![Hands holding Caraway Nonstick Ceramic Cookware Set pan and lid behind mpre pans on stovetop](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.allrecipes.com/thmb/bEAQe596PuDvRqfS-3VryxJtbxg=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Testing_CarawayNon-ToxicCeramicNonstickCookwareSet_190-1-3x2-f6f0532cce174213bb636cedbf44af62.jpeg)
Allrecipes / Jen Causey
Your social media feed has probably been filled with cooking videos done with ceramic cookware. It's all the rage these days since ceramic has the slick qualities of nonstick cookware with the high heat tolerance of stainless steel. They really offer the best of all worlds! You can fry an egg without breaking the yolk or cook Ina's creamy sausage pasta and nothing sticks. It doesn't hurt that their glazed finish looks stunning on any stovetop.
We've done two rounds of testing to help you choose the best ceramic cookware set for your kitchen. First, we asked Allrecipes product tester Alyssa Sybertz to put the top options on the market to the ultimate test. Then, we tasked the Allrecipes Allstars—our dedicated team of trusted experts—to test more ceramic cookware in their home kitchens. We consider each set's performance, design, ease of storage, cleanup, cooking surface, and value to determine our recommendations.
Our Top Pick
Caraway Nonstick Ceramic Cookware Set
Why It's Great: Food doesn't stick; attractive; well-designed; comes with storage
Grain of Salt: Limited amount of pans; heavy
Caraway lives up to its online reputation since it's the only cookware set that had no sticking during any of our tests. The slightly heavy pans are still comfortable to handle and have helpful design features.. The lids always fit snugly on the pots and release steam through a hole, which proved key while making fresh applesauce in our first round of testing and boiling pasta in our second. And to avoid careless mistakes, there are bumps on the handles to keep you from touching the hot part.
Importantly, the ceramic cooking surfaces always exceeded expectations whether we were making omelets, pan-frying salmon, or coating our cooked pasta with creamy sauce. Food slid around the pans with no sticking, and cleanup was painless with only a few soapy swipes necessary. All of the cookware performed magnificently when it came to heat control. “The cookware only needed medium to low heat to warm up surprisingly quickly, and looks to heat up fairly evenly,” Allstar France Smith says.
The set is only seven pieces (four pans and three lids), but it does come with storage solutions. Frances liked that the pieces were large enough for most everyday recipes. “There was plenty of space without having to worry about the food spilling while stirring or any boiling over,” she says. Caraway also sells smaller cookware and storage containers to help you complete your collection.
The Details: Oven safe up to 550°F; induction compatible; hand-wash only; 7 pieces
Allrecipes / Jen Causey
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Jen Causey
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Our Other Top Pick
GreenPan Valencia Pro Hard Anodized Cookware Set
Why It's Great: Has all the pieces you need for a full kitchen; excellent performance; easy to clean; oven-safe to 600°F
Grain of Salt: Frying pan handles can get too hot
Sometimes during testing, it's hard to pick just one ultimate recommendation, and this is one of those times. In addition to the Caraway cookware, Frances also loved the GreenPan's Valencia Pro set. The 11-piece set is comprehensive—it includes seven pieces of cookware, lids, and pan protectors—and incredibly enjoyable to cook with.
All of the cookware pieces are coated with Thermolon Advanced, GreenPan's diamond-infused ceramic coating. It's extremely durable and can withstand metal utensils, high temperatures, and your dishwasher's abrasive cleaner. Frances loved that even over only medium heat everything warmed up quickly and evenly. Plus, the sizes in this set make it very versatile. “This set provides a lot of variety for a moderate price, and can meet most chef's basic needs in outfitting their kitchen,” Frances says.
We appreciate that it's oven-safe to 600° Fahrenheit—the lids to 425° Fahrenheit—and compatible with induction cooktops. Frances wasn't a fan of the handles on the frying pans though. They can get hot-to-the-touch and could be an inch or two longer. If you're in a large household, this cookware is also available as a 16-piece and a 22-piece set.
The Details: Oven safe up to 600°F; induction compatible; dishwasher-safe; 11 pieces
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Best Budget
GreenPan Ceramic Nonstick 10-Piece Cookware Set
Why It's Great: Same Thermolon coating as pricier GreenPan sets; great variety of pieces; heats evenly
Grain of Salt: Might need to buy larger pans or saucepans; short handles can get hot
Yes, we like GreenPan's cookware so much that we've included two of its cookware lines on our list. The Chatham cookware set has the basic diamond-infused Thermolon ceramic coating. It's incredibly durable but isn't as tough as the Thermolon Advanced on the Valencia Pro cookware.
The six pieces of this set—two frying pans, two saucepans, a saute pan, and a stockpot—are essential for any stocked kitchen. It also has the high quality we expect from GreenPan and performed beautifully in Frances' kitchen. All the cookware heated quickly and evenly, with an effortless cleanup afterward. She really likes this set for anyone starting out in a new kitchen. “This is definitely ideal for a new chef planning to prepare smaller meals, while still being high quality and seemingly built to last,” Frances says.
It isn't completely perfect though. Like the Valencia Pro, the frying pans' short handles can get a bit too hot. And while the smaller capacities are great for smaller households, a few extra pieces might be in order if you like making large meals.
The Details: Oven safe up to 600°F; not induction compatible; dishwasher-safe; 10 pieces
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Allrecipes / Frances Carden
Most Versatile
Our Place Always Pan 2.0
Why It's Great: Does the work of multiple pans; looks great; oven-safe; lightweight
Grain of Salt: Food can stick to the included spatula
Like the Caraway cookware, you've possibly seen the Our Place Always Pan all over social media. It looks great on your stove, and it also delivers on performance. The pan allows you to saute, fry, steam, and braise, with add-ons available for poaching, bamboo steaming, and protecting yourself (and your stove) from oil splatter while frying. But even before adding anything, Allstar Lisa Lynn Backus was won over. “This pan is my new favorite go-to pan!!“ she says.
