The best Dutch ovens of 2025, tested and reviewed

Ask any chef what their go-to cooking pot is, and they'll likely give you the same answer: a Dutch oven. "I think every kitchen should have at least one Dutch oven," says Roger Sitrin, lead recreational chef instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. Just like the best cast iron skillet or the best nonstick pan, a Dutch oven is a cookware essential.

Dutch ovens are often made of enameled or seasoned cast iron, but their shape and tight-fitting lids make them good for everything from baking bread to slow-cooking meat. The best Dutch oven we tested is the Le Creuset Signature Round Dutch Oven; it's a stunning and thoughtfully designed piece of cookware that has a warranty that will ensure it lasts a lifetime. If you're looking for something under $100, our budget pick is the Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Dutch Oven; it seamlessly moves from cooking to serving and proves that quality cast iron can be affordable.

Our top picks for Dutch ovens

Best overall: Le Creuset Signature Round Dutch Oven, 5.5 Quarts - See at Amazon

Best budget: Lodge Dutch Enameled Dutch Oven, 6 Quarts - See at Amazon

Most durable: Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 5 Quarts - See at Amazon

Best overall

The Le Creuset Dutch Oven is hard not to love from the first look. Its striking colors and elegant design make it a true showpiece for your kitchen. But there's much more to this Dutch oven than its aesthetics.

For starters, the Dutch oven has an incredibly roomy cooking surface, which means food is never cramped while sauteing, resulting in much more even cooking. The light-colored interior makes it easy to monitor browning. It produced a beautiful Bolognese sauce that was actually more flavorful than other batches due to the more even and consistent browning I could achieve in this pot. And, despite its wider cooking surface and lighter interior, it still made a perfectly tall and well-browned loaf of bread.

One of my favorite features is the generously sized looped handles, which feel comfortable and secure to hold even with bulky oven mitts on. While I'd stop short of calling it "lightweight," at a little over 11 pounds, it is easier to lift than most of the other pots we tried. Its lid has a stainless steel knob that is oven-safe up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, so you never have to worry about sticking it in the oven.

Like all light-colored enameled Dutch ovens, the interior of the Le Creuset is prone to staining over time. This doesn't impact performance, but if you're bothered by it, you can always bleach the pot back to white (see the FAQ section in this guide for instructions).

With an MSRP of $420 (though we regularly see it for as low as $300), this is definitely an investment piece. However, Le Creuset's lifetime warranty makes it worth the high price tag. The brand will replace the pot if it chips or breaks — for your entire life. This generous policy makes the Le Creuset Dutch Oven truly a "buy it for life" product.

We also tested and loved the oval version of this Dutch oven, particularly for baking bread — it made a truly beautiful and well-shaped loaf. However, while oval Dutch ovens are great for baking and large cuts of meat, we found they heat a bit unevenly for more everyday stovetop cooking.

Best budget

I love Lodge cast iron for its reliable combination of high performance and low price; its Dutch oven succeeded in meeting my high expectations. The construction is ideal for cooking and serving. The side handles are easy to grasp with a dish towel, and the interior enameled surface is easy to clean, even after slow-roasting barbecue pork. Plus, the exterior is deeply colored, cleans easily, and looks beautiful on a table.

The bread test cemented this oven as a top choice. Cutting into the loaf revealed an even crust on the sides, top, and bottom. The crust held together without flaking, giving the loaf a satisfying crunch.

While this is a phenomenal Dutch oven, especially for the price, it is quite heavy at almost 14 pounds. While its high walls prevent spills and splashes, it has a smaller cooking surface than the Le Creuset by several inches. As a result, sauteing in the Lodge felt cramped.

Only time will tell if this piece holds up as well as the Le Creuset. I have more confidence in the Le Creuset oven's durability because I've seen pieces from the brand perform just as well decades after their first use. However, Lodge continues to impress me, and its lifetime warranty makes this a phenomenal value.

Most durable

I prefer enameled Dutch ovens for their cooking and serving versatility, but enamel can — and does — show wear, tear, and cracks over time. Unenameled cast iron has a seasoning that becomes part of the metal and can be reseasoned if need be. With care, these pots can last a lifetime or longer, and they're much cheaper to buy upfront.

This Lodge Dutch oven costs just $45 and performed beautifully in our tests. It has dimples on the underside of the lid, which Sitrin says is to allow for condensation to drip back into the pot and baste the contents. Though the side handles are slightly smaller than those on the enameled ovens we recommend, I prefer the looped handle on the lid to the other oven's knobs. It is easier to grasp and offers a more secure grip.

This pot should last a lifetime, but it willrequire some care. Acidic foods can damage the coating on cast iron, and you'll need to season the pot after each use. Seasoned cast iron can also be more difficult to clean. After roasting pork shoulder, the sauce and fat were pretty caked on the bottom of all the pans, but I had the hardest time removing it from this pot — it was much easier to clean the enameled Dutch ovens.

Fortunately, cast iron is nearly indestructible. If you do damage the coating on this pot, you can season it back to nearly new with some salt, oil, and the heat from your oven. However, you'll have to decide if the long-term durability and lower price are worth the upkeep for this pot. If not, we recommend choosing an enameled Dutch oven instead.

