9 Best Saucepans 2024 | The Strategist

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Saucepans are just as integral to your cookware collection as skillets — they’re useful for making rice, grains, and noodles; whisking up sauces; simmering soups, broths, and curries; steaming vegetables; and more. I pull mine out multiple times a week. In most cases, they should last a lifetime (the one exception is if you opt for a nonstick material, in which case it’s not meant to last forever). I’ve assembled options below that are all sturdy, strongly built, and thoughtfully designed with tight-fitting lids, comfortable handles, and, in some cases, pour spouts for releasing liquid. Depending on how much and what you cook, you could get away with owning just one (more on that right below), but I find having a few in rotation in different sizes is useful.

To that end, most of the saucepans below come in various sizes. I’ve listed the starting price for the range of sizes (in most cases, but not always, the smallest is the least expensive). In general, a two-to-three-quart is a mid-size option that will get you far. But a smaller one- or 1.5-quart is especially great for sauces or reheating a single serving of soup, and larger ones (they usually go as high as four quarts) are nice if you tend to cook larger portions for more people. Read on to figure out the mix that’s best for you — and if you want to do even more cookware shopping, you can find our guides to Dutch ovens and carbon-steel pans, too.

On this list you’ll find stainless steel, copper, nonstick, enameled steel, and enameled cast iron. A mix of them is nice to have, as each conducts heat and interacts with food differently (which I detail below), but is not imperative to do your best cooking — I believe you can get away with only stainless steel here. As I said, it’s useful to own at least a couple of different sizes, but that one material really can do it all.

I’ve noted when maintenance is just a simple run through the dishwasher or if a hand wash is preferable (in a couple of cases, this is more to do with the wooden handle than the material of the body).

Material: Stainless steel-clad aluminum | Maintenance: Hand wash recommended, but dishwasher fine to use

All-Clad is the industry-standard of stainless steel cookware. It’s a brand you’ll spot in restaurant kitchens, in classic Food Network cooking shows, and in photographs in cookbooks. This saucepan is incredibly utilitarian, with an aluminum core for fast and even heating and a durably built body. It will genuinely last a lifetime if you care for it properly. Recipe developer Lili Dagan says it’s stylish but not fussy, and easy to clean, but “since it’s not too fancy, I don’t feel pressure to keep it in tip-top shape.” For what it’s worth, a hand wash should suffice most of the time, and that’s what the brand recommends, but it can definitely handle the dishwasher if you’re feeling lazy. And when discoloration happens, a scrub with a steel wool sponge and Bar Keepers Friend will have it sparkling again. (This procedure goes for all the fully stainless-steel picks below, too.)

The saucepan also comes with a drip-free pouring rim, known as a pour-lip, which lets you neatly pour liquid from the pan “without any annoying drip,” says Patch Troffer, culinary director at Row 7 Seeds. “I know it’s not a particularly riveting choice, but it will get the job done, always and forever.”

Material: Stainless steel-clad aluminum | Maintenance: Dishwasher-safe

This Cuisinart has the same makeup as the All-Clad — an aluminum core surrounded by durable stainless steel — and comes in the same sizes. But it’s significantly less expensive. Strategist senior editor Winnie Yang has had her 1.5-quart model since 2017 and says the “quality is exceptional for the very reasonable price.” She uses it at least five times a week, whether pan roasting, steaming, or reheating portions of soup, rice, pasta, and lentils. It heats evenly, fits on every burner, and is super-easy to keep clean; she just sticks hers in the dishwasher on the bottom rack. “I’ve burned rice and lentils to the bottom of it more than a few times, and every time, an overnight soak helps it all come off easily,” she says.

Material: Stainless steel-clad copper | Maintenance: Dishwasher-safe

This is my go-to saucepan, which I’ve owned for about five years now. Though it’s clad with stainless steel like the two above, the core is made from copper (unless you’re intensely dialed-in, I’m not sure you’d be able to tell a huge difference between that and aluminum, but both are good-quality metals known for conducting heat evenly). For me, it’s the details in the construction of this one that make it stand out. I think the overall shape is a bit sleeker than the All-Clad’s. I love that it has a pour spout, which works well for directing liquid out of the pan. And the handle is particularly comfortable to hold and pick up thanks to its fully rounded edges. The one catch: This saucepan only comes in a 3-quart size.

[Editor’s note: This saucepan is currently sold out, but you can sign up to be notified when it comes back in stock.]

Material: Stainless steel with clad aluminum base | Maintenance: Dishwasher-safe

Recipe developer and cookbook author Ali Slagle originally purchased this saucepan in the 2.5-quart size to cook out of her camper van, thanks to its extra bells and whistles. There’s a handy pour spout and tight-fitting lid, as well as lines inside the walls for measuring liquid (up to eight cups in increments of two) and a built-in strainer, all of which fully “eliminate the need for a liquid measuring cup and colander.” It’s made with five layers of stainless steel and aluminum in the base, which is what makes it less expensive and also lightweight — another reason why Slagle purchased hers. She finds it easy to keep clean using warm, soapy water, but it is dishwasher-safe if that’s your preferred method.

