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A beige Dutch oven sits on a kitchen counter. Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

The Best Dutch Ovens of 2023

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A beige Dutch oven sits on a kitchen counter. Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

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Editor's Choice Product image of Made In Dutch Oven
Best Overall

Made In Dutch Oven

The Made In blew us away with its nonstick qualities, heat distribution, and moisture retention. Plus it's available in several beautiful colors. Read More

Pros

  • Excellent cooking results
  • Comfortable handles
  • Affordable

Cons

  • None we could find
2
Editor's Choice Product image of Le Creuset 5.5-Quart Round Dutch Oven
Best Upgrade

Le Creuset 5.5-Quart Round Dutch Oven

A long-time favorite, Le Creuset's Dutch oven does not disappoint. Note that the slightly larger size means it needs a bit more space than others. Read More

Pros

  • Large handles
  • Excellent cooking results
  • A long-time cook's favorite

Cons

  • Large size can crowd out other cookery
3
Editor's Choice Product image of Lodge Enameled Cast Iron 6-Quart Dutch Oven
Best Value

Lodge Enameled Cast Iron 6-Quart Dutch Oven

This Dutch oven cooks as well as any high-end version and is a great buy in any color, as long as you don't mind it's slightly narrow bottom. Read More

Pros

  • Cleans easily
  • Multiple color options
  • Scores high in a variety of cooking tests

Cons

  • Smaller-than-average-base
4
Editor's Choice Product image of HexClad 5-Quart Dutch Oven
Best Lightweight

HexClad 5-Quart Dutch Oven

This stainless steel Dutch oven is lightweight and excels at browning and baking bread. However, its lightweight build means cooking results can vary. Read More

Pros

  • Lightweight
  • Even, fast heating
  • Dishwasher safe

Cons

  • Baking results sometimes take longer
  • Unable to produce fond
5
Editor's Choice Product image of Staub Cast Iron 5.5-Quart Round Cocotte

Staub Cast Iron 5.5-Quart Round Cocotte

Highly rated and a pro with any cooking task you throw at it, the Staub Cast Iron Dutch oven is well worth its price...and weight. Read More

Pros

  • Cleans easily
  • Well built, solid
  • Cooks evenly

Cons

  • Heavy

A Dutch oven is the true workhorse of any kitchen. These bad boys can make pots of soup or stew, sauté vegetables, braise meat, and even bake a loaf of crusty bread. If your kitchen only has room for one large pot, it should be a Dutch oven. But how do you choose which one? Not only do they range in price from $80 to $420, they range in quality too.

While most of them follow the same basic design—a deep, cast iron pot coated in nonstick enamel—the shape and construction make a huge difference in cooking experience. That’s why we tested the top Dutch ovens on the market. And, after putting each through its paces, concluded that the Made In Dutch Oven (available at Made In) is the one we want in our kitchens and would recommend to friends. If you're in the market for an affordable option, the Lodge 6-Quart Round Dutch Oven (available at Amazon) is our Best Value pick.

Made In Dutch oven on a white countertop
Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

The Made In Cast Iron Dutch Oven is the best one we've tested.

Best Overall
Made In Dutch Oven

There's a lot to love about Made In's Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven—enough to steal the top slot from previous winner, the Staub Cast Iron Round Cocotte.

During testing, the Made In blew us away with its nonstick qualities, even heat distribution, and moisture retention (thanks to the divots under the lid). Chicken soup was flavorful, bread was evenly cooked, and meat was pleasantly browned without ever sticking. The pot also cooked a whole chicken beautifully, browning it evenly without getting it dry.

After all that cooking, the Made In didn't show any signs of damage or deterioration, and cleaning even caked-on foods was a breeze.

We also love that it took a lot for these handles to get hot—and when they did, it was still easy to move the pot from the oven to the stovetop (with pot holders or dish towels) thanks to the handles' roomy design.

