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The Best Non-Toxic Cookware Trusted by BA Editors (2026)

Bon Appétit | Published: June 18, 2026 | By Alaina Chou
The Best Non-Toxic Cookware Trusted by BA Editors (2026)

If you’ve shopped for nonstick pots and pans in the past decade, you’ve had the term nontoxic cookware thrown at you with increasing velocity. As you've thought about getting new pans you may have even searched for the best nontoxic cookware without being totally sure what toxins they supposedly do not have in them. So what exactly makes cookware “toxic,” and why do these “safe” or “healthy” pans claim to be better?

The answer often starts with a class of synthetic chemicals known as PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These nonstick chemicals have been used in everything from waterproof jackets to nonstick coatings, and after decades of use, scientists have raised health concerns about them in recent years.

The best nontoxic cookware

Whether you’ve never heard of PFAS or you’re already familiar with their nearly 100-year-old history, you’re in the right place for help avoiding them. We’ve tested dozens of nonstick and “nontoxic” pans to find the best options to help you keep PFAS out of your cookware. Read on for the lowdown on all things nontoxic cookware.

Is traditional nonstick toxic?

When companies label their cookware “nontoxic,” they’re usually positioning it as a safer alternative to traditional nonstick, which is typically coated in a chemical called polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE. Discovered accidentally in 1938 and trademarked by chemical company DuPont as Teflon in the early 1960s, PTFE revolutionized home cooking in the second half of the 20th century by providing consumers with a completely nonstick, no-oil-needed cooking surface. By the turn of the century, Teflon had become ubiquitous, finding its way into a staggering number of American kitchens in the form of PTFE-coated skillets, muffin tins, baking dishes, and more.

PTFE though, is just one of thousands of a class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Around 1951, DuPont started using another PFAS called PFOA (short for perfluorooctanoic acid) in its Teflon manufacturing process. Over time, it became clear that PFOA could enter the human body by way of gaseous fumes or chipped coatings and have detrimental effects on human health and the environment, including increased risk of certain cancers, birth defects, ulcerative colitis, and thyroid disease. Under mounting pressure from public health and environmental advocacy groups, manufacturers phased it out by 2013.

These days traditional nonstick cookware is made using PFOA-free PTFE (which is also typically free of PFOS, another harmful PFAS). You’ll see it marketed under names like T-fal, Dura-Slide, or hard-anodized aluminum. While PTFE itself is considered less harmful than other PFAS, there is still a broader concern. Thousands of PFAS compounds remain unregulated, and there is ongoing research into the class of chemicals as a whole. A label that says “PFOA- and PFOS-free” does not necessarily mean the product is free of all potentially risky chemicals in the PFAS family.

What does “nontoxic cookware” mean?

While not necessarily the first recorded use of the term, the idea of “nontoxic” cookware was largely introduced to consumers when GreenPan released the first PFAS-free ceramic nonstick frying pans in 2007. Since then, “nontoxic cookware” has come to mean “PFAS-free nonstick cookware.” While there’s nothing inherently incorrect about this characterization, it’s important to recognize the degree to which it has become a marketing buzzword these days.

While “nontoxic cookware” typically refers to ceramic nonstick, which is made from silica using a method called the sol-gel process, any cookware that’s made without the use of harmful chemicals like PFAS can be considered “nontoxic.” That includes some tried-and-true options you probably already know and love: stainless steel, cast iron, and carbon steel.

Ceramic nonstick comes closest to mimicking the ease of traditional Teflon, but it doesn’t hold up over time the way uncoated pans do (more on that below). That’s why we recommend getting comfortable with stainless, cast iron, and carbon steel. With the right technique, your food won’t stick to them either, and they’ll last a lot longer.

The best ceramic nonstick pan: GreenPan Valencia Pro

  • Emily Farris

Greenpan

Valencia Pro Ceramic Nonstick 12" Frypan

Amazon

About ceramic nonstick: Ceramic nonstick pans are made of metal (typically stainless steel or aluminum) and lined with a silica-based coating that makes them nice and nonstick—for a few years, at least. The exact makeup of that coating varies brand to brand, which is why we’ve spent years testing lots of ceramic nonstick pans to find the ones that best deliver on their nonstick promise.

