We Tested Roasting Pans—You’ll Want to Use Our Top Picks All Year Long

Our Top Pick

Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless 16-Inch Roasting Pan

$65 at Amazon $16 at Walmart $110 at Kohls.com

This shiny 16-inch-long pan should be large enough to slowly roast several pounds of root vegetables or a 16-pound turkey. The U-shape rack keeps meat off the pan’s base, letting fat and juice drip from the cooking bird. Remove the rack, and the tall sides should stop a large cheese-topped casserole from oozing over the rim.

The all-stainless pan withstands heat up to 500°F. The handles get just as hot as the body, so be sure to don oven mitts before you pull this pan from the oven. Those handles flare out enough that the pan needs nearly 21 inches of oven room, something to keep in mind if you have a small oven or are sharing space in a large one.

The rack also has handles, making it easy to lift a turkey or roast from the pan and leave the drippings behind. While the meat rests, you can set the pan right on the stovetop to turn those drippings into gravy or au jus. The stainless interior and rack are easy to clean afterward, either in the dishwasher or by hand.

Allstar Nosheen Babar loved the design of this pan. “The pan has a curved rack that is the ideal size and shape to hold the turkey,” she says. “The pan is deep enough to keep all the drippings, and the rack design makes basting easy.” According to Nosheen, it was easy to clean during tests and came out of the dishwasher with zero water spots. It also accumulated plenty of drippings after four hours of cooking in the oven. While she would have preferred a flat rack to maximize the space inside the pan, she overall recommends it for home cooks who cook frequently and want a medium-priced, durable pan. 

The Details: 16 x 12 x 4.9 inches; 8.1 pounds; stainless steel; dishwasher safe

Best Value

Circulon Nonstick Roasting Pan

$50 $38 at Amazon $38 at Walmart $40 at Wayfair

Large, heavy-duty pans can be expensive, which makes this substantial roaster a budget-friendly option. Circulon says a 24-pound holiday turkey and vegetables fit within its 17-inch length, supported within a full-sized, U-shaped rack. Silicone-coated hooks extend from the chrome-plated stainless steel frame and over the pan’s top rim, keeping the rack from shifting or scratching the nonstick coating.

Big stainless steel handles that poke upward from the pan’s short sides minimize the oven footprint but could be awkward to grab if a large bird entirely fills the interior. The rack also has handles along the long sides, so there’s never confusion about which you’re grabbing. Together, the pan and rack weigh just over 3 pounds, enough for sturdiness without significantly increasing the fully loaded weight.

The nonstick surface limits the pan’s top temperature to 450°F but makes cleaning easy. Despite being dishwasher safe, Circulon recommends hand washing the pan and rack to extend their usable life.

In tests, Nosheen appreciated the nonstick coating on this pan, which made cleaning up any stuck-on, burnt drippings easier. However, the rack was a bit more difficult to wash by hand. The removable rack’s shape and distance from the base also made the drippings evaporate quickly on longer cooks, so Nosheen recommends using this budget-conscious pan for smaller birds and meals with shorter cooking times. Since topping with tinfoil and basting is more difficult due to the raised handles and height of the pan, she also recommends adding some broth to the base to keep the meat moist and retain some liquid for gravy. 

The Details: 17 x 13 x 3.9 inches; 3.2 pounds; steel, wire, nonstick coating; hand wash recommended

Best Oven-to-Table

Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Signature Rectangular Roaster

$305 at Amazon $305 at Williams Sonoma $305 at Wayfair

Le Creuset’s roasting pan has the stylish sleekness and durability that make its other enameled cast-iron cookware so popular. The roasting pan comes in an array of colors to match your other Le Creuset pieces or to stand out on the table.

At 15 inches long, this pan should hold a 12-pound turkey with room to spare. The coated cast iron makes it not only oven and broiler safe to 500°F but also safe to use on any cooktop. If you want to brown and then roast stuffed pork tenderloin, simply set this pan across two burners or on a gas stove’s oval burner, sear the meat over medium heat, and then slide the pan into the oven. It should fit neatly; the handles don’t stick out as far as similar pans, and they’re incredibly sturdy because they’re fully cast and enameled into the pan body.

