The Best Pizza Pans of 2023

When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.

Whether you're a New York-style loyalist or a deep dish die-hard, fresh baked pizza brings a special kind of joy. You can have that joy in your own home any day of the week with the right pizza pan or stone. The best pizza stone will get you the closest to brick oven quality pizza at home, but a pan is an easier to maintain and often cheaper option for more casual pizza makers.

"Pizza is very affordable. You don't have to be an expert to make it," said Martina Kenworthy, founder of La Rossi Pizza. You don't need expert materials, either, which is where pizza pans come in. Pizza pans are made from thinner layers of more traditional cookware materials, like aluminum, and require less special care. They are sometimes called pizza crispers and can be perforated or solid. There are also deep dish pizza pans, meant for Chicago-style pies, with higher sides.

No matter what type of pizza you make, Felice Colucci, resident instructor at Pizza University, says you should always look for the same thing: "A well-executed pizza can be recognized by a uniform golden brown color, which applies to any pizza style."

We kept this criteria in mind while testing 11 popular pizza pans — chosen after extensive research and expert recommendations — to determine our top three.

Best overall: KitchenAid Nonstick Aluminized Steel Pizza Crisper, 14-inch - See at AmazonWhether your pizza is laden with toppings or a simple margherita, the KitchenAid Pizza Crisper is sturdy and perforated, ensuring an even bake every time.

Best budget: Goodcook Nonstick Pizza Pan, 12-inch - See at AmazonThe Goodcook Nonstick Pizza Pan bakes pizza evenly, doesn't take up a lot of space, and costs right around $5.

Best deep dish: Lloyd Pans Chicago Style Pizza Pan, 12 by 2.25-inch - See at AmazonThe Lloyd Pans Deep Dish Pizza Pan was the easiest for a novice deep dish pizza maker to use and produced a pizza with an evenly browned crust.

Pros: Evenly browns pizza, easy to clean, makes pizza without a soggy center

Cons: Bulky because handles extend further than the usable surface

Since a pizza pan does not have the heat retention of a pizza stone, the texture and color of the pan is very important. "Perforated pans help prevent soggy pizza because some of the moisture will escape," said Bianca Kenworthy. In our testing, we found this to be true and exemplified by our top pick: the KitchenAid Pizza Crisper. In this pan, the pizza crust was golden and the bottom was crispy and browned.

This pan felt sturdier in my hands than most of the others I tested, likely due to its aluminized steel construction. Aluminum is a better conductor of heat but a softer metal compared to steel. Cookware made of aluminum coated steel, like this KitchenAid pan, can withstand and conduct high heat. I saw this in how the cheese melted and bubbled on top of the pizza in this pan.

Because of the extended handles, the KitchenAid pan takes up more space than the flatter pans, but if you regularly make pizza, it's worth making the extra room in your cabinet.

Pros: Metal utensil safe, easy to clean, makes pizza with an evenly colored crust

Cons: Easy to overbake

Though this pan is not perforated like our top pick, the low price point and solid performance makes it the best budget choice. The darker color of the Goodcook pan compensates for the lack of perforation because darker surfaces retain heat better than lighter colored pans.

The bottom of this pizza was uniformly a dark brown, but I noticed that within a few minutes, you could go from golden brown to verging on burnt. With this pan, I recommend checking the bottom a minute or two before the end of the bake time.

The cheese did not bubble as much in this pan as it did in the KitchenAid, but it still melted smoothly onto the tomato sauce.

Pros: Stick resistant without being too smooth, high oven-safe temperature

Cons: Heavy, pizza has a slightly soft center

Many deep dish pizza recipes recommend coating the pan with olive oil, which makes it difficult to stretch the dough to the edges and push it up the sides. So during my evaluation, I paid extra attention to pans that made the process of creating the deep dish shape easier, and the Lloyd Pans Deep Dish Pizza Pan outperformed them all.

The other deep dish pans I tested had nonstick coatings, which made it harder for me to push the dough up the sides. Lloyd Pans offers a proprietary finish called "Pre-Seasoned Tuff-Kote," a PFOA and PTFE-free coating that's applied and baked into the anodized surface of the pan so that it doesn't chip or flake. This limits the need for oiling or greasing your pan, but it isn't so smooth that the raw dough has trouble sticking to the surface. I didn't oil the Lloyd Pan at all and not only did the pizza release cleanly and smoothly, but it also held its shape.

We tested 10 pizza pans and spoke with three experts for this guide: Bianca and Martina Kenworthy, founders of La Rossi Pizza, and Felice Colucci, a resident instructor at Pizza University. We used a New York-style pizza recipe from Serious Eats and a deep dish pizza recipe from King Arthur Baking Company.

Baking: We divided the pans into regular and deep dish pans. For regular pans, we set the oven to 450 degrees, then put the empty pizza pans inside for 10 minutes to let them preheat before baking. I did not grease the pans because the recipe didn't call for it, though I did handle the dough with flour. For deep dish pizza pans, we did not preheat the pans.While there was variation in pizza size and shape, there were certain qualities we looked for in each pizza. For New York style pizzas, pans got marked down if any part of the pizza was soggy. Additionally, the cheese needed be completely melted, with a few bubbles. We positively ranked pans that produced crust with irregular bubbles because this indicates high heat retention. For deep dish pans, we looked for a crisp crust that was baked all the way through. We also noted if the sides of the pizza held their vertical shape when baked.

Cleaning: If the pizza stuck to the pan, we noted how easy it was to scrub off burnt pieces. Additionally, we looked to see if the acidity of the tomato sauce visibly damaged the pans.

Durability: For the flat pizza pans, we looked for signs of warping during baking or preheating. For deep dish pans, we noted if the surface was metal utensil safe and if metal utensils scratched the pans.

A pizza pan is usually a relatively thin, round pan made from traditional cookware materials like aluminum or aluminized steel. Essentially, it is like a round baking sheet, though some pizza pans are perforated.

Pizza stones are thick slabs of metal or stone that conduct and retain more heat than regular pans. Heat is a crucial factor in making pizza, and according to the Kenworthys and Colucci, it's the determining factor in pizza crust texture. Home ovens can't get as hot as wood-fired pizza ovens, so serious home pizza makers may turn to pizza stones for a closer approximation to a pie from their favorite pizza joint. Pizza stones are generally more expensive than pizza pans and require special maintenance and knowledge to use properly. For more information, check out our guide to the best pizza stones.

Soggy pizza is extremely unpleasant, so we asked our experts how to avoid this troubling fate.

"When cooking, in general, like in life, balance is everything!" said Colucci. He recommends no more than three toppings on a pizza (in addition to sauce and cheese). A light sauce and a smattering of toppings won't overwhelm the dough and will help maintain a crispy crust.

The Kenworthys' advice also focused on toppings. "If you have a veggie pizza, we recommend roasting the vegetables before so they don't release liquid on your pizza," said Bianca. Similarly, be aware that fresh mozzarella may release more moisture.

Sign up for Insider Reviews' weekly newsletter for more buying advice and great deals.You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here.Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at [email protected].