Our top pick: GreenPan’s ceramic nonstick pans were the first to hit the market in 2007, and the brand’s products have consistently come out on top in our best nonstick pans product testing. Its Valencia Pro line is a great pick for most home cooks for a few reasons. It’s hefty enough to feel durable while remaining lightweight enough to be easily maneuverable. It’s affordable enough that you won’t have to break the bank when you inevitably need to replace it in a few years, more scratch-resistant than some earlier GreenPan iterations we've tried, and, most importantly, food slid right off it in our testing. Oh, and it's induction compatible.

A budget option: If you don’t cook on an induction stovetop and are looking for a cheaper option, you can go with GreenPan’s Paris Pro line, which performed similarly to the Valencia in our testing.

An “I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-Teflon-or-ceramic” nonstick pan: Misen Carbon Nonstick Frying Pan

  • Wilder Davies
  • Wilder Davies
  • Wilder Davies

Misen

Carbon Nonstick Frying Pan

Misen (10-inch)

Misen (8-inch)

Misen (12-inch)

About carbon nonstick (or nitrided carbon steel): At the outset, these pans act like traditional nonstick but can hold up to high heat, metal utensils, and years of use thanks to nitrided carbon steel—a process that infuses nitrogen into the metal to make it tougher, slicker, and both corrosion- and rust-resistant.

Our top pick: When we first got a hold of Misen’s Carbon Nonstick pan it seemed like the holy grail for anyone trying to quit Teflon without giving up easy-release eggs. Unlike traditional carbon steel pans, Misen’s version has an aluminum core that heats quickly and evenly, and its surface repels oil straight out of the box. In testing, fried eggs, chicken thighs, and sautéed onions all slid right off with minimal oil (food director Chris Morocco said it was “practically allergic” to eggs). It’s lightweight, durable, and will develop a terrific nonstick seasoning. However, as our lead cookware tester Wilder Davies continued cooking with the Misen, he noticed the initial corn oil seasoning layer started to wear, and the miraculous oil repelling characteristics lessened. That doesn’t mean we don’t still love this pan, it just means you’ll need to care for it like other carbon steel cookware.

Read our full review of the Misen Carbon Nonstick Pan.

The best stainless steel cookware: All-Clad D3

  • Wilder Davies
  • Wilder Davies

All-Clad

D3 Stainless 3-ply Bonded Cookware; Saute Pan with lid; 3 quart

All-Clad

Amazon

Sur la Table

All-Clad

D3 Stainless Steel 3-qt Saucepan with Lid

Amazon

Sur la Table

All-Clad

D3 Stainless Steel 14-in Skillet with Lid

All-Clad

Amazon

Sur la Table

About stainless steel: Stainless-steel cookware is a staple in home and professional kitchens alike because of its versatility, durability, and low-maintenance nature. Use it on the stovetop, in the oven, or with metal tools—unlike shorter-lived ceramic pans, a stainless-steel skillet can serve you well for a lifetime. And here’s the thing: With the proper technique, stainless steel can release almost as easily as ceramic nonstick. The key in guaranteeing your food slides right off instead of becoming a stuck-on mess is using sufficient fat and heat. Just make sure to wait until your oil is shimmering before adding whatever you’re cooking, and you should have no issues with stickage.

Our top pick: We’ve tested many types of stainless-steel cookware throughout the years here at BA, and one brand has repeatedly stood out time and time again for its consistently well-made, durable, high-performing products. That brand is All-Clad.

In our testing of stainless-steel frying pans and sauté pans, product testers and test kitchen editors alike lauded All-Clad’s D3 Everyday line as the best mix of value and performance for home cooks. The “3” refers to these pans’ 3-ply construction, which features an aluminum core sandwiched between two layers of stainless-steel cladding. That aluminum allows the pan to conduct heat quickly and evenly, and it makes the pan more lightweight than solid stainless-steel cookware. In our testing, we found that those promises held true, and that the D3 pans were easy to clean (just hand-wash with a little soapy water, plus some Bar Keepers Friend if you need a hand getting any remaining bits off) and have continued to perform well over the many years we’ve been using them.

