A well-equipped kitchen requires a full range of saucepan sizes, from small to large. A large pot is perfect for creating soups and braising roasts, but the best small saucepan is what I grab the most, as a chef, cooking coach, and founder of Tanorria’s Table. It’s her kitchen utensils for boiling eggs, making sauces, reheating leftovers, melting chocolate, and heating milk or cream.
When purchasing a smaller saucepan, consider a few essential factors: how you plan to use it, the handle’s connection method (preferably screws over glue or welding), and whether a nonstick surface is desired. Many home cooks prefer a variety of small skillets for different tasks, so you may want to buy more than one.
I sometimes have two or three tiny saucepans on my burner at the same time. We’ve been searching for the best small saucepan choices to meet all your cooking needs.
How do we test saucepans??
Over the years, more than 45 saucepans have been tested by the Good Housekeeping University’s Kitchen Appliances and Technology Lab. Each one has a “boil test” and a scorch test. The boil test measures how fast the pan heats up and how well the temperature is preserved. The scorch test demonstrates how uniformly the saucepan cooks by watching what sticks to the rim. We’re just using this stuck-on mess to test how easy it is to clean the pan. Our list of the best small sauce pan was created by the pans that came out at the top.
Our suggestions cover long-standing favourites as well as new models. While not all of them have been officially checked in the Field, they come from Lab-trusted brands with years of experience evaluating kitchen appliances.
All-Clad Stainless 3-Qt Saucier
Our pick
Thanks to its bigger, rounder shape, we think the All-Clad Stainless 3-Quart Saucer is worth the cost if you want the most versatile saucepan to make everything from sauces and pastry cream to boiling milk. A curved saucer allows you to access any part of the food as you stir, helping you minimize spills faster than a straight-walled pan.
The All-Clad is well designed and quick to manage, and heats more consistently than the other sauciers we checked. While it’s costly, it’s a high-quality pan that we’ve been using with our test kitchen for decades.
Cuisinart French Classic 1-Quart Small Sauce Pan
Our pick
This elegant, small saucepan from the legendary brand Cuisinart will bring some French chef-level flair to every kitchen. The one-quarter stainless steel model may look basic. Still, it comes with a lot of features that make it flexible and robust, starting with the pro-grade three-layer construction and the use of Cuisinart’s trademark Heat Surround Technology.
The comfortably curved handles, including those on the cove, are simple to grasp and hold cool on the burner, and the close-fitting lid seals in moisture out. Not only should you chuck the pan in the dishwasher, but it’s also safe to place it in the oven (up to 550 degrees) and in the fridge if you need to keep the leftovers.
Tramontina Gourmet Tri-Ply Clad 2-Quart Covered Saucepan
Our pick
The Improve Kitchen testers cooked extensively in this saucepan (and others) until they eventually picked it as the winner. They carried out three separate heat map experiments and confirmed that it still heats up evenly; they successfully and nicely poured sauce out of it, and they wrote about how much they enjoyed the rounded corners (for quick stirring) and the convenient handle (on the pot and the lid).
This pan also seems to be of the same line as the cookware package they prefer, but the set contains a 1.5 and 3-quart saucepan, and they choose the better 2-quart choice.
Duxtop Tri-Ply Stainless Steel Saucepan with Lid, 3 Quart
Our pick
The people at Epicurious had a lot of positive things to say about this saucier from Duxtop, a brand-new direct-to-consumer cookware company. They said it excelled at every measure, equally spread heat, neatly allowed the sauce to spill out of the rimmed lip, felt relaxed in the side, and had a tight-fitting lid. They noticed that it had a broadly rounded base and high, sloping sides, making it easy to reach the corners of the pan, and it was entirely possible, say, to poach an egg or two.
They liked the price. It’s not precisely a casserole, but it’s similar enough that the distinction is that it has rounded walls rather than a casserole. And that’s what got their vote.
Cuisinart Saucepot and Basting Brush
Our pick
This is a funny little machine. It functions as a stovetop pot for sure. Made of stainless steel, it’s heat-safe to any temperature within reason.
But the architecture is all that has to be taken into consideration. It’s a specialized saucepot; it’s not even made to use anything else. You heat and perhaps mix the sauces in it, and use it to keep them healthy and warm during basting sessions.
