The 7 Best Stainless Steel Frying Pans of 2023

Our overall winner was the Le Creuset Tri-Ply 10 in. Fry Pan

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People / Russell Kilgore

Love to cook like Blake Lively? Whether you're a longtime foodie or just getting started making dinners at home, a stainless steel skillet is going to be a staple item in your kitchen.

"When it comes to cooking, everything has its purpose," Hell's Kitchen chef Abe Sanchez tells PEOPLE Tested. "I use stainless steel for a beautiful golden brown sear and also to make sauces from the stuff left at the bottom of the pan after searing meats called 'fond.' You can't get this same finish with a nonstick [pan]"

Stainless steel skillets are also "incredibly durable," says Tanta's Executive Chef Roberto Rocha. "You can beat it up, burn something on it, or scratch it..." he notes, with not much elbow grease needed to clean it up (more on that later). "When considering the difference between the two skillets, nonstick skillets have a protective film covering their surface which does not conduct heat as well as stainless steel."

To see which stainless steel skillets are the most worth your money, we brought 19 popular pans into our test kitchen and put them through their paces through preparing rice, salmon, and mushrooms, as well as bringing water to a rolling boil and timing how long it took to do so. Seven of the skillets emerged victorious, outperforming the rest.

If you're in the market for this powerhouse skillet, read on for PEOPLE Tested's favorites below.

Amazon

High, slanted edges allow for easy flipping of food

Easy to maneuver and comfortable to hold

A good value; this pan significantly outperformed the rest

We couldn't find any!

Le Creuset is a brand that's typically synonymous with good quality, and the 10" Tri-Ply stainless steel fry pan is no exception. Any home cook would benefit from having this particular skillet in their kitchen.

Throw whatever vegetables or meats you have at this skillet —i t can handle it! It passed all our tests with flying colors. It's very well balanced in terms of weight, not bulky, and easy to maneuver for just about anyone.

We found the rice very easy to flip, thanks to the flared sides of the cookware. In our salmon test, the fish released evenly from the pan without much coaxing and seared very well; the skillet produced a very even crisp with a nice golden brown finish.

This skillet was easy to use while sautéing mushrooms as well. It took just over 6 minutes to cook the water out of them and those angled sides came in handy again for flipping.

According to the manufacturer, this skillet is dishwasher-safe. However, if you want to prolong the life of your skillet, hand-washing with hot soapy water and cleaning with a damp sponge is always recommended. We let the skillet soak in hot water and dish soap for a few minutes and cleanup was a breeze. There was a slight discoloration to the cooking surface, but nothing that detracts from the cleaning.

The price was a bit on the high side, but still a good value, as the product significantly outperformed all other skillets we tested. The Le Creuset feels sturdy and well-made with excellent heat retention and no sticking.

Price at time of publish: $151.95 (medium size)

Dimensions: 18.6 x 11.3 x 4.5 inches | Weight: 3.7 pounds | Dishwasher-safe: Yes | Oven-safe: Yes | Tri-ply

People / Russell Kilgore

Amazon

Great performance, particularly with searing protein

Comfortable handle makes it easy to lift and hold

Felt heavier than some of the other skillets in our testing

While this model was the most wallet-friendly of the bunch, it still performed impressively well. The shape of the handle is rounded, comfortable, and mostly easy to lift and hold, and the skillet is fairly balanced, but the weight of the pan does make this a bit more challenging to use. Home cooks with limited mobility may want to opt for a lighter model.

We liked that the sides of this skillet slope very slightly outwards and have flared edges, which made it very easy to flip the test food. In our salmon test, the fish got a great sear on both sides. The skin was golden-brown but not burnt, and crispy on the top and bottom. The fish released easily when flipping. This skillet was also easy to use for sautéing mushrooms, and the handle felt especially secure while doing so.

This model is dishwasher safe, though hand-washing and drying is recommended to preserve the finish. We found it fairly easy to clean with detergent, barkeeper's friend, and steel wool. As for value, we thought the price point made this skillet a pretty incredible deal considering that it performed well, cleaned fairly easily, and was pretty easy to maneuver.

We would use this product for searing proteins, browning butter, sautéing — really anything suited for stainless steel use.

