The 13 best combination microwaves for easy dinnertimes

Score: 90/100

Everyone loves an air fryer, so unsurprisingly, this multitasking appliance with air fryer functionality was a hit with our experts. When testing the air fryer mode, they enjoyed a well-cooked, tender whole roast chicken and delicious sausages – add some fluffy mash and that’s dinner sorted in just ten minutes.

It performed equally well as a standard combi microwave, scoring highly in our soup, jacket potato, ready meal and defrosting tests. Only mac and cheese proved a challenge – it cooked as we’d expect, but the cheese didn’t become golden.

We wished the air fryer tray was dishwasher-proof for a quicker clean-up, but otherwise, we can't complain.

Keen on an air fryer model? We’ve rounded up our best air fryer microwaves in a separate buying guide to make it even easier to find the best one for your kitchen.

Score: 88/100

Combining all the best air fryer and microwave benefits, this smart machine from Sage, which is also a grill and convection oven, is another great multitasker. It’s a premium buy, but because of its many functions, it can be a tad confusing to use, so keep the manual close by at first.

It’s an outstanding cooker though; our testers declared its roast chicken one of the best on test and awarded its mac and cheese and jacket potatoes a perfect score.

Score: 87/100

Like the Sage above, this Salter is ideal if you want to join the air fryer train without sacrificing precious kitchen space. Its dedicated setting prepared fluffy yet crispy chips and some delicious chicken Kyivs too.

With a 26-litre capacity, it offers lots of flexibility; on test, our experts cooked a roast chicken in 41 minutes, and praised its ready meal and jacket potato prep skills too. But our mac and cheese lacked wow factor as the pasta was quite firm. Not all the features are dishwasher-safe either (although the turntable is) but this sleek microwave is well designed and easy to use, making dinner time simple.

Score: 87/100

This reasonably priced design put in a stellar performance in our lab, scoring full marks when heating up soup and cooking jacket potatoes. It was fantastic at cooking ready meals from both chilled and frozen too. It dropped the odd mark for how quickly the food cooled afterwards, so you'll just need to eat up quickly for those.

The auto convection setting cooked a whole chicken well with lovely moist meat, and it grilled sausages beautifully. Note that you can’t change the temperature of these functions though – only the time – which limits its versatility when compared with an actual oven.

Score: 83/100

Another impressive combination microwave from Panasonic, this one does everything the above model can, and it steams food too. Its large 31-litre capacity means it competently doubles as an oven when needed, with ample room to roast a big chicken or bake a generously sized cake.

The defrost function let it down, as our beef was still frozen after the programme concluded, but its intuitive, easy-to-use display and controls, plus the range of accessories to suit your cooking preferences (there's a steaming trivet), make this a versatile buy.

Score: 82/100

This microwave offers convenience and flexibility with its cooking options. Testers were impressed with its general microwaving skills (which delivered a beautifully cooked jacket potato) as well as its grill function.

What makes this Samsung smart, though, is its app features. You can check cooking times, follow guides and recipes, and even add ingredients to your shopping list from your phone. We programmed it to defrost a 1.5-kilogram chicken, and it calculated the right length of time, fully defrosting it within 24 minutes.

It won’t start the programmes though, so you still need to do this manually, and its auto-cook function disappointed a little; our frozen lasagne needed an extra minute to reach a safe temperature for eating. Still, that's not a dealbreaker and there was a lot to love about this machine, including its large viewing window, easy-to-clean interior, and delicious fairy cake-baking skills.

Score: 81/100

There’s plenty of versatility on offer with this Panasonic combination microwave, from the seven power levels to the eight combination cooking options and 19 pre-set programmes. It shone in testing when we used it for grilling, baking and air frying, delivering juicy sausages with evenly browned skin, well-risen fairy cakes and delicious roast chicken. This proved it’s great at maintaining a consistent convection and grill temperature and distributing heat evenly throughout the interior.

On the downside, it struggled with simple microwave jobs like reheating soup, with the temperature varying quite a bit throughout the bowl. That said, our jacket potatoes came out brilliantly, with lovely fluffy interiors.

Score: 80/100

While this Samsung model doesn’t have a convection oven (so skip if you want one for cakes and roasts), it does have a grill with one temperature setting that’s perfect for giving microwave meals a crispy finish. It also has a whopping 40 auto programmes, including ones for rice and fresh fish, alongside a nifty “keep warm” function.

On test, we enjoyed evenly cooked food, well-defrosted minced beef and crispy jacket potatoes with fluffy insides. It’s not the fanciest of combis, but it’s more affordable and compact than many on this list – ideal for smaller kitchens.

Score: 80/100

The speediest of chicken roasters, this combination microwave's auto roast setting served up a bird in just 37 minutes. Impressively, its breast meat was succulent, but the legs were a little overdone, so it may also be worth exploring its manual modes, as you can fully adjust the power levels and temperatures when combination cooking.

A detailed manual will guide you through this, along with all its other functions, which produced well-heated and cooked food as well as nicely defrosted meat. The grill gave our sausages a patchier finish than most, but given its extensive capabilities, this microwave is excellent value – especially for often pricey Panasonics.

Score: 79/100

This sleek microwave will really look the part on your kitchen counter. The convection fan is built into the top of the microwave (like a regular air fryer) to create a slimmer silhouette and save precious counter space.

It aced our convection and air-frying tests, delivering moist, tender roast chicken, well-risen cupcakes, and golden chips, but it was a bit hit and miss when the grill was involved. Our sausages were lovely, but there was uneven browning across our grilled slices of bread.

When we microwaved soup on a standard setting, the centre of the bowl was much cooler than the outer parts, too. We recommend microwaving in short intervals and stirring as you go for the best results.

Score: 77/100

For straightforward microwaving tasks like cooking ready meals and jacket potatoes, this De’Longhi model is a good choice – our food was heated evenly and it didn’t overcook.

The grill function worked reasonably well in testing, with some browning on the top of our mac and cheese, and the convection setting produced a well-cooked, juicy and tender small roast chicken. We’d avoid using it for defrosting meat, though, as some areas began cooking while other parts weren’t fully thawed.

It’s not the most intuitive machine, so we had to refer to the manual a few times to understand the controls, plus the grill element and fixed glass plate support created some dirt traps that make cleaning difficult. Everything feels well-built and high quality, though.