10 best non-stick pan sets to help you cook up a storm

Non-stick and built to last, this pan set from GreenPan pipped many other excellent options to the post. The Thermolon ceramic non-stick coating is PFA-free, so there’s no “forever chemicals”, and we were seriously impressed with its performance. Pancakes, omelettes, chicken breast and stir-fries all slid off the gleaming surface like a dream, even when cooked at low heat and with minimal oil.

This set comes from the Barcelona range. The brand says these hard-anodised aluminium pans are twice as strong as stainless steel. This gives the set a solid but lightweight feel that is meant to be resistant to bumps and nicks, as well as helping food to cook evenly. The pans can be placed in the oven up to 220C. Unlike many non-stick sets, it’s safe to use these pans with metal cooking utensils, which is ideal if you’re whisking flour into melted butter for a béchamel.

The Barcelona pans were a dream to clean, too. Cooking residue was removed with a few seconds of light scrubbing under warm water. Unlike other pans we tried, they seemed just as non-stick a week into use as they were on day one. The only drawback is that you only get two frying pans, not a saucepan.

Made from forged aluminium and finished with a hexagon-imprinted cooking surface, these George Home cooking pots turned heads in our kitchen – visiting guests thought they were much more expensive than they actually are. The coordinating seven-piece saucepan and frying pan set, which also includes four see-through lids, comes in at less than £70. That’s great value considering that the set comes with a 15-year guarantee.

The soft-grip handles were a nice addition, but they also mean you can’t use these pans in the oven. The pans are suitable for all other heating methods, including induction, and they’re lightweight, thanks to their forged aluminium core. We found that they required a bit more elbow grease than some others to maintain the non-stick surface, but given they’re also dishwasher-safe, that’s far from a deal-breaker. Just bear in mind that the coating isn't listed as PFA-free.

This five-piece cookware set from Swan does it all, and does it affordably. Ceramic non-stick coatings are often more expensive than polytetrafluoroethylene, but Swan provides you with three lidded ceramic saucepans and two frying pans for just shy of £100, roughly £20 per pan.

I needed very little oil while cooking with this non-stick set. The pans heated up quickly thanks to their aluminium core, which also makes them light to hold.

Instead of traditional metal handles, Swan has opted for soft-touch, rubber grips. I found it incredibly handy when carrying pasta water to the sink to drain or a frying pan to the table to spoon out egg-fried rice. However, that means that the pans can only be used in the oven up to temperatures of 170C for 40 minutes, which is significantly lower than some of the other pan sets we tested.

This versatile set from long-established kitchen brand Tower delivers serious value without compromising performance. What’s different about this range is that the frying pans come with heat indicators. A circle in the centre of each pan’s cooking surface turns from bright red to dark when the pan hits the optimal searing temperature of 200C. It’s an ideal feature for a novice cook looking to boost their kitchen confidence.

The brand claims that the non-stick PTFE surface is PFOA-free and metal-utensil-friendly. Our tests found it very effective, with sauces and veg sliding straight from the cooking surface to a plate. The pan bases are made from forged aluminium, so they are lightweight yet tough. They can be used in the oven up to 220C, too.

The accompanying glass lids let you keep an eye on what’s happening inside as you cook, and the set is recyclable at the end of its life. It’s impressive stuff for the price,.

HexClad has plenty of celebrity endorsements, including from Gordon Ramsay, but I was pleased to find that it lives up to the hype. HexClad offers a best-of-all-worlds pan design, blending the quick and even heating of stainless steel and the durability of cast iron with a non-stick surface.

I seriously enjoyed using this set. Cool, comfortable handles made moving pans around a joy. The wok is a brilliant addition, too – it’s a versatile kitchen workhorse I found myself reaching for again and again.

The idea is that the signature steel hexagon-marked surface distributes heat for even searing and sauteing, with tough non-stick PFA-free ceramic ‘valleys’ in between to prevent food from sticking. The pans come at a premium price point, but they also come with a lifetime warranty.

