Baking Sheet and Sheet Pan Sizes

Sheet pan size chart

Every size in the North American system is a fraction of the full commercial sheet pan, 26 × 18 in. Halving a full sheet across its long side gives a half sheet, halving that gives a quarter, and so on. Dimensions are outside measurements, rim to rim, as sold.

Full sheet 26 × 18 inHalf sheet 18 × 13 inJelly roll 15 × 10 inQuarter sheet 13 × 9 in

Brands round to these nominal sizes. A half sheet from one maker might measure 17.9 × 12.9 in and from another 18.25 × 13.25 in. That matters only when a pan has to slot into a rack or a second pan has to nest inside it.

Inside dimensions: the usable baking surface

The rolled rim of a sheet pan takes up space. On most half sheets the flat bottom is about 16.5 to 17 in long and 11.5 to 12 in wide (42-43 × 29-30 cm), roughly 80 to 85% of the outside footprint. That is the number to use when you cut parchment, size a cooling rack or plan how many cookies fit.

The cookie column assumes drop cookies of 2 tablespoons of dough, which spread to about 3 in. Vegetables roast well only in a single layer with a little space between pieces; crowd the pan and they steam instead of browning.

Half sheet pan: the size most recipes mean

When a modern recipe says "a rimmed baking sheet" or "a sheet pan", it means a half sheet. At 18 × 13 in it fits a standard 30-inch range oven with room for air on every side, holds a full sheet-pan dinner for four, and takes most precut parchment and silicone mats.

• Rim: about 1 in (2.5 cm). Enough to hold juices and a thin cake layer, low enough for air to reach cookies.
• Material: bare aluminum is the common professional choice. Commercial pans are usually 18 or 16 gauge; a lower gauge number means thicker metal that resists warping.
• Two at once: two half sheets go on two racks, not side by side. If you rotate them halfway through baking, both bake evenly.

Cookie sheets and jelly roll pans

A cookie sheet has a lip on one or two edges and open sides, so cookies slide off and hot air flows across. There is no standard size: most are 14 × 16 in to 14 × 20 in. The open sides let you fit a slightly larger sheet than a rimmed pan, but anything with liquid will run off.

A jelly roll pan is 15 × 10 in with a rim of 0.75 to 1 in. It is made for the thin sponge rolled around jam or cream, and recipes for Swiss rolls and pumpkin rolls specify it because the cake has to be thin enough to roll without cracking. A larger "big" jelly roll pan of about 17 × 12 in also exists; if a roll recipe does not say which, use the 15 × 10 in pan.

Will it fit in your oven?

Measure the interior width and depth of the oven at the rack, then subtract about 1 in (2.5 cm) on each side and at the back for airflow. A pan that touches the walls blocks circulation and browns unevenly.

Interior widths vary by model, so treat the table as a starting point and check your own oven with a tape. For countertop ovens, the maker's listing usually names the largest pan it takes. See the air fryer size guide for basket and oven-style air fryer interiors, and the kitchen dimensions guide for standard range and wall oven widths.

European and metric baking tray sizes

Outside North America, two professional standards apply, and home ovens come with their own trays.

• Euronorm bakery tray: 600 × 400 mm (23.6 × 15.7 in). The standard for pastry shops and bakery racks in Europe. It is not interchangeable with the US full sheet.
• Gastronorm GN 1/1: 530 × 325 mm (20.9 × 12.8 in). The restaurant standard defined by EN 631, also used for combi-oven trays. GN 1/2 is 325 × 265 mm.
• Domestic oven trays are made to fit each oven's rack runners, typically around 45 × 37 cm in a 60 cm wide oven. A replacement should match the old tray within a few millimeters.

A US half sheet (46 × 33 cm) is close in area to the tray of a typical 60 cm European oven, so recipes written for "one baking tray" in British or Australian books translate well to a half sheet.

Swapping pans in a recipe

Scale by area. Keep the batter or food the same thickness and the baking time stays close to the original.

A doubled 9 × 13 brownie or bar recipe fills a half sheet at the same thickness. A single 9 × 13 recipe spread on a half sheet comes out half as thick and needs roughly half to two thirds of the time. Deeper cake pans are covered in the cake pan size guide, and a grandma or Sicilian pizza on a half sheet is about the same area as two 12-inch rounds (see pizza sizes).

Sheet cake servings

Bakery sheet cakes are baked in 2-inch-deep pans, and many bakeries sell a "half sheet cake" that is smaller than 18 × 13 in, often around 15 × 11 or 16 × 12 in. Ask for the measurements. For an 18 × 13 in cake, 2 × 2 in party pieces give 54 servings and 2 × 3 in pieces give 36 (cutting 9 by 6 and 9 by 4 rows). A full 26 × 18 in cake gives 117 party pieces at 2 × 2 in if you cut 13 by 9 rows.

Liners, racks and storage

• Parchment: precut "half sheet" parchment is 12 × 16 in and full-sheet parchment 16 × 24 in, sized to the flat bottom rather than the rim.
• Silicone mats: a half-size Silpat is 11⅝ × 16½ in (29.5 × 42 cm). Mats sold for "13 × 18 pans" all fit inside the rim; a mat that rides up the sides will not lie flat.
• Cooling racks sold as half-sheet racks measure about 11.5 × 16.5 to 12 × 17 in and sit inside the rim, which turns it into a roasting tray.
• Storage: standing on a long edge, a half sheet needs a slot about 13.5 in tall and 18.5 in deep, which fits a standard 24-inch-deep base cabinet with vertical dividers. Lying flat, it needs a cabinet at least 19 in wide inside. The kitchen cabinet guide lists standard widths and depths.

Frequently asked questions