Best Nonstick Pans of 2025: Expert Tested for Effortless Cooking

In some imaginary, perfect world, cooking dinner and cleaning up after would always be a simple, painless task. Obviously, it isn’t, but a nonstick frying pan can help you indulge the fantasy. The best nonstick pans can be some of the most forgiving kitchen tools you can use, meaning novice or nervous home cooks can execute sautéing and stir-frying without the fear of burnt-on bits. Plus, they’re a beast at breakfast time, allowing flawless fried egg slides, perfect pancakes, and easy omelet flips.

While we think a good collection of carbon-steel, cast-iron, or stainless-steel pans offer better quality and longevity, a nonstick pan can be a useful asset to have in your cooking arsenal. Just don’t rely on them for too long. Nonstick coatings simply do not last forever. A pan’s lifespan can vary depending on the type of nonstick coating, but you can expect any pan you pick to lose its flawless glide after a couple of years. Yes, even the pans boasting (limited) lifetime warranties. Nonstick pans are, unfortunately, disposable by design. That’s why we suggest thinking a little before buying that appealing direct-to-consumer nonstick cookware set.

We’ve spent years searching for the best nonstick pans and have put many different models through our comprehensive testing process in the Test Kitchen. We’ve also gathered anecdotal evidence from Epicurious staffers who have owned and tested these pans at home for several years and can attest to how different nonstick coatings fare over time. Keep scrolling for more about our top picks and tips for how to care for your nonstick pan.

The best nonstick pan: GreenPan Valencia

The induction-compatible Valencia Pro, like its GreenPan cousins the Venice Pro and Paris Pro (reviewed below), performs its nonstick duties well thanks to the ceramic Thermolon Nonstick coating, balanced weight distribution, and ergonomic stainless-steel handle. It heats up to desired temperatures quickly (about 90 seconds), and stickier items like pancakes and eggs glide off the surface with little resistance. In addition to being scratch-resistant, GreenPan claims that this coating is, in fact, safe for use with metal cooking utensils. But even if this pan can take it, we don’t recommend using metal on any nonstick pan, regardless of what the manufacturer says, because it will wear out even the stoutest coatings more quickly. Another handy benefit of choosing a ceramic-coated pan like this one coating is that it’s oven-safe. This one is rated up to 600°F, and after a quick trip under the broiler we found that to be pretty accurate. No discoloration or other issues heating the pan about 10″ from the heating element. We did get a faint plastic smell when we pushed it 5″ from the heating element, but at that point it had heated close to 650°F. Because it can be tricky to control the amount of heat you’re getting off a broiler we’d recommend a cast-iron or carbon-steel pan for the task.

While hand-washing will extend the life of any nonstick pan (and we hand-wash all of ours), we did appreciate that this one is marked as dishwasher-safe. We liked the small details on this pan, too, including the flat cooking surface and nonstick-coated rivets, minimizing paces for food to get cooked on.

GreenPan also sells the Valencia Pro as a three-piece set for a significant discount compared to individual pans, so if you are looking for a whole range of ceramic nonstick pans in different sizes, that bundle is worth a look.

Despite its all-aluminum base, it’s still heavier than the similarly sized Venice, Paris, or Oxo Professional pans below, meaning it takes a little oomph to maneuver, especially when it’s full of food. Additionally, GreenPan advises you always use a little bit of oil or butter—and specifically not a nonstick spray—when using its pans for longevity (a trend we’ve noticed across multiple ceramic coating brands).

Generally speaking, ceramic nonstick surfaces aren’t known for their longevity, with their nonstick qualities degrading with each use. While they still can serve as functional cooking tools after their nonstick properties diminish considerably, what you are left with is a pan that’s arguably less nonstick than a well-seasoned cast-iron or carbon-steel pan and more vulnerable to scratches and heat stress.

The best budget nonstick pan: Oxo Professional Ceramic Nonstick

We know Oxo to make quality, affordable kitchenware, and this PFAS-free pan is no exception. Fried eggs slid off with a nudge, scrambled eggs released well, and pancakes cooked evenly. Plus, cleanup was a breeze with a quick rinse in soapy water. At the time of writing, it’s 25% less expensive than the Valencia and half the price of some of the other pans we tested, making it a dependable, affordable buy.

Our fried eggs tended to slide toward the edges of the cooking surface, as though there might have been a slight bow at the center of the pan. However, this didn’t impact cooking significantly during our tests.

Caution about PTFE/Teflon pans

The original nonstick cooking product was Teflon, trademarked by DuPont in the early 1960s. Treated with polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE—the chemical that puts the non in nonstick—these pans are the only true nonstick pans, with a surface that lets food slide right off. However, if you heat them above 500ºF, the molecules can start to break down and release harmful gasses that cause polymer fume fever. Metal utensils can also scratch tiny bits of PTFE off and cause it to leach into your food. That’s why, regardless of any claims on the box, we only use wood, plastic, or silicone utensils on nonstick and try to avoid putting it in the oven unless it is ceramic (more on that below). For a long time, PTFE nonstick coatings were manufactured with another chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA, which has since been identified as a being harmful to human health and the environment. Because of this, many nonstick pans advertise themselves as being PFOA-free, but PFOA and PTFE are just two types of the thousands of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS—so many acronyms, we know) used by industrial companies. And while PTFE has been identified as a much less harmful type of PFAS, scientific research is still ongoing to understand the full impact these chemicals have on our bodies and our environment.