We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The Best Grill Baskets for 2026, According to My Tests I tossed in veggies, wings, and even a chile or two. These baskets handled it all. By Greg Baker Greg Baker Greg Baker is a chef, restaurant consultant, and writer with almost 40 years of experience in the industry. As an expert in outdoor cooking, Greg has written more than 30 articles on grilling and barbecuing for Food & Wine across categories including kamado grills, pizza ovens, and meat thermometers. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on February 6, 2026 In This Article View All In This Article Top Picks Reviews How I Tested Grill Baskets Factors to Consider FAQ Other Grill Baskets I Tested Our Expertise Credit: Food & Wine Grilling large pieces of meat or vegetables is far easier than grilling smaller pieces, which can easily fall between the grates and wither on the coals. Grill baskets are a perfect solution for keeping asparagus, green beans, and even seafood on the grill, like shrimp and scallops. They provide a haven for wayward foods while allowing the heat and smoke to permeate them. Other foods that benefit from the constraint of a grill basket include chicken wings, kebabs, and sausages — anything that can roll. Grill baskets can take many forms, and the best, according to my tests, are carbon steel skillets with holes, which allow you to grill and saute simultaneously. Other top-scoring materials are stainless steel and enameled cast iron. As we hadn’t tested them before, I put eight top-rated grill baskets on my grill to judge how well they performed, and here’s what I found. My Favorite Grill Basket The best grill basket I tested is actually a skillet-style pan: the OXO Obsidian Outdoor Carbon Steel 12-Inch Frypan. It showed outstanding browning and even heating in all my tests, cleaned easily, and was well-balanced thanks to the handle design. It’s a professional-grade pan without the professional price. Top Picks Best Overall Grill Basket: OXO Outdoor Carbon Steel Frypan at Amazon $80 Jump to Review Best Value Grill Basket: Nexgrill Stainless Steel Grill Basket at Amazon Jump to Review Best Splurge Grill Basket: Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Grill Frying Pan at Amazon $99 Jump to Review Best Basket-Style: SALE Weber Deluxe Stainless Steel Grill Basket at Amazon $31 $25 Jump to Review Best Mesh Grill Basket: Outset Stainless Steel Grill Roasting Basket at Amazon $32 Jump to Review Best Large Capacity Basket: Lodge Carbon Steel Grilling Pan at Amazon $60 Jump to Review Best Overall Grill Basket OXO Outdoor Carbon Steel Frypan Credit: Amazon $80 at Amazon $70 at Wayfair $70 at Target Pros It had a near-perfect blend of browning, ease of use, and design. Cons The silicone-coated handle got hot after closing the grill lid. This basket from OXO is a carbon steel skillet with round quarter-inch holes across the bottom and up the sides. The hole placement allows direct heat from the bottom and creates a convection for top-cooking. The 70.8-square-inch cooking area provided ample room for food, holding 4 cups of diced vegetables and four zucchini strips placed side by side. Despite a straight, silicone-coated handle, the pan exhibited excellent balance. I saw nice caramelization of the diced vegetables and nice, even browning on the zucchini strips. The pepper roasted evenly, with no overly charred areas, and the chicken wings rendered nicely, with crisp skin and near-perfect color. A small amount of fond developed during the chicken wing test, but I saw no sticking or tearing during the cooking. The pan cleaned easily with a bit of soapy water (though I soaked it for a few minutes to loosen the chicken wing fond), then I dried and oiled it. Given the performance, design, and price, the OXO pan is my top pick. Style: Skillet | Material: Carbon steel | Dimensions: 21 x 12 x 2 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Serious Eats / Grace Kelly Credit: Food & Wine Best Value Grill Basket Nexgrill Stainless Steel Grill Basket Credit: Amazon View on Amazon $12 at Home Depot Pros The stainless steel construction heats quickly without running away, and the removable handle makes it easy to close the grill’s lid. Cons The thin steel discolors, the removable handle is bouncy, and the small holes trap food. This thin stainless steel skillet performed surprisingly well across almost all of my tests. The pan measures 12.25 by 2 inches, with a usable cooking area of 78.5 square inches. The pan’s bottom, dotted with 0.5- by 0.25-inch diamond-shaped holes, worked in conjunction with the thin steel to allow even browning. The silicone-coated handle slides off the pan’s body, which is a nice touch for low-clearance grill lids, and increases the available room to cook other food on the grill at the same time. If anything, it's underpriced for the performance it delivered. Style: Skillet | Material: Stainless steel | Dimensions: 12.5 x 2 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Best Splurge Grill Basket Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Grill Frying Pan Credit: Amazon $99 at Amazon $139 at Madeincookware.com Pros This comparatively heavy pan is nonetheless balanced and browns food quite nicely. Cons It’s pricey, but it's justified. This heavy skillet-style basket provides about 71 square inches of cooking area, which holds a quart of diced vegetables. Fifty-three half-inch round holes across the pan’s bottom provide ample passage of grill heat and flavor. Made In recently redesigned its handles for better balance, and despite the pan’s 4 pounds, I found it very easy to maneuver. The heavy carbon steel ensures longevity, and the basket comes with a lifetime warranty. In the diced vegetable test, I got decent-to-good browning, but the pan produced some of the best browning of all the baskets in the sliced zucchini testing. Chicken wings were well-rendered and crisp, and the roasted chile was close to picture-perfect. While the price is high for grilling