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The Spruce Eats / Amelia Manley
Eggs have become the ultimate versatile kitchen staple. They're the perfect start to the day and a crowd favorite on brunch menus. The options to cook this breakfast fix are endless: They can be scrambled quickly, fried to perfection, or even showcased as a perfect French omelet or Denver omelet. And who says we can’t have eggs for dinner?
But the pans you choose to cook the eggs in are as important as the quality of the eggs themselves. With the right pan, you can make the fluffiest scrambled eggs that have a curd-like texture and perfectly gooey omelets that will bring you joy. The right kind of pan helps you cook your dishes quickly and makes for an easy cleanup afterward.
Here are the best egg pans to help you enjoy this breakfast staple.
Best Overall
Viking Professional 5-Ply 10-Inch Nonstick Fry Pan
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Viking Culinary
Ergonomic stay-cool handle
5-ply construction
Can use on all kinds of cooktops
Handwashing is preferable
The Viking 5-Ply Professional is our top choice for a great, versatile pan since it can be used on multiple cooking surfaces including an induction cooktop. Featuring an ergonomically designed, stay-cool handle, high-end 5-ply construction, and a 500-degree-Fahrenheit oven-safe build, this professional-quality pan is built to last. Handcrafted in the United States, it's designed for maximum heat transfer and low-energy usage. There's also the nonstick coating for super easy release, which will help your omelets slide out from the pan cleanly. Although the pan is dishwasher safe, the manufacturer recommends washing by hand.
Price at time of publish: $197
Material: Stainless steel | Size: 8 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
Best Oven-Safe
Caraway Fry Pan
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Amazon
Ceramic construction
Comes in fun colors
Oven safe up to 550 degrees
The handles get very hot
Handwashing recommended
The relatively new kid on the block, Caraway makes high-quality cookware coated with nonstick ceramic enamel instead of Teflon. Not only are these pans absolutely gorgeous and fun, but they are also super easy to cook in and clean. The Caraway Fry Pan is made of aluminum and features a stainless-steel base and cool-to-the-touch handle for an even distribution of heat. You can expect uniformly cooked pancakes with equal browning, and you'll get a nice sear on meats despite it being nonstick. Plus, your eggs will slide right off.
This pan is totally oven-safe up to 550 degrees Fahrenheit, which means you can completely cook and finish a dish in the oven with this pan. Available in six beautiful colors, it's easy to choose the right shade to add a pop of color to your kitchen.
Price at time of publish: $95
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The Spruce Eats / Lindsay Boyers
Material: Ceramic | Size: 10.5 inches | Dishwasher Safe: No
Best Budget
Flamekiss Non-Stick Frying Pan
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Wayfair
Made of ceramic
Metal utensil-resistant and dishwasher-safe
Heat-resistant handle
Some find it a bit too deep
The Flamekiss is a high-quality nonstick pan that won't break the bank. Its nano-ceramic coating is durable, meaning it won't peel away even if you overheat it. This 8-inch pan is perfect for a single omelet, scrambled eggs, or fried eggs, since one side of the pan has a molded lip for easy scooping and sliding eggs from the pan. It's also metal utensil and dishwasher safe, and the nonstick coating allows you to cook with very little oil for easy cleanup. We love that the handle is heat resistant and stays cool during cooking, and given the low price tag and high-quality features, this pan is a great choice.
Price at time of publish: $45
Material: Aluminum | Size: 12 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
Best High-End
HexClad 8-Inch Hybrid Pan
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HexClad
Laser-etched design
Oven safe up to 500 degrees
Metal utensil-resistant and dishwasher-safe
Food can stick to the surface
The HexClad 8-Inch Hybrid Pan is a quality, versatile pan that you can cook anything in. Whether you're perfecting French omelets, sautéing veggies, or cooking a crisp seared fish, this pan will handle it with ease.
While not technically a nonstick pan, HexClad's patented laser etching design creates a series of stainless steel peaks and nonstick valleys, meaning you can safely use metal spatulas, put it in the dishwasher for cleaning, or finish food in the oven, all without reaching for another pan. It's also oven safe up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and can be used on an induction stovetop. Some reviewers have had issues with food sticking to the surface within a few uses. This is also available in 10-inch and 12-inch versions.
