The Best Cookware You Can Buy at Walmart, According to a Former Chef
Updated: Apr. 29, 2023
From Dutch ovens to cast-iron skillets to complete sets of pots and pans, there's plenty of excellent Walmart cookware that lasts a lifetime.
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If you’re shopping for Walmart cookware, you’ll be thrilled to know the mega-retailer carries some of the absolute best on the market. And you deserve nothing less! The best cookware is built to last for decades. When shopping for kitchenware, remember that you’re investing in something that you’ll be using every single day, and whatever you pick should be up to the challenge.
Fortunately, there’s plenty of Walmart cookware that meets the highest of standards. In addition to celebrity kitchen brands like Pioneer Woman and Beautiful by Drew Barrymore, you’ll also find Walmart cookware from chef-favorite brands like Staub and Lodge. Whether you’re looking for a single skillet or a complete pots and pans set, we found the best Walmart cookware money can buy.
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Best Overall Walmart Cookware
Ozark Trail 3-Piece Cast-Iron Skillet Set
If there is a single piece of Walmart cookware you should have in your kitchen, it’s a cast-iron skillet. These babies sear, fry, simmer, bake—they do it all! This cast-iron cookware set from Ozark Trail comes with three skillets that will be your go-to pans for just about everything. Use the petite 8-inch skillet to fry up your morning eggs or bake a cake. The 10.5-inch pan is perfect for making a few grilled cheese sandwiches or cooking entrees for two. If you’ve got a family or company coming over, reach for the 12-inch cast iron skillet, which gives you and your food plenty of room to groove.
Pros
- Affordable price point for a 3-pan set
- Excellent heat retention
- Oven safe
- Pre-seasoned
- Loop handle for hanging
Cons
- Cast iron is heavy
- Not for use with acidic foods like tomatoes
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Best Budget
Lodge Cast-Iron Dual-Handle Pan
You might not believe that you can buy a pan that will literally last your entire life for about $25, but that’s exactly the case with this Lodge cast-iron pan. It’s a total workhorse you’ll reach for every. single. day. Whipping up pancakes? It’s got your back. Cooking a quick casserole? This oven-safe pan is super reliable. Planning on enjoying the great outdoors? Bring this cast iron skillet to your campsite, or use it on your backyard grill. With 12 inches of cooking space, this cast-iron skillet can just as easily cook for a crowd as it can for one or two people. It’s ideal for doubling recipes so you can have plenty of leftovers for lunch or meal prepping.
Pros
- Affordable price point
- Cooks food easily
- Versatile cooking uses
- Pre-seasoned
Cons
- Cast iron is heavy
- Hand wash only
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Best Value
Cusinart Chef’s Classic Stainless Steel 11-Piece Cooking Set
For folks setting up their very first kitchen—or those who are ready to chuck it all and start over—you can’t do much better than this 11-piece Cuisinart set. It includes everything you’ll need for stovetop cooking. The large 8-quart stockpot is perfect for boiling pasta water while the steamer insert makes preparing healthy steamed veggies a snap. A small, 1.5-quart saucepan with a glass lid is ideal for cooking sauces, melting butter or warming stock for risotto. This set also comes with two medium-sized saucepans with glass covers for boiling, simmering and steeping, and two skillets for searing, frying and sauteing. Constructed of quality materials, you may never need to replace these pans, making this set one of the best values in cookware. Snag these pots and pans organizers to keep your new set tidy.
Pros
- Dishwasher safe
- Works on induction ranges
- Stainless steel-clad aluminum base conducts heat rapidly and evenly
- Non-reactive
- Measurement markings
Cons
- Skillets do not come with lids
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Best Splurge
Staub Cast-Iron Round Coquette
Don’t let the sticker shock dissuade you from investing in this Staub Coquette. Yes, it’s expensive for a single pot. But oh, what a pot it is! Coquette is what the French call Dutch ovens, and Staub is world famous for making the best ones in the game. This isn’t just a pot you’ll have for the rest of your life—it’s a pot you can pass down for generations. It’s so high quality, your great-grandchildren may one day end up making chicken soup in it.
The Staub Cast-Iron Round Coquette is available in five colors: cherry red, dark blue, graphite grey, matte black and grenadine. Made in France, it’s oven safe up to 900 degrees without the lid, or 500 degrees with the knobbed lid. Though hand-washing this Dutch oven is recommended, if you’re too tired to do that after a long hard day of cooking, it’s totally fine to throw it on the bottom rack of the dishwasher and call it a day.
Pros
- Highest quality imaginable
- Built to last for centuries
- Works on gas, electric and induction cooktops
- Outstanding heat distribution and retention
- Large enough to handle large roasts or gallons of stock
Cons
- Pricey
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Best Pioneer Woman
Pioneer Woman Frontier Speckle Aluminum Everyday Pan
For a great everyday pan, the Pioneer Woman Aluminum Everyday Pan is ideal. Made from high-quality aluminum, this multi-purpose pan heats up fast with even heat distribution, preventing hot and cold spots on the pan’s surface. You won’t have to move your food around to ensure it cooks evenly or to prevent burning. It gets hot enough to create a perfect sear, too! The non-stick coating makes cooking and cleaning far less frustrating. A stay-cool handle keeps your hands safe when using it on the stovetop. This Pioneer Woman pan can also be used in the oven at temperatures up to 400 degrees.