Price at time of publish: $39.95

Dimensions: 18.25 x 1.88 x 10.5 inches | Weight: 2.25 pounds | Dishwasher-safe: yes | Oven-safe: up to 500 degrees | Tri-ply

People / Russell Kilgore

People / Russell Kilgore

People / Russell Kilgore

Amazon

Excellent for searing and sautéing

Cleanup was a breeze

This one is quite heavy

The actual pan is very heavy on this skillet. The handle itself is very comfortable and the length helps to keep your hand away from the heat — especially considering it remains cool throughout cooking.

If the heft of this skillet doesn't bother you, this model is a workhorse for searing. The salmon released very easily in our tests, on both the initial flip and at the end without much effort. The skin came out extremely crispy — 95% crisp and even across the board and very evenly cooked as a whole.

The mushrooms took just under five minutes to cook, and the angled sides of the skillet helped make the sautéing process a breeze.

Cleanup was a cinch after letting this model soak in very warm water and dish soap once the pan fully cooled off. There was a slight discoloration to the cooking surface, but, as we've noted, this is fairly common.

On sale, this is close to the bottom tier price range for the products we tested, and so far, it stands against the more expensive products. And considering how well it performed, we consider this skillet to be an excellent value. The construction is very solid and should hold up against anything you'd like to use it for in the kitchen.

Price at time of publish: $75

Dimensions: 19.1 x 11.2 x 1.9 inches | Weight: 3.02 pounds | Dishwasher-safe: yes | Oven-safe: to 500 degrees | 5-ply

All-Clad

An exceptionally light feel and ergonomic design means it's super comfortable to use this skillet

Good, even heating

Not easy to pour from this skillet

Smaller cooking surface than other 10" skillets

This skillet feels exceptionally light in the hand — it has a well-balanced weight and is easy to move and maneuver. The handle has a notch underneath near the front of the handle to create distance between the index and middle fingers and the ergonomic design strongly suggests where to hold the handle.

With the skillet's light weight, the technique of flipping while sautéing will be more easily accessible by a wider range of consumer abilities. However, it's not easy to pour from, and we had some spillage while aiming for a container.

The salmon skin beautifully crisped up along the edges and browned to a light golden hue around and into the middle. The surfaces were crispy — we'd be happy to eat any protein seared in this skillet.

The full carton of mushrooms did not fit in an even layer, as this pan is actually smaller than 10 inches inside. This resulted in some uneven browning. We also found the handle to get a bit hot while cooking the mushrooms.

The skillet was easy to clean by hand, and browned bits came off with the coarse side of a sponge. None of the oil burned in the cooking tests. At $159.99, we found it to be on the high end of price points, but would absolutely still buy it if it were on sale. The 3-ply heated quickly, maintained an even distribution of heat, and had good heat retention as well.

This would be a great fit for someone who wants a well-performing pan that's easy to use, maneuver, and clean, and cares about having higher quality products but isn't cooking for a large crowd.

Price at time of publish: $159.99

Dimensions: 17.9 x 10.5 x 4.8 inches | Weight: 2 pounds., 2 1/8 oz | Oven-safe: Oven and broiler safe to 600 degrees | Warranty: All-Clad limited lifetime warranty | Tri-ply

People / Russell Kilgore

People / Russell Kilgore

Martha

Easy to use and great for sauteing

The most simple clean-up in our testing, and it did not stain either

It's a bit heavy in the hand

This model did not sear salmon well on our first try. (Can be improved with practice.)

Martha Stewart's 10-Inch Stainless Steel pan has a good bit of heft in both the skillet and the handle making it pretty well-balanced. It's a little heavy overall, but not uncomfortable and still steady for handling.

The sides have about a 140-degree angle to them, which gave way to one of the most natural flips of all pans that we tested, meaning you can push the food away and flip it back with ease. The edges are flared away from the cooking surface, but not so much as to spill when flipping.

The pan as a whole is very easy to use and sauté with, though we did not get ideal results with searing the salmon skin. On the plus side, there is plenty of space in the pan to move food around — not all 10-inch pans are created equal!