Despite its high price tag, this roaster comes with neither a rack nor a lid, making it less versatile than some competitors. It’s also quite heavy, adding nearly 9 pounds to the weight of whatever you put inside it.

Allstar Amanda Scarlati liked the sturdiness and shape of this roasting pan, noting that she wasn’t worried about anything spilling out of the sides thanks to the depth. “The pan is super solid and a great heavy-duty pan,” she says. “It is a little bit heavier, but I kind of like that, especially when you are cooking a larger item in there. With the handles, it's still easy to hold and get in and out of the oven.” The sturdy material is built to last and ensured that everything cooked evenly during tests. Amanda recommends this pan for roasting a whole chicken, chicken pieces, a whole ham or a roast, or a smaller turkey. Because of the enameled coating, even stuck-on bits of food came off easily during cleanup.

The Details: 15 x 10.25 x 3 inches (16 inches long with handles); 8.8 pounds; enameled cast iron; hand wash recommended

Best Small

Chicago Metallic Petite Roast Pan with Rack

$15 $13 at Amazon $17 at Walmart $19 at Wayfair

If you’re not considering roasting a whole Thanksgiving turkey or enough vegetables to feed a crowd, this little pan comes in handy. It’s lightweight, easy to store, and nonstick for effortless cleanup. The included rack fills the pan raised on four feet so that hot air circulates between the flat rack and the pan bottom.

Remove the rack, and 1.8-inch-high sidewalls let you nestle a cut of meat and vegetables for two inside. The pan fits neatly inside a toaster oven yet can be used in a conventional one, too. The nonstick coating is only heat safe to 450°F. Most toaster ovens have bake settings that top out there anyway, so just avoid turning on the broiler by mistake.

Chicago Metallic creates pans for commercial use, and even its home-sized line consists of heavy-duty carbon steel for consistent heat conduction. This petite pan and rack are dishwasher safe and small enough to fit in comfortably, but the company recommends handwashing to extend their life.

After testing it in her kitchen with sausage balls, biscuits, and leftover pizza, Allstar Rosanne Robinson had only good things to say about this small roasting pan. “Every kitchen needs a little pan like this,” she says. “So many uses, and it doesn’t take up a lot of space!” It fit perfectly in her air fryer toaster oven combo, and she loved how easy it was to clean because of the nonstick coating.

The Details: 10.3 x 7 x 1.8 inches; 1.36 pounds; carbon steel, nonstick coating; hand wash recommended

Best with Lid

Granite Ware Covered Oval Roaster

$27 $21 at Amazon $21 at Walmart

The included lid is just one reason Granite Ware’s roasting pans stand out from the competition. The 13-inch-long roaster has a 7-pound capacity with the lid and a larger one without, so it works well for medium-sized cuts of meat and a juicy roasted chicken or two. The lid’s dimpled underside collects condensation that then drops back onto the meat, doing the basting for you. Without the lid, the pan’s dark interior reflects oven heat and creates a crispy brown skin.

If you need a different size, Granite Ware makes a whole range of covered roasters, from 12 to 21 inches long. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sell anything with a rack.

All of the company’s roasters are constructed from its signature dark, white-speckled enamelware, created by fusing porcelain to a steel core at extremely high temperatures. The material resists heat up to 932°F and can even be used on a grill. Not only is the surface naturally nonstick, but the finish can stand up to metal utensils.

Allstar Rosanne was a big fan of this pan’s oval shape, which she found much more accommodating than a round pan or one with squared sides. When testing with a mix of roast beef, potatoes, and carrots, the self-basting feature kept everything moist. “While this pan doesn't have a removable rack, it doesn't really need one,” she says. “The dots on the underside of the lid help baste whatever you are roasting.”

The Details: 13 x 8.1 x 5.3 inches; 1.1 pounds; metal-coated porcelain (enamelware); dishwasher safe