Every kitchen should have a stainless steel skillet — so I tested seven top-rated picks to see which came out on top. (Lisa Schweitzer/Yahoo)(Lisa Schweitzer/Yahoo)
If you're looking for a pan that holds up to everyday use and will last longer than most appliances you own, a stainless steel skillet should be your next buy. You can fry eggs, sear chicken and fish, caramelize onions and more in these naturally nontoxic pans. I'd argue that the best stainless steel pans are as important in the kitchen as a quality chef's knife and a good set of cookware.
As a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and a mom of teens with years of experience working in restaurants and writing about food and cooking, I understand why some people may be wary of stainless steel pans. Maybe you're concerned that food will stick or that they're much tougher to clean than their nonstick counterparts. The trick to using one like a pro lies in preheating properly, which I promise I'll explain later. For my testing pool, I looked at the most popular stainless steel skillets across varying price ranges and came up with seven well-regarded picks to put through their paces. I considered how easy the pans were to integrate into daily meal prep, how heavy and balanced they were, how the handles felt and how difficult it was to clean them. Take a look at our picks for 2025, plus tips on selecting the best stainless steel pan for your needs and how to care for it.
Update, Sept. 15, 2025: We checked all product prices and availability. Our No. 1 pick for best stainless steel pan remains unchanged, but we updated our best budget stainless steel pan to the Amazon Basics set because our original pick, the Tramontina Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Clad 10-Inch Fry Pan, is not currently available.
Sizes: 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch | Material: 5-ply clad stainless steel | Oven safe: Yes, up to 800°F | Dishwasher safe: Yes | Induction: Compatible | Warranty: Limited lifetime
There wasn't much not to like about the Made In Stainless Steel Pan! At 2.25 pounds, it maneuvered well from the range to the oven and felt balanced while I seared chicken thighs, sautéed onions and deglazed the pan. I also really enjoyed the handle (which isn't something I had thought much about prior to this round of testing) because it stayed cool on the stove.
This pan is made from 5-ply clad stainless steel, and if you're wondering what that means, that's totally fair. Most stainless steel pans are constructed of layers of metal bonded together; "clad" refers to the process of layering the metals, so 5-ply means five layers. Because stainless steel is not the best conductor of heat on its own, it's usually layered with aluminum (as it is with this pan) or copper for improved heat distribution/retention and durability. This helps the pan produce a deep golden-brown sear on proteins like chicken or steak and ensures it will perform at high temperatures. All of this translates to an exceptional skillet that you will be able to rely on for years.
This pan is oven-safe up to 800°F, which is a very high temperature that a home oven can't even reach, but it means that the pan holds up under the broiler. While the brand says the pan is dishwasher-safe, it recommends you hand wash and dry it, and so do I. You may need to use some elbow grease when scrubbing burned bits or browned oil or butter, but this pan will come clean. If you want some pointers, check out Made In's video on cleaning stainless steel cookware.
As far as the price, I admit that $119 is up there for a single piece of cookware, though I see this pan on sale for $100 quite often. What I can say is that this 5-ply clad pan is essentially restaurant-quality in terms of heat retention, durability and performance, and I think it's worth it.
Sizes: 8-inch and 10-inch, 12-inch also available | Material: Stainless steel | Oven safe: Yes, up to 500°F | Dishwasher safe: Yes | Induction: Compatible | Warranty: 1 year
The Amazon Basics skillet is on the lighter side at 2 pounds, and its cooking surface measures 8 inches. What's different is that it's the deepest skillet I tested. When I seared skin-on chicken thighs, I was pleased with the browning, and when I transferred them to the oven, they finished cooking perfectly. The onions I sautéed came out evenly and didn’t show signs of hot spots.
The pan is oven-safe up to 500°F, which means you should still be able to zap it under the broiler for a minute or two when you want extra browning on top of food. Though the brand says the pan is dishwasher-safe, we always recommend handwashing cookware for a longer lifespan. I found that the cooking surface on this pan showed some discoloration and marks (see photo above) right away, but that won't affect its performance.
At $50 for a set of two pans, one 10-inch and one 8-inch, this is an absolute steal. The brand does not advertise what type of ply construction the pans are made of, which likely means it's far less than the 5-ply Made In features, but if you're in the market for an entry-level stainless set, look no further.
I evaluated each skillet for its value in material, performance and comfort/balance. Here are more details on what factors to keep in mind:
Materials: The best stainless steel pans are 3-ply or 5-ply clad pans, meaning they fuse layers of aluminum between high-grade stainless steel to create a durable, nonreactive pan with excellent heat retention and distribution.
Size: When choosing a stainless steel skillet, consider your daily needs. If you cook for two, you may not need a skillet larger than 10 inches, but if you cook for four or more people, a 12-inch stainless steel pan is a must.
