8 best Dutch ovens, from Le Creuset to affordable alternatives

I compared iconic brands such as Le Creuset to more affordable high street alternatives

The Standard

When it comes to cooking at home, one of the best workhorses in any kitchen is a Dutch oven. Also known as a cocotte, a casserole dish, or a stewing pot, the collective names usually refer to a round cast iron dish (though larger ones are often oval) with a lid that's often relatively tight and an enamel coating.

But now, there are plenty of designs that are much lighter and aren't made from cast iron – and these are often more affordable, too.

They are most useful for their one-pot wonder cooking possibilities, lending themselves best to stews and casseroles, as the name suggests. They can be used for braising meat and vegetables, making soups, and even loaves of bread.

Plus, they can be used most can be used on top of the cooker (across most heat sources, but do always check) and inside ovens too, which is great for slow cooking.

To top it all off, they're so aesthetically pleasing: Dutch ovens can easily go from the hob to the table for serving – and the bonus is this also helps reduce the washing up. Especially to best look after these hard-working pots, they should be washed by hand. As a food journalist of more than a decade, and a keen home cook, I’ve been testing the very best Dutch ovens for 2026.

Best Dutch ovens for 2026 at a glance

Best overall – M&S cast iron large casserole dish: £42, Marksandspencer.com

Best budget buy – Habitat cast iron casserole dish: £46, Habitat.co.uk

Best luxury dish – Le Creuset cast iron round casserole dish: £229, Lecreuset.co.uk

Best for small hobs – Staub round cast iron Cocotte: £309, Zwilling.co.uk

Best ceramic pot – Our Place ceramic non-stick perfect pot: £135, Ourplace.co.uk

How I tested

I rustled up everything from red lentil dal to Mexican bean stews

Emma Henderson/The Standard

I made batches of my usual favourite mid-week meals, including red lentil dal and Mexican bean stew. I tested each pot using the same format, cooking on my induction hob, letting it warm up slowly on a low heat, and then starting the cooking at level five on the induction hob, cooking with both the lid on and off and only cooking with wooden or silicone utensils.

I was looking for how well the pots conducted heat, how evenly each cooked, how heavy they are to manoeuvre, and how easy they are to clean. Each was cleaned by hand with a sponge, as most brands advise.

M&S cast iron large casserole dish

Emma Henderson/The Standard

★★★★★

Best: Overall Dutch oven

What we love: Very affordable and cooks well

Take note: Not many colour options

Marks & Spencer's homewares have always been reliable, but have been taken up a notch or two in the past few years. And this cast iron dish is one of its best. Not only is it well under £50, but its performance is excellent. The dish conducts heat well and cooks fairly evenly – put simply, it does the job it was made to do.

The inside is smooth and sandy-cream hued, meaning it's easy to prevent food from catching on the heat, as you can see it better than pots with dark interiors. Plus, it's very easy to clean. The handles do get hot when it's cooking, so always use oven gloves. The only real downside is the limited colours, as there's only this grey, which isn't that exciting and a cream alternative, but for the price it's hard to quibble over that.

• Enamel: Yes
• Sizes available: 2
• Diameter: 26.2cm
• Litre: 5.2 l
• Colours: 2

Habitat cast iron casserole dish

The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Budget Dutch oven dish

What we love: Budget price

Take note: Quite heavy

Undoubtedly the most talked-about “dupe” of Le Creuset, Habitat’s dish even has the 'ombre' colour fade design too. It's enamelled inside and out, with the inside coated in a smooth pale cream colour (very easy to wipe clean). At less than £50 for the 27cm diameter, this is a great piece of kit for students and budding home cooks

Oil disappears quickly inside, and food cooks best right in the middle – the outer edges don't really cook that much, but positively, the handle doesn't get hot so it's easy to move. Despite not being one of the biggest pots, it's pretty heavy. The lid isn't the best fit, but it still forms a seal and is a little rougher than some of the other more expensive dishes.