The best nontoxic cookware set: All-Clad D3 Stainless-Steel 7-Piece Cookware Set

All-Clad

D3 3-Ply Stainless-Steel 7-Piece Cookware Set

Amazon

All-Clad

Macy's

Our top pick: While we’d typically recommend building your lineup of cookware piece-by-piece over time, a preassembled set is a good, fast solution if you’re looking to replace your arsenal of Teflon. This 7-piece collection of top-performing D3 stainless-steel cookware from All-Clad has everything you need and nothing you don’t, making it the best option for most people. Tight on space? This 5-piece version is a great choice too.

The best cast-iron skillet: Lancaster No. 8 Skillet

Lancaster

No. 8 Cast Iron Skillet

Lancaster Cast Iron

Amazon

About cast iron: If you’re willing to put just a bit of work into caring for your cookware, a cast-iron skillet is more than capable of filling the nonstick pan-size hole in your kitchen. Cast-iron cookware will never quite reach the level of nonstick that a Teflon-coated piece of gear offers, but in our testing, we’ve found that a properly seasoned cast-iron pan is on par with ceramic nonstick—plus it only gets more slick over time as you continue to use it.

Our top pick: After testing more than 20 cast-iron skillets over several years, our current top pick is the Lancaster No. 8 for its lightweight feel, smooth pre-seasoned surface that’s nice and slick right out of the box, and even heat distribution. The one downside is that it’s quite pricey, which is why we also recommend the Lodge cast-iron skillet as a great budget alternative. The Lodge is probably the pan most people think of when they hear “cast-iron skillet,” and at around $20, depending on where and when you buy it, it’s one of the best values in the cookware world we can think of—particularly because you can keep it forever rather than replacing it every few years. In our testing, it performed just as well as many more expensive pans—it’s markedly heavier than some of the lightweight, “vintage-style” models we’ve seen companies come out with in recent years though, like the one from Lancaster.

The best enameled cast-iron Dutch oven: Staub Cocotte

  • Emily Farris
  • Emily Farris

Staub

Round Cocotte, 5.5-Quart

Amazon

Zwilling

Williams Sonoma

About enameled cast iron: You may have also heard of enameled cast iron, which is frequently seen in products like our favorite Le Creuset and Staub Dutch ovens. Many people expect enameled cast-iron pots and pans to be nonstick because the ones with light-colored interiors sort of resemble the kinds of ceramic nonstick coatings we wrote about above, but in reality, that’s not the case. That doesn’t mean you can’t cook food in these things without it sticking, but you’ll need to use sufficient fat and heat to make that happen, as you do with a stainless-steel pan. The benefit of enameled cast iron is that it provides superior heat retention and distribution, and protects the cast-iron core from rust and acidity.

Our top pick: The Staub Round Cocotte is our top pick when it comes to Dutch ovens. While it performed similarly to the one from Le Creuset, contributor Emily Farris gave the Staub the edge because of its dark textured enamel interior, which is less prone to showing discoloration. She also felt the textured surface allowed food to release more easily.

The best carbon steel skillet: De Buyer Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan

De Buyer Blue Carbon Steel Fry Pan

Amazon

About carbon steel: Carbon steel is sort of the Goldilocks of the cookware space because it affords you the nonstick qualities and lightweight feel of a coated nonstick pan and the durability of a cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet. The key caveat is that in order to achieve said nonstick qualities, you’ll need to spend some time properly seasoning your new pan. But with a bit of work at the outset and occasional maintenance, you’ll be rewarded with an heirloom-worthy piece of cookware that has a well-earned nonstick patina.

Our top pick: De Buyer is one of those famed, old European cookware brands that lots of American home cooks may not be that familiar with. Its “blue” frying pan comes pre-seasoned and will just get better and better as the seasoning improves. As writer Wilder Davies notes, you can take specific steps to season it—use a thin layer of oil and put it in a hot oven for an hour—but you can also just keep cooking with it and that seasoning will develop on its own. Another nice feature of this pan in particular, and one that has nothing to do with its seasoning, is its welded-on handle. That means there are no rivets to clean around when you’re done.

