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The Best Stainless Steel Cookware, According to Our Tests

Our top picks for skillets, sauciers, saucepans, and more.

By
Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm
Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm Serious Eats
Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm
Associate Editorial Director, Commerce
Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm is the Senior Commerce Editor for Serious Eats. She joined the team in 2021.
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Updated March 04, 2024
a person tossing mushrooms in a stainless steel skillet

Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore

Stainless steel is a workhorse in the kitchen. Be it a skillet, saucier, or stockpot, this is one type of cookware worth investing in.

While we’re not going to go into the differences between tri-ply and five-ply here (we have plenty of that in our reviews), we will tell you what the best stainless steel cookware is to buy—and why. We’ve rounded up all of our stainless steel winners in one place. We stand by these picks as the best you can buy, no matter how often you cook, and how much you have to spend. 

The Winners, at a Glance

The Criteria: What to Look for in Stainless Steel Cookware

Some of the factors here depend on the cookware in question (i.e. a skillet vs. a saucier), but there are still universal things to look for. A good piece of stainless steel cookware should heat evenly, be responsive, retain heat well, and excel at a variety of cooking tasks. It should also be nice to use, with a comfortable main handle and helper handle (if applicable). Plus, it should be priced reasonably. While super-expensive cookware sure looks beautiful, we found it often performs just the same as far less costly pieces.

Our Favorite Stainless Steel Cookware

After testing 29 of them, our favorite stainless steel skillet is from Made In. It’s heat responsive and cooks beautifully. And it has a rounded, comfortable handle that's just very nice to hold onto. We really liked pans from All-Clad and Le Creuset, but the Made In’s price point edged them out of the top spot.

Key Specs

  • Weight: 3 pounds
  • Induction compatible: Yes
  • Oven-safe temperature: 800°F
  • Also available in: 8- and 10-inch sizes
a person tossing food in a stainless steel skillet

Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore

The Best Budget-Friendly Stainless Steel Skillet

Tramontina 12-Inch Stainless Steel Skillet

Tramontina 12-Inch Stainless Steel Skillet
PHOTO: Amazon
$70 $36 at Amazon $36 at Home Depot $35 at Wayfair

While this skillet had a smaller cooking surface and a lower oven-safe temperature than the Made In, it still heated evenly and was responsive, which earned it our budget-friendly stainless steel skillet recommendation. It had a rounded handle that was comfortable to hold onto as well.

Key Specs

  • Weight: 2.87 pounds
  • Induction compatible: Yes
  • Oven-safe temperature: 500°F
  • Also available in: 8- and 10-inch sizes
a person pouring water into a stainless steel skillet

Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore

We generally prefer sauciers over saucepans (their low sides and lack of corners makes whisking and stirring seamless). When we tested sauciers, the Made In blew other pans out of the water. “Stirring in this saucier was a dream,” our tester said. It had a wide surface area, comfortable handle, and heated evenly. It’s a true workhorse. It’s also induction compatible and comes with a 45-day trial period. We recommend going with the 3-quart size for its versatility. 

Key Specs

  • Weight: 3.7 pounds
  • Induction compatible: Yes
  • Oven-safe temperature: 800°F
  • Also available in: 2- and 5-quart sizes
Making pastry cream in a saucier with a hand mid-whisk.

Serious Eats / Tim Chin

All the saucier pros being said, we still think it’s worth having a larger, 4-quart saucepan on hand (for boiling pasta, cooking rice, reheating leftovers, etc.). And this one from Zwilling aced our tests. Its handle stayed cool throughout testing (even when we boiled water in it) and it conducted heat well, showing no hot spots. For those that like to take a mid-cooking peek, the saucepan has a glass lid.

Key Specs

  • Weight: 5.2 pounds
  • Induction compatible: Yes
  • Oven-safe temperature: 400°F
  • Also available in: 1, 2- and 3-quart sizes
A stainless steel saucepan on a marble countertop

Serious Eats / Irvin Lin

For small-batch kitchen tasks like browning butter, warming sauces, making hot chocolate, or cooking oatmeal, a small saucepan (one to two quarts) is just the ticket. Our favorite comes from Made In and has a concave handle that prevents it from rolling in your palm as you pour, a rolled rim for drip-free pouring, and rounded corners for easy stirring.

Key Specs

  • Weight: 2 pounds, 6 ounces (with lid on)
  • Induction compatible: Yes
  • Oven-safe temperature: 800°F
  • Also available in: 1- and 4-quart sizes
a person pouring browned butter out of a small saucepan

Serious Eats / Ashlee Redger

With a wide, flat cooking surface and vertical sides, we like a saute pan for searing, shallow-frying, and braising. After reviewing saute pans, we named the Made In and All-Clad pans our top picks. They had great heat responsiveness and comfortable handles on both their pans and lids. While the Made In's handle was rounded and comfortably fit into our palm, the All-Clad's was extra-long and provided helpful leverage. They're both investments. However, we think their versatility makes either worthwhile.

Key Specs

  • Weight (with lid on): 4 pounds (Made In); 4.5 pounds (All-Clad)
  • Induction compatible: Yes (both)
  • Oven-safe temperature: 800°F (Made In); 600°F (All-Clad)
braised chicken thighs in a saute pan

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

For stocks, sous vide, and even lobster boils, you’ll want a stockpot. And with wide handles and a snug-fitting lid, this is our 12-quart recommendation. It heated and browned food the best out of all the stock pots in our testing, too (many of the competitors burned mirepoix!).

Key Specs

  • Weight: 9 pounds
  • Induction compatible: Yes
  • Oven-safe temperature: 550°F
  • Also available in: 8-quart
Two hands with oven mitts on gripping the handles of a stockpot

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

While we think a 12-quart stockpot is plenty big for most kitchen tasks, a 16-quart stockpot is as large as a home burner can handle. Our favorite mega-sized stockpot is the one from Tramontina: It exhibited minimal scratching during our cooking tests and is induction-compatible. It’s also pretty reasonably priced.

Key Specs

  • Weight: 8.1 pounds
  • Induction compatible: Yes
  • Oven-safe temperature: 500°F
  • Also available in: 12, 20-, 24-quart
Tramontina stockpot on white background

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

This is a pricy set, but we think it's worth the investment. Not only are its pieces made from high-quality steel, they're thoughtfully designed. It's oven- and broiler-safe up to an impressive 600˚F, so it's useful for just about every cooking task. Ergonomics and comfort reign supreme with this set, which includes 10 pieces of long-lasting cookware.

Key Specs

  • Pieces included: 8- and 10-inch fry pans, 2-quart saucepan with lid, 3-quart sauté pan with lid, 3-quart saucepan with lid, 8-quart stockpot with lid
  • Induction compatible: Yes
  • Oven-safe temperature: 600°F
Butter is browned in a small saucepan from the All-Clad D3 line of cookware

Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore

FAQs

How do you clean stainless steel cookware?

While most stainless steel cookware is reportedly dishwasher-safe, we recommend hand-washing it, because rusting is still possible. We have a guide to cleaning stainless steel cookware here—including daily cleaning and restoring a pan to tip-top shape.

What’s the best stainless steel skillet? 

After testing 29 pans, our top stainless steel skillets are Made In products and Tramontina (we also liked ones from All-Clad and Le Creuset). You can read our full review here.

Is stainless steel cookware induction compatible?

Much stainless steel cookware is compatible with induction cooktops, including all of our above picks. If you’re wondering if a piece of stainless steel cookware is induction-friendly, grab a magnet. If it sticks to the bottom of the pan, it’ll work with induction.

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