We Tested 18 Roasting Pans—These Are Our 6 Top Picks

Best Overall

Cooks Standard 14" by 12" Stainless Steel Roaster

$56 at Amazon $60 at Wayfair $60 at Walmart

We couldn’t get over the sturdy feel and stylish design of the Cooks Standard stainless steel pan. The hefty handles on both pan and rack are easy to handle, and the mirror-shiny finish is sure to impress. In testing, we got deep browning of our potatoes and chicken drippings, but nothing burned or stuck to the bottom. It was easy to stir together a delicious gravy on the stovetop with no worries about staining or damage.

The Cooks Standard is dishwasher-safe, but it was so easy to hand-wash with a soapy sponge that we didn't find it necessary to use the machine. The price of this pan is fantastic to boot, at less than half of the average in our tests with no decrease in quality. It gets our biggest seal of approval.

Our big complaint about this pan is that it's fairly small. Many roasters are a couple of inches longer and wider and can accommodate an extra-large Thanksgiving turkey or Easter ham. But if you plan to roast huge items, you can simply upgrade to the larger Cooks Standard roasting pan, with the same design and more space at a higher (but still below-average) price.

The pan is stovetop-safe, though if you use an induction cooktop, you'll have to skip it. Steel is usually compatible with induction, but certain kinds of stainless steel — including this pan's — incorporate non-magnetic metals that interfere with induction heating.

Dimensions: 15.75 x 12 x 5.5 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Rack style: V-shaped | Stovetop-safe: Yes | Dishwasher-safe: Yes

Best Value

Farberware Nonstick Steel Roaster

$30 at Amazon Orig. $30 $26 at Target $47 at Walmart

This was the single cheapest pan in our tests, but it finished near the top of the rankings in almost every category. The traditional flat rack creates enough room to keep veggies and protein separate; Our chicken came out tender, with potatoes that were browned and crispy in the right places. The nonstick coating is quite effective, which is almost a problem when making gravy: There are fewer browned bits in the bottom of the pan to create flavor. Nonstick also doesn't transmit heat as effectively as bare steel, so you'll probably have to increase roasting times by a few minutes.

Hand-washing this pan is easy thanks to the nonstick coating, though it is somewhat delicate. It can't go in the dishwasher, on the stovetop, or in an oven over 450°F. But at this price point, its basic abilities outweigh the shortcomings. It’s large enough to cook a holiday bird or party-sized roast and could be perfect for someone taking on hosting a fancy dinner.

Dimensions: 16 x 11.25 x 2.5 inches | Material: Nonstick-coated steel | Rack style: Flat | Stovetop-safe: No | Dishwasher-safe: No

Best Splurge

Cuisinart MultiClad Pro Roasting Pan

Orig. $82 $78 at Amazon $78 at Target $101 at Walmart

Besides the price, we love everything about this pan. Its shallow U-shaped rack offers stability to a turkey or standing rib roast, while leaving plenty of space toward the sides to roast vegetables beneath. The thickness of the steel and the construction of the handles and rack are top-notch, and it feels like a professional-level tool. In testing, it held up to our high expectations, cooking perfect chicken and potatoes, making gravy on the stove, and hand-washing as easily as if it had a nonstick coating.

Cuisinart's MultiClad Pro line has inner and outer layers of steel surrounding an aluminum core, which makes the material heat more evenly in the oven or on the stove. It's a lot more expensive than the brand's thinner, all-steel Chef's Classic pan, but it also did a lot better in our tests. This pan can go on the stove or in the dishwasher, but to keep the steel pristine, you can only use wooden or silicone tools. Metal is forbidden.