Even with all this impressive functionality, this Dutch oven comes in at a fraction of the cost of many competitors. But it's still made with the iconic hand-enameled cast iron that hails from its homeland of northeast France. And—bonus points—it comes in a variety of beautiful colors.

Pros

  • Excellent cooking results

  • Comfortable handles

  • Affordable

Cons

  • None we could find

On left, orange dutch oven on a countertop surrounded by food. On right, blue dutch oven with lid removed revealing gumbo.
Credit: Le Creuset / Reviewed

Le Creuset's 5.5 quart round Dutch oven is our pick for best upgrade.

Best Upgrade
Le Creuset 5.5-Quart Round Dutch Oven

Unsurprisingly, the iconic Le Creuset—beloved among cooks and kitchen scholars—aced every test we threw at it. And if you're willing to spend an upfront investment, it will likely last you years—maybe decades—to come.

This Dutch oven makes a perfect meal every time. It also offers large handles, which are ideal for moving the pot from the stove to the oven and back, from your stove to the table, or from your house to your friend’s place.

And while its size means it's roomy enough to cook for guests, it also means that if you’re dealing with tight stove space, you might run into some problems. This Dutch oven is gorgeous and produces consistently delicious food, but its size means it'll always need to be the star of the show.

Pros

  • Large handles

  • Excellent cooking results

  • A long-time cook's favorite

Cons

  • Large size can crowd out other cookery

A person lifts the lid of a blue Dutch oven to reveal chicken soup inside.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The Lodge 4.6-Quart Round Dutch Oven is our Best Value pick.

Best Value
Lodge Enameled Cast Iron 6-Quart Dutch Oven

A serious competitor to both Staub and Le Creuset at a fraction of the cost, the Lodge Dutch oven impressed us again with its durability and versatility. In almost every test, the colorful Lodge was with the top of the pack. However, its base is narrower than the others, resulting in crowding for certain recipes like braised short ribs.

It's also lacking the self-basting divots that came in so handy on our top picks. But at this price point, this colorful model is absolutely still deserving of the Best Value title.

Pros

  • Cleans easily

  • Multiple color options

  • Scores high in a variety of cooking tests

Cons

  • Smaller-than-average-base

Left: stainless steel Dutch on gas range. Right: hand holding a Dutch oven with freshly baked bread
Credit: HexClad

The HexClad Dutch oven is the best non-cast iron option on the market.

Best Lightweight
HexClad 5-Quart Dutch Oven

HexClad's Dutch oven isn't made of cast iron, which makes it the most lightweight pot on this list at just over three pounds. (For context, our winning Dutch oven weighs in at over 13.) Instead, it's made with HexClad's signature hybrid design that features a nonstick surface, magnetic steel base, aluminum core, and stainless steel surface.

Although this Dutch oven isn't traditionally designed, it performed well in all of our tests. Short ribs browned quickly and evenly, chicken soup was incredibly flavorful, and bread even came out with a pleasantly browned crust and springy interior.

A huge plus to this pot is obviously its lightweight build—which made transferring from cooktop to oven (and from oven to table) a breeze. The handles and tight-fitting lid are also fantastic; they stayed cool even when soup had been simmering for hours. And the lid is designed to trap steam and avoid drippy messes when being removed. (Plus, it's dishwasher safe!)

But a lightweight build means typical cast iron features might be missed. A roast chicken took longer to cook in this vessel than its cast iron competitors. And its nonstick design means no fond will build up when browning meat or aromatics, which can make for a disappointing deglazing process. Given that this pot's versatility goes beyond typical Dutch oven duties (it doubles as a regular stock pot) we think it's worth considering.

Pros

  • Lightweight

  • Even, fast heating

  • Dishwasher safe

Cons

  • Baking results sometimes take longer

  • Unable to produce fond

Other Dutch Ovens We Tested

Product image of Staub Cast Iron 5.5-Quart Round Cocotte
Staub Cast Iron 5.5-Quart Round Cocotte

As our previous overall winner, this Staub Dutch oven is an absolute favorite for anything and everything in the kitchen. The pot has a signature glossy finish, with a smooth-fitting lid adorned with self-basting divots. These little ceramic dots help condensation from the dish drip evenly back into pot, instead of pooling at the edges of the lid and streaming down in one line after removal.

