A good roasting pan is a versatile piece of cookware that can serve you well beyond the few times a year when a big holiday roast is in order. You can pile it with veggies, bake lasagna for a crowd, or just whip up an easy one-pan meal on a weeknight.
After roasting over 400 pounds of turkey and chicken and 30 pounds of veggies in 14 pans, we think the Cuisinart 16″ Roasting Pan With Rack (MCP117-16BR) is the best option. This roaster is equally great at searing on the stovetop and roasting in the oven, and for a large, versatile, tri-ply, clad roasting pan with a rack, it offers the best balance of performance and price we’ve found: It does the job as well as pans that cost twice as much or more.
Our pick
With its sturdy tri-ply construction, this roaster cooks more evenly than other similarly priced pans.
The Cuisinart MultiClad Pro 16″ Roasting Pan With Rack can handle a variety of cooking tasks with ease. Its flat cooking surface and tri-ply, fully clad construction conducts heat evenly for hassle-free searing, deglazing, and gravy-making on the stove. It’s big and sturdy enough to accommodate a 20-pound turkey, a large roast, two whole chickens, or a complete one-pan meal. Large, riveted handles provide a secure grip, even with the bulkiest kitchen towels and oven mitts.
Runner-up
This tri-ply roasting pan is a comparably priced option if our top pick is unavailable.
If our top pick sells out, we think the Anolon Tri-ply Clad Roaster with Nonstick Rack is a good choice for a similar price. This fully clad tri-ply roasting pan is spacious and sturdy, and has big, riveted handles. But the channel around the edge of the pan makes it harder to use on the stovetop compared with our other tri-ply clad picks.
Budget pick
If you just need something to throw the T-Day turkey into, this roaster does the job, but it can’t be used on the stove.
A solid roasting pan is good for a whole lot more than simply roasting a turkey once a year. But if you do need one only once or twice a year, the Granite Ware 19-inch Covered Oval Roaster (F0510) is a serviceable, modestly priced alternative (and it also fits in smaller ovens). We just wouldn’t use this thin steel roaster on the stovetop to make gravy and sear meat. The Granite Ware roaster costs a third of the price of the Cuisinart for a third of the capabilities—only a good buy if you’re just roasting turkey and don’t plan on using it for other things.
Upgrade pick
If you can afford it, the All-Clad Flared Roaster does everything our main pick does, but better.
The expensive All-Clad Flared Roaster was the top performer in our tests, both in the oven and on the stovetop. Its flared sides dispersed heat evenly throughout the pan, giving us a turkey with the most amount of crisp, golden skin. All-Clad showed the best heat distribution on the stovetop, searing chicken pieces consistently across the pan. If you’re a frequent roaster, or if you don’t mind paying more for the finest quality, the flared All-Clad is hard to beat.
