Not if you wouldn't use them. What about baking or roasting pans?

I think you might like to have a 4 qt. Dutch oven, Bigger than a saucepan, smaller than a stockpot. Just plain useful. You might not get a ton of use from it, so if you don’t like having things you only use now and then, and don't miss it, don't bother. It's good for everything from stuffed cabbage to crusty bread. It would be for the things you don't yet know you want to make, or you'd already have one.

If you're cooking for more than one person, a short stock pot (3-4 qts) is handy for boiling pasta, especially spaghetti. It's also big enough to hold a steamer for veggies; an asparagus steamer is something else that's multi purpose. It really depends on what you cook, in what quantity, & what you already have.

If you never make soups nor stocks you don't need a stock pot. But what do you boil pasta in....or corn? Do you brown meat and make a stew? How about things like lemon curd? or a ganache? what do you use there?
I suggest that maybe expanding your equipment might lead you to expand your cooking beyond toss it into the crock pot or the fry pan.

Why do you want to expand your equipment collection? Do you want to expand your cooking horizons? If so, what you want to add to your cooking repertoire will dictate what pots you’ll need. But if not, you don’t need anything.

Exactly. The pot that you need is the one that you find yourself wishing you had, more than a couple times. I could certainly give a list of what I feel is required equipment but it might not match what others feel they need. For me a minimum would me s/m/l saucepans and skillets, and a Dutch oven/short stock pot.

I cook for my husband, myself and my daughter. I boil pasta in a medium pot and either grill or microwave corn on the cob. If you don't know, I learned that if you leave the husks on, cut off each end and microwave the corn one at a time wrapped in wet papertowel on a plate for about 3 1/2 min, then you can push the corn out of the husk and it comes right out while leaving most of the silk in the husk. No need to shuck the corn and it tastes really good!

I don't brown a lot of meat. Once in awhile I will sear pork chops in my 10" saute pan. I don't make soups or stocks, lemon curd or ganache. I'd like to find some different healthy recipes, instead of making the same things all the time, but recipes I find are either expensive to make or have odd/expensive ingredients. I have a stainless round dutch oven, so maybe I will have to look up recipes to make with it. I just thought I'd see what people have and use a lot that maybe I should get. I was looking at an instant pot or air fryer, but I don't really know if either is necessary and I don't think I would use either much. Just want to see if there is something I don't have that I might like to put on my christmas list.

Many here, or I shall speak for myself, have way more pots and pans than necessary. Tends to be more of a 'want' than a need.

Now is the time with crazy low prices for many 'wants' in the pot and pan category. This may be the first season I just have no wants or needs. Only if something breaks do I search for a replacement. (spice grinder comes to mind)

I have no countertop appliances. Not even a toaster. Many 'wants' this time of year are the new gadgets. No need as we cook rather simple but with whole fresh foods.

Some recipes I come across are more complicated than necessary so I see where you might not want to go there. A few co-workers that don't cook but maybe once a month and shop mostly at WholeFoods and TraderJoes showed me a recipe they thought looked really good...I did a head shake. Chicken is not expensive but the recipe had 4 fresh herbs and 4-5 other ingredients that put a simple dish way over the top $$$. A few tweaks using TJ's frozen veg and a spice blend and just the fresh basil, maybe fresh spinach...left over veg and baby artichokes go back into the freezer....for another meal. Can be intimidating and wasteful if leftover ingredients spoil not used.

Maybe if a recipe you come across sounds good, wanting to expand your rotation, post it here and many will offer a simple variation not so costly.

I have some pork loin chops for tonight thawing. A visit through my crisper drawer and fridge for ideas...now waste, no recipe. Using what I have on hand.

I suppose my point is, you can expand your meal plan easily keeping it simple.

I think it was Tuesday last week I had all five burners active and the oven had roasted veg, croutons, and dinner plates waiting to be heated. Dinner and lunches prepping for the rest of the week. Specific favorite pans for each.