The Staub produced a deeply flavorful broth, evenly roasted chicken pieces, and the tallest sourdough loaf of the bunch. Compared to our other pots, the Staub also remained fairly clean after multiple uses, with minimal stains and spots. The inside was also nicely nonstick, so any bits and pieces were easily removed with little scrubbing.

Pros

  • Cleans easily

  • Well built, solid

  • Cooks evenly

Cons

  • Heavy

Product image of KitchenAid Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
KitchenAid Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Every meal that came out of the KitchenAid 6-quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven was delicious. Its nonstick and even heating capabilities were impressive, and resulting loaves of bread and pots of soup earned solidly high marks. That's partially thanks to the heavy, well-fitting lid with built-in divots, which made for extra tender short ribs and crusty, doughy bread.

Unfortunately, we ran into a few downsides. First, this Dutch oven is heavy. At over 15 pounds, we found ourselves struggling to wash it in the sink without accidentally dropping it in the process. And the handles weren't helpful: their stubby design meant they got hot quickly and were tough to grab onto.

And since this option only comes in two bright, pastel-like colors, any remnant of a stain will be pretty visible (and sometimes we struggled to scrub those off).

Pros

  • Cooks evenly and well

  • Has self-basting divots

Cons

  • Heavy

  • Handles get hot and are tough to grab

  • Stains easily

Product image of Caraway Dutch Oven
Caraway Dutch Oven

Caraway's Dutch Oven has the same bright and charming aesthetic that the ceramic cookware brand is known for. It also boasts those same impressive nonstick qualities: When testing this Dutch oven, a good rinse was enough to release most tacked-on foods (no scrubbing required). It also performed very well at evenly browning meat and deglazing aromatics.

However, this Dutch oven isn't made from cast iron. And while that might be a plus for its lightweight build, it also means heat retention wasn't as impressive, especially since the lid features a small hole that releases some heat and steam. As a result, our roasted chicken took much longer to cook all the way through, and our sourdough loaf was lacking those characteristic springy holes in the interior. This Dutch oven also lacks any divots in the lid, which are crucial for redispersing moisture back into food as it cooks.

Pros

  • Beautiful design

  • Incredibly nonstick

  • Even browning

Cons

  • Not made of cast iron

  • No basting divots

  • Heat and steam retention fall short

Product image of AmazonBasics Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 6-Quart
AmazonBasics Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 6-Quart

We're pretty sure Amazon took cues from other top-performing brands in order to produce this eerily familiar model. The similarities in look to the Cuisinart were startling. That said, it didn’t perform quite as well.

From picking up mysterious black marks on the outside after cooking bread to the handles instantly becoming too hot to touch on the stove, this product could use a few more years to mature. We'd call it a solid bargain buy for someone who isn’t sure if they’re ever going to use their Dutch oven.

Pros

  • Cooks and braises well

  • Large lid handle

Cons

  • Uneven heat distribution in bread baking

  • Handles get very hot very quickly

Product image of Cuisinart 5-Quart Round Covered Casserole
Cuisinart 5-Quart Round Covered Casserole

This Cuisinart is a solid Dutch oven. The flat sides offer a wide sautéing base for onions and garlic, and the simple construction means you can’t really go wrong. That said, it just didn’t perform as well in our tests. A few black spots on the bottom of the bread, a bit tougher to clean off the soup, and meat that wasn’t quite perfect knocked it down a few spots in our list.

