Our Favorite Stainless Steel, Ceramic, and Cast Iron Cookware Sets for Any Kitchen (2023)

If you’re outfitting a new kitchen or just looking to upgrade your current pots and pans, buying a cookware set is an easy way to fill your cabinets with the skillets, saucepans, and stockpots you need for every recipe. Whether it’s selecting the right skillet for the perfect sear on steak or tofu or finding a durable, oven-safe dish for a low-and-slow braise, the cookware you use has a major impact on how your meal turns out. Here are the best sets that will provide everything you need, including stainless steel, nonstick, and cast iron cookware.

The Expert: I am a trained chef, recipe developer, and food writer for outlets including Insider, Munchery, and Simply Recipes. In my line of work, I’ve faced a burnt-on mess of caramel-turned-cement in a saucepan left unwatched, had braises bubble up and over the sides of a dish in the oven, and burnt my fingers one too many times on a “stay-cool” handle. Because I use pots and pans every day, I appreciate the importance of selecting high-quality cookware to make cooking at home fun, delicious, and stress-free.

What to Consider

A new set of cookware is an important investment that you can hopefully use for decades to come, so it’s wise to take the various features into account before buying.

Size

First and foremost, consider the size of the set you need. If you’re stocking a kitchen from scratch, you may need a fully equipped 10- to 16-piece set that includes all sizes of skillets, saucepans, and stockpots. On the other hand, if you’ve already got a sturdy set of skillets that you love, you may be able to get away with a set of just stockpots. Also consider the amount of cooking you do. If you stick to simple meals a few nights a week, a set of three to five pots and pans will suffice. A 9- to 10-inch skillet and a 2- to 3-quart lidded saucepan are good standard sizes for most home cooks. For homes with minimal storage, a stacking set is easier to fit into small spaces. Note that manufacturers count lids in the number of pieces in a set, so a six-piece set of lidded pots likely means three pots with matching lids.

Material

Next, the cookware material is important. The most common kinds of cookware materials are stainless steel, nonstick, and cast iron. Each has its pros and cons. For example, stainless steel is scratch-resistant and sturdy. Most stainless pots and pans are oven-safe (but it’s always best to double check with the manufacturer first). Cast iron is also oven-safe and incredibly durable, though it’s not dishwasher safe and can require more maintenance, such as having to reseason the surface.

Nonstick pots and pans require little oil for cooking and are generally easy to keep clean because food doesn’t adhere to the surface. However, the nonstick coating can have strict max temperatures and can scratch if used with the wrong utensils (such as metal). If you do go the nonstick route, it’s important to check that you’re using nontoxic cookware, which is free of the potentially harmful chemicals called perfluorooctanoic acids (PFOAs). Though PFOAs are no longer used in cookware manufactured after 2013, the Teflon coating on your nonstick pots and pans can release toxic chemicals when heated over 570 degrees Fahrenheit. Below this high temperature, teflon is stable and makes a great, slippery cooking surface that requires less fat than other options.

Lids

Finally, consider whether or not you want lids with your pots and pans. Most cookware sets have lids for some of the pots and pans, but not all. And some lids are sized to fit more than one pot or pan in the same set. Tempered glass lids make it easier to see what’s going on inside the pot, while stainless steel and cast iron lids can provide better heat retention, which is good for long cooking processes, such as braises and stews.

How We Evaluated

The cookware sets I recommend here include the best from a range of materials, sizes, and use cases. I’ve compiled this list using product testing and research, including customer reviews from Amazon and other brand websites. In particular, I’ve personally tested Misen, Calphalon, Viking, Le Creuset, and BergHOFF cookware for heat retention, performance, and ease of cleaning. During my research, I paid particular attention to useful features such as the range of sizes in a set, the kind and number of lids, pot materials, ease of storing and cleaning, handle placement, and whether the handles stay cool. The best sets included several different sizes and shapes of cookware, including a large lidded stock pot for braising, multiple skillets with lids for sautéing and searing, and at least two saucepans. I prefer sets that include lids, especially lids that are oven-safe. And of course, dishwasher-safe is always a plus!

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