Having a set of solid, meal prep-friendly cookware is a bit like having a nice set of workout clothes: not only does it incentivize you to do the thing you’ve been putting off, but it makes the activity itself much more enjoyable. To give you a leg up, we’ve put together a list of the best pots and pans for reliable and consistent batch cooking, from searing proteins to blanching vegetables.
From the basic (like a set of non stick pans) to the more specialized (like porcelain bakeware), these are the tools that help us conquer our weekly meal prep routine.
Non Stick Set
For when you’d simply rather not do any cooking AND cleanup, a reliable set of non stick cookware is there to save the day. Whether your goal is a simple stir fry to portion out for lunches, or a comforting yellow dal to pair with rice and pickles, our Stainless Clad Non Stick Cookware keeps the post-prep cleanup to a minimum, and keeps you from having to use too much oil or butter.
While the versatile Non Stick Frying Pan is a great place to start out, we also offer three different Non Stick Sets—a 3-piece, a 7-piece, and a 10-piece option—which feature our Stainless Clad pots and pans with multiple layers of durable, professional-grade non stick coating.
Carbon Steel Griddle
Tired of roasted chicken thighs? It might be time to kit yourself out with a griddle. Wide and flat, with enough room to sear an entire week’s worth of protein or vegetables in one go, a griddle helps add a little extra excitement to your meal prep routine. While you can find griddles in a range of different materials, we’re partial to our Carbon Steel model for its naturally non stick surface, indoor-outdoor capabilities, and excellent heat distribution.
Stock Pot and/or Dutch Oven
A big pot of beans, lentils, or grains is an excellent foundation for your weekly cooking routine, whether you use them as a base for grain bowls or toss them into a hearty salad. A stock pot is particularly helpful here—other than holding a large volume of water, a good-quality stock pot (like our Stainless Clad version) can keep water at a steady temperature, distributing that heat evenly throughout the pot. Adding on a Steamer Basket can unlock perfectly prepped dumplings, vegetables, tamales, and even seafood.
We also like to have a Dutch oven on hand for low-and-slow braises, roast chicken, and anything else that requires a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
Saute Pan
This wide, high-sided pan can do almost anything a frying pan can do, and in some cases do them even better—sweat onions, sear chicken breasts, and, of course, sauté a lot of ingredients at once in a single layer, allowing moisture to evaporate quickly and food to brown evenly.
Plus, those high sides make the Saute Pan equally handy for braising: Once you’ve gotten a hard sear on your protein, add broth or water, cover, and place the pan directly into a hot oven. Both our Stainless Clad and Non Stick Saute Pans are oven-safe, so you can cook with traditional stainless or guarantee easy clean-up with Non Stick.
High-Quality Sheet Pan
A sheet pan is the shiny metal bedrock of your meal prep cookware collection—and not just because it can single-pandedly make an entire meal. Apart from roasting vegetables and proteins, having a couple of heavy-gauge sheet pans allows you to freeze blanched leafy greens for soups and stews, quickly cool down batches of cooked grains, or keep your mise en place in one easily transportable place. Baking a batch of scones for breakfast? Cool them on a wire rack placed over a sheet pan before glazing—any drips will be easy to clean up with a quick wash, particularly if you use our Non Stick variety.
Baking Dishes
If part of your meal prep routine consists of assembling casseroles or gratins to bake off later in the week, you’re going to want at least one solid baking dish. We prefer the kind made of porcelain, which does a better job of distributing heat than glass or ceramic materials. And since our porcelain bakeware is thermal shock resistant, you won’t have to bring your refrigerated or frozen dishes to room temperature before transferring to the oven—definitely an advantage for busy weeknights.
Honorable Mention: Mise en Place Set
Not a cookware item per se, the Mise en Place set—French for "everything in its place"—is a gamechanger for meal prep. The goal of mise en place is to keep your ingredients tidy and organized, while encouraging getting as much prep done ahead of time as you can. That way, you can focus on cooking once the ingredients hit the pan, and not frantically chop onions while oil is heating.
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While we can’t force you to love cooking, we can, however, try to make the experience of meal prepping as painless as possible with our professional grade cookware. And if you already love cooking, we definitely encourage you to treat yourself to a set of solid, reliable pots and pans—both for meal prep, and for everyday life.
