Yahoo Finance This Saucepan Will Be the Most-Used Item in Your Kitchen
- 1/11
Top 9 Saucepans to Use Every Single Day
A quality saucepan is a kitchen essential. Thanks to some truly straightforward naming, you know it’s good for sauce, but these do-it-all pans are also great for reheating, boiling, simmering, and steeping. Whether you want to make perfect hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, cook fluffy white rice for dinner or create pomegranate syrup for a fancy cocktail hour, you’ll reach for a saucepan. Plus, if you learn to wash the right way, you can extend the life of your pan.
How we test saucepans
The Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances and Technology Lab has tested more than 40 saucepans over the years. Each gets a “boil test” and a “scorch test.” The boil test determines how quickly the pan heats up and how well it maintains temperature. The scorch test indicates how evenly the saucepan cooks by seeing what sticks to the bottom. We also use this stuck-on mess to assess how easy it is to clean the pan. The pans that came out on top made our list of the best saucepans.
Our recommendations include long-time favorites as well as new models. Though we haven't tested them all formally in the Lab, they come from Lab-trusted brands and years of experience testing kitchen appliances:
- Best Overall Saucepan: All-Clad NS1 Nonstick Induction Saucepan
- Best Value Saucepan: Utopia Kitchen Nonstick Saucepan
- Best-Selling Saucepan on Amazon: Farberware Classic Stainless Steel Covered Saucepan
- Best Nonstick Saucepan: Williams-Sonoma Professional Nonstick Saucepan with Lid
- Best Ceramic Saucepan: Scanpan Classic Covered Saucepan
- Best Stainless Steel Saucepan: Tramontina Tri-Ply Clad Covered Stainless Steel Sauce Pan
- Best Copper Saucepan: Anolon Nouvelle Copper Luxe Nonstick Hard-Anodized Straining Saucepan
- Best Enamel Cast Iron Saucepan: Le Creuset Signature Saucepan
- Easiest-to-Use Saucepan: Breville Thermal Pro Clad Stainless Steel Covered Saucepan
- Best Saucier-Style Saucepan: Misen Saucier
williams-sonoma - 2/11
NS1 Nonstick Induction Saucepan
All-Clad
williams-sonoma.com
$89.95
The GHI lab report was glowing for this All-Clad line: It distributed heat perfectly evenly, simmered steadily, and didn’t scorch when cooking tomato sauce without stirring. The tight-fitting lid and helper handle also give this saucepan a leg up. In addition, it has all the “nonstick does that now?” bells and whistles: works with induction cooktops, safe for metal utensils, dishwasher safe, and oven safe to 500˚F.
All-Clad - 3/11
Nonstick Saucepan with Glass Lid
Utopia Kitchen
amazon.com
$79.99
If you want an affordable nonstick saucepan for knocking out ramen and heating up marinara, this is your pick. The aluminum alloy construction means it heats quickly, and the Bakelite handle stays cool while you cook. The glass lid has a large, comfortable knob.
Utopia Kitchen - 4/11
Classic Stainless Steel Covered Saucepan
Farberware
amazon.com
$30.99
Farberware is a familiar presence in American kitchens — it celebrated its 120th anniversary this year. This particular line has been simmering since 1947, and it’s still a solid choice. It’s affordable, the stainless steel base includes an aluminum core for faster heating, and the iconic bell-shaped lids are designed to fit tightly and keep foods moist. It has rolled edges to help with pouring. It’s also dishwasher safe and oven safe to 350˚F.
Farberware - 5/11
Professional Nonstick Saucepan with Lid
Williams-Sonoma
williams-sonoma.com
$79.99
This saucepan passed our boil and scorch tests with flying colors. It came to a boil quickly and held a simmer for more than an hour, and no sauce was burned on. Williams-Sonoma developed the pan with Scanpan, so it’s made in Denmark and constructed with recycled aluminum that’s reinforced with ceramic-titanium particles. The patented Green Tek nonstick coating is PFOA-free and safe for metal utensils. The tempered glass lid allows you to see what’s happening in the pan, and the handle is designed to stay cool.
Williams-Sonoma - 6/11
Classic Covered Saucepan
Scanpan
amazon.com
$99.95
The GHI Kitchen Appliance Lab gave Scanpan high ratings for its ability to release foods, making this a good choice for cooking rice and creamy dishes. The handle is locked on with a patented system that doesn’t use rivets or screws, so the inside of the pan is easy to clean. It’s designed with 100% recycled aluminum that’s reinforced with ceramic-titanium particles. The pan is safe for metal utensils, dishwasher safe, and oven safe to 500˚F.
Scanpan - 7/11
Tri-Ply Clad Covered Stainless Steel Saucepan
Tramontina
walmart.com
$49.98
This pan uses triple-ply construction to deliver fast and even heating: The aluminum core brings quick heat conduction, and the inner and outer layer of stainless steel ensure consistent heat distribution. The outer layer is also magnetic, so the pan is compatible with induction cooktops. The rounded interior makes it easy to whisk and stir in the pan, so it’s a good choice for rouxs and risottos.
Tramontina - 8/11
Nouvelle Copper Luxe Nonstick Straining Saucepan
Anolon
bedbathandbeyond.com
$59.99
This copper-clad line secured perfect scores for heat distribution in our lab tests. The hard-anodized aluminum construction includes a layer of copper, which is valued for its high conductivity. It works with induction cooktops, it’s oven safe to 500˚F, and it has a metal-utensil-friendly nonstick coating. Bonus features that set make this saucepan stand out: It has pouring spouts on both sides of the pan, and the lid can be rotated to allow straining. Plus, the flush rivets are also treated with the nonstick coating.
Anolon - 9/11
Enameled Cast Iron Signature Saucepan
Le Creuset
amazon.com
$229.95
Enamel cast iron pans are a wise investment for serious and casual cooks. They work on any cooktop, distribute and retain heat well, are oven safe and are very easy to clean. They’re also gorgeous and come in a variety of colors, which is nice if you have open shelving or hang your pots. The rounded design makes stirring and whisking easier, and the light-colored enamel interior helps you keep an eye on scorching. The helper handle makes it easy to transport to the table for serving.
Le Creuset - 10/11
Thermal Pro Clad Stainless Steel Covered Saucepan
Breville
amazon.com
$102.27
This pan ticks all the boxes: Tri-ply stainless-and-aluminum construction, dishwasher safe, oven safe to 500˚F, compatible with induction cooktops, rounded base for efficient stirring and rolled edges for fuss-free pouring. What sets it apart is the laser-etched volume markings on the inside of the pan. The etching means they won’t fade quickly like painted-on markings. They’re listed in standard and metric measurements, and they can save you time when making a recipe and give you a clearer sense of how much your liquid has reduced.
Breville - 11/11
Saucier
Misen
misen.com
$85.00
Whether you’re a savory cook who wants to create sauce and whisk up gravy or an amateur pastry chef who loves making custard and pastry cream, you will benefit from a saucier. Saucier is the French term for the style of saucepan with a wide mouth that increases surface area — which promotes evaporation for reducing sauces — and a rounded shape — which is perfect for efficient, corner-free whisking. This pan is constructed with five layers of stainless steel and aluminum, which can make it slower to heat than some other saucepans but provides good heat retention. It’s compatible with induction cooktops and has a flared edge to make pouring easy.
Misen
The best picks for simmering, pouring, measuring and more.
