According to Bon Appétit food director Chris Morocco, a great stainless-steel skillet “will never let you down.” You can use it to sauté, stir-fry, and braise. These pans are excellent for searing steaks, chicken thighs, and salmon fillets to perfection. You can use them to make omelets, pan sauces, and caramel. And unlike nonstick cookware, you don’t need to tiptoe around stainless-steel pots and pans. They are compatible with induction cooktops, are oven safe, can withstand high heat, and can really take a beating from metal utensils.
Our top picks
- The best stainless-steel pan: All-Clad D3 Frying Pan
- The best budget stainless-steel pan: Goldilocks Skillet
Because high-quality versions of these resilient and versatile cooking tools are built to last—Morocco has had his current pan for 10 years and says it’s “unkillable”—it can be worth paying more up front to ensure longevity. To find the right version for you, scroll down for our top picks, based on our hands-on experience in the BA test kitchen.
The best stainless-steel pan: All-Clad D3 Frying Pan
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Lightweight
- Built to last
Cons:
- Pricey
Specs
Sizes: 10", 12", 14"
Weights (with lid): 3.5 lb., 4 lb., 5.5 lb.
Oven-safe to: 600°F
Of all the cookware brands that get used in our test kitchen every day, editors are quick to praise All-Clad, which has long been considered synonymous with high-quality stainless-steel cookware. All-Clad’s pans are the standard choice for our recipe developers just as they are for many professional chefs in restaurant kitchens and culinary schools across America.
Deputy food editor Hana Asbrink says that All-Clad’s entire range of cookware—from entry-level to high-end—is remarkably consistent in its performance. These pans don’t warp like some cheaper options do, and they heat evenly all the way across the pan. They are also, according to Hana, “largely indestructible.”
What we love: All-Clad offers several lines of stainless steel with different kinds of cladding—that is, the layers of metal that make up the pan. But for the best value, we recommend the D3 Everyday line. These 3-ply pans contain a layer of aluminum bonded between two layers of stainless steel.The All-Clad D3 Frying Pan has a large cooking surface thanks to a gently sloped edge that also facilitates easy pouring. The 10" and even 12" fry pans from the D3 line are lightweight and easy to maneuver with one hand and have remarkably even heat distribution—you can thank the aluminum core for both.
What we'd leave: These pans have been around long enough to prove that they last (they have a limited lifetime warranty to back that up). One thing to note though: As tough and durable as these pans are, we still recommend hand-washing them.
While stainless-steel pans in general tend to be dishwasher-safe, strong detergents will eventually dull the surface, and All-Clad pans in particular are known to wear away at the edges in the dishwasher, making them very sharp. Wash them by hand with soapy water and a sponge, and use a little Bar Keepers Friend to loosen stuck-on gunk.
The best budget stainless-steel pan: Goldilocks skillet
Pros and cons
Pros:
- affordable
- lightweight
Cons:
- quicker to scorch
- slight discoloration over time
Specs
Sizes: 10", 12",
Weights: 2.5 lbs, 3.3 lb.,
Oven-safe to: 550°F
Goldilocks is a relatively new direct-to-consumer brand making affordable stainless-steel cookware. While their product range is limited, we have been pleasantly surprised with the performance of these pans when comparing them to pans of a similar price point. While to some extent you get what you pay for with stainless-steel cookware, we do think that as far as affordable options go, Goldilocks really does deliver in regard to design and quality.
What we liked: Goldilocks has recently become our favorite among budget-friendly stainless-steel cookware sets. The brand’s pans are made from lightweight 3-ply stainless steel, which makes them responsive but not terribly volatile when subjected to changes in heat. Like the All-Clad, this pan has a broad cooking surface area and a curved edge that makes it easy to pour off excess oil without messy dribbles. In our testing, caramelizing onions and browning chicken thighs were easy, and there were no observable hot spots or curves to unbalance the cooking surface. For an affordable stainless-steel skillet, the Goldilocks skillet is a great choice.
What we’d leave: Certain things are unavoidable with budget cookware. The cooking surface isn’t quite as refined as higher-end options, so its subtle texture develops a bronzed patina over time with continued use (especially if you’re accustomed to cooking with high heat). Also, it is ever so slightly scorchy when adjusting your heat source, so just don’t walk away from the pan for too long. A couple of folks in the test kitchen weren’t crazy about the handle, though in fairness, I’ve yet to encounter a skillet handle that is universally beloved.
How we tested stainless-steel pans
Our test consisted of five steps.
Flour test
We dusted the cooking surface of each pan with flour and then placed it over heat. As the flour begins to brown, it reveals inconsistencies in how the pans distribute heat.
Onion test
We caramelized onions to get a general sense of the cooking experience each pan offered and how comfortable it was to use. It also showed us how easily food could scortch in the pan.
Chicken thigh test
We pan-fried skin-on chicken thighs to test for potential sticking spots and heat distribution. We looked to see if a 12" skillet could accommodate a minimum of four chicken thighs without too much crowding.