The upmarket look meant I was happy to have them on show in our kitchen. The pans are incredibly stylish and professional and come with a range of clear and durable lids. I even served dishes straight from the pan to guests.

The only downside, aside from the hefty price tag? You’ll need a decent amount of storage space to house the large pans and the various lids. It’s a good thing that they’re stylish, because they don’t stack as neatly as they could.

The cult ‘always pan’ by Our Place was everywhere a few years ago, and its popularity shows no signs of stopping.

This cookware duo set pairs the original viral pan with its pot-shaped cousin, both of which come in a range of colours. It’s not just about style, though – the designs are clever, too, with both the pan and pot able to fulfil a range of kitchen functions.

The pan and pot come with beechwood spatulas and spoons, which nestle perfectly on handles during storage and cooking. The pan also comes with a steamer basket for vegetables or dumplings, while the pot’s lid has a built-in strainer for draining pasta.

These pans all felt incredibly light, even when the pan or pot was full to the brim. We found the PFA-free ceramic coating to be effective and, thanks to the aluminium body, the cookware was quick to heat up.

This non-stick set from Stellar offered the best saucepans we tested. They excelled at a huge variety of dishes, easily handling porridge, risottos and braised meat dishes as well as simpler fare like mashed potatoes or just warming through some baked beans. All these potentially sticky situations were breezy when we used this set from Stellar.

The set is also great for searing - the set also includes a 26cm frying pan. Stellar claims that the hard anodised edition is its most durable, so you can expect it to take the occasional knock. The pans held up well in the oven – they withstood temperatures up to 240C – and could handle hard scrubbing in the sink. That said, it’s a fairly pricey set, and it also uses PTFE.

Le Creuset cookware is never cheap, but you get what you pay for. I think this pricey but effective trio of frying pans is a solid choice.

The frying pans feature Le Creuset’s “best ever” non-stick coating, and we found everything we cooked easily slid off the pan, whether we were making sautéed green beans, cornmeal socca pancakes or delicate sea bass. However, this surface is PTFE.

The set includes three pans of slightly different sizes (16cm, 24cm and 26cm), and each works well across everything we tested, whether you’re cooking something complex or a simple supper of steak, pan-fried veg and an accompanying sauce.

A producer of kettles, toasters and air fryers, Funky has recently entered the non-stick cookware game. With eye-catching shiny steel exteriors and the option to build a mix-and-match bundle of cookware, the brand’s offering differs from the others in this guide.

This set pairs different non-stick cooking surfaces with one 20cm ceramic pan and two “tri-ply” pans made from aluminium and steel, coated with PTFE. These pans produce slightly different results. My tests found that ceramic is best for super-sticky, quick-cooking foods (such as eggs), while the tri-ply pans suit slower sears and provide more even heat (ideal when cooking a steak, for example).

During testing, the Funky pans felt good quality for the price, particularly given that the “tri-ply” pans are oven-safe up to 260C, much higher than most sets out there. The easy-grip handle on the largest frying pan is handy when you’re cooking for a crowd, too.

Our only issue is that we could have done without the ‘Funky’ branding emblazoned across all the pan handles.

Used in kitchens for centuries, cast iron is the original non-stick cookware. It takes a little effort - making a non-stick cast iron pan requires careful seasoning with heat and oil, diligent hand-washing and immediate drying. It can take longer to cook food than with modern types of non-stick options, as heavy bases are slow to heat up. Inexperienced cooks may find that food still sticks if they add it to the pan too soon. However, if you’re unhurried and experienced in the kitchen, cast iron delivers superb performance and lifelong durability.

This clever Staub set takes cast iron non-stick cookery into the modern era. The three pans in the set – a cocotte, a saute pan and a frying pan – stack together in one neat pile in your cupboard or on the hob, and are crowned with a single lid that handily fits all three. All the pans have a 24cm width but vary in depth (from 4.5cm to 11.5cm), so they can tackle everything from stews to fried eggs to oven-baked cornbread.