Get To Know Your Deep Sauté Pan
So you’ve become the proud new owner of a deep sauté pan (or are deep sauté pan curious…). Congratulations! This versatile pan is here for big family dinners to laid-back entertaining. We caught up with Laura Rege, an expert recipe developer who knows her way around the deep sauté pan. Laura shared her tips for getting the most out of your deep sauté pan, plus 5 recipes to take your 5.5-quart deep sauté pan for a spin. Whether you’re looking to get out of your cooking rut, settle into hearty wintery food, these tips will help you make the most of your deep sauté pan.
What is a deep sauté pan?
Think of this as a really big skillet with high, straight sides. This means that heat is contained within the pan, rather than escaping out the sides (like in a slope-sided pan). The 5.5-quart deep sauté pan is big enough that you’ll want to choose it for bigger batches. Ideal for a large family (or when you want to make sure there are leftovers), dishes made in this pan can serve from 6 to 8.
Getting dinner done in one pot
“This is the pan I’d choose for one pot meals,” says Rege. “The high sides of the deep sauté pan are perfect for one pot pastas, in particular.” While a regular skillet will make it tough to stir sauce and pasta together, the 5.5-quart deep sauté pan has room for it all. There’s enough surface area to sear 6 to 8 chicken thighs at once, and enough capacity to add in a grain and veggies, too.
If there’s a sauce, a deep sauté pan is your friend.
“I like cooking in these because you don’t splatter as much,” Rege notes. The high sides contain the pan’s contents. It’s not just neurotic cooks who want to avoid splatters—hot oil or boiling sauces can be dangerous, too.
This pan is perfect for entertaining
Not only does the 5.5-quart deep sauté pan have enough room for a dinner party’s worth of chicken cacciatore, it’s perfect for going straight from oven to table. It might just be the laid back entertainer’s best friend?
Yes, you can fry chicken at home
If you’re looking for a bigger pot, go for the 7-quart deep sauté pan, which is perfect for shallow frying, says Rege. Think: donuts, fried chicken, and beer-battered fish and chips. Looking for a fried chicken that rivals your favorite takeout? Try Laura’s recipe for Fried Chicken with Spicy Honey Butter.
Check out these ideas for making the most of your deep sauté pan
This sumptuous pasta is a mashup of two of the greatest pasta sauces: vodka sauce and bolognese. The wide surface area of the deep sauté pan means that the pancetta-infused veg and ground beef cook relatively quickly before taking a bath in vodka and a relatively short simmer with tomatoes. You’ll add heavy cream and parmesan at the end along with cooked rigatoni. Vodka Bolognese Rigatoni is the perfect dish for cozy winter nights or casual weeknight family meals.
Chili recipes have a reputation for long simmers on a Sunday stove, but a flavorful, fulsome batch can come together during the chaos of the weeknight. Here’s proof: Laura Rege’s weeknight chili takes advantage of the wide, shallow pan to quickly brown beef and sausage (for double deliciousness) before building a sriracha-infused tomato sauce. Use whatever beans you’ve got on hand: black, pinto, kidney, or even white beans would taste great in this quick chili.
One Pot Ricotta Pasta with Corn, Lemon, & Basil
There’s perhaps no better pot for one-pot pastas than the deep sauté pan—the sides are deep enough to toss everything together and the pan is wide enough to allow the pasta to cook in just the right amount of liquid. Here, curly cavatappi noodles nestle up to sweet corn kernels in a rich ricotta and parmesan sauce. Though this would be tasty with peak-summer corn, if you can find fresh ears in the winter, it brings a hit of freshness to cold nights.
Brothy Tuscan Cannellini Beans & Greens
Sometimes you want to make just the right amount of soup or stew, and this recipe for Brothy Tuscan Cannellini Beans & Greens is here for that. The 5.5-quart deep sauté pan makes just enough soup for a hungry family. Taking inspiration from the Tuscan countryside, this recipe combines Tuscan kale—also known as dinosaur kale or lacinato— with creamy cannellini beans, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil. Oh, and don’t forget the ‘generous sprinkle of parmesan’ at the end. A hunk of crusty bread wouldn’t go amiss, either.
A skillet full of saucy chicken is just what wintery nights call for. In this case, boneless, skinless chicken breasts simmer in a spicy pepper-and-mushroom sauce, which infuses the meat with flavor while also rendering them perfectly tender. Basil and olives bring a bit of Italian flavor to the party. Though there are plenty of vegetables for this chicken cacciatore work as a one-pot dinner, you could serve it over creamy polenta or with buttered noodles to complete the meal.