Dimensions: 20.75 x 6.25 x 13.25 inches | Materials: Stainless steel, aluminum | Rack style: U-shaped | Stovetop-safe: Yes | Dishwasher-safe: Yes

Best Dual-Height

Rachael Ray 16" x 13" Roaster

$40 at Amazon $40 at Target Orig. $56 $40 at Walmart

The rack for this pan can sit low to the bottom and only allow a little airflow under food for even browning, or it can flip over to sit higher and make room for whole veggies to cook in the drippings beneath a bird or a roast. It's such a simple design feature, but it makes a big difference in versatility. Plus, the rack's feet on one side act as handles on the other, so you can grab and remove it with ease in either configuration.

Not only does the Rachael Ray pan have this rack innovation, but it's also just generally an excellent roaster at an excellent price. It's huge, at 16.5 by 13.5 inches, and the nonstick coating was quite effective in avoiding sticking and burning in testing. Potatoes cooked impressively evenly, if not browning quite as intensely as they would have in a bare steel pan.

The downside is that the pan is fairly thin and fairly fragile. It's not safe on the stove and is hand-wash-only, and you should probably steer clear of metal tools to avoid scratching the nonstick coating. It's lightweight and kind of generally feels like the budget model that it is.

Dimensions: 18.48 x 13.78 x 5.47 inches | Material: Nonstick-coated steel | Rack style: Flat, dual-height | Stovetop-safe: No | Dishwasher-safe: No

Best Oven-to-Table

Le Creuset Stainless Steel Roasting Pan

$170 at Amazon $175 at Williams-Sonoma $175 at Nordstrom

Legendary French brand Le Creuset is perhaps best known for enameled cast iron Dutch ovens, but it makes classically beautiful versions of all kinds of cookware that are built to last. This roasting pan is top-notch in the oven and looks lovely at the table. With proper care, it could be passed on to the next generation of turkey dinners.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In testing, the Le Creuset roasting pan cooked incredibly evenly without any sticking or burning thanks to its thick steel. The v-shaped roasting rack makes basting a bird a cinch and leaves lots of room for veggies. Plus, it has a nonstick coating, so you don't have to worry about scrubbing off bits stuck in the corners.

Inside the pan, there are grooves around the edge to help separate juices from whatever's roasting in the bottom, a helpful feature for making pan sauces. And it's completely stovetop-safe, so you'll never need a second post-roasting cooking vessel. This pan can go in the dishwasher, but when it was time to clean, all we needed was a standard household sponge and mild dish soap. Le Creuset even says you can use metal utensils without damaging the finish! However, for all this performance, it's expensive.

Dimensions: 19.1 x 14.2 x 5.3 inches | Materials: Stainless steel, nonstick-coated steel | Rack style: V-shaped, nonstick | Stovetop-safe: Yes | Dishwasher-safe: Yes

Best Large-Capacity

Nordic Ware Copper Turkey Roaster with Rack

Orig. $104 $94 at Amazon $85 at Target $75 at Wayfair

If you're throwing a fancy dinner party with a crown roast at its center, you need an extra-large roasting pan. Or maybe you want to roast off every root vegetable from your farmer’s market haul before pureeing them into a comforting soup. Regardless, surface area is the name of the game, and Nordic Ware's turkey roaster was the biggest in our tests, at more than 18 inches wide on the inside. But it was nowhere near the most expensive.

This pan's nonstick coating makes washing up as simple as can be, but it's kind of delicate. You can't use metal utensils, and it can't go in the dishwasher. Heating above 400°F can damage the nonstick; you'll have to keep both stovetop and oven temperatures moderate. Cooking was somewhat uneven across the surface thanks to the cheaper aluminized steel material, though this matters less with the longer, lower-temperature cooking the pan is designed for.

This Nordic Ware pan is probably not going to be the only bakeware you need, but if you want to roast huge foods and don't want to spend a lot of money doing so, it's a good piece to add to your kitchen.

Dimensions: 13.8 x 21.3 x 3.5 inches | Material: Nonstick-coated aluminized steel | Rack: U-shaped | Stovetop-safe: Yes (up to 400°F) | Dishwasher-safe: No