Price at time of publish: $90
Material: Aluminum, stainless steel | Size: 8 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
Best Eco-Friendly
Ozeri 10-Inch Green Earth Frying Pan
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Ozeri
Effective ceramic finish
Great heat distribution
Bakelite stay-cool handle
Might lose it nonstick quality after a while
If you're looking for an eco-friendly and nonstick egg pan, the 10-inch Ozeri Green Pan is a great option. Featuring a poppy green hue, an anodized aluminum core, and a ceramic nonstick layer of coating, this pan is entirely free of PTFE, PFOA, PFCs, and NMP.
The honeycomb-textured frying surface allows for even distribution of heat by creating small air pockets underneath the food, and it's induction-stovetop safe. We tested this on a gas stove, and it heated evenly with the Bakelite handle staying cool, especially when cooking up a dozen eggs. And because of the hardened scratch-resistant coating, cleaning is a breeze. If you'll be using this for single-skillet meals, we suggest getting the 12-inch version.
Price at time of publish: $25
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The Spruce Eats / Katie Begley
Material: Anodized aluminum, ceramic | Size: 10 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
Best Large
Made In Nonstick Frying Pan
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Made In
Oven safe up to 500 degrees
Induction-ready
Stay-cool metal handles
Slightly heavy for a frying pan
If you're into lazy weekend mornings, brunch, and a bunch of your favorite people, you'll need a pan that can handle a large batch of cooking. Enter the Made In nonstick frying pan, a versatile pan with a wide flat base and low profile that can handle fried eggs, hash browns, or sautéed vegetables with equal ease.
Available as an 8-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch pan, the durable and heavy-duty stainless-steel skillet has a proprietary coating (with absolutely no PFOA) that’s “seriously slippery” for effortless food release. It also delivers heat evenly throughout, so you can use the pan for any number of cooking tasks, including searing fish or other proteins, too. And, no matter what you’re cooking, since it's oven safe up to 500 degrees, you can leave the pan in the oven to keep your food warm or to finish cooking. One of the only issues is this is slightly heavy for a pan.
Price at time of publish: $89
Material: Stainless steel | Size: 12 inches | Dishwasher Safe: No
Best for Induction Cooktops
Great Jones Large Fry
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Great Jones
Safe for all stovetops
No screws for an entirely smooth surface
Safe in ovens up to 500 degrees
Matching cookware available
Doesn’t perform as well on high heat
Induction cooktops require cookware that has ferromagnetic materials, as in materials with magnetic properties. While most stainless steel, enamel cast iron, and cast-iron cookware are induction-friendly, many egg pans are not compatible. Great Jones Large Fry is an exception.
This sleek—and seriously attractive—pan has a nice, flat surface that spans 10.25 inches, making it easy to cook breakfast for one or the whole family. It also has a handle that’s welded, not screwed, so food bits won’t get stuck in the crevices—simply slide your eggs out and onto your plate in one swift motion, no utensils required. Great Jones is also known for making cookware that is free of PFAS, PFOA so it’s safer and more eco-friendly., It's also oven safe up to 500 degrees and is dishwasher safe (though hand washing is recommended for best results).
Price at time of publish: $85
Material: Stainless steel, ceramic | Size: 10.25 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes, but hand washing recommended
Best Japanese-Style
TeChef Tamagoyaki Japanese Egg Pan
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Amazon
Shape works well for other items too
Induction-ready
Dishwasher-safe
Slightly small
This Japanese-style egg pan is perfect for the adventurous cook in your life. Although you can use any pan to make Tamagoyaki (Japanese omelet), this TeChef pan makes the process easy and tidy. It's made with PFOA-free nonstick coating and is induction compatible. Tamagoyaki frying pans are typically smaller in size to allow you to tilt the pan as you roll the layer of cooked egg into a cylindrical shape, and this pan's small rectangular shape also allows for easy flipping of omelets and pancakes. The shape is also perfect for longer slices of bread when making French toast or grilled cheese.
