The Best 12-Inch Nonstick Skillets

The cooking surface was slick, both when new and after extensive use, and food never stuck. It’s one of the lightest models we tested, so it was easy to lift and maneuver, but it was also sturdy and resisted denting. All of our testers liked its wide, comfortable handle. Like every other model, its surface became scratched when we used a knife as if to cut a frittata, but it otherwise held up well.

Our favorite induction-compatible nonstick skillet was just as slick and durable as our overall favorite, and we liked its generous cooking surface and gently sloped walls. It was noticeably heavier than our favorite, though very well balanced. The signature All-Clad handle, which is concave and a little sharp, offered a very secure grip but was uncomfortable to some testers. The pan became scratched during the frittata cutting test.

The skillet remained slickly nonstick after rigorous testing. It has a broad cooking surface, so ingredients can spread out evenly, and we were able to sear meat nicely with it. It’s a bit heavy, so it was hard to lift with one hand. Its thin, flat metal handle was uncomfortable to hold. And it’s not the most durable—the pan dented when we knocked it against a cement block.

This pan has a spacious and slippery surface. It's also very light and the squishy handle is comfortable to hold. We have two criticisms: The cooking surface is slightly domed, so oil runs to the edges and fried eggs rarely turn out perfectly round, and it's too wide to fit a standard 12-inch lid.

This skillet, from a relatively new direct-to-consumer company, impressed us throughout testing. As with other models, food never stuck to this pan’s slick surface. The walls were tall enough for us to stir rapidly and shake food around without spilling. Although we liked the shape of the pan, some testers noted that when they tried to lift the pan when it was full of food, it felt unbalanced and much too heavy, as if the pan was being tugged out of their hands.

This pan, which is sold by a new direct-to-consumer company, did well in all of our recipe tests. Food never stuck and the shape and slope of the walls kept food inside the skillet. It had a removable silicone sleeve covering most of its handle. Some test cooks liked it, but the sleeve was shorter than the handle and most testers noted that it interrupted their grips. This pan was also a little heavier than our favorites, and it felt unbalanced—most of that weight was in the business end of the pan.

This skillet has a spacious nonstick surface and cooked food with ease. It sears meat nicely. That said, the pan had some basic handling flaws. While not a deal breaker, its straight walls are relatively tall, so it was a tad difficult to scrape food from the sides and stir ingredients. It’s also heavy, though a helper handle makes lifting and transferring the skillet easier. Its main handle spun in our hands and pointed upward at a 45-degree angle, making it uncomfortable for us to hold and tilt the skillet. The four rivets that connect the two handles to the pan collected bits of food and were annoying to clean as a result. The nonstick finish wore off over the course of testing, so eggs stuck toward the end. 

This pan performed well in the cooking tests. It had gently curved walls and its surface was just as slick and slippery as that of our favorites. Although it’s marketed as a 12-inch pan, the walls flared out in a way that it made it a poor fit for standard 12-inch lids. Some testers noted that the handle was too long—it was the longest in our lineup—and most didn’t find the removable silicone covering to be useful. The pan sustained significant dents in our durability testing but didn’t warp or scratch more than other pans we tested.

Though this pan falls on the heavier side, we liked its sturdiness and how securely it sat on the stovetop. The sloped walls were tall enough for us to comfortably stir-fry and scramble eggs in the pan without fearing the contents of the pan would spill over. It was also spacious enough for a big batch of food to spread out. It remained mostly nonstick throughout testing, though it became progressively more difficult to scoop food from it as we proceeded. The handle is thin and flat, so it was a bit uncomfortable to hold. The skillet wasn’t as durable as some, denting after we hit it against a cement block. 

One of the heavier pans we tested, this pan felt sturdy and sat securely on the stovetop, which we liked. It was also well balanced and its wide handle was comfortable. Although its surface became scratched like all the other pans, it otherwise looked quite good at the end of testing. Its cooking surface was spacious but the walls were short. As a result, food browned well and cooked evenly, but we had to be really careful when stirring and shaking food around. This was especially challenging when sautéeing and stir-frying.

The surface felt incredibly slick and even sticky foods practically floated off its surface. We loved cooking with it—as long as we didn’t have to lift it. The pan was very heavy and had a slippery handle. Once, while a tester was holding it up and transferring stir-fry to a plate, the handle spun around completely in her hand. It’s wider than most pans sold in America, which was fine for many recipes but felt a bit oversized for frittata. Note that although this brand is often thought to manufacture ceramic cookware, we confirmed with the manufacturer that it contains PTFE.

The tall, straight sides on this skillet looked like they belonged on a sauté pan. It wasn’t a problem when we were cooking; food never stuck to its surface and we could stir things around without being delicate or cautious. Problems arose when we had to remove food from the skillet. It was hard to shake food out and over the walls. It was made worse by the fact that the pan was heavy; felt unevenly weighted; and had a handle with sharp edges, which was painful to grip.

Another oddly shaped skillet, this one had dramatically curved walls that resembled a wok-skillet hybrid or a bowl with a handle. Those curved walls meant that the cooking surface was the smallest in our lineup. We were still able to get decent browning in our stir-fry, but fish ran up the edges a bit and didn’t cook quite as evenly. It dented badly in our durability tests.

This skillet delivered good results in the cooking tests, as food slipped off nicely for the most part. But it was incredibly heavy, so it was particularly hard to lift or transfer the skillet from one place to another. Its walls are also a bit too straight and tall to scrape food from the sides and stir easily. It also took a long time to heat up and was slow to react to heat changes, so you’ll need to be a little more attentive when cooking foods that are particularly sensitive to heat changes, such as fish. Its handle came loose after we banged the skillet against a cinder block three times. 

This pan wasn’t truly nonstick; eggs stuck to it. Even when we used oil to cook a frittata, slices didn’t come out cleanly. This issue was likely due to its unique design. Like the All-Clad Stainless 12” Nonstick Fry Pan, it’s a tri-ply stainless-steel skillet with a nonstick coating. Unfortunately, the nonstick coating is interrupted by uncoated hexagons of that same stainless steel, which is why food stuck to it. It seared meat well, but its short walls forced us to be extra careful when the pan was full, as broccoli and other ingredients could spill out easily. This pricey pan was also on the heavier side, so our hands got tired when lifting it, both with and without food inside. Like all other models, it became scratched when we cut frittata in it.