The 6 best non-stick frying pans of 2024 - quality picks for easy home cooking

The best non-stick frying pan is a staple in any home kitchen, but buying a pan that you can use year after year can be tricky. That's why we've spent over a year testing the top non-stick frying pans on the market to ensure we're recommending the very best of the best in our complete buyer's guide. 

As woman&home's Head of Shopping, I've tested dozens of the top non-stick frying pans and best induction pans on the market. It's easy to be led astray by cheap and poorly-made pans that will start to peel and flake after months of use, but as a keen home chef who is constantly pushing her pans to the limit, I can personally vouch for the longevity and quality design behind each of these pans. From Tefal to HexClad, non-stick pans are increasingly tough and durable, and many now even advise that you can use metal utensils and tough rubbish brushes without damaging the coating. 

The perk of non-stick pans is that they're both quick to use and incredibly easy to clean afterward. The non-stick technology also means that there's no need to use much oil, making them a good option for the health-conscious. If you're on the hunt for the best nonstick pan for your kitchen, one of the main elements that will likely impact your decision will be the pan’s coatings. If you’re worried about non-stick materials, it’s worth checking that your chosen non-stick pans are PFAS, PFOA, and PTFE-free—which guarantees a healthy pan. Alternatively, look for a ceramic non-stick coating, which is a natural barrier used by some brands. 

The best non-stick frying pans, tested by woman&home

How we tested the best non-stick frying pans

Despite their similar appearances, no two non-stick frying pans are the same, which means testing them against each other is a careful balance of comparison. In order to bring you only the very best non-stick we undertook some intricate trials. 

• Appearance—when looking for the best cookware, there’s no harm in having something in your kitchen that also looks attractive. Having a good-looking non-stick also means you can present food directly from the pan, which less washing up.  
• How well it worked—we examined things like the thickness of each base to see how well the model would retain heat and how well coated the interior was to evaluate its non-stick capabilities. We made sure to cook in each pan to get a true feel for its abilities.
• Extra features—for example, which noted which ones were oven safe, which had hanging hooks for easy kitchen storage, and which ones came with lids for a more versatile cooking experience.
• Ease of cleaning—non-stick pans should all be easy to clean—but we assessed how far this claim held up for each item. We also looked at whether each one was dishwasher-safe. 
• Size—lots of brands will do a range of sizes, and we’d actually recommend having a good range of non-stick pans. Smaller pans are great for couples or frying eggs in, while larger ones are perfect for full, family-sized meals and one-pot meals like risotto. 

Non-stick frying pan FAQs

Are non-stick frying pans safe?

When non-stick pans were first manufactured they were most commonly coated in Teflon, which contained the chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid and polytetrafluoroethylene (which you might have seen written down more commonly as PFOA and PTFE). When heated on high—roughly above 536F or 280C—the coating emitted chemical byproducts from these elements, which many thought could potentially contribute to health complications. 

Since 2013 though, most makers of non-stick pans have removed these chemicals from their coatings, to bring consumers much safer, non-toxic alternatives. All of the best non-stick pans will come with details on what coating has been used. Lots of new non-stick pans are actually coated in a thin layer of ceramic, which are glazed in a kiln rather than coated by chemicals. These are generally considered to be the healthiest and safest non-stick pans on the market. 

And in fact, a study published in the scientific journal Food Additives and Contaminants explained that they had tested 26 non-stick cookware items—and come to the conclusion that none of them actually released any harmful chemicals.

Do professional chefs use non-stick frying pans?

While some chefs do of course use non-stick pans in their own homes (such as Jamie Oliver above, for example), most don’t use them in their professional kitchens. The reason for this is that they’re typically not great when used in conjunction with metal utensils—which chefs use a lot. Typically chefs will use stainless steel pans or cast iron skillets in their restaurants. 

However, non-stick pans are ideal for use at home because of their ease of use and how easy they are to clean, as well as how quickly many of them come to heat. 

What should you use non-stick frying pans for?

We think this is probably an obvious one, but the best use for non-stick pans is for anything that might be in danger of sticking to your pan too much whilst cooking. However, some examples of the best things to cook in your non-stick pan include:

• Egg-fried rice—typically, the best non-stick pans are used for jobs like making egg-fried rice—where the egg remnants can be hard to shift afterwards.
• Stirfry—non-stick is also great for quick stir-fries, where you want to keep everything moving super fast, and so don’t want any friction from the base of your pan.
• Pancakes—no one wants their pancakes to stick to their pan—instead, you need them to easily glide along the base. For that reason cooking pancakes in a non-stick is ideal.
• Quesadillas—other items that you want to heat but want to be able to slide out easily are ideal for a non-stick—an example is a quesadilla, that you want to be able to lift out after just a few minutes without losing any food to the pan.

It’s probably worth noting though that while non-stick pans are great (probably one of the most used pieces of cookware, actually), they can’t completely replace all other items in the kitchen. 

A cast-iron skillet, for instance, is the best thing to cook a steak on, because it conducts heat so well, while copper pots and pans are perfect for dinner parties when you want to serve straight from the cooker to the table in something premium and polished.