• Enamel: Yes
• Sizes available: Two
• Diameter: 27cm
• Weight: HAVE ASKED
• Litre: 5.3l
• Colours: 5
• Guarantee: 25 years

Le Creuset cast iron round casserole dish

The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Luxury Dutch oven

What we love: Excellent construction, lifetime guarantee, wide colour range

Take note: Expensive

As the king of the Dutch oven sector and the best-known brand, Le Creuset has been making its signature cast iron enamel dishes for more than 100 years now, and clearly knows what it's doing. They're a go-to for a reason: reliable, hard-working, and with a lifetime guarantee.

It is a very heavy dish. I found it heats quickly, and maybe even conducts heat a little too well – I had to turn it down from number five heat on my induction hob while sautéing onions. Though there are always marks left on the inside of the pot, as long as they're not really burnt on, the smooth interior makes it really easy to clean. As well as the signature volcanic orange hue and iconic 'foret' forest green, it comes in 15 colourways.

• Enamel: Yes
• Sizes available: 18cm -30cm
• Diameter: 28cm
• Weight: 6.13kg
• Litre: 6.7l
• Heat sources: Oven, induction, halogen, gas, ceramic, electric, aga
• Colours: 15
• Guarantee: Lifetime

Pro Cook cast iron casserole dish

The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Dutch oven for families

What we love: Affordable price and large size for big households

Take note: Some ingredients catch in the middle of the pan, doesn’t cook as evenly as other pots, and is harder to wash

Another well-known brand, Pro Cook rivals big names with good design and affordable prices – this comes in at £75. A traditionally designed dish, the interior is black and is rougher than some others. It's enamelled on both the inside and outside, despite it looking like raw cast iron on the inside as it's black.

I found some ingredients caught in the middle of the pan, and it didn't cook as evenly as some of the other pots, but this is bigger than others, and my induction hob isn't the biggest. The bigger size is great if you prefer to batch cook or are cooking for a large number of people, though it does make it a little harder to wash in the sink. It performs well and is an excellent buy for the price.

• Enamel: Yes
• Sizes available: 20cm -30cm
• Diameter: 30cm
• Weight: 6.5kg
• Litre: 6.2 l
• Heat sources: Oven, induction, halogen, gas, electric, ceramic
• Colours: 6
• Guarantee: 25 years

Cookut lightweight non-stick Dutch oven

The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Designed Dutch oven

What we love: Great design, very light, and very easy to clean

Take note: Food cooks a little unevenly compared to other pots, and the quilted pot holders are easily misplaced

With this Dutch oven’s curved design, the designers at Cookut really took a leaf out of the mid-century designers' cookbook here. It's made from aluminium, has a stainless steel bottom and a non-stick coating inside, which makes it incredibly easy to clean.

The pretty patterned ceramic top knob comes separately and needs screwing in, which is easy to do. I really like the lid, as it doesn't collect water in it as others do. It also comes with little quilted pot holders, which are a nice addition, but are likely easy to lose or misplace when you need them most

The entire pot feels very light and thin, like it might break easily, but it's actually very tough. Inside, the food cooked a little unevenly, but quickly. The brand also says not to use spray or extra virgin olive oil as a fat to cook with, so I used butter instead, which worked well.

• Enamel: No
• Sizes available: 2
• Diameter: 28cm
• Weight: 2.3kg
• Litre: 7l
• Heat sources: Gas, electric, ceramic, induction, oven
• Colours: 2
• Guarantee: 2 years

Staub round cast iron Cocotte

The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Dutch oven for small hobs

What we love: Conducts heat well, lifetime guarantee, made in France, and slightly higher sides

Take note: Harder to clean inside, expensive

Another dish that's made in France, Staub's design really feels like it's straight out of a professional kitchen. I tested the 24cm diameter pot and found it conducts heat really well, and I liked how compact it is. Despite being 24 cm in diameter and not the biggest pot, it is still quite heavy.