Maneuverability/weight: When it comes to ease of use, it's mostly a matter of personal preference. You may prefer a slightly lighter pan (about 2 pounds) or one with more heft (3 pounds or heavier). You may also find a certain handle design works better for you — for example, a chunkier handle that arches may appeal to a taller person. If you need to use two hands when transferring a 10-inch pan to the oven, it's probably too heavy for you.
Maintenance: Many stainless steel pans are designated as dishwasher-safe. We recommend sticking to handwashing pans to preserve their finish — though we acknowledge that will require some elbow grease. Always let pans cool completely to avoid warping from the shock of water on a hot pan. Start with warm soapy water and a sponge and see how clean the pan gets. For more suggestions, see below.
I tested the maneuverability and comfort, ease of cleaning and how each piece performs on the stovetop and in the oven. I used the skillets to cook crispy-skin chicken thighs and caramelized onions, then I deglazed the pan with a few spoonfuls of vegetable broth and/or water to loosen the brown bits, which add flavor to whatever you're cooking. I monitored how long it took the pans to heat up, if there were hot spots, if the pan felt too heavy or too light (or simply unbalanced) and if the handles stayed cool or got hot. I noted if food stuck to the cooking surface or left stains and how much work it took to clean the pans.
Misen Stainless Steel Skillet, 10-Inch: This is one of the heavier pans I tested, weighing in at 3 pounds. It has a larger cooking surface than some of the others, making it ideal for cooking four pieces of chicken or two steaks, and is oven-safe up to 800°F. The handle is rounded and a bit chunky, as opposed to flat, feels smooth and features a hole at the end for hanging on a pot rack. It seared chicken to a crisp brown but felt somewhat heavy for my petite 5" tall frame to maneuver very well. It can be bought in 8- and 12-inch sizes, too.
All-Clad D3 Stainless Steel Fry Pan, 10-Inch: Many consider All-Clad to be the gold standard when it comes to durable stainless steel cookware. This pan performed well and is also available in 8- and 12-inch sizes. It weighs 2.5 pounds, which was average in this testing pool and doable in terms of maneuverability. It has a generous cooking surface and I didn't detect any hot spots when sauteeing onions or cooking the chicken thighs. My biggest gripe with the All-Clad skillet is that it's fairly tough to clean when there's burned, sticky grease — and that's bound to happen when cooking fattier proteins.
Ninja EverClad Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Pan, 10.25-Inch: When I tested the best cookware sets earlier this year, I praised Ninja for its easy-to-clean nonstick pots and pans. This stainless steel skillet was harder to clean than its nonstick counterpart, but still one of the easiest of the bunch. At nearly 3.5 pounds, this was the heaviest pan I tested — unfortunately, it was too heavy for me to consider for the best budget pan as I needed two hands to move it from the stove to the oven. But I was able to achieve a beautifully seared chicken thigh. This pan is also available in a 12-inch size.
Goldilocks 10-Inch Medium Skillet: If you're in the market for your first-ever stainless steel pan, this Goldilocks option just might be the one. I had never used Goldilocks cookware (it's a newer direct-to-consumer brand) but was intrigued by the 3-ply stainless steel construction, no-frills look and very reasonable price point. It's a middleweight contender at just over 2.5 pounds, is oven-safe up to 550°F and features a generous cooking surface. I found the heat distribution to be pretty even, though with a few minor hot spots. I wish it were a touch lighter (like the Tramontina), and I'm curious to see how this pan fares in the long term.
Tramontina Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Clad 10-Inch Fry Pan: After testing the Tramontina nonstick pan and loving it, I had high hopes for the company's stainless steel skillet and was duly impressed with its performance. The skillet is about average weight at 2.5 pounds, and its cooking surface is the same diameter as the Made In pan. Note: This was our original pick for the best budget stainless steel pan, but appears to no longer be available.
Even if a brand says a pan is dishwasher-safe, you should use warm soapy water and a scratch-resistant sponge to clean it, as you will increase the lifespan of the pan as opposed to exposing it to harsh detergents that may not be able to release burned bits of food. If more elbow grease is required, consult the brand's instructions for deeper cleaning. Some recommend the help of a product such as Bar Keepers Friend to tackle really tough stains.
Most stainless steel pans are oven-safe, but check for any plastic or wooden parts on handles or lids and review the manufacturer's materials for specific temperatures before using them in an oven.
They're not, but with proper preheating and use of cooking oil or fat, you should have minimal issues with food sticking. This video, made by Misen, explains the pre-heating technique clearly. The key is to heat your pan enough so that when you spill a few drops of water on it forms one large bead that moves around the skillet, not sputtering and not lots of sizzling drops, before you add cooking oil. Wipe the water with a towel and then add cooking oil. When the oil shimmers (looks wavy and glides quickly over the surface), it's ready for food and nonstick cooking!
We received complimentary samples of some products and purchased others ourselves, but we reviewed all products using the same objective criteria.