The best nontoxic rice cooker: Tatung Electric Rice Cooker and Steamer

Tatung

Electric Rice Cooker and Steamer

Yun Hai

The vast majority of rice cookers on the market today—including all of the top performers in our product test—feature a PTFE-coated inner pot. Given how sticky rice tends to be, this is a feature that’s certainly nice to have in a rice cooker. In our minds, the more stable heating element and less significant amount of friction the inner pot of one of these cookers is exposed to as opposed to, say, a skillet, makes us less concerned about the PTFE coating wearing down and chipping off. That said, if you’re looking for an PFAS-free alternative, this model from Tatung performed well in our testing and features an all-stainless-steel construction. You’ll need a bit of elbow grease to clean the inner pot, but that’s to be expected—and if you’re very concerned about PFAS, it’s worth the trade-off.

The best nonstick waffle iron: Presto Flipside

Presto

Flipside Belgian Waffle Maker

Amazon

Walmart

Waffle irons also frequently feature a nonstick coating, and again, this makes a lot of sense given the sticky nature of the batter. Luckily, one of our favorite, product test–winning models happens to feature a ceramic nonstick interior. Because a waffle iron isn’t subject to the same amount of scraping or daily wear as a pan, the ceramic should hold onto its nonstick properties for longer.

The best nontoxic sheet pans: Nordic Ware Naturals

Nordic Ware

Naturals Half Sheet (2-pack)

Amazon

As a general rule, we don’t tend to recommend any bakeware or sheet pans with nonstick coatings of any sort. If you’re baking a seasonal loaf cake or making a batch of muffins, it’s always best to use a combination of oil or butter and parchment paper to ensure you’ll be able to easily lift your bakes out of their vessel when the time comes. As for baking sheets, our favorite uncoated aluminum pans from Nordic Ware are remarkably easy to clean with just a sponge and soapy water, even when you use them without any parchment or aluminum foil.

FAQ

What types of kitchen gear is PTFE found in?

A skillet may be the first thing you think of when you think of nonstick cookware, but PTFE coatings show up in a host of other items in the kitchen and beyond. On top of skillets, pots, saucepans, and Dutch ovens, you'll also find PTFE in rice cookers, waffle irons, baking sheets, and grill baskets.

What is ceramic nonstick cookware?

You may recognize ceramic nonstick as the material of choice of many of the aesthetically-pleasing, Instagram-viral cookware companies that started popping up in the late 2010s (I’m looking at you, Our Place and Caraway). Ceramic nonstick pans are made without any PFAS. Instead, a gel made from silica is applied and then dried onto the cookware’s metal body to create a nonstick surface.

Sounds great, right? Well, there are a few caveats, the main one being that ceramic nonstick coatings are not built to last. That means you’ll want to be sure to avoid using metal utensils when cooking with them, opting instead for wood or silicone. You’ll also want to avoid exposing them to extremely high temperatures: Even though ceramic cookware is technically more heat tolerant than cookware made with PTFE, high heat will wear down the pan’s ceramic coating. Many manufacturers claim their pans are oven-safe up to certain (often high) temperatures, but we’d recommend using one of our other recommendations above for any stove-to-oven cooking, as those trips to the oven will only further degrade that ceramic coating over time. Similarly, despite any of being dishwasher-safe, hand-washing your pans will prolong their lifespans.

What is the best nontoxic cookware?

Even if you treat your ceramic nonstick cookware with the utmost care and attention, you still shouldn’t expect it to last you more than one to three years before it starts to lose its nonstick properties. That’s why the best nontoxic nonstick cookware is not necessarily a piece of PFOA- or PFAS-free gear—in fact, we’d argue the best nontoxic “nonstick” pans money can buy are made of cast iron, or carbon steel. While these materials are not actually manufactured or marketed as nonstick, each has nonstick properties that can be achieved with proper use and care.

The bottom line here is that no one needs a coated pan in their life. There is no recipe on this website (or in this world) that requires you to use one, and we tend to think you’re better off investing some time in learning to cook with a more durable type of cookware than spending you money on a full nonstick cookware set. That said, we’re recommending a range of cookware options here for those who are looking for alternatives to traditional PTFE-base nonstick, including a ceramic option for people who aren’t quite ready to kiss coated nonstick goodbye.

Source: This story originated with Bon Appétit.

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