Price at time of publish: $33
Material: Aluminum | Size: 7.5 x 1.2 x 5.5 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
Best Single-Serve
Sun Terriory One Egg Frying Pan
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Easy to store
Easy to clean
Affordable
Limited uses
We fell in love with this adorable pan based on its size alone, which makes it ideal for apartment living. But because it's so easy to store, we think it makes a nice addition to any kitchen even if its serving size is limited. The Sun Terriory One Egg Frying Pan is the ultimate, must-have pan when you need to cook only a single egg. Scrambled, fried, or over easy—this pan is top-notch for an egg just the way you want it. You can even get your creativity flowing and make a small single-serve omelet or an open-faced English muffin sandwich if you so desire. Small enough to fit just about anywhere, this 4.7-inch frying pan is made of nonstick, high-quality cast iron and is compatible on both electric and induction cooktops. While it is dishwasher safe, hand-washing is recommended for best results, but with such a small surface, cleanup is a breeze.
Price at time of publish: $13
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The Spruce Eats / Vicki Denig
Material: Cast iron | Size: 8 x 2.9 x 1.1 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
If you are looking for a high-end pan that is versatile and eliminates the need to have multiple pans in your kitchen, the Viking 5-Ply Professional Nonstick Fry Pan is a great pick. If you'd like a colorful ceramic-coated option. we stand behind the Caraway Fry Pan.
What to Look for in an Egg Pan
Material
When it comes to frying pans, there are all different kinds of materials, but the most common tend to be stainless steel, cast iron, carbon steel, and nonstick coating. Stainless steel heats up quickly and is non-reactive, so it won’t alter the taste of your food, but the higher-end models are pricey and pans without a nonstick coating are prone to sticking.
Cast iron is also a very durable material, and while it’s slow to heat up, it retains heat incredibly well. The problem: Cast iron is extremely heavy, hard to care for, and food doesn’t always release easily. Carbon steel is nearly just as durable and heat retentive as cast iron, but it’s much lighter. Unfortunately, it requires much of the same maintenance of cast iron, including seasoning and hand-washing, in order to maintain nonstick properties.
In general, Daniel P. Craig, chef and founder of Kitchen Deets, suggests purchasing a nonstick material for eggs to avoid cleaning issues. “Cast Iron or stainless steel pans can be hard to clean and are not usually recommended for cooking eggs.”
Size
“When shopping for a pan to use for eggs, choose an 8- to 10-inch size,” says Craig. “This is the perfect size for cooking eggs and also works well with other foods such as oatmeal.” Also consider family size. For the most part, an 8-inch pan is suitable for a serving or two of eggs, but ultimately, you should pick a size that meets your needs. For a one- or two-person household, the 8-inch pan might be large enough, but a household of four or more will likely require a 12-inch pan.
Maintenance
Some frying pans are easier to maintain than others. For example, cast iron and carbon steel pans require special care—namely seasoning and handwashing—to ensure they remain not only nonstick but also usable. Some pans, particularly stainless steel and ceramic versions, are dishwasher safe, making them easier to care for. But it’s worth approaching with caution: Not many pans are truly dishwasher-safe—many retailers caveat this claim with verbiage like “hand-washing preferred.” And when hand washing, take care not to use abrasive materials like steel wool on nonstick coatings, since it can damage them beyond use.
FAQs
Why are my eggs sticking to my nonstick pan?
When the pan is brand-new, the eggs usually slide out easily but over time the coating can wear off. In that case it helps to add a little oil or butter to the pan top prevent the eggs from sticking to the pan.
Can I cook eggs in a stainless steel pan?
You can cook eggs in any kind of pan, including a stainless steel pan but you need to add oil or butter to prevent them from sticking.
What pan to use for eggs Benedict?
For eggs Benedict, you don't use a frying pan. The eggs are poached in a pot with water. Find out how it's done here.
Why Trust The Spruce Eats?
As a personal chef, Renu Dhar has cooked in different kitchens using a variety of cookware and has seen the good and the bad of it. She recommends these cooking pans to her clients and personally uses some of them.
This article was later updated by Brigitt Earley, a writer and editor with nearly 15 years of experience testing and writing about consumer products, including cookware. She also holds a certificate in culinary arts from the French Culinary Institute and has worked in a professional kitchen. She has personally used many of the above pans, but her personal favorites are the Great Jones and Caraway frying pans. Despite cooking for a large family, she doesn’t mind handwashing if it means the pan she’s using will be ultra nonstick.
Sources
- Daniel P. Craig, chef and founder of Kitchen Deets
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