Le Creuset is a high-end French cookware brand, famous for its colourful cast-iron cookware.
Le Creuset’s pots and pans are considered some of the best available as they are very durable, heat evenly and have an enamel coating that stops food from sticking to them. However, they’re also very expensive.
If you want something similar to Le Creuset cookware but at a lower price there are a number of options out there.
We’ve researched the market and picked out some of the best Le Creuset alternatives available in the UK. These products might not be quite as high quality as Le Creuset’s, but they offer good performance at a lower price.
Alternatives to the Le Creuset Signature Cast Iron Casserole Dish
Le Creuset’s most famous product is probably this large cast iron casserole dish, or Dutch oven. The Le Creuset Signature Cast Iron Casserole Dish
It’s incredibly tough durable and should last a lifetime. In fact, Le Creuset offer a lifetime guarantee for this product. Like most cast iron dishes, it’s quite heavy (the 24 cm version weighs 4.54 kg).
While it offers a lot of advantages, the big downside with this casserole dish is the price. This casserole dish can cost over £200 if you buy one of the bigger sizes, and even the smallest size costs over £100 at the time of writing. Below are a couple of cheaper alternatives.
1. VonShef 4.5 Litre Enamel Coated Round Cast Iron Casserole Dish
This casserole dish from VonShef looks a lot like the Le Creuset dish, but is much cheaper. It’s available in two sizes: 2.5 litres (20 cm) and 4.5 litres (25 cm). The red enamel exterior gives it a similar colourful appearance to the Le Creuset Signature Cast Iron Casserole Dish.
This product is available with a 2-year manufacturer’s warranty, which doesn’t sound very impressive compared to Le Creuset’s lifetime guarantee. However, this pan is likely to last much longer than 2 years.
It’s tough and well made. As a result it’s very heavy (the 25 cm version weighs 5.6 kg), which is worth considering if you’re not used to weightlifting!
One of the downsides to this product is that the handles are a bit smaller than those on the Le Creuset dish. Overall though, there isn’t much of a difference between this product and the Le Creuset one, except for the big difference in price.
2. MasterClass Cast Aluminium 2.5L Round Casserole Dish
MasterClass has really thought out the design of this casserole dish and made it a practical alternative to the Le Creuset dish at a fantastic price.
It is made from cast aluminium, so it is nice and heavy and responds to heat really well. It heats up quickly because of how well aluminium distributes heat but holds the heat in thanks to the thick walls.
The base of this casserole dish, though, is stainless steel. This means that this casserole dish can still be used on any hob type, including induction.
Plus, it also features a two-layer, anti-scratch non-stick coating that is oven safe up to 200 degrees Celsius.
To finish the casserole dish off nicely, it comes with a self-basting lid that helps to lock in flavours and moisture as you cook. For this price, there’s no better alternative to Le Creuset on the market.
Alternatives to the Le Creuset 3-Ply Stainless Steel Saucepan Set
The Le Creuset 3-Ply Stainless Steel Saucepan Set is a stylish and high-quality set of stainless steel pans. The pans have diameters of 16, 18 and 20 cm and can be stacked on top of each other for easy storage.
These pans are easy to clean, resistant to stains and should stay shiny for years. They also work well with all hob types, including induction. However, like most Le Creuset products, they’re very expensive. Here are some cheaper alternatives.
1. Morphy Richards 970003 Equip 3 Piece Pan Set-Stainless Steel
To get a polished stainless-steel saucepan set for this price is absolutely amazing, but don’t think for one second that Morphy Richards hasn’t thrown all the bells and whistles at these pans to make them a brilliant option.
These pans have a thermo-core technology which distributes heat evenly throughout the base and the sides of the pan. So, all three pans heat up quickly and evenly.
This heating technology all but eliminates hot spots from anywhere on the pan and offers consistent heat for all your dishes.
The pans are made from 18/10 grade stainless for a polished and glossy look. They also feature stay-cool handles and stainless rivets to hold the handles in place.
Lastly, to prove how good these stainless-steel pans are, Morphy Richards offers a 10-year guarantee with this set. All for an amazingly good price.
