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The Spruce Eats / Chloe Jeong
Our testers chose the Cuisinart Multiclad Pro Stainless 12-Piece Set as the best overall pick because they loved the heating performance of these pans, along with the selection within the set. For a lower price point, you can't go wrong with the Calphalon Classic 10-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set, which offers above-average performance and ease of cleaning.
Glass stoves are an excellent aesthetic choice for modern kitchens, thanks to their sleek appearance and minimalist style. But the benefits go beyond looks. They're easy to clean in comparison to gas and electric stoves since they have no crevices for food particles to fall into. Due to its smooth, flat surface, it can also act as additional counter space when not being used for cooking.
But glass ranges do require more thoughtful choices when it comes to cookware. A pot with a textured bottom—like cast iron— could damage the surface, making it prone to cracking. To protect your cooking surface, you want to find substantial pieces with smooth, flat bottoms that will stay put and won't scratch the stove.
We tested several top cookware sets, evaluating their performance when it comes to heat distribution, maneuverability, design, and overall value. We know how important it is to see how the pans perform in a real-life setting, so we also sent sets to our experienced food writers and editors so they could test top picks in their home kitchens.
If you've invested in a glass cooktop, read on to find our top recommendations for the best cookware sets for glass stoves.
Best Overall
Cuisinart Multiclad Pro Stainless Steel 12-Piece Cookware Set
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Amazon
Made of super durable stainless steel
Includes steamer basket
Oven safe to 500 degrees
Set needs larger skillet size
Side handles can get hot on stove
Handles on smaller pot lids are undersized
It’s hard to find fault with this attractive stainless steel cookware set. The pieces have a brushed exterior—except for the steamer and lids which have a mirror finish—so they’ll look good in any kitchen. The pieces come in a sensible range of sizes, so you’ll always have the right pan for the job whether you’re cooking for one or making a pot of stew for the family, and they’re easy to keep clean. Not only are they great for glass stoves, they're also compatible with induction stoves.
We tested this set in our Lab and found that the pans heated well and let us achieve nice crusts on scallops while also turning out a gorgeous frittata with minimal sticking. The handles stayed pretty cool while in use, and passed our warping tests with flying colors.
Our home tester also loved how these pans brown food, noting that there weren't any discernible hot spots, even when the pan wasn't centered on the burner. Cleaning up was also very easy, only requiring a scrubbing sponge and dish soap (and they can also be run through the dishwasher). This set includes 8.5-inch and 10-inch frying pans, a 1.5-quart saucepan with lid, a 3-quart saucepan with lid, a 3.5-quart sauté pan with lid, an 8-quart stockpot with lid, and a steamer insert with lid.
Price at time of publish: $288 for 12-piece set
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Material: Stainless Steel | Oven Safe Max: 500 degrees | Piece Count: 12 pieces including lids and extras | Accessories Included: Steamer insert
"These pans heat quickly and retain heat well, so you can put a lid on a pot and its contents will stay warm while you set the table or finish cooking side dishes." — Donna Currie, Product Tester
Best Stainless Steel
Made In Starter Stainless Steel Cookware Set
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Made In
Durable construction
Pro quality with excellent, even heating
Great for high heat
Expensive
Might be too small for someone who cooks in larger quantities
Made In is known for its professional-quality cookware designed with serious cooks in mind. This starter set comes with three 5-ply stainless steel pieces, two lids, and one nonstick frying pan, giving you all the basics to get started in the kitchen. Each pan features rolled rims to help you pour without spilling and securely riveted handles that stay cool even while in use.
In our Lab tests, these pans performed well when searing scallops, resulting in beautiful color and crust. We don't recommend them for cooking eggs as they tend to stick to stainless steel, but that's where the nonstick pan came in handy. Our tester noted that these pans felt balanced in the hand and like they would last for a very long time, noting that they passed our durability tests with flying colors.
The set includes a 10-inch nonstick frying pan, 10-inch stainless frying pan, 2-quart saucepan with lid, and 8-quart stockpot with lid. All pieces are dishwasher safe with the exception of the nonstick frying pan, which can be easily washed by hand.
