoyed this, comparing £1 vs £1k kitchen appliances.

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