2. Vitinni Stainless Steel Saucepan Set
This stainless-steel saucepan set features a triple-layer construction. The reason for the layers is simple: layers of metal allow the heat to flow around the pan evenly and quickly.
Each layer heats up fast and then spreads the heat to the next layer, and you quickly have a pan that is ready to cook.
Using induction? Well, these pans are made from polished 430-grade stainless steel. 430 is a magnetic stainless, so all these pans will work perfectly on your induction hob.
Plus, all of the handles, rivets and the rims of the lids are made from the same stainless. This ensures that the entire pan will hold up in the kitchen for years.
We love how these pans look. They feel like much more expensive saucepans and hold up beautifully over time.
If you have a passionate home chef in your life, these could be the perfect cooking gift that they didn’t know they needed!
Alternatives to the Le Creuset Toughened Non-Stick 3-Piece Saucepan Set
The Le Creuset Toughened Non-Stick 3-Piece Saucepan Set
These pans are dishwasher safe and can be used on all types of hob, including induction. The non-stick coating is PFOA free so they’re safe to use, unlike some non-stick saucepans.
While they offer a lot of benefits, these pans certainly aren’t cheap. Here are some alternatives that might offer better value for money.
1. Prestige Earth Pan Aluminum Ceramic Non-Stick Saucepan & Lid Set
The first thing that draws your eye with this pan set is the beautiful curving body of the pans themselves.
While the curves certainly look wonderful, they are also a design feature to ensure the aluminium body spreads the heat from the hob as evenly as possible.
Everything on this pan is recycled too, and we do mean everything. The pan handles are made from recycled plastic bags, the body is recycled aluminium, and the glass is recycled too.
The only thing that isn’t recycled is the ceramic coating. However, it is completely non-toxic and offers a brilliant and hard-wearing defence against scratches.
Prestige has created an eco-friendly saucepan set here that looks incredible and is just as hard-wearing as any of the competition.
2. Circulon Infinite Hard Anodised Cookware Set
This saucepan set has a similar price tag to the Le Creuset one, but it contains six pans rather than just three.
The set includes three saucepans with lids (16, 18 and 20 cm), a 16 cm milk pan and two frying pans (20 cm and 24 cm).
These pans are dishwasher safe and can be used on all types of hob including induction. You can also put them in the oven (up to a temperature of 240 °C or 475 °F).
The non-stick material used is PFOA free, so it’s safe and non-toxic. They heat very evenly, and compare well with the Le Creuset pans in this regard.
Since you get six pieces including two frying pans for roughly the same price as the Le Creuset set, this Circulon set is a good choice if you’re looking to stock a new kitchen and want to get more for your money.
ProCook vs. Le Creuset
Le Creuset is a well-known and established kitchenware brand that makes amazing cookware.
However, unless you are an extremely passionate home chef or someone that must have the must-haves, Le Creuset is pretty costly.
Plus, who knows if are we paying for the Le Creuset name or the products are really that much better than the competition.
Is Le Creuset really that good? Well, sure, Le Creuset is one of the kitchenware leaders, and they certainly make some fantastic products. Still, the cheaper alternatives are starting to look very appealing to a lot of home chefs.
ProCook is a well-known kitchenware brand as well. Granted, ProCook isn’t as well known as Le Creuset. Still, they have a great reputation for making some exceptionally good pots and pans at a very reasonable price.
ProCook also has deals on their website all the time. Right now, ProCook has a sale on where you can get 50% off loads of their amazing cookware.
This means that you can buy a full set of ProCook saucepans, some sets also include a frying pan, for the price of one Le Creuset pot!
But how? Surely the quality of the saucepans must be far inferior? Well, not necessarily.
ProCook has some fantastic saucepans. They have a triple-ply construction that holds heats really nicely.
They have cool-touch handles that are stainless steel and nice glass lids with excellent handles.
Plus, all ProCook kitchenware comes with a 25-year guarantee. And they look great in your kitchen too. Le Creuset does offer a lifetime guarantee on some of their products, but not all of them.
So, which is better? Well, for a large number of home chefs and people who love cooking and want the best cooking equipment but don’t want to spend the earth, ProCook will give you this and more.