Price at time of publish: $500
Material: Stainless Steel | Oven Safe Max: 800 degrees (500 for nonstick) | Piece Count: 6 pieces including lids | Accessories included: None
"Moving from a gas range to a glass stovetop meant I needed to change certain cooking methods. For example, charring vegetables until blackened provides a smoky depth of flavor to salsas, and while I used to fire-roast vegetables in a comal (a flat griddle used throughout Latin America) or directly over a burner, now I use a skillet for dry pan roasting. Dry pan roasting also works well for toasting spices and seeds for salsas." — Michele Peterson, A Taste for Travel Blogger and Co-Author of Lonely Planet Food’s "Mexico: From the Source"
Best Ceramic
Caraway Cookware Set
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Caraway
Retains heat well
Nonstick
Comes in a variety of colors
On the higher end, pricewise
Hand wash only
Caraway's buzz-worthy, Instagram-ready cookware set lives up to the hype. With its sleek design, available in an array of colors, it not only looks beautiful on the stovetop but performs extremely well. It features an aluminum core with a mineral-based ceramic coating, allowing for responsive, even heating and a nonstick surface. This cookware is free of PTFE (the main compound in Teflon), PFOA, lead, and cadmium. The stainless steel handles are riveted on for security, so you can promptly grip your pans to bring them on or off the stove.
Our reviewer called the nonstick coating "a dream", allowing for fuss-free sautéing, frying eggs, searing steaks, and simmering sauces. The pans hold and retain heat, even on low to medium settings, allowing food to cook evenly and quickly.
This cookware calls itself "stovetop agnostic," making it suitable not just for electric glass ranges but for induction and gas stoves, too. The pans are oven safe up to 550 degrees, allowing you to finish dishes in the oven if needed. The set includes a 10.5-inch fry pan, 3-quart lidded saucepan, 4.5-quart lidded sauté pan, 6.5-quart Dutch oven, as well as a magnetic storage rack and canvas lid sleeve that you can hang inside a cabinet door. As with most nonstick cookware, hand washing is recommended in order to prolong the life of the ceramic interior.
Price at time of publish: $545 for 9-piece set
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Material: Ceramic-coated aluminum | Oven Safe Max: 550 degrees | Piece Count: 9 pieces including lids and extras | Accessories Included: Magnetic storage rack, lid sleeve
"Teflon may be considered the gold standard of nonstick, but this ceramic Caraway set outperforms every other pan we’ve tried by a mile." — Lindsay Boyers, Product Tester
Best Budget
Calphalon Classic 10-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set
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Amazon
Excellent quality for an affordable price
Features pouring spouts and straining lids
Easy to clean
Skillets don't have lids
While this set isn’t super-cheap, it’s very affordable considering the number of pieces that are included. Made from stainless steel with a bonded aluminum base for high performance, each pot and pan has interior measuring marks so you can see how much water you’ve added or how much leftover soup needs to be put away. The integrated pouring spouts and straining lids that make it easy to drain the water from your pasta or strain the bones from homemade stock.
This set includes a 1.5-quart saucepan with lid, a 2.5-quart saucepan with lid, a 3-quart sauté pan with lid, a 6-quart stockpot with lid, an 8-inch frying pan, and a 10-inch frying pan.
Price at time of publish: $200 for 10-piece set
Material: Stainless Steel with bonded aluminum base | Oven Safe Max: 450 degrees | Piece Count: 10 pieces including lids | Accessories Included: None
"[A glass-top stove] is so easy to clean. It's also easy to control low temperatures when simmering soups and sauces. I like how the residual heat of a glass cooktop stove keeps food warm for several minutes after it's turned off, too." — Michele Peterson, A Taste for Travel Blogger and Co-Author of Lonely Planet Food’s "Mexico: From the Source"
Best Nonstick
Anolon Advanced Hard Anodized Nonstick Cookware Set, 11 Pieces
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Nonstick coating is OK to use with metal utensils
Easy to clean
Oven safe to 400 degrees
Nonstick coating will degrade over time
This isn’t your grandma’s nonstick cookware that got scratched with basic use—this is OK for use with metal utensils (but you still shouldn’t scrape the pans or cut in them) and oven safe to 400 degrees, so you can use the larger pieces for roasting or keep food warm in the oven before you serve. The large loop handles on the glass lids stay cool during cooking, and are easy to grab, even with oven mitts. Due to the nonstick surface, these are easy to clean, even when making tough-to-clean foods, like scrambled eggs.