The inside heats up very quickly, and it conducts heat very well. Plus, owing to its slightly higher sides (only 3cm), you can cook more on smaller hobs. It's much rougher than other pans inside, so it makes it a little harder to clean on the inside.

The design of the inside of the lid has lots of little points on it, so moisture drops back into the pot. But when I took it off, I found lots of water was trapped in the deep ridge of the lid and so dropped onto the hob – creating much more of a mess than others.

• Enamel: Yes
• Sizes available: 10cm - 34cm
• Diameter: 24cm
• Weight: 4.74kg
• Litre: 3.7l
• Heat sources: Gas, electric, ceramic, induction, halogen, oven and on outdoor grills or barbecues
• Colours: 16
• Guarantee: Lifetime

Our Place ceramic non-stick perfect pot

The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Ceramic Dutch oven

What we love: Very light and comes with a wooden spoon

Take note: Low guarantee

This pan is quite unbelievably light. Even knowing it's less than 2kg, it still feels featherlight. This makes it a particularly great pot for older people who don't want to use heavy cast iron pots. The pan is ceramic and coated with a non-stick lining, meaning it’s essential not to use metal utensils. The dish also comes with its own wooden spoon – a nice touch.

This has slots on the back, which is such a simple design, but is so useful as it sits on the side of the pan nicely and on the handle, meaning you're not always popping it on the worktop and getting annoying sauce marks.

It heats up very quickly, it retains the oil well and doesn't need to keep adding more when sauteeing onions. It also works in the oven – but even on the hob, the handles do get hot, so always use a tea-towel or oven gloves.

• Enamel: No
• Sizes available: 2
• Diameter: 27cm
• Weight: 2kg
• Litre: 6l
• Heat sources: Gas, electric, induction, oven
• Colours: 5
• Guarantee: 3 years

FireUp cast iron Dutch oven

The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Tall Dutch oven

What we love: Great design and good conduction thanks to its smaller base, and fins

Take note: Very heavy and takes a while to heat up

This is not only the heaviest on test, but also the tallest pot. It has a fairly small base but very high sides, which means it has a decent capacity of 5l, but with the smaller base, it's good for conduction on the hob as it better fits the ring size.

It has a special fin design on the sides, which is supposed to better conduct heat. I found it took a while to heat up, then really got going. The handles do heat up when cooking, but not unbearably so, and I could move the pan without needing oven gloves. I really like how premium it looks, and its intuitive fin design that sets it apart from other similar Dutch ovens.

• Enamel: Yes
• Sizes available: 1
• Diameter: 26cm
• Weight: 7.2kg
• Litre: 5l
• Heat sources: Electric, induction, gas and ceramic
• Colours: 3
• Guarantee: 20 years

What are the best Dutch Ovens?

A Dutch oven is a perfect example of when the idiom "you get what you pay for" doesn't always ring true, because cast iron is cast iron. The biggest names in the cast iron cookware game command such huge prices, yet the difference between them and the cheaper ones isn't astronomically wide enough to stop people from buying the much cheaper versions.

For that reason, I think the M&S cast iron large casserole dish at £45 is an incredibly good buy: regardless of whether you're buying for a student or a seasoned cook, it performs well.

Of course, the Le Creuset and Staubs will always attract buyers who want the name, the prestige and lifetime guarantee and are willing to spend more – they are, after all, excellent pieces. I also really liked the Cookut lightweight non-stick Dutch oven as it's so different.

Why trust me?

I've been testing products for over a decade bringing readers the best in consumer journalism, as I was the former editor of The Independent's product review section, IndyBest. I specialise in reviewing all things food and cooking related, from cast iron casserole pots to coffee machines, and wines to butters, as I was also the former editor of The Independent's food and drink digital magazine, IndyEats.

As a freelancer, I've also written about food and drink, restaurants, chefs and food trends for national publications such as Conde Nast Traveller, National Geographic Traveller Food, The Caterer, The Good Food Guide and House & Garden.