Pros

  • Solid construction

  • Wide base with straight sides

Cons

  • Uneven heat distribution in bread baking

  • Slightly tough to clean

Product image of Misen Dutch Oven
Misen Dutch Oven

The Misen Dutch oven is designed quite cleverly with a lid that doubles as a grill pan. This proved useful to sear chicken for a crisp skin before transferring it into the pot to fully roast. However, the lid also detracted from the overall score because it didn’t fit as tightly as others and made handling the pot more awkward. This was most annoying in scenarios like baking bread, where the pot is heated to 500°F so you want to be extra careful when handling.

The pot also comes with a silicone "universal lid" which is helpful in many scenarios, especially since it's also self-basting, but is less convenient to remove since it hugs the pot so tightly (watch out for escaping steam).

Pros

  • Heats quickly and evenly

  • Easy to clean

  • Comes with grill pan lid and silicone lid

Cons

  • Grill pan lid is heavy and awkward to maneuver on/off pot

  • Heavy overall

Product image of Vermicular Oven Pot - 26cm
Vermicular Oven Pot - 26cm

Vermicular is a Japanese cast-iron company specializing in beautifully made pots like this one. The Vermicular Dutch oven is quite attractive and does have the self-basting dots we like, but it also managed to stain quite severely after just one use.

Additionally, while its lid has a top knob, it also has two handles, which makes the entire pot more awkward to handle (much like the Misen).

Pros

  • Heats quickly and evenly

  • Nonstick

  • Has self-basting divots

Cons

  • Gets dirty easily

  • Awkward to handle

  • Heavy

Product image of Great Jones Dutchess
Great Jones Dutchess

The Great Jones 6.75-quart Dutch oven was the largest one we tested, and one of two in an oval shape (as opposed to a round). The main issue we ran into was precisely due to this—since most stovetops are circular, we found this pot to heat less evenly than the others, resulting in oddly cooked chicken and sourdough bread.

It also lacked a few key features we found useful in the other models, namely the self-basting divots, and a smoothly sealing lid. Whether it was due to the textured, matte finish of the entire pot’s outside or just a function of the pot’s grooves, the lid would make a particularly grating sound when slid on to cover the pot.

Pros

  • Large and roomy

  • Nonstick

  • Easy to clean

Cons

  • Uneven heat distribution

  • Awkward shape

  • Heavy

How We Tested Dutch Ovens

A freshly baked round loaf of sourdough bread siting in parchment paper inside a Dutch oven.
Credit: Reviewed / Jenny Dorsey

To test Dutch ovens, we made pho broth, roasted a chicken, and baked a loaf of sourdough bread.

The Testers

Hi, I'm Jenny! I'm a professional chef, writer, founder of a nonprofit community think tank called Studio ATAO, and cookbook author. I've tested everything from meat delivery services to pressure cookers for Reviewed. I tested new products for this roundup and retested our top picks from the original testing.

And I’m Bethany, an avid home cook who’s skeptical of more expensive products that seem to do the same thing as something half the price. Before I add anything more expensive than a spatula to my kitchen, I want it to be thoroughly vetted and to know it’s worth the cost.

The Tests

Before testing, we dove into research mode. Our major evaluation measures were as follows: fast and even heating throughout the pot; a secure lid that’s easy to handle; and a nonstick surface that can brown meat while being easy to clean afterward.

We tested Dutch ovens that seemed to be highly rated everywhere, some newer models from direct-to-consumer brands, and a few less expensive options that walked the line between a great product and a great deal. We were also curious to find out if a higher price tag really did make for a better Dutch oven.

Our three tests for each Dutch oven tested its versatility for different cooking applications. First, a classic pho broth to see how deeply flavors would develop inside the pot. Second, a roasted chicken on a bed of mirepoix, assessing if the Dutch oven could appropriately cook both chicken and vegetables at the same time. And finally, a loaf of sourdough bread to test the heat retention of the pot as the bread springs from the initial burst of heat.

We took note of how easy it was to move each one, how well the ingredients fit, how each dish turned out, whether it was a pain to clean, how it fit on the stovetop, and how easy it was to store.