Our home tester liked this set because of its durability—the triple-coated nonstick finish stands up well to frequent use and is even safe to use with metal utensils (though you still want to avoid scraping the pan's surface if possible). She found the pans to heat evenly while also being responsive to changes in temperature, allowing you to have complete control of your cooking.
This set includes a 3-quart covered sauté pan, a 1.5-quart saucepan with lid, a 3-quart saucepan with lid, an 8-quart stockpot with lid, an 8 1/2-inch skillet, and a 12-inch deep skillet with lid. Though the set isn't dishwasher safe, cleaning up by hand is easy with just some mild dish soap and warm water.
Price at time of publish: $400 for 11-piece set
Material: Nonstick coated hard-anodized aluminum | Oven Safe Max: 400 degrees | Piece Count: 11 pieces including lids | Accessories Included: None
Best Splurge
All-Clad d5 Brushed Stainless Steel 10-Piece Set
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Amazon
Hefty, premium quality construction
Even heating and distribution
Easy to clean
Very expensive
Might be too heavy for some
All-Clad's reputation for high-quality cookware is well deserved, and this professional-grade set is no exception. Made from multiple layers of stainless steel and aluminum, these pans heat evenly and have excellent heat distribution. The brushed stainless steel finish is resistant to fingerprints and water marks and provides a smooth cooking surface that also helps prevent sticking. The pans are heavy, which means they won't move around on the cooktop, and they are thick enough to prevent warping.
Our reviewer found that the contoured handles made them comfortable and easy to grip, but noted that the long handles might make them somewhat difficult to store. That being said, these pieces are easy to care for—you can opt to hand wash them, but they can also be put right into the dishwasher for cleaning.
This set includes all the most essential pans and then some: an 8-inch fry pan, 10-inch fry pan, 1.5-quart saucepan with lid, 3-quart saucepan with lid, 3-quart sauté pan with lid, and 8-quart stockpot with lid. The flared edges make for easy pouring, and the pans are oven-safe up to 600 degrees. If you can splurge on a cookware set, this is a fantastic choice.
Price at time of publish: $1,500 for 10-piece set
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Material: Stainless Steel | Oven Safe Max: 600 degrees | Piece Count: 10 pieces including lids | Accessories Included: None
"The heat conductivity is excellent; we browned ground beef and seared chicken sausages and salmon filets in record time." — Sharon Lehman, Product Tester
Best With Copper Exterior
Lagostina Martellata Hammered Copper 10-Piece Cookware Set
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Amazon
Stylish design
Retains and distributes heat well
High-quality construction
On the pricier side
Requires special care
For those who appreciate aesthetically appealing cookware, this set from Lagostina is surprisingly affordable as far as copper cookware goes (though it is pricier than sets made from other materials). Made from a layer each of stainless steel and copper surrounding an aluminum core, this solidly-built set offers fantastic heat retention and distribution that allows you to sauté, sear, or simmer a variety of foods.
Our reviewer found these pans to heat up quickly and cook very efficiently and can be used on lower heat than typical stainless or aluminum pans. One caveat is that this cookware is not particularly nonstick, so you may need a regular nonstick pan to cook items that tend to stick, like eggs.
This set includes an 8-inch skillet, a 10-inch skillet, a 2-quart saucepan with lid, a 3-quart saucepan with lid, a 3-quart deep sauté pan with lid, and a 6-quart stockpot with lid—everything you'll need to cook up several courses at once. Our tester noted that the cookware does require special care for maximum performance and that following the instruction pamphlet will help you get used to cooking with these pans at first.