Pros
- Heats quickly and evenly
- Oven safe up to 400 degrees
- Heat-resistant silicone coated stainless steel handle
- Tempered glass lid
Cons
- Non-stick surface has Teflon in it, which is a forever chemical
- Shouldn’t be cleaned in the dishwasher
- Can only be used with non-scratch tools
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Best Beautiful by Drew Barrymore
Beautiful 12-Piece Ceramic Non-Stick Cookware Set
Who says that utilitarian cookware can’t be absolutely gorgeous? The Beautiful Ceramic Cookware Set by Drew Barrymore really is beautiful, and available in four trendy-yet-timeless colors: white icing, black sesame, cornflower blue and sage green. Your food won’t stick to the high-quality ceramic coating, resulting in tastier dishes and easy cleaning. And unlike many other Teflon-based non-stick pans on the market, this set’s nonstick coating is free of PTFE, PFOAs, lead and cadmium, so you can rest easy knowing there are no harmful chemicals leeching into your food. The 12-piece set includes two saucepans with lids, two frying pans, a small Dutch oven and four cookware protectors so you can stack your pans without them scratching.
Pros
- Utterly gorgeous
- Ceramic non-stick coating is free of harmful chemicals
- Includes cookware protectors
- Ergonomic handles stay cool to the touch
- Oven safe up to 500 degrees
Cons
- Hand washing recommended
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Best Griddle
Mainstays Dishwasher-Safe Griddle
An electric griddle that’s dishwasher safe?! It sounds too good to be true, but we swear, it’s real! And if you don’t believe us, believe the 1,100+ reviewers that give the Mainstays’ Dishwasher Safe Griddle a five-star rating. Its spacious, 20-inch cooking surface gives you plenty of room to cook for the entire family. This adjustable-temperature griddle heats up to 400 degrees quickly and evenly, perfect for gently cooking pancakes in the morning without burning or making onion-smothered smashburgers for a late-night crowd. Once you’re done chowing down, simply wipe off any debris from the cooktop and let the dishwasher do the clean up for you.
Pros
- Adjustable temperature control
- Large non-stick surface
- Stores compactly
- Dishwasher safe
Cons
- High-heat cooking on your countertop can get smokey
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Best Grill Pan
Lodge Cast-Iron Seasoned Square Grill Pan
If you’re using a grill pan, you want your food to have those gorgeous grill lines. To do that, you need a pan that’s rocket-fuel hot, and nothing heats up as well as cast iron. Made in the USA, the Lodge Cast-Iron Square Grill Pan sears like it means it, delivering deep brown crusts, mouth-watering caramelization and, of course, those gorgeous grill marks. Dual handles make it easy to maneuver on your gas grill, and it can move from the stovetop directly into the oven to finish your cooking after searing. This pre-seasoned pan has a naturally nonstick surface, providing excellent heat retention and distribution for even, consistent cooking. Here’s how to gently clean a cast-iron skillet.
Pros
- High heat retention to create grill marks
- Oven safe
- Built to last a lifetime
Cons
- Only 10.5 inches wide
What to Look for When Buying Walmart Cookware
When buying Walmart cookware, consider the sort of cooking you want to do and how many people you regularly cook for. If you’re only cooking for one or two people and like preparing simple one pot meals, two or three quality pieces might be all you need. If you have a large family and enjoy preparing large, varied menus, a complete set of Walmart cookware could be for you.
Always consider durability when purchasing any type of cookware. You might save money in the short term buying flimsy pots and pans, but because you’ll need to replace them every few years, they’ll end up costing you more in the long run. When buying Walmart cookware, remember that it’s an investment that should ideally last you decades.
It’s also important to consider materials when browsing Walmart cookware. Look for cookware with a thick, heavy base that provides uniform heating. Cast-iron pans truly can’t be beat for their versatility and ability to conduct and retain heat. Plus, their surfaces gradually become non-stick the more you use them, making them a superior alternative to Teflon-coated pans. Stainless or carbon steel pans with aluminum bases are also an excellent choice.
How We Found the Best Walmart Cookware
As shopping experts, our only job is to help you find a winning product. We start with the research and reporting basics—what products are made of, what they look like and how much they cost—to ensure that we’re only recommending the buys that are worth your time and money. Then, we research the features that speak to the product’s quality, taking advice from industry insiders and subject matter experts on what makes a product a smart value (or worthy of a splurge). Finally, we do the work of combing through user reviews to see how real people interact with the product, and if it stands up to the test.
Originally Published: April 20, 2023