Not for a minute do I suggest these products as the dutch oven 6qrt is a bit big as is the cast iron...but a quick sample I found easily....

sleevendog, I agree with using frozen veggies and dry spices rather than fresh, but do you use a dutch oven and if so, do you use it a lot? Also, if you have one, I assume it's a heavy enameled one. If you do use an enameled one, any reason it would be better than the stainless one I have?

What about a wok or stir-fry pan? Is either a lot better than just using my saute pan for a stir-fry? Also, if all that can be made in a wok or stir-fry pan is a stir-fry, is it worth getting either of them?

Regarding a work or stir-fry pan, IMO, they just are not necessary; a good large skillet will do the job just as well - and I lived in the orient for several years, so know what I am talking about IMO. LOL. While I do love my cast iron Dutch oven, I rarely use it. That truly surprised me because I thought I would be using it frequently.

I have a Dutch oven (which I bought because I thought I would need it), and I almost never use it. The only thing I do use it for is deep frying, as the side is very good for supporting my candy thermometer. I have room to store it, and so I do not regret buying it, and I would miss it if I wanted to deep fry something. I do not make stew or anything braised.

I do have several stock pots, and I use them frequently. I also have tall and short sauce pans and also use those frequently.

One pan I use a lot is my pressure cooker, and it has two pans for one lid. One pan holds a huge amount, and I use this for making stock and for poaching chicken.

Kathy, if your dutch oven is heavy steel, of the All-Clad category, it should function well for you. If it's thin steel of the Farberware category, it's more of a large saucepan or small stockpot, and while a useful pot, it lacks the “oven” part of the dutch oven (BTW, Le Creuset, who make top quality enamelled cast iron, were goaded into calling theirs “French ovens” rather than “Dutch”. In French it's “cocotte”, but their American marketing tries to make it local).

Iron is a poor conductor for metal. Being a poor conductor means that the pans are slow to heat and to adjust temperature, which means that once it's hot, it stays hot well and the contents, such as a stew, heat fairly evenly, even in volume. Think of its origin over an open fire, more coals than flames. They make heavy aluminum dutch ovens, which work fine as pots on the oven, but aren't great at stovetop/campfire because they conduct too well (my mother has one). This is why a cast iron pan is so good for frying. Adding the cool food reduces the temperature of the oil, but the temperature retained in the pan helps the oil return to heat, rather than needing to reheat the pan as well. The heavy, clad steel is more reactive than cast iron, but not like the pure aluminum.

The enamel is for pretty, and is easy to clean. The best metallurgy is in Staub and Le Creuset, along with higher price. Lodge (no enamel) nowadays is extra thick and heavy, and much less expensive. Cheap cast iron from China, often sold under a famous personality’s name, is more likely to break than the good stuff, but it’s still very rare, and you could buy two or more for the same price as the best. Interior enamel should be white, beige or black, rather than colors. A lot of the prettiest colors are made with heavy metals. They're fine on the outside, but you don't want to eat them. This is abundance of caution, but the current standard, so if you see bright colors on the inside, you don't know what other rules they've broken.

Do you have a griddle or grill pan? Those are also different from the basics and useful. You can also get a reversible grill/griddle, which works best on gas, and is dangerous for induction. I use them in the oven for chops and skewers. I use thin carbon steel crepe pans (highly reactive) for pancakes of all types (not just crepes) and eggs.

I cooked for a year with just a couple of small pots and a 7” pan, plus a ring pot which works like an oven on gas. We entertained. You can make du with just about anything. As S. said, I'm overequipped, but it's so much nicer having my carbon steel pans. I used to use my very good multiply stainless frying pan for everything, but the carbon steel is so much better for the delicate things. We ate before. I just like the cooking better after.

I think, without checking?, and counting, I have maybe 10-12. 😂

All sizes from 2quart to 6. (enameled)...and maybe 2 dozen cast iron and a half dozen steel. A dozen different stainless. A few ceramic. Many from thrifts and yard sales. Many collected when much younger without much coin but loved cooking. Some recently now with hard working years of deserved desires.