Price at time of publish: $500 for 10-piece set
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Material: Stainless steel with copper exterior | Oven Safe Max: 500 degrees | Piece Count: 10 pieces including lids
"That this pan heated up faster and cooked food more quickly than other pans we’ve used." — Tierney McAfee, Product Tester
Our top pick is the Cuisinart Multiclad Pro Stainless 12-Piece Set because of its quality and great assortment. We also highly recommend the Calphalon Classic 10-Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set because of its excellent performance and value.
How We Tested
Our editors spent weeks researching glass stovetop-friendly cookware sets, developing a standardized methodology against which to test them, and putting them through their paces at The Lab. We then collected the data—as well as insights from our home testers—and used it to determine ratings and placement on this list.
We evaluated how well they responded to temperature changes, how they distribute and retain heat, how they performed when carrying out tasks like searing and simmering, maneuverability, and how easy they are to clean.
What to Look for in Cookware for Glass Stoves
Materials
As with any cookware purchase, the material of your pots and pans will affect its heating capacity, heat retention, oven safety, and type of maintenance needed. Regardless of what material your cookware is made of, it is imperative that they have smooth bottoms in order to prevent scratching the surface of your glass cooktop. Be cautious with raw cast iron pans as they tend to have less refined surfaces—if you're not sure if your cast iron pan is completely smooth, opt for an enameled version to be on the safe side.
Number of Pieces
The number of pieces you'll need in a set will depend on how often you cook and for how many people. If you're looking for a very basic set, you'll want at least one each of a saucepan, frying pan/skillet, and a stockpot or Dutch oven to get started. When picking out a complete set, remember that lids and other accessories (steamer baskets, utensils, etc.) often count towards the number of pieces included in your set. Keep in mind that cookware sets with a large number of pieces can be great to have, but make sure you have enough room to store it all.
FAQs
How do you clean a glass stovetop?
Be sure your stove is completely turned off and cooled down before cleaning. You can use a commercial glass cooktop cleaner or an all-purpose cleaner with a degreaser to get your stovetop clean—simply apply the solution, let it sit for a minute, and then gently scrub the surface with a non-abrasive sponge. For stubborn stuck-on food or residue, you can use a non-abrasive scrubber to gently slough away any debris. Ideally, you'll want to wipe down your cooktop after every use so you won't have to do a full cleaning as often.
Is it ever okay to use cast iron on a glass stovetop?
Yes, with a few caveats. Be sure to clean the outside of the cast iron pan as any oil or residue might leave marks on your stovetop when heated. Because cast iron is heavy, you want to be gentle when setting it down on your cooktop, and never slide the pan across the surface as you don't want to risk scratching its surface.
Is there any way to remove scratches from a glass stovetop?
Yes, depending on the severity of the scratch and its location. Minor scratches may be able to be buffed out using a paste of two teaspoons of baking soda and one teaspoon of water (gently apply the wet paste with a soft cloth or sponge and lightly buff). There are also commercial scratch removers available, like NuFinish Scratch Doctor. However, if it is a crack or deep scratch over the heating element, you'll want to have it looked at by a professional.
How much weight can a glass stovetop hold?
This varies by manufacturer, but in general, the maximum load for a glass cooktop is about 45 to 50 pounds.
Why Trust The Spruce Eats?
The author of this piece, Donna Currie, is a seasoned food writer and product tester for The Spruce Eats. A self-professed "kitchen geek," she's written a number of our favorite roundups on a range of essential kitchen items, from the best Thanksgiving gadgets to the top seafood kitchen tools of the year.
This piece was edited by Bernadette Machard de Gramont, an LA-based writer who specializes in global food and wine content. She researches and tests a variety of cookware, bakeware, and wine tools, and interviews field experts for their insight.
This roundup was updated by Julie Laing, who has been a writer and editor for more than 25 years and published her first cookbook, "The Complete Guide to Pickling," in 2020. Many of the recipes on her Twice as Tasty blog were created on a glass-top stove. For this roundup, she interviewed Michele Peterson, A Taste for Travel blogger and co-author of Lonely Planet Food’s "Mexico: From the Source."
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