This was one of the easiest skillets for us to clean without much scrubbing. After letting hot water and dish soap sit in the pan for a few minutes after cooking, most things came off of the skillet. There was just a slight scrub needed where a tiny bit of oil residue baked in, but overall this was really easy to clean.

We found the price to be appropriate and reflective of the product's value. You just need to work to dial in the heat that you want to use because this pan heats very gradually. For searing, you may want to go longer than you think you need to in order to avoid sticking which is something that can be adjusted with practice. It didn't stain much, either, which was a nice bonus.

Price at time of publish: $100

Dimensions: 10" D (19" L including handle) x 4" H | Weight: 2.48 pounds | Oven-safe: to 550 degrees | Tri-ply

People / Russell Kilgore

People / Russell Kilgore

Made In

Great for searing and excellent heat retention

Easy to maneuver and very comfortable to hold

Not the easiest model to clean in our testing

This skillet feels very well-balanced and the handle is very comfortable to hold. The sides are angled up and away from the skillet and the edges are flared and rolled down. This makes for easy pouring but also lends to a good flip without using a utensil.

Overall, during our salmon test, the fish had a nice sear to the skin and was perfectly crispy. Using a fish spatula, the salmon released very easily from the pan on the first flip, and then when it was time to remove from the pan, there was no sticking at all.

The mushrooms took us just under nine minutes to sauté completely. The skillet was easy to flip the mushrooms around without using a spatula.

While technically dishwasher-safe, this skillet, like all stainless steel skillets, is better to wash by hand to extend the life of the finish. We needed to use steel wool to adequately clean the surface of this pan as there are rivets that aren't flat and are not sealed so water and food particles could get trapped in the grooves. We also found that there was just a slight bit of staining after use.

Very well-constructed, this pan is a good value, though it runs a little hot, meaning you'll need to closely monitor the food as you can easily over-cook whatever you're making. But the excellent heat retention (40-50 minutes) and great searing capabilities make up for it.

Price at time of publish: $129

Dimensions: Total Height: 3.5", Total Length: 18", Total Diameter: 10.5", Depth: 1.75", Cooking Surface Diameter: 7.5" | Weight: 2.25 pounds | Dishwasher-safe: yes | Oven-safe: up to 800 degrees | 5-ply

People / Russell Kilgore

People / Russell Kilgore

Amazon

It's easy to work with this skillet thanks to its light weight and smart design

Great price point for a generally well-performing kitchen tool

Fish did not cook as well in this skillet as in others upon our initial testing

This skillet is fairly light and easy to maneuver, and the handle feels well-balanced and ergonomic. The shape of the handle is slender, concave, and easy to hold, and it has a hole for convenient hanging.

The sides are flared and gently slope outwards, which makes flipping straightforward, especially since the pan is fairly light.

In our salmon test, the skin came out crispy yet dark. It did not release as well as the fish did from other skillets in our testing, though cooking temperature adjustments could fix this issue. We cooked the mushrooms in just over five minutes.

This skillet is dishwasher-safe, but the manual mentions that soil from other dishes could be abrasive to the skillet. To remove stains, the manufacturer recommends cleaning with a little warm vinegar.

For $45, this skillet is priced fairly. It seemed to heat up quickly, retained heat well, cleaned pretty easily, and clearly has powerful searing capabilities. However, it seems difficult to control the temperature and tends to stick to proteins, so the price seems to reflect the areas where this skillet is also lacking. Perhaps this pan is a better fit for vegetables or less delicate foods.

Price at time of publish: $39.99

Dimensions: 17.1 x 10.8 x 3.3 inches | Weight: 1.85 pounds | Dishwasher-safe: Yes

People / Russell Kilgore

"I’ve worked with high-quality pans, and some not-so-high-in-quality pans," says Chef Abe Sanchez, who appeared on Hell's Kitchen. "Don't short-change yourself when it comes to purchasing your pans — you’ll save in the long run." However, as noted in our testing, we did find some excellent budget picks like the Misen skillet and the Tramontina Tri-Ply that still performed in an impressive fashion.