What You Should Know About Dutch Ovens

If you like to cook, a good Dutch oven is an essential tool for your kitchen. It’s usually made from seasoned cast-iron or ceramic, has thick walls, and includes a tight-fitting lid. These pots are excellent for browning meat and even better for making soups and stews or any recipes that require slow cooking because they distribute heat evenly during cooking. Dutch ovens can also tolerate high temperatures, so they can also be used for deep-frying, too.

Dutch ovens can be used on your stovetop and are oven-safe, but make sure it's been seasoned before its first use. Keep in mind these pots are hefty, so be careful when handling these while they're filled with hot food. Always look for a Dutch oven with large handles for easy maneuvering. Investing in a Dutch oven is well worth your money, as most—especially cast-iron Dutch ovens—are built to last forever.

What Cooks Best in a Dutch Oven

Dutch ovens are extremely versatile and can be used for everything from soup to sourdough. A Dutch oven is also excellent for cooking meat, vegetable, or seafood stews. The versatility of a Dutch oven goes beyond your kitchen, as there are some cast-iron models that can be hung over a campfire for outdoor cooking.

How to Choose the Right Size Dutch Oven

Because Dutch ovens are bulky, choosing the right size for your kitchen can be difficult. Dutch ovens range in size from 1/4 of a quart to 13 quarts. To decide which to buy, consider how many people you’re cooking for.

For one or two people, a 3- to 4-quart Dutch oven will usually do the trick. A household of four will want a 5- to 7-quart Dutch oven, which is the usual size range. If you’re cooking for a large family, a party, or a holiday meal, you may want to consider a Dutch oven larger than 7 quarts, just don’t forget to make sure it fits in your oven!

Ceramic or Cast-Iron?

There are benefits and drawbacks to both cast-iron and ceramic Dutch ovens. Cast-iron without an enamel coating can become rusty after repeated use. Enamel finishes on Dutch ovens will help keep them clean and rust-free.

Ceramic Dutch ovens are more visually pleasing but are prone to nicks and cracks with heavy use. Even the most thorough scrubbing won't return your ceramic model to its original condition once it has become stained. However, the staining won't affect its ability to cook your food.

Meet the testers

Bethany Kwoka

Bethany Kwoka

Contributor

Bethany is a freelance contributor for Reviewed. An avid home baker and aspiring home cook, she reviews and writes mostly about kitchen gadgets (with the occasional fitness review thrown in). Her specialty might be fancy desserts, but she's never met a batch-cooked dinner recipe she didn't like.

Outside of her work for Reviewed, Bethany is a content creator working on clean energy and climate change at a regional non-profit and runs a tabletop game at her local comic book shop.

See all of Bethany Kwoka's reviews
Monica Petrucci

Monica Petrucci

Editor, Kitchen & Cooking

@monicatpetrucci

Monica is Reviewed's Kitchen & Cooking editor and an avid home cook; she's been testing a wide range of kitchen products at Reviewed for over a year. Previously the Digital Editor at Culture Cheese Magazine (and a former barista), she's also had her work published in The Boston Globe, Modern Luxury, Boston Magazine, and more.

See all of Monica Petrucci's reviews
Jenny Dorsey

Jenny Dorsey

Contributor

Jenny is a professional chef, author and speaker specializing in interdisciplinary storytelling fusing food with social good. She leads a nonprofit named Studio ATAO and runs her own culinary consulting business. Her food and work has been featured in outlets such as Food Network, Oxygen TV, Eater, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, among others. Her full biography, food portfolio, and bylines can be found here.

See all of Jenny Dorsey's reviews
Danielle DeSiato

Danielle DeSiato

Managing Editor, Kitchen & Appliances

@kissthecake

Managing Editor, Kitchen & Appliances. Danielle has a B.S. from Syracuse University and a AAS in Culinary Arts from Newbury College. Previously, Danielle was a Test Cook and Associate Editor at America's Test Kitchen, as well as a freelance recipe developer and food writer. She’s the mom of two boys and loves making pizza on Friday nights.

See all of Danielle DeSiato's reviews

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