Best Nonstick Frying Pans
With these pans, making perfect eggs and golden pancakes has never been easier
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A good nonstick frying pan is a necessity in many kitchens. Whether your sticky-food indulgences involve pancakes, skillet huevos rancheros, or creamy black-eyed peas, a great nonstick will allow them to slip from the pan easily, making cleanup practically effortless.
In Consumer Reports’ labs, we evaluate how evenly nonstick pans heat and test their nonstick abilities by frying four eggs consecutively without oil to see how easily they slide out. We also measure their durability by subjecting them to 2,000 strokes with steel wool. All of the pans in this roundup received excellent or very good scores in those tests.
We also specify which pans manufacturers say are made without PTFE, commonly known as Teflon. PTFE belongs to a class of chemicals known as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) that linger for years in our bodies and the environment. While some manufacturers claim their PTFE-coated pans are free of PFAS, tests at CR have determined that those claims can’t always be trusted.
If you want to avoid frying pans made with PTFE but value a nonstick surface, consider a pan with a ceramic coating. In our most recent tests, nonstick frying pans with ceramic coatings performed admirably, beating out traditional nonstick pans for the top three slots.
Below, in alphabetical order, are some of the top-rated nonstick frying pans from our tests. Shopping for an entire cookware set? See our full cookware ratings for the best choices. You can also consult our cookware buying guide for advice on choosing the best pots and pans of all types, including stainless steel, cast iron, carbon steel, and copper.
The Anolon Advanced Home Frying Pan Set is one of the top-rated nonstick models in CR’s tests. It aced our evaluations for nonstick food release, cooking evenness, handle sturdiness, and handle temperature. Nonstick durability was also very good. This aluminum set is less expensive than most of our other top-rated nonstick frying pans, and it includes a 10-inch and a 12-inch pan. But the set isn’t induction-compatible.
In our tests of the Caraway Ceramic-Coated Non-Stick pan, fried eggs easily slid out one after another, and the surface heated evenly with no hot spots. The handle is super-sturdy and stays cool to the touch as you cook. The nonstick ceramic coating, which the manufacturer claims is made without PTFE, stood up very well in our durability test. This pan is also induction-compatible.
Sold in a two-pan set, the GreenPan Stanley Tucci Ceramic Nonstick frying pans, made in Italy, are oven-safe to 600° F. (Many nonsticks can withstand oven temperatures of only 400° to 500° F.) A collaboration between GreenPan and the actor Stanley Tucci, the induction-compatible pan received an excellent score in our nonstick coating durability tests. (The manufacturer asserts it’s made without PTFE.) It also aced our test using a thermal imaging camera to determine heating evenness.
The Le Creuset Toughened Nonstick PRO frying pan comes in five different sizes, and we tested the 9.5-inch version. Its nonstick coating endured exceptionally well in our test for nonstick durability, which simulates the use of metal utensils and abrasive cleaners on the coating. The induction-compatible pan also cooked evenly and showed very good results in our nonstick food release test.
We tested the original Our Place Always Pan in early 2022 after it became an internet sensation. At the time, it did well (but not great) in our nonstick frying pan tests. So when the Always Pan 2.0 came out, we tested it to see whether there were notable improvements. The company claims it improved the ceramic nonstick coating, but we didn’t find any differences in our cooking tests. We did see improvement in the stainless steel handle, which makes the pan ovenproof and transferable from the stovetop to the oven. (The original handle was made of synthetic plastic.) The handle sturdiness score also rose from middling to excellent. This pan can be used on an induction cooktop, and according to the manufacturer, it’s made without PTFE.
Made of hard anodized aluminum, the Oxo Ceramic Professional Non-Stick frying pan is excellent at providing even cooking across the 10-inch pan’s entire surface, based on our tests. Nonstick durability and food release results were also very good, and its coating is claimed to be made without PTFE. Its handle temperature was cool enough after stovetop cooking that it could easily be grabbed without a pot holder. The pan can be used on induction surfaces and is oven-safe to 600° F.
If you prefer a traditional nonstick coating over ceramic, the Swiss Diamond HD Nonstick pan is worth considering. You can expect pancakes to come out evenly cooked, and fried eggs should slide out with little effort. This pan performed excellently in our nonstick durability tests as well, meaning that after 2,000 strokes with steel wool, simulating years of use, its nonstick capability held up. If you have an induction cooktop or range, you’ll probably want to choose another pan because the Swiss Diamond isn’t induction-compatible.
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