The 14 Best Frying Pans For Every Type Of Cook

All the frying pans on this list are great, but the Misen Nonstick Frying Pan takes the top spot. At 10 inches, it's big, but not so massive that it's hard to store. The nonstick coating makes it easy for all cooks to use.

"It is attractive looking and sooo easy to clean," cookbook author and culinary television personality Jason Goldstein said. "Food always cooks evenly and slides right onto the plate."

The super-viral Always Pan is a nonstick frying pan, sure, but that's just the start of it. This one item can replace up to eight traditional pieces of cookware and can be used to fry, braise, sear, steam, strain, and boil.

Another brand with a cult following, Caraway makes a fry pan that comes in six bright colors and uses a ceramic non-stick design. Caraway also offers the ability to choose your own cookware set depending on your needs so you don't have to splurge on a set full of items you won't necessarily use.

If you want something the professionals use, try the De Buyer French Steel Frying Pan. "They are heavy duty and work great for searing skin on fish and meat, as well as getting a great char on vegetables," said Andy Long, culinary director of Georgia-based Maven Restaurant Group. He uses them in all of their restaurants. "They’ll last a lifetime if you take care of it."

This small, but mighty Staub Mini Cast Iron Fry Pan has a durable cast-iron construction and an enamel base that comes in several fun colors. "[It] goes from stovetop to oven seamlessly," said nutritionist and cookbook author Mia Rigden. "Eggs are my absolute favorite way to use my Staub frying pan."

The Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan is Ji Hye Kim's go-to pan for everything from a delicate gyeran mari (Korean egg omelets) to tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes). She owns Miss Kim, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Korean restaurant.

"It can take high heat and be seasoned into nonstick fairly easily and fast," she said. "The pan has good weight to it, but the handle is well-designed for the chef-y flip."

The aluminum construction of this Calphalon pan guarantees even heating across the surface, which in turn leads to even cooking. The shape of the handle is also made to keep cool even when on the stove.

Cast-iron pans may seem intimidating to cook with or take care of (check out our guide here), but once you get the hang of it, they have a lot of advantages. "These heavyweight pans don’t cool down, even when you add more food," said Gocha Hawkins, owner and head chef at Gocha’s Breakfast Bar in Atlanta. "They are also oven- and broiler-safe.”

"This skillet is my go-to when cooking up some favorites from my southern and coastal Virginia heritage like crab cakes and fried chicken," said Patrick Evans-Hylton, culinary educator and historian and writer for Virginia Eats And Drinks. "The tempered glass lid is a bonus my grandmother never had, allowing for some serious frying without all the splatter."

The surface on this pan is reinforced three times, making it four times stronger than typical pans. Its durability also makes it safe to use with metal utensils without worrying about scratches.

"Having slopped sides helps with rolling omelets and flipping fried eggs in a stylish one-handed flip," said Martha Wilcox, chef de cuisine at Indianola in Houston. "A slick nonstick surface will certainly help with clean up, but even more importantly, help move the egg around the pan when you need to flip or fold.”

All-Clad's frying pan is one foot in diameter, making it a large surface for one-pan meals and bigger cuts of meat. The nonstick surface makes it easier to cook with less fat, and the pan itself is both oven-safe and compatible with induction stoves.

"They clean up easily and hold the heat evenly," said Ryan Schmidtberger, executive chef and partner of New York City-based restaurant Hancock St. "I still have them after 20 plus years."

Easy-to-grip handles and a wear-resistant cooking surface make this Cuisinart pan durable and great starter option for those who may not be experienced in the kitchen. It also holds a lot of food.

"In my experience, if you’re making at least a pound of pasta, you really need a big friggin pan," said Rossella Rago, author of Cooking With Nonna." I love this 14-inch skillet because there’s enough surface area for the sauces to coat the pasta evenly without any spillover.”

Perhaps one of the best basic frying pans out there. T-Fal makes dishwasher-safe pieces that won't break the bank. The red spot in the center of the cooking surface turns a solid red color when the pan is preheated and ready for ingredients to be added in—no guesswork involved.

The deep walls of this pan make it ideal for one-pan meals or recipes requiring many ingredients. The lid and handle is heat-resistant and compatible with a different stove types.

Stainless-steel kitchen items look so sleek, and Mueller pairs function with aesthetics well. This pan is oven safe to 500°F without the lid, or 350°F with the lid, so you can go from cooking eggs in the morning to searing steaks for dinner.