Holiday traffic is enough of a headache, so let this casserole carrier take some of the stress out of traveling. (Getty Images)(Westend61 via Getty Images)
Hosting a holiday gathering is quite a daunting task — but being a guest tasked with bringing food is no walk in the park, either! First, there's the issue of keeping your assigned dish at the proper temperature, whether it's a hot pan of stuffing or a cold salad. Then, you have to worry about everything arriving at your destination in one piece, sans messy spills. Unless you live down the street from where the event is taking place, transporting food via planes, trains or automobiles is no easy feat. That said, the Luncia Insulated Casserole Carrier can help simplify things.
This nifty food schlepper was designed to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, while protecting your car (and/or clothes) from surprise leaks. It's just $20 at Amazon, so no wonder over 1,000 were purchased in the past month alone.
Spare yourself from lukewarm pumpkin spice lattes, thanks to this top-rated pair of double-wall insulated mugs. They'll keep the contents inside nice and hot, while the exterior remains cool enough for you to handle without burning your hands. (In the summer, they'll keep your iced drinks cold too.)
This is as low as they've ever been on sale for, FYI!
Functionality aside, this also might be one of the chicest-looking food totes we've ever seen.
Let's face it — covering your pan of lasagna with foil, placing it on the floor of your car and hoping for the best isn't exactly setting yourself up for success. For starters, sauce can easily seep through any openings, and you won't be able to maintain the temperature of the contents.
On the other hand, the Luncia Insulated Casserole Carrier features a padded foam and aluminum foil-lined interior to help preserve the food's temperature for hours. This way, you can arrive at your host's home with a dish that's still hot enough to serve, and they'll be ever so grateful that they don't have to find space in their oven to reheat it.
It's large enough to fit dishes ranging from 9" x 13" to 11" x 15" and has a waterproof coating that prevents leaks while making cleanup a breeze. An exterior pocket can be used for stashing things like utensils and napkins, and the two top handles help ensure your food stays upright and intact.
Need to pack multiple pans? There's also a double-decker version for carrying two dishes at once ($30).
Not to be cheesy, but seeing as it's garnered more than 4,200 perfect ratings, this carrier is far from half-baked.
"This was a great purchase," raved one satisfied shopper. "Just used it to haul food to Thanksgiving dinner. I put the casserole into the insulated carrier about 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven, and almost three hours later it was still so hot that we didn't even have to reheat the casserole."
"This carrier is roomier than a 9" x 13" pan, meaning it’s easy to fit that size pan plus some serving utensils and such inside as well," wrote another. "The handle is nice and sturdy. ... Super easy to clean on the inside. I would recommend and buy this again."
"For years, I've gone to parties or gatherings and hoped my casseroles would make it in one piece," shared a third. "The last straw was a few weeks ago, when traveling to my grandson's birthday party — and the lid came loose. Eek — I had casserole all over the backseat of my car! Horrible. So, I bought this ... It's very high quality and does the job. The next two times I brought food to a gathering, I used the carrier, and not only did I avoid a mess, my casserole remained warm. I felt a little fabulous walking in with it too!"
"If I had to pick one thing I wasn't thrilled about, [it's] that [it] needed more support for the disposable aluminum pans I was carrying, so I did add two perfect-size cookie sheets to firm up the bottoms a bit," said an otherwise pleased user.
"My only issue is the straps," wrote a final fan. "I'd like a shoulder strap or side handle for the times I don't need to keep things level or I'm carrying it empty."
And when it comes to drinks...
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The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.