Material: Stainless steel | Maintenance: Hand wash recommended, but dishwasher fine to use

I’ll be upfront: I don’t think you need a nonstick saucepan. I own this one and like it (Zwilling makes my favorite nonstick skillet as part of this same line, too). It’s just not very often that I cook foods in a pot that truly benefit from an easy-release surface, like the scrambled eggs and crispy-skin fish I regularly pull the skillet out for.

But if you feel strongly that you want one, this is what I would go with. I’ve used it for polenta and risotto with great results — both of which can cling to stainless steel if you’re not being intensely attentive to the stove. (I imagine it would be nice for rice, especially if you tend to mess yours up, for that same reason.) It would also work for decidedly stickier foods like caramel and fondue. The material is as durable as nonstick gets: Though it won’t last forever, you should get many good years out of it, especially if you’re careful to not use metal utensils on it.

Material: Copper | Maintenance: Hand wash only

Copper generally heats up and cools down faster than stainless steel. It’s more reactive to acids and harder to maintain — but it’s exacting and high-performing (and it looks nice). It also costs a premium. Mauviel, which has been making copper cookware in France for more than 150 years, is the go-to brand — the one used in professional kitchens, so certainly worth the investment. “When I cook with this, I imagine I own a château in France,” Dagan says. Both she and Daniel Cutler, co-owner and chef of Ronan in Los Angeles, don’t mind the look of patina on their copper cookware (it oxidizes fairly easily). This pan will require somewhat regular polishing, but if you want it to stay shiny for as long as possible between, make sure you dry it right after handwashing. And as with stainless steel, Bar Keeper’s Friend will take care of any stubborn discoloration.

Material: Enameled cast iron | Maintenance: Dishwasher-safe

Cookbook author Rachael DeVaux says the superior saucepan in her kitchen is this one from Le Creuset — basically a smaller, handled version of their legendary Dutch oven. This makes it heavier than the rest of the pans on this list, but also better at retaining heat. Once you get this thing hot, it will stay that way. “I use it for anything from melting chocolate and heating up bone broth to mixing together a quick sauce for dinner. The rounded edges make it ideal for a variety of different uses,” DeVaux says. She finds the pan exceptionally easy to clean by hand, and with proper care, she says, it’s sure to last for years to come. And for what it’s worth, I also wash my enameled cast-iron Dutch oven by hand, even though Le Creuset says these pieces are safe to run through the dishwasher. The company offers a limited lifetime warranty, meaning your pan will be covered indefinitely so long as it isn’t misused or neglected.

Material: Enameled steel | Maintenance: Hand wash only

If you like the idea of an enamel finish but prefer something lighterweight, I highly recommend this Dansk saucepan — my favorite piece of cookware I’ve added to my kitchen in the last year. Like all of Dansk’s Scandinavian cookware, it’s simply beautiful. I have it in the green and keep it out on my stove. Mine is the two-quart size, which I find perfect for when I’m making food just for myself, or sides for my household of two. (It also comes in a smaller 1 quart, referred to as a butter warmer, meant more for heating sauces and liquids than as a vessel to really cook with).

It gets hot a bit faster than stainless steel (I almost feel like I can’t walk away from the stove when I’m waiting for the water in my rice to boil, for example). While the surface is enamel, so not nonstick, it cleans up well, whether I’m scrubbing off hardened polenta or browned bits from caramelized onions. The shape of the wooden handle is comfortable to hold (but because of the wood, not oven safe).

Material: Stainless steel | Maintenance: Hand wash recommended, but dishwasher fine to use

All-Clad strikes again with their saucier, which is essentially a more rounded version of a saucepan: Both the bottom and sides are slightly sloped. Troffer loves his so much, he says if he could use only one saucepan in general, it would be this type, as it makes whisking and stirring even easier, with less of a chance for bits to stick to the bottom (like if you’re sauteing aromatics before adding broth). Gabe Kennedy, chef and co-founder of Plant People, also points out that this shape allows liquids and sauces to evaporate faster than they would in a straight-sided pan since the flame can wrap more elegantly around the bottom and spread its heat upwards (helpful if you’re deglazing with wine, for example).

Material: Stainless steel | Maintenance: Hand wash only

Troffer also enjoys cooking with a Yukihira pan, a traditional Japanese pan that he calls a mix of saucepan and saucier with a good pour spout. Scaly in appearance, each one is hammered to increase its surface area, which Troffer says he believes increases heat retention, which in turn leads to faster boiling. This makes the Yukihira a nice option for quickly steaming dumplings, fish, and vegetables with a steamer placed on top. Plus, he thinks these pans look even nicer than the rest (they come in a range of metals but Troffer likes this affordable stainless steel option). One note: This is the only saucepan on the list that doesn’t come with a lid.

• Daniel Cutler, co-owner and chef of Ronan• Lili Dagan, chef and culinary director at Blue Apron Kitchen• Rachael DeVaux, cookbook author• Gabe Kennedy, chef and co-founder of Plant People,• Ali Slagle, recipe developer and cookbook author• Patch Troffer, culinary director at Row 7 Seeds• Winnie Yang, Strategist senior editor

Additional reporting by Rachael Griffiths.

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