Are You A Serial Pan-Ruiner? Try These Nonstick Cookware Sets

Fact: Clean-up is the worst part of cooking. Tough-to-remove grease and baked-on debris will keep you in the kitchen far longer than you want to be, and nobody wants to deal with all that scouring and scrubbing after you’ve just devoured a savory mushroom risotto or tantalizing custard. But what if we told you it didn't have to be this way?

Leave all your preconceived notions at the door. Nonstick cookware may have gotten a bad rap in decades past, but just like Drew Barrymore in the ‘90s, it’s made an impressive comeback. Whether you’re a seasoned home chef or are just starting out on your own, you should have at least one nonstick pan in your cabinet. Even professional chefs consider nonstick cookware to be a kitchen essential because of their ability to cook delicate foods—think fluffy French omelets, tender buttermilk crepes, crunchy pan-fried tilapia, and plenty of indulgent stacks of pancakes—with no sticking, shredding, or burning. Unlike the cookware you grew up with, many modern nonstick sets of today are dishwasher-safe, as well as oven- and even metal utensil-safe. So long as you take care of it properly, nonstick cookware can speed up your cooking and your clean-up.

If you’re ready to fall back in love with nonstick, we’re here to help. From what makes a good nonstick pan to how to choose some nonstick cookware for yourself, we have the answers to all your burning questions—plus some recommendations for the best nonstick cookware sets for every lifestyle and budget.

Prefer to test the waters of nonstick cooking before committing to a full set? You can always start by adding a single nonstick skillet to your arsenal. Or, you can go another route entirely, and outfit your kitchen with a new stainless steel or ceramic cookware set.

Our top picks

• Best Nonstick Cookware Set: Calphalon Signature Hard-Anodized Nonstick 10-Piece Cookware Set
• Best Budget Nonstick Cookware Set: Rachael Ray Cucina Hard Anodized Nonstick Cookware 12-Piece Set
• Best Splurge Nonstick Cookware Set: Zwilling Forté Nonstick Cookware Set
• Most Versatile Nonstick Cookware Set: Anolon Advanced Hard-Anodized Nonstick Cookware 11-Piece Set
• Easiest to Use Nonstick Cookware Set: Ninja Foodi NeverStick Premium 8-Piece Cookware Set
• Best Aluminum Nonstick Cookware Set: All-Clad NS1 Nonstick Induction 10-Piece Cookware Set
• Best Metal Utensil-Safe Nonstick Cookware Set: HexClad Hybrid 7-Piece Nonstick Cookware Set

How we picked these products

To find the best nonstick cookware sets, we consulted our expert friends at the Good Housekeeping Institute, who have identified the most popular models on the market based on availability, reviews, and good brand reputations. Their team of on-staff experts—which includes all types: engineers! data analysts! registered dietitians!—rigorously put everyday products to the test (and then more and more tests) in their New York City-based labs to determine which ones you can trust.

They put the most popular nonstick cookware to the test and evaluated each set based on ease of use, design, durability, heat distribution and retention, clean-ability, oven safety, and performance—specifically, their browning, simmering, and boiling capabilities. We then reviewed their findings and determined that these are the best nonstick cookware sets you can buy in 2022.