What else we tested

Staub Round Cocotte, 5.5 Quarts: This Dutch oven could have been a top pick and we still highly recommend it. However, it was edged out by the Le Creuset, which had small details like a roomier cooking surface, more generous handles, and a lighter weight.

Made In Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven: While we've liked Made In products in the past, we weren't impressed by its Dutch oven. The oven was relatively easy to maneuver, and did feature a taller top knob that was easier to grab without touching the lid surface. However, the heat retention and distribution were not even — the oven produced bread with the palest bottom crust.

Smithey Ironware 5.5-Quart Dutch Oven: Though it comes from a trusted cast iron brand, the Smithey Ironware Dutch oven did not perform particularly well. The seasoned bottom of the pot was discolored after the first use and easily scratched.

Our Place Perfect Pot: This was the only aluminum Dutch oven that I tested and I was pleasantly surprised by the crust it produced when I made bread with it. However, this is more like a multi-purpose stock pot than a Dutch oven, in part because of its low oven-safe temperature.

What to look for in a Dutch oven

Material: The majority of the Dutch ovens we tested are enameled, including two of our top picks. Enameled cast iron makes for a more versatile pot that lets you cook a wider variety of ingredients without worrying about acidity damaging the cast iron seasoning. Plus, enameled Dutch ovens come in a range of attractive colors that make them great as serving dishes.

Weight: Due to their size and shape, Dutch ovens can be seriously heavy and difficult to carry around the kitchen. Most of the ovens we tested are cast iron, which makes them even heavier. If you have trouble lifting heavy items, but still want the best Dutch oven, consider an enameled one and choose a color you like. That way you can feel comfortable leaving it out instead of moving it in and out of storage.

Shape: A round version of the best Dutch oven is ideal for stovetop cooking, like simmering and braising. Oval Dutch ovens are great for baking projects and roasting large, oblong cuts of meat. Though they have different strong points, you can easily use oval and round Dutch ovens interchangeably with small adjustments. For instance, allow an oval shape to preheat a little longer on the stove top to compensate for not matching the circular burner, and roast smaller pieces of meat in a circular pot.

How we test Dutch ovens

Over the course of several months, I cooked with seven of the best Dutch ovens from six legacy and startup cookware manufacturers. I also spoke to Roger Sitrin, lead recreational chef instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, about the merits of buying and using a Dutch oven. Here are the criteria we used to evaluate each of the Dutch ovens:

Boiling water: We boiled 4 quarts of water for pasta in each of the Dutch ovens, evaluating how quickly they heated and how easy and comfortable they were to maneuver when filled with hot liquid.

Chicken and rice: We used the Dutch ovens to prepare a one-pot chicken and rice dish that cooks partially on the stovetop and partially in the oven. This test highlighted how the Dutch ovens performed several common cooking tasks, including searing chicken thighs, sauteeing mirepoix, and baking as a casserole dish in the oven.

Bolognese sauce: We prepared Bolognese sauce in each Dutch oven, a long-simmering sauce that includes browning meat and sauteing mirepoix. This test illustrated that pots with a white interior made it much easier to monitor browning.

Braising meat: To cook the pork well, you just need a pot that can sustain a low and slow cook, which is a defining trait of Dutch ovens. Our pulled pork test (based on this recipe from Serious Eats) didn't reveal substantial differences between the ovens.

Baking bread: Dutch ovens are great for baking bread due to their shape, lid, and thick sides. We baked the NYT Cooking no-knead bread recipe in each oven, the cooking vessel recommended by this and other no-knead bread recipes. One of the benefits of baking bread in a Dutch oven is that covering the loaf traps steam and produces a not-too-thick, not-too-thin crust. We evaluated the crust on the finished loaves, looking for an even brown all over, especially on the bottom.

Cleaning: After each cooking test, I checked for staining or discoloration on the enamel surface. I also checked for any nicks, scratches, or stains after cleaning burned pieces of pork off the pots.

Durability: I whacked the rim of each Dutch oven with a metal spoon 100 times and checked for any chipping. I also slammed the lid down on the pots at least 10 times.

Dutch oven FAQs

What is best to cook in a Dutch oven?

The most common ways to use a Dutch oven are baking bread, braising meat, and cooking stews or soups. Anything that requires a long cook on low and consistent heat is great in the best Dutch oven. It's also a great (albeit slightly heavy) option for boiling large batches of pasta or corn on the cob.

What is the best Dutch oven size?

A 5-quart Dutch oven is the best size for most people and should be able to accommodate nearly every recipe. If you regularly cook in big batches, you may consider going up to a 7-quart Dutch oven.

How do you clean a Dutch oven?

An enameled Dutch oven is easy to clean: use soap, water, and a slightly abrasive sponge on the burnt parts. For very stubborn stains, fill the Dutch oven with water and bring it to a boil on the stove to loosen residue. Then, continue cleaning with soap and water.

Seasoned cast iron is more delicate and must be cleaned according to the manufacturer's instructions to avoid rusting or scratching away the seasoning.

Check out our guide to the best cast iron skillets for more in-depth cleaning tips.

How do I remove stains from my Dutch oven?

Dutch ovens with a light-colored interior are prone to staining over time. You can remove or lighten these stains by mixing a solution of 1 part bleach to 3 parts water and letting it soak in the pot for 12 to 48 hours before rinsing.

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