My parents have cooked for 70 years, turning 92and91 this month, with a wedding set of RevereWare. Boil, steam, simmer. Good diet. A bit bland. 🤪

Why some of us go over-board kitchen obsessed? Who knows. Gardening, fresh foods, cooking can be therapy, a calm release after a hard work week, family in the kitchen is warm and loving. Coffee cup in hand, out in the garden early morning looking at what might be tonights meal...

No explanation why some enjoy a ten twenty minute prep chopping at the prep chopping board. DH is so happy to help and mince/sliver/chop. Good knife skills. We love it, some don't.

Some have big fancy show-boat kitchens and do not cook much. Some have tiny efficient kitchens that crank out amazing meals.

The answer is more :)

Hehehe, just kidding the answer is enough for how you cook. I'm a person that almost has more pans than I need. I do have a lot of them. And there aren't any I don't use, though I do have a handful of ones I rarely use. Ranging from little 1 quarts to the big few gallon brew kettles, 4 sizes of skillets/fryers... most of it is stainless, but I got a couple nonstick pans I wouldn't want to not have... and a small set of cast iron, of which rarely use the cornbread wedges and aebleskiver pans.

I cook a LOT. My newest and fave pot is a round belly 4 quart. I had a gap between 3 and 6 so got a 4 and 5. The round belly is used so much it rarely sees it's home on the wall and is usually plucked right from the draining board and into service again.

Also depends on... what pots and pans do you already have?

I agree with WC that a wok or stir fry pan is not “necessary” but I use mine all the time. The shape lends itself well to, well, stir-fry, or just tossing without stuff landing all over your stove.

I like having a rounded saucepan as well, saucier or whatever, possibly what BN is referring to, esp for when I’m using a whisk like for a bechamel.

A casserole/braising/rondeau is another useful pan that can go from stove top to oven to table for those times when a Dutch oven isn't needed or is too large. It can also stand in as a sauce pan, a soup pot, & it's wide enough to accommodate a steamer.

Casserole Pan

I have 2 10"? 12"? skillets, one stainless and one is called a green pan..it's nonstick and is still useable but on its way out as its discoloring and getting hard to clean stuff off of it. I have a small copper skillet I use for eggs or a white sauce and not much else, a big stainless skillet ... It's a real vintage Magnolite which was my mother-in-law`s..I got it after she passed. My dutch ovens (an oval and a round) are also Magnalite from my mother-in-law. I used the oval a few times and liked it, but it's starting to get holes on the inside bottom so I should get rid of it. The round dutch oven is in good shape, so maybe I should start using it. I also have a medium stainless sauce pan/pot, a small sauce pan/pot and a ceramic medium sauce pan/pot. I have caserole dishes and a crock. I will say there are times when I'm making something like mac and cheese or chicken alfredo and even in my 10"" saute pan I sometimes feel like I could use something bigger.

Magnalite is not stainless...it's an aluminum alloy and will get pitted if you use it for acedic things like tomato sauces.
What do you use for roasting something like a beef roast or a turkey or chicken? What do you use for something like a fritatta that starts on the stove top and goes into the oven? What do you use to cook rice?
Do you ever cook for more than just your family? I do corn in the micro, but for when I have maybe 8 hungry people and a dozen and a half ears of corn.
A wok will do lots of things. If you want healthy meals a wok is the place to start.....and perhaps an enamel cast iron Dutch oven and some hearty veggie heavy soups.
We have never owned a vacation home, consequently I have cooked a lot in rentals and ill equipped kitchens. I have made cookies on the bottom of an aluminum 9 by 12 pan and cooked spaghetti in 2 smaller sauce pans because the largest pan was holding the simmering sauce. I have even boiled lobster in a turkey roasting pan, but it's lots easier cooking in a well equipped kitchen.
you don't need a rice cooker, nor an air fryer, but you do need a stock pot and a non stick small fry pan that isn't worn out and a bigger frypan with a lid that fits for one pot meals, and a dutch oven for a good yankee pot roast or a pot of chili.