Lisa Lynn fell in love with the Always Pan's amazing performance. It heats up blazing fast, has enough room to stir and mix most recipes, and is lightweight enough that swirling heated oil or flipping food is a cinch. “My cooking seems effortless with a skillful sauté, swirl, shake, flip, plate, serve and makes me look like a star chef, or so I think,” Lisa Lynn says. Add to that, that it's a snap to clean.
We've heard that food can stick to the included bamboo spatula, so it's worth giving that a good seasoning with oil. Also, since this is only one pan, you could very well regularly need more pans.
The Details: Oven safe up to 4500°F; induction compatible; dishwasher-safe; 1 piece
Allrecipes / Lisa Lynn Backus
Allrecipes / Lisa Lynn Backus
Allrecipes / Lisa Lynn Backus
Allrecipes / Lisa Lynn Backus
Allrecipes / Lisa Lynn Backus
Our Takeaway
With the essential pieces, great performance, and even greater looks, our top pick is the Caraway 7-Piece Cookware Set. We also recommend the GreenPan Valencia Pro Hard Anodized Cookware Set, which is perfect if you want to full equip your kitchen all at once.
How to Pick the Right Ceramic Cookware Set
Construction
Most ceramic cookware sets have an aluminum core which should conduct heat evenly. This combined with the outer coating makes for an ultra-lightweight pan, another advantage to ceramic, especially if you have limited grip strength or arthritis. Look for cookware with handles that are securely riveted to the pan and have tempered glass lids, which are both indicators of well-made cookware.
Size and Quantity
Since we're talking about cookware sets here, consider the number of pieces and which pieces in particular, you're looking to add to your collection. Most pieces will include, at minimum, a saucepan, fry pan, Dutch oven or stockpot, and sauté pan. From there, you can get varying sizes of saucepans and fry pans, as well as a number of lids, utensils, and even accessories like steamer baskets. The sets tested in this review range in size from seven pieces to a whopping 16 pieces.
About Our Tests
We analyze each cookware set on its performance, heat distribution, and ease of cleaning. We pay special attention to the design and the full set's versatility. To find the best ceramic cookware, the first round of testing was undertaken by Allrecipes product tester Alyssa Sybertz, with the second round completed by the Allrecipes Allstars Frances Smith and Lisa Lynn Backus in their homes. The tests included:
- Frying eggs in a skillet to assess heat distribution, the pan’s ability to create a nonstick environment, and ease of cleaning.
- Making applesauce to examine heat distribution, effectiveness of the interior's design, and ease of cleaning.
- Boiling pasta, simmering sauce, and making rice in the saucepan and stockpot for heat distribution and retention, capacity, the effectiveness of the lid design, and how comfortable the handle design is.
- Searing meat in the larger fry pan or saute pan to test heating distribution, pan design, and ease of cleaning.
The Leftovers: Other Ceramic Cookware Sets We Tested
The Blue Diamond 10-Piece Ceramic Nonstick Cookware Set narrowly missed out on a place above for two key reasons. First, the egg was over hard, despite the fact that it happened to have two yolks. And two, the solid cover jiggled quite loudly from steam pressure throughout the applesauce test. It's an attractive set otherwise, though it comes with two cooking utensils instead of a second saucepan.
Common Questions
What is ceramic cookware?
Early forms of ceramic cookware date back thousands of years, but modern-day ceramic cookware has evolved greatly from its ancient predecessors. What most people call ceramic cookware is actually metal that has been glazed with a silicone-based nonstick coating derived from sand (the technical term for this coating is sol-gel). But you can also find ceramic cookware that is 100 percent ceramic (i.e. made from clay, baked in a kiln, and glazed).
For the sake of our testing, we focus on the former. Ceramic-coated cookware, also called ceramic nonstick cookware, is often constructed with an aluminum or stainless-steel base for optimal heat conduction. The ceramic coating offers an easy-to-clean, nonstick surface, while the metal base offers excellent conduction capabilities. On the downside, ceramic-coated cookware is less durable than its traditional nonstick and stainless-steel counterparts: Its glaze tends to wear down faster. The more you use it, the more it wears down, and the more oil you'll need to use with it.
How do you clean ceramic cookware?
Thanks to the nonstick properties that keep food from sticking to the surface, ceramic cookware is among the easiest to clean—especially when compared to stainless steel. Likewise, it's also easier to maintain than cast iron, since it doesn't require regular seasoning. Some ceramic cookware is safe to put in the dishwasher (check the manufacturer's instructions first), but we suggest hand washing with mild dish soap whenever possible to better preserve the finish.
Is ceramic cookware safe?
Ceramic cookware is a good alternative for those who want to avoid nonstick cookware coated in PTFE, which may release polymer fumes at high temperatures above 500° Fahrenheit. For this reason, both PTFE-coated cookware and ceramic-coated cookware should be heated on low to medium heat. Like traditional nonstick coatings, ceramic coatings will also chip or peel off and lose their nonstick properties over time, so it's best to use non-metal utensils while cooking with them.
Why Take Our Word For It?
Alyssa Sybertz is a freelance writer and avid home cook with nearly a decade of experience writing about food, cooking, nutrition, and wellness. Melanie Fincher is an avid home cook and food journalist with experience writing news and lifestyle content.
Siobhan Wallace is our senior commerce editor and keeps this list updated after every round of testing. She’s been covering and testing cookware for three years.