Sanchez notes that the first sign of a good quality stainless steel pan is it's designed as one whole piece. "They also use high-quality pins to lock the handle down and really seal it to the pan to give you that nice, sturdy feel," he says. "StaInless steel pans are naturally light so it makes it easy to feel the quality of the material the pan is made out of just by touch and sound. A little knock on the side and bottom of the pan, and you can feel and hear the quality if it is there. The difference is night and day."

"Look for a stainless steel skillet that sits heavy in your hand compared to a nonstick skillet," notes Rocha. "If it is too light, you may be purchasing a low-quality stainless steel skillet. Of course, if you are looking for a pan that will suit your mobility needs, a lighter option is key (and we have noted several high-performing lightweight pans above).

In addition, he says that the handle should not be made of any materials besides stainless steel. "A stainless steel handle allows the skillet to be placed in an oven if desired. Without this use, the pan loses half of its capabilities."

"You can't always judge a book by its cover," says Sanchez. "Shiny and pretty does not always equal quality. Poor quality stainless steel pans have a piece welded at the bottom of them — you can see plain as day. The manufacturer designs it like this to make it more cost-efficient. Unfortunately, you lose most of the quality true stainless steel provides. It leaves the pan with a flat, hollow bottom."

If the skillet handle is held in place by small screws, that leaves room for the screws to become loose, which could be dangerous, Sanchez advises.

People / Russell Kilgore

Our testers evaluated 19 stainless steel skillets and put them to work in each of the following cooking tests: boiling water (to assess responsiveness and heat retention), cooking rice (to assess maneuverability), cooking salmon (to assess the skillet's searing ability), and cooking mushrooms (to test the skillets’ ease of use, heating speed, and evenness of cooking). The skillets were also weighed and measured from edge to edge as well as the diameter of the internal base and the sides of the pan to make sure they fit the manufacturer's description.

During cooking, the skillets were then rated on a scale of 1-5 for how long it took to cook each and how well they cooked (aka was the skin on the salmon golden brown and did it release easily from the pan?).

After cooking was complete, the pans were washed by hand and rated based on how easily the food lifted from the surface and if any stains were left behind.

Finally, each tester looked at the price of the pan at the very end of the test to determine the value of the skillet (we didn't want them to know the price prior to testing to avoid bias).

All scores were then combined with the testers' insights on each product to determine the final score for each, and subsequently, the winners of this test.

This is a case of different tools for different jobs. "I’ve used stainless steel pans about 80 percent of my career. I love how they heat up extremely fast and evenly distribute heat throughout the entire pan, which allows you to get the same execution from any surface of the pan," says Sanchez. "Nonstick pans are not made to withhold at high temperatures without damaging the pan. Therefore, I use them solely for eggs or sautéing vegetables." Adds Rocha, "When considering the difference between the two skillets, nonstick skillets have a protective film covering their surface which does not conduct heat as well as stainless steel."

In short, anything goes! "One great thing about using stainless steel pans is that you can use metal, wood, and rubber utensils without the worry about damaging the surface of the pan," says Sanchez. "Just keep in mind, the cheaper, the easier the damage. The metal utensils tend to scratch the surface in the cheaper pans, causing food to stick." Adds Rocha: "With such a high heat output, anything made of plastic will melt as it comes in contact with the stainless steel."

"A good rule of thumb is the thinner the stainless steel, the less conductive it is, leading to a spotty heat distribution. 5mm stainless steel cookware is a well balanced thickness that will not be too heavy and can stand up to higher temperatures," says Rocha. Adds Sanchez, "Stainless steel pans are designed with 3 layers and 5 layers, called 3 ply (2 layers of stainless steel with 1 layer aluminum alloy in the center) and 5 ply (2 layers of stainless steel with 3 layers of aluminum alloy in the middle). 3 ply is a great starter when learning how to cook. If you are purchasing pans for your restaurant, I’d go with the 5 ply for the best quality of food."

Rennie Dyball is an award-winning author who began her career at PEOPLE in 2002 as a reporter and remained on staff until 2017; she now regularly freelances for the brand. She covers a wide range of topics from beauty, to pets, to housewares.

For this story, she consulted our in-depth testing insights from our Birmingham test kitchen. She also interviewed chef Abe Sanchez, who appeared on Hell's Kitchen and Tanta's executive chef Roberto Rocha.

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