Deglazing test
We made a pan sauce to see how easily fond released from the pans.
Washing test
We hand-washed each pan, making note of hard-to-clean surfaces or gunked-up nooks and crannies.
What makes a good stainless-steel pan
Does the pan heat evenly?
We narrowed our focus to fully-clad stainless-steel pans for this test. These are pans that consist of two (or more) layers of stainless steel with a more thermally conductive metal, typically aluminum, sandwiched in the center. The aluminum core absorbs and retains heat well while the stainless-steel layers are more responsive to adjustments in temperature. A good stainless-steel pan should demonstrate consistent heat conduction across its cooking surface without any obvious hot or cold spots.
Is the pan comfortable to use?
Because your stainless-steel skillet will be in steady rotation, you want a piece of cookware that’s comfortable to wield and maneuver around your cooktop. Preferences for handle design can get pretty subjective, so we didn’t give it too much weight in our evaluations unless a majority of our team expressed their dislike for a particular design.
Is it built to last?
For a high-quality stainless-steel pan to be worth it, it should be able to last you a long time. Pans should have sturdy and robust construction and be able to hold up to years of heavy use.
Other pans we tested and liked
These pans may not be our first choice, but depending on your needs and preferences, they might be right for you.
Fissler M5 Pro-Ply
The pans in the Fissler 5-ply line are sturdy and thick, and they distribute heat exceptionally well, providing both direct heat across the base and radiant heat from the sides. This makes it easier to work with higher heat while lessening the risk of scorching whatever you’re cooking. The handle is thick and hollow, which keeps it cool to the touch (some people love this style, others don’t.) These are on the heavier side and quite expensive, which is why we don’t name them as the winners, but it’s an exceptional pan that offers a lovely cooking experience.
Made In Cookware Stainless-Steel Frying Pan
The Made In pan is pretty comparable to the All-Clad. It’s comfortable to handle and heats evenly across the surface. However, it’s about the same price and doesn’t come with a lid.
Zwilling Spirit 3-Ply Stainless-Steel Pan
This pan is pretty middle-of-the-pack performance-wise. It’s heavy, and our flour test revealed that it heated unevenly, with one side considerably hotter than the other.
Misen Skillet
Overall we liked this pan; it managed our tests well. But its long handle is polarizing—some testers feel that it makes the skillet a little unwieldy on the stove top.
Anolon Tri-Ply Stainless-Steel Fry Pan
This is a decent mid-range pan but had issues heating evenly in our flour test.
Hestan ProBond Skillet
Hestan cookware is a direct competitor to All-Clad in the high-end clad stainless steel space. The pans have some premium design features—flush rivets and a slim, ergonomic handle—but they simply can’t top All-Clad’s remarkably consistent cooking surface. In our test, we found that this pan had a central hot spot, leaving the edges a bit too cool.
Tramontina Gourmet Stainless-Steel Pan
For the most part, this is a great budget pan. Our only gripe is that the steeply sloped sides reduced the usable surface area, which made cooking four chicken thighs in the pan a crowded affair.
Calphalon Classic
Calphalon is another great budget pan. It heats consistently and features a nice, spacious cooking surface. However, these pans are some of the heaviest we tested.
Ninja EverClad Commercial-Grade Fry Pan
Ninja is best known for its budget-friendly small appliances like air fryers and blenders, and the brand is relatively new to the cookware game. The pan heats quickly and adapts to temperature adjustments well. Our testers noticed that the cook surface’s center would rise in temp more quickly than its edges, but the discrepancy was small compared to similarly priced competitors. is heavier than the All-Clad D3, and it requires two hands to move from stovetop to oven. But for anybody on a budget looking to get the most bang for their buck, the Ninja is a smart choice.
Sardel X Daniel Boulud
Sardel recently overhauled its cookware line, discontinuing the original Italian-made pans in favor of this new American-made collection, designed in partnership with Daniel Boulud. For a 5-ply skillet, this frying pan was relatively lighter in weight, and it heated evenly across the surface. The handle, however, has a steep curve that divided our testers. As senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic pointed out, that design makes stove-to-broiler transfers a little tricky since the handle could get in the way. Currently, this pan is only available in a cookware set.
Stainless steel pans we don’t recommend
This pan was cheap and unwieldy, with a thin base that was quick to scorch food.
The Oxo was just too heavy to maneuver comfortably around the cooktop.
It performed fine in most of our tests, but we found that crud adheres quite strongly to the surface of this pan, making it a bit more difficult to clean.
The good: low price and a comfortable handle. The downside: The cooking surface heated inconsistently.
The defining feature of Caraway stainless steel cookware is its weight. Compared to the other 5-ply pans we tested, these are the thickest—and heaviest—by far. As a result, they are quite slow to respond to changes in temperature and take a longer time to heat up. While you can certainly cook fine meals with this cookware, we feel that there are better options out there.