I don't cook whole turkeys or chickens and I make pot roast in the crock. Chili would be in the crock also. I make white or brown rice in my medium copper sauce pan/pot and flavored rice from a box (yes, I sometimes make things from a box!) In my nonstick big "green" skillet or stainless saute pan. I don't make anything like a fritatta that goes from stove to oven, other than once in awhile searing pork chops and finishing in the oven. I've cooked for 8+ and made either meatloaf, spaghetti or lasagna.

Lindac92, what do you think I should get? Something I don't have that would help me cook other things, or maybe just replace one of my pans that's going bad? Maybe just stick with what I have and look and see if there are any "gadgets" I'd like instead?

Kathy, why don't you find some recipes you might like to make and see what cookware they require? I think that's a good starting point and I would hate for you to waste money on something trendy like an air fryer which may or may not suit your needs.

I second the recommendation for a dutch oven. It is so versatile. But, don't get one that is too big. If you feed a lot of folks at the table, maybe a larger one. Otherwise a smaller one will end up serving you better. If it ends up to be just too large for the quantity that you would often use if for, it will just get stored and not used. Be realistic about how many you might be cooking for most often.

If you are looking at stainless steel frying pans, let me caution you about the care and use and feeding of them.

The ugly truth is that they are much better at fast sautés than for things that need a bit more time to cook. And, they are very labor intensive to keep care of. You have to clean them with Barkeepers friend each and every time.

I have a collection of different sized iron skillets and I highly recommend them. Some will tell you that they are high maintenance and I say that is not so, at all. My iron skillets are immensely more easy to care for than are the stainless steel. I use my iron every single day of the year and all I do is rinse while they are still hot, pat them dry and put them away. That business about them needing such special care is nonsense. The only thing they need is to be in constant use. If you only use them on rare ocassion you may find that the residual oil has turned rancid. That is easily rectified, but mine never rest long enough for that!

I have found that my iron can do tricks that most people are not ever aware of. It is amazing at what can be accomplished on top of a piece of hot flat iron!!!! I would feel as if my hands were tied in the kitchen without them. I even keep a couple of them at the homes of each of my grown kids for when I am there.

Other than those skillets, I keep my selection down to a few good deep pots and one small sauce pan. Heavy bottoms seem to be good for those types of cookware. I try to keep it to only what I need and use and not have a lot of excess stuff to clutter up the kitchen.

I think the responses here provide a perfect demonstration of why everyone needs to make these decisions on their own!

Does anyone who posted agree with everyone else? Forget cooking, I don’t even agree with some of the care and maintenance comments here! In my experience enameled cast iron needs the most soaking and scouring, hope you’re ok with your $$$ Le Creuset staining and scratching and chipping because that seems to be a fact of life no matter how little I use it. The above poster thinks stainless is labor intensive to take care of, yet I can’t think of any more forgiving material. You don’t have to worry about what you put in it, no big deal if you leave it sitting dirty too long, you can soak it you can scour it you can put it in the dishwasher. Can’t do all of those with enamel, with nonstick, with cast iron, with carbon steel...

But as for which types of pots and pans you need, I’d focus on expanding your repertoire a bit and getting a feel for what you think you’re missing, than buy something others use all the time and try to find recipes to cook in them. Otherwise all you’re doing is buying fillers for the least accessible areas of your cabinetry.

Agree with stumpy...start by expanding your cooking repetoire. Maybe the reason you don't cook a whole chicken or a turkey or a roast beef or a pork loin roast is because you don't have a pan to cook it in?
You say you want to cook more healthy things? I say start with a wok and lots of vegetables and a bit of thin sliced chicken breast, add some brown rice and you have a good healthy meal. And try a potroast in a pot rather than a crock pot...same with chili....brown the meat in your dutch oven, drain the fat off and then add your "stuff".
Do you have muffin tins, pie and cake pans and cookie sheets? 9 by 12 baking pans? Do you make soup? in what? Do you boil up a lot of shrimp or Crab legs?
I think you need a roasting pan and a heavy pan for slow cooking.....and replace your nonstick frypan. I consider them sort of "disposable" and buy a fairly cheap one about once a year....a new non stick fry pan is a treat indeed for frying up a couple of eggs!

