Carbon Steel or Stainless? The Best Paella Pan for Your Stove

A paella pan is about the simplest pan there is: a wide, shallow, round sheet of steel with two handles and no lid. That simplicity is the point. Rice cooks in a thin, even layer, the liquid boils off across a huge surface, and the grains touching the bottom toast into the crisp crust Valencians call socarrat. A deep pot or a small skillet cannot do that, because the rice sits too thick to cook evenly or crisp.

This guide covers paella pans from about 12 to 18 inches in the two common materials, polished carbon steel and stainless steel, plus a pre-seasoned carbon steel pan and a full outdoor set with a burner. For each we list the material, diameter, servings as the maker states them, handles, heat sources, weight and care, taken from the maker, the Amazon listing or America’s Test Kitchen. Where no source gives a figure, we say “Not stated”.

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Quick verdict: which paella pan to buy

The table compares the five picks we would steer most cooks toward, one for each kind of buyer. All eight pans are reviewed in full after it.

Five paella pans side by side

Material, size and the stoves each pan suits, as the maker or the listing give them.

Our picks for the best paella pan

Paella and Mexican arroz: two ways to cook rice

Paella comes from Valencia, on Spain’s east coast, and its name is the Valencian word for the pan itself, according to Visit Valencia. The Valencian version uses round rice with the D.O. València designation, chicken, rabbit, green beans, garrofó beans and tomato, seasoned with olive oil, saffron, sweet paprika and rosemary, and is cooked over gas or firewood. The crisp, toasted rice at the base, the socarrat, is “the most coveted and crunchy bite for any Valencian.” All of that depends on the pan: a wide, thin, shallow layer of rice over strong heat.

Mexican arroz rojo is a different dish with a different method. As our guide to Mexican rice vs Spanish rice explains, long-grain rice is fried dry in oil until the grains turn opaque, then cooked with blended tomato, onion and garlic, and the color comes from the tomato, not saffron. “Spanish rice” on American menus is a naming habit for that Mexican-style rice, not paella. You do not need a paella pan for arroz rojo, though a wide pan is handy whenever you want to toast a large batch of rice in one even layer.

How to choose a paella pan for your stove

Material

Polished carbon steel is the traditional choice: thin, quick to heat and good at browning, but it rusts unless you dry and oil it. Stainless steel needs no special care, but America’s Test Kitchen found it browned the rice more slowly than dark carbon steel. Pre-seasoned carbon steel, like the GreenPan, skips the first seasoning.

Size for your servings and your heat

Makers’ serving counts vary: Garcima rates its 16-inch pans for four to six and its 13.5-inch pan for two to four. ATK settled on 15 to 16 inches as the size that feeds six to eight while still fitting on a grill. Match the pan to your heat as well as your guests. A 16-inch pan is wider than a home burner, so you may need to move it around; anything 18 inches or larger is best over a paella burner or a grill, and Garcima says its 18-inch pans are too large for a standard oven.

Flat or convex base

Traditional Garcima pans are slightly convex by design to allow for heat expansion, and Garcima says they may not sit flush on smooth glass or ceramic cooktops. For a glass top or induction, choose a pan the maker rates for it, like the Garcima stainless flat bottom, the La Ideal induction pan, the GreenPan or the All-Clad.

Thickness

ATK found that thin pans heat and cool fast and reproduce hot spots, so you have to rotate them more, while a thick, heavy pan holds even heat. Thicker pans such as Garcima’s Pata Negra line cost more.

Handles

Paella pans have two side handles, and they get hot. ATK’s testers found low horizontal handles brought their knuckles close to the heat on a grill and liked tall, easy-grip handles. Whatever you buy, keep thick oven mitts by the stove.

How we picked these eight paella pans

We have not cooked with these pans for this guide. We started from what a kitchen needs to cook rice for a crowd: a wide, even heating surface, a size that matches the heat source, and care the owner will actually keep up with. We read America’s Test Kitchen’s paella pan review, which cooked paella on gas and charcoal grills in five 15- to 16-inch pans and judged even cooking, socarrat, handles and care, and used its findings on material, thickness and handles throughout.

We then checked every pan’s material, size, stated servings, heat sources and care against Garcima’s own descriptions, the other makers’ statements and the Amazon listings, and chose one pan for each kind of kitchen: gas, induction, outdoor and small households. Each was in stock on Amazon when we wrote this. ATK’s own winner is not on our list because we exclude that maker from our guides. We left out nonstick-coated paella pans, because Garcima explains that socarrat depends on the rice gently sticking to the steel and caramelizing, cast iron versions, which are far heavier than the thin pans paella is built around, and enameled steel pans, because we could not find a maker statement on whether the enamel is lead-free. We did not find a Wirecutter or Serious Eats paella pan review to draw on, so we do not cite one.

Paella pan questions, answered

What is the best type of paella pan?

For gas stoves and grills, polished carbon steel is the traditional choice. For induction or glass tops, choose a flat-bottomed stainless pan or an induction-rated carbon steel pan. If rust worries you, stainless steel is the easy-care choice.

What is the best brand of paella pan?

Garcima, which sells its pans under the La Ideal name, makes pans in every main material in Spain, which is why five of our eight picks are Garcima pans. All-Clad and GreenPan make good alternatives for induction kitchens.

What size paella pan do I need?

Go by the maker’s serving guide and your heat source. Garcima rates 13.5 inches for two to four, 16 inches for four to six and 18 inches for six to eight. A pan bigger than about 16 inches is best over a paella burner or grill.

Can I use a paella pan on an induction stove?

Only if the maker says so. Garcima says its standard carbon steel pans are not for induction, while its stainless flat-bottom pan and La Ideal induction pan are made for it. GreenPan, All-Clad and Paelluxe say theirs work on induction.

Does a carbon steel paella pan need seasoning?

Garcima says to season its Pata Negra pan before first use, and to dry every carbon steel pan straight after washing and wipe it with oil to prevent rust. GreenPan’s pan comes pre-seasoned. Stainless pans need no seasoning.

Can I make paella in a regular skillet?

For two people, a wide 12-inch skillet will do, but the rice layer gets deeper as the batch grows, which makes an even crust harder. See our guide to the best 12-inch frying pan if you want one pan for both.

Our last word on the best paella pan

Buy the pan that matches your stove. On gas or a grill, the Garcima 16-inch carbon steel pan is the traditional choice; choose the Paelluxe 16-inch stainless pan if you will not oil it. On induction, pick the Garcima stainless flat bottom or the GreenPan, and for a backyard crowd, the Andreu set brings its own burner.

On a budget? See our guide to the best affordable paella pans.

Related guide: Paella pan alternative.

For other wide pans, see our guides to the best carbon steel pan, the best cast iron skillet and the best frying pan. For how Mexican rice differs, read Mexican rice vs Spanish rice, then see the menu or call to order.