Their saucepans, frying pans and everything else are made with the best possible materials and feel great to use.
Of course, Le Creuset kitchenware feels great to use too and will likely last a lifetime of use. But the price tag is far higher.
If you are looking for a well-built, reliable and trustworthy replacement for Le Creuset, ProCook is one of the best bets on the kitchenware market. They make fantastic kitchenware that stacks up amazingly well against even the top brands like Le Creuset!
Circulon vs. Le Creuset
Le Creuset has been at the top of the cookware pile for decades now. They make some of the finest cookware in the world that is coveted by many home chefs around the world.
However, are companies like Circulon banging on their door? Is Circulon anywhere near the level of Le Creuset? And if they are, should you buy from them instead?
To find out, we’re going to compare casserole dishes from Circulon and Le Creuset, and as you’ll see, they are very closely matched.
Le Creuset Shallow Casserole Dish
This beautiful casserole dish is made from cast aluminium. This provides a very tough and durable base for the even tougher non-stick coating.
The coating is PFOA-free and covers the entire body of the pan. Le Creuset made this coating so strong that you can use metal utensils in this pan, and it will live to tell plenty of tales.
The pan is finished with cast handles and a heat-resistant lid. The entire pan, including the lid, can go in the oven and dishwasher and can withstand temperatures of up to 220 degrees.
The fit and finish of this pan are just superb. It looks and feels like a professional piece of cookware, but that’s why Le Creuset has been an industry leader for so long!
Circulon Momentum Shallow Casserole Dish
The Circulon Momentum is also made from aluminium, but this time the aluminium has been anodized. This provides an extremely tough surface layer, making the pan harder than stainless steel.
The aluminium offers rapid and even heating, while the anodized layer offers a massive amount of durability.
The durability doesn’t finish there, though. Circulon offers a lifetime guarantee with this pan, and as a result, they have thrown everything at it. This includes their Hi-Low Non-Stick System.
Just like the Le Creuset, you can throw anything at this pan, and it won’t stick, and you can use metal utensils and chuck this pan in the oven too. This casserole dish is only oven safe to 204 degrees Celsius, though.
Which one is better?
So, if you were looking for a casserole dish, which one of these should you buy. Well, they are both fantastic casserole dishes and so whichever you buy, you’ll love using it. Still, we’ve broken this argument down into categories to help you decide.
Materials
Both pans are very comparable when it comes to materials. Both are made from aluminium, and both have excellent non-stick coating.
We do prefer the look of the handles on the Le Creuset, but the all-metal construction of the handles does mean you’ll need to be very careful when cooking with it.
Fit and finish
While the Circulon casserole dish has a brilliant fit and finish, Le Creuset is known for how well they finish their cookware, and this casserole dish is no exception to this. It is a thing of beauty, and every detail on this pan has been perfectly designed and works together wonderfully.
Cost
So, other than the fit and finish, the pans right now are pretty level, in our opinion. When it comes to cost, though, this round certainly goes to Circulon.
Coming in at around half the price of the Le Creuset, the Circulon pan is a hell of a lot of pan for the money.
We love Le Creuset and completely understand that they are often worth the money, but in this case, the Circulon pan is too good to pass up.
So, Circulon or Le Creuset?
If we had to buy one of the casserole dishes above, we would choose the Circulon. It is comparable to the Le Creuset in so many ways yet around half the price.
Granted, you don’t get the name value of Le Creuset or the incredible fit and finish the company is known for, but in this case, we feel the casserole dishes are so comparable that we have to choose the more affordable one.
Now, if you fell in love with the Le Creuset above or any of the other Le Creuset cookware featured on Chef’s Pick, you will never regret buying it.
They do make incredible cookware, and if you can afford it, buy as much Le Creuset as you desire. It is one of the very best cookware companies in the world for a very good reason.
But if you love Le Creuset but cannot justify the price, just know that there are some very comparable cookware companies on the market now, just like Circulon. And if you shop around, you’ll find Le Creuset-quality cookware at amazing prices.
Chef’s Pick is your guide to the best kitchen equipment and appliances in the UK.
We help you understand the confusing world of cookers, ovens and cookware so you can get the most out of your kitchen.