'stumpy' lol.

^^so agree about multi use pots and pans. Choosing decent quality and not too big will be used more than heavy 6 quart heavy enameled. No purchase has to be expensive if patient. A dozen quality lifetime kitchen members,(pots/pans), collected over time by watching sales and yard sales...avoiding trash disposables like teflon and chipping ceramics...

I purchased a new roasting pan a few years ago. New wall oven. Heavy duty lifetime purchase. Stainless steel. Use it all the time. Smaller than the beast I used rarely. The old one was teflon lined, (what was I thinking)...too big for many things. My new one can be used for lasagna, casseroles, roasting veg and chickens. Quality sheet pans for so many things. Non stick lined sheet pans will be garbage in just a couple years.

Many google searches have basic 'must have kitchen pot/pan' lists. Hundreds of them.

When we travel we rent homes. Love shopping markets and cooking locally. Most often crap pans and cutlery. No issue... just make the best of it. Rather not struggle at home. Dealio fine when in challenging kitchens.

Thanks so much for all the responses! I will definitely look for recipes I want to make and see what I might need... think I'm leaning towards a dutch oven.

This really doesn't relate to actual cooking, but I would bet that most of us who have colorful enameled cast iron pieces smile at the lovely bright burst of color in the kitchen, even when it's not being used. Many of us keep it visible, too.

I think you will find your answer when you want to make something and don't have the needed equipment.

I strongly disagree with the comments about stainless steel. I have two large SS skillets and two small, as well as a large, tall stockpot and one the size Carolb posted. I also have a stainless pressure cooker with 2 different size bottoms and one top to fit both and SS saucepans. I love Stainless. It's very easy to clean with liquid dish soap and if you burn or have a mess, soak a short time or use BKF.

I think many people aren't aware that you cook differently with stainless skillets. You sprinkle a bit of water in skillet, then heat and only then, when water dries up, do you add cooking oil. I can fry an egg (as long as it's not scrambled) and slide it out like the skillet is non-stick. If it's scrambled, I just put in sink with some water in it and by the time breakfast is over, the residue slides right out. I no longer choose to have a non-stick in my house and don't miss it a bit. I do have cast iron and like it for certain things, but I do find it more work to keep up than Stainless. YMMV

I have many dutch ovens and found that the enameled ones from Aldi's usually in the stores about this time, have performed just as well as the Lodge and Le creuset and Staub. I also have Mario Batali and Martha Stewart.

So if you want to save some money....

If I am considering getting another, bigger pan for making things like mac n cheese, chicken and broccoli alfredo(with pasta), spaghetti etc., should I get a bigger non-stick skillet, a bigger non-stick saute pan or a tri-ply saute pan? My "green" pan(skillet) cleans up easier, but my stainless saute pan holds more in it. I could use my skilllet or saute pan for pasta dishes, but it would be nice to have something a bit bigger. Although the saute pan holds more, I think I need something a bit bigger for when I make a larger amount of mac n cheese etc. I can still use the stainless saute pan I have for searing meat. Also, would I be able to do a large amount of stir-fry in the same pan I get for mac n cheese etc or should I get something different to make a large amount of stir-fry? I know non-stick is easier to clean and a good tri-ply stainless can last longer(no scratches, chipping etc.), but aside from that....

I'm still considering a dutch oven for some things, but I like making pasta dishes in a bigger wide pan. What about a bigger everyday pan with 2 small handles?

Re the everyday pan, here’s a recommendation: Next time you’re cooking something in a skillet, note how often you grab the handle and think would you be just as happy with a little loop handle. The answer for me is no. Shaking the pan, holding an opposing force as I fight stuck food 😡, handling the pan without getting hit with heat, sliding the pan across burners, handling the pan without getting potholders dirty in the food... all easier for me with a long handle. Storage is the only benefit to the ears, IMO.