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Whether you’re cooking a big holiday feast or just making a late-night batch of boxed mac and cheese, your cookware brings your grandest and humblest culinary endeavors to fruition. It’s arguably the most used equipment in your kitchen, which is why it’s important to invest in a quality set that’s durable and heats evenly.
Since 2017 we’ve researched over a hundred cookware sets and rigorously tested more than 20. The Tramontina Gourmet 12-Piece Tri-Ply Clad Cookware Set is our top pick because it offers solid construction and comfortable design at a reasonable price. If well cared for, it will last for decades. Like all of the cookware recommended in this guide, the Tramontina set works on all cooktops, including induction.
Different big-box stores may carry exclusive variations of this set—cookware manufacturers often sell variants of the same set to different retailers to avoid competition among stores, such as Target and Walmart, that sell similar items. But we tried to cut through all of that confusion by testing the best version of each cookware set that we could find across multiple retailers.
The best cookware set – Tramontina Gourmet 12-Piece Tri-Ply Clad Cookware Set
The pots and pans in the Tramontina Gourmet 12-Piece Tri-Ply Clad Cookware Set heat evenly and are a comfortable weight, so they didn’t feel as cumbersome to lift as some others we tried. We also found their rounded, ergonomically shaped handles comfortable to hold. We’re confident that this durable cookware set will last for decades.
If you are unable to find the full set or would prefer to build your own smaller set, Tramontina also sells its cookware open stock, as individual pieces. To build a great 10-piece set (which includes six pieces of cookware and four lids), here are the pieces we’d get:
- 1½- or 2-quart saucepan with a lid
- 3-quart saucepan with a lid
- 3-quart sauté pan with a lid
- a 10-inch and 12-inch skillet (the set we recommend comes with an 8-inch skillet and a 10-inch skillet, but we prefer the larger sizes since they’re more versatile)
- 8-quart stockpot with a lid
If you’d rather start with a few basics, you’ll be able to cook a lot with just a 3-quart saucepan, a 12-inch skillet, and an 8-quart stockpot. Or mix and match whatever pieces you want.
A buy-it-for-life cookware set – All-Clad D3 Tri-Ply Stainless Steel 10-Piece Set
For superior-quality cookware that lasts a lifetime, we recommend getting the All-Clad D3 Tri-Ply Stainless Steel 10-Piece Set. The pros we talked to said the All-Clad tri-ply cookware is the best for both professional and home use because it’s so durable.
In our tests, the All-Clad pans heated evenly, were comfortable to hold, and tackled every cooking job without any hiccups. Though the largest skillet measures only 10 inches instead of 12, this set can outfit your kitchen with all the other pots and pans you’re ever likely to need.
And if you’re partial to keeping your cookware bright and shiny, note that All-Clad is one of the few that looked like new when we cleaned it—even after a decade of heavy use.
Ninja EverClad Commercial-Grade Stainless Steel Cookware 7-Piece Set – Budget Pick
Ninja is newer to making stainless-steel pans but they impressed our tester Allison Robicelli in a recent review of the best stainless-steel cookware test. We consider them to be a quality budget choice compared to the higher end options above. These pans definitely have some shortcomings; It doesn’t have quite the even heating of a pricier All-Clad set and they are definitely on the heavier side. But at a fraction of the price they are a good affordable alternative. You also get glass lids, rather than full stainless steel, which let you see the food more easily, but are more fragile. They are tempered glass, which means you can put them in the oven, but some people may choose not to.