The lid is sturdy and has a perfect handle. It has a very thick construction that completely plugs the saucepot, keeping the heat locked in even better than other regular lids. It even has a silicone basting brush integrated into it, so everything exists as a single unit. You can take the cover off, baste it, dip it back in, and repeat the process.
It’s an excellent style, and valuable if you need anything for sauces and similar purposes. The only downside is that it’s no one.
Professional Nonstick Saucepan – Best Small Sauce Pan
Our pick
This saucepan has passed our boiling and scorch tests with flying colours. It was easily heated and kept a simmer for more than an hour, and no sauce was burnt. Williams-Sonoma created the Scanpan pan, which is manufactured in Denmark and made of recycled aluminum reinforced with ceramic-titanium particles.
The patented Green Tek nonstick coating is free of PFOA and safe for metal utensils. The transparent plastic lid allows you to see what’s going on in the pan, and the handle is designed to stay cool.
Kuchenprofi Stainless Steel Saucepan with Clad Bottom
Our pick
This is a beautiful stainless steel small saucepan. It’s perfect for sauces and pouring, just like the above. This time, it has two beams, making it easy for left-handed people to use. The overall structure is sturdy and flexible, with a clad foundation to help mitigate the inherent limitations of the construction of stainless steel. It heats up faster than a pure stainless bottom, providing a comfortable flat surface that makes it compatible with induction stoves as well as all other types of stoves.
I find the construction of the handle somewhat lacking. It’s very bare and awkward, a basic steel loop that does the job but doesn’t make this saucepan very comfortable to use and offers very few heat-resistant properties.
On the other hand, this ensures the oven is secure, particularly for items of value in this small saucepan. The lid is also pretty good, with a wide, easy-grip handle and glass construction for easy visibility, as well as a vent hole to prevent it from being too pressurized.
The broad top also makes this a very strong saucepan to use as a mixing cup, making it easier to add ingredients and stir without spilling anything.
Carote 1.5-Quart Sauce Pan – Best Small Sauce Pan
Our pick
Style meets the material in this 1.5-quart small Carote sauce tub. On the construction hand, the pot contains an eco-friendly granite covering, a natural stone derived from Switzerland. The easy-to-grip ergonomic Bakelite handles, meanwhile, add a little wooden flourish while keeping the touch cool.
Thanks to its five non-stick layers, which ensure equal heat distribution and quick cleaning, and its built-in pouring bellows, the pan also rises to the cooking test. You can also pop the pot in the oven at temperatures up to 350 degrees Celsius.
Thermal Pro Clad Stainless Steel Covered Saucepan
Our pick
This pan ticks every box, tri-ply stainless and aluminum construction, dishwasher resistant, oven safe up to 500°F, compliant with induction cooktops, the rounded base for easy stirring, and rolled edges for noise-free pouring. What sets it apart is the laser-cut volume markings inside the pan to save you time.
When you make a meal, it gives you a better understanding of how much the liquid has diminished. Etching ensures that they won’t fade easily like painted-on markings, and is specified in standard and metric units.
Best Saucier-Style Saucepan – Best Small Sauce Pan
Our pick
If you’re a tasty cook who wants to make the sauce and hot sauce or an inexperienced pastry chef who likes to make custard and pastry cream, you’ll benefit from a saucer. Saucier is the French word for the form of a wide-bodied saucepan that increases the surface area, facilitating evaporation to minimize sauces, and a rounded shape that is ideal for effective, corner-free whisking.
This pan is made of five layers of stainless steel and aluminum, which can make it slower to heat than some other saucepans, but guarantees decent heat retention. It is compliant with kitchen appliances and has a flared edge to make it simple to pour.
If you’re a tasty cook who wants to make the sauce and hot sauce or an inexperienced pastry chef who likes to make custard and pastry cream, you’ll benefit from a saucer. Saucier is the French word for the form of a wide-bodied saucepan that increases the surface area, facilitating evaporation to minimize sauces, and a rounded shape that is ideal for effective, corner-free whisking.
This pan is made of five layers of stainless steel and aluminum, which can make it slower to heat than some other saucepans, but guarantees decent heat retention. It is compliant with kitchen appliances and has a flared edge to make it simple to pour.
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