Best Nonstick Pans 2025: Expert Recommendations for At-Home Chefs

Nothing seems to stick to this pan. Pancakes, eggs, stir fry; throw whatever you like at it. It’s lightweight, heats evenly, and has a comfortable handle. It's also dishwasher safe according to the brand, though nonstick cookware will last longer if you wash it by hand. If you're still Team Traditional Nonstick, you won't be disappointed with this pan.

Normally we're big fans of Le Creuset—in particular, the brand's Dutch ovens and enameled cast iron skillets—but we wouldn’t recommend its nonstick pan. It had a noticeable concave cooking surface that caused liquid to pool around the edge, something we wouldn’t expect in an expensive pan like this.

This pan has a nice nonstick surface but takes longer to heat up than other pans we tested.

Every line of Hestan pans we’ve tried is incredibly high quality. But again, because nonstick pans come with a ticking clock on their utility, we think you’re better off investing in a stainless steel Hestan pan rather than one of their nonstick models. (Bon Appétit's food director Chris Morrocco absolutely loves Hestan's Nanobond line.)

This pan features a nice stainless-steel handle and an anodized aluminum core. But if you want to stick with a traditional nonstick, we prefer the more affordable Zwilling Madura Plus.

Made In Cookware’s original nonstick pan (now part of what is called the ProCoat Nonstick line) is a hefty 5-ply stainless steel skillet with a “professional grade” PTFE nonstick cooking surface. This coating has a higher heat tolerance than other nonstick coatings, which makes it a good option if you like to sear meat in your nonstick cookware. Because they’re stainless steel pans, Made In’s nonstick skillets are compatible with all cooktops, including induction, and this pan is oven safe up to 500ºF. And while its on the heavy side on account of its stainless steel base, this pan was a dream to cook with in our testing.

This is a favorite on other review sites due to its relative affordability. However, we found that the pan was prone to scorching.

We aren’t fans of Hexclad. It belongs to a category of hybrid nonstick pans that have a combination of nonstick coating and raised, uncoated stainless steel bumps. These pans require oil to actually be nonstick in much the same way a cast iron skillet or carbon steel pan would, so we don’t think it makes much sense for someone in the market for a nonstick pan.

This pan suffers from the same faults as the Hexclad above. The textured surface requires the home cook to preseason it with a layer of oil…much like a conventional pan.

We liked the flushed rivets and ergonomic handle, but the rough textured nonstick surface—designed to withstand metal utensils—wasn't actually all that nonstick without the presence of a cooking fat.

Much like with the Anolon Ascend, this pan's textured surface isn’t effective at preventing stickage without cooking oil.

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How we evaluated our nonstick pans

We put every pan through its paces with a series of cooking tests, outlined below. We also gathered intel from Bon Appétit staffers about their experiences with the cookware.

FAQs about using and caring for nonstick pans

Keep scrolling for the answers to questions we commonly field about nonstick pans.

1. Are Teflon pans/PTFE pans safe?

The short answer is, the science just isn’t conclusive. As such, we’re no longer recommending pans with traditional nonstick coatings. The long answer? Well, here’s what we can say:

PTFE is short for polytetrafluoroethylene, a substance commonly known as Teflon. This popular and effective nonstick coating was first made available to home cooks under the brand name T-fal (Tefal in France). However, Teflon is a type of PFAS, a family of chemicals used in a wide range of industrial applications that have been dubbed “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment. We care about it here because PTFE is the most common type of nonstick material used in conventional nonstick cookware.

Numerous health and research institutions have linked PFAS exposure to a wide range of health risks and negative impacts on the environment. This part isn't up for the debate. The question is whether cooking with a Teflon pan, with proper care and guidance, is cause for concern. While cooking is potentially less of a hazard compared to other means of PFAS exposure, extant research and broad scientific opinion still emphasizes general caution.

The strongest evidence about the adverse health effects of PFAS involve people exposed to levels far higher than the average person who cooks with a nonstick pan, like workers and people who live near factories that dumped chemicals on the land and into the water table.

As for low level exposure, scientists are working to understand the chemicals' impact on people. Seeing that they're present in 98% of American bodies, it’s a tricky task to determine what that exposure might be responsible for.

The FDA claims that not all PFAS are “migratable” (able to move from the pan to your food), which is part of the reason why PTFE has remained on the market. According to the FDA’s reasoning, “PFAS molecules are polymerized (i.e., joined together to form large molecules) and are then applied to the surface of the cookware at very high temperatures, which tightly binds the polymer coating to the cookware. [This] process vaporizes off virtually all the smaller (i.e. “migratable”) PFAS molecules.”

A 2007 study on popcorn bags seemed to show that the claim that migratable PFAS molecules all burn away isn't entirely true. And again, the long-term cumulative effects are not entirely understood.

Teflon claims on its site that, if ingested, PTFE coatings will not be absorbed into the body because they are inert; however, a 2017 review of several studies regarding nonstick pan safety concluded that “the studies that describe the toxicity of PTFE are only a few in number, and results do not present substantial conclusions. To the best of our knowledge, there is no experimental report that describes the toxicity of ingested PTFE.” So, one more time, it seems more study is needed.

What we can say with certainty is that even if you were to rid your kitchen of PTFE-coated cookware entirely, it wouldn’t eliminate exposure to those chemicals, as we are exposed to them elsewhere through our food, water, and the environment.

So if Teflon pans aren’t the most significant risk, then why get so worked up about them? Because we think they are more luxury than necessity, especially when there are readily available alternatives. There is an ever-growing market of non-toxic nonstick cookware as well suitable stainless steel and cast iron options that we get into below.

2. Is using metal utensils bad for nonstick pans?

As mentioned above, nonstick cookware is prone to scratching—no matter what claims the manufacturer may make about it being scratch-resistant. We recommend steering clear of metal tools when cooking with nonstick, regardless of the type of coating in question, to avoid damaging your pans and subjecting your food to potentially harmful chemicals. Opt instead for wood or silicone—both your pan and your body will thank you.

3. How should you clean a nonstick pan?

While many makers of nonstick pans claim their products are dishwasher-safe, we recommend hand-washing them to help prolong their longevity (which should be easy enough; we're talking about nonstick, after all). While you may be tempted to wipe out your pan with a paper towel and call it a day, a quick wash with soap and water will ensure you rid it of any food residue and avoids the risk of that residue burning onto the pan the next time you heat it.