gear, the build quality and performance justify the cost. Style: Skillet | Material: Carbon steel | Dimensions: 21.5 x 12.5 x 2.5 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Best Basket-Style Weber Deluxe Stainless Steel Grill Basket Credit: Amazon $31 $25 at Amazon View on Wayfair $30 $25 at Lowe's Pros This is a good all-purpose pan for meats and vegetables at an approachable price. Cons The stainless steel discolors, and the slots trap food and snag sponges. I’m generally not a fan of stainless steel grilling equipment. It’s often unpredictable and wonky with its heat distribution, is prone to heat-warping, and stains on first use, leading to a lot of extra scrubbing. This Weber grill basket proved me wrong on most of those points. It did stain and discolor, but it performed remarkably well in my tests. This rectangular pan has sloped sides to keep food in the pan, with curved, molded handles that are easy to pick up, even when wearing grill gloves. The Weber produced a well-browned quart of diced vegetables, but for some reason, it only browned one end of one of the four zucchini slices. The chicken wings cooked a little too quickly and could have been better rendered, but despite a spot of charring, they were fairly crisp and not unpleasant to eat. Cleaning was a chore, as food stuck in the ⅛-by-¼-inch holes that also snagged my sponge, and it took an abrasive cleaner to restore the stainless steel to its original shine. Despite some shortcomings, this is a good all-purpose pan for casual grillers. Style: Basket | Material: Stainless steel | Dimensions: 13.75 x 11.75 x 2.5 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Best Mesh Grill Basket Outset Stainless Steel Grill Roasting Basket Credit: Amazon $32 at Amazon $32 at Wayfair View on Webstaurantstore.com Pros This pan is great for charring and high-heat roasting. Cons It is miserable to clean. This basket’s design was an outlier. The stainless steel mesh is similar to that used for cooling racks, reinforced with stainless steel rods that also form the feet and handles. At first glance, it seemed better suited to the oven, but it did pretty well on the grill. The most notable feature is its rapid heating. As the basket has more holes than solid, the heat conveys rapidly, and the basket is ready to cook in about a minute. Since I used the same heat setting on my gas grill to test all the grill baskets, this particular basket got too hot at high heat, charring the 6 cups of diced vegetables before they cooked through. I’d recommend throttling down the temperature a bit for the best results. The Outset produced some of the best roasted sliced zucchini of the lot, but don’t look for distinctive grill marks; the mesh is just too thin. It did produce a curious design of ⅛-inch squares, though. The chicken wings stuck, but eventually released, and the end product was crisp and well-rendered. The design that allows this pan to cook evenly and quickly is also its downfall when it comes to cleaning. I have a lifelong hatred of cleaning mesh cooking equipment, and this basket is an excellent example of why. The number of holes means plenty of opportunity for bits of food to stick and flop from side to side. It took quite a bit of scrubbing to get the basket completely clean. On the upside, there wasn’t much discoloration, which is rare for stainless steel. Style: Basket | Material: Stainless steel | Dimensions: 15 x 10.75 x 2 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Best Large Capacity Basket Lodge Carbon Steel Grilling Pan Credit: Courtesy of Amazon $60 at Amazon $75 at Sur La Table View on Walmart Pros It’s great for larger batches of food and retains heat well. Cons It’s slower to heat than other carbon steel pans, and the heat was somewhat uneven. This large, carbon steel basket held 6 cups of diced vegetables and five slices of zucchini side by side, with its 138 square inches of cooking area. Riveted hoop handles make it easy to lift, even while wearing grill gloves, and 1-⅛ by ⅛-inch slots at the bottom allow heat and flavor transfer. Its 12-gauge carbon steel construction is somewhat slower to heat than other carbon steel baskets I tested, and it didn’t fare so well with sliced zucchini — steaming it rather than roasting. That aside, it charred a chile to a perfect point for peeling, and chicken wings rendered and crisped nicely, albeit with a small streak of char. Like other carbon steel pans, it was easy to clean, with most residue wiping away with a sponge after a short soak. Style: Basket | Material: Carbon steel | Dimensions: 13.25 x 12.5 x 1 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine How I Tested Grill Baskets I tested eight top-rated grill baskets of various styles and materials, priced from $11 to $160, with an average price of $66. I recorded initial impressions, such as style, size, cooking area, handle length, and hole size, before moving on to practical testing. Capacity Test: Dimensions and cooking area give you an idea of the basket’s size, but I wanted to rate these pans on their capacity. I started by filling a 1-quart measuring cup with medium-diced vegetables, added them to a pan in a single layer, and recorded the amount. I repeated the test with sliced zucchini to obtain accurate capacity measurements for both cut styles. Diced Vegetable Test: I preheated each basket on the grill, oiled it, and then added the amount of diced vegetables each could hold, as determined by the previous test, arranging them in a single layer. I waited for the vegetables to cook, stirring them as needed, until cooked through. I evaluated the vegetables for browning and evenness of cooking. Sliced Vegetable Test: I repeated the previous test, this time using ⅛-inch-thick zucchini slices. Again, I recorded the browning and evenness of cooking. The diced vegetable test examined heat in specific locations, while this test evaluated cooking across a broad surface. Chile Test: I roasted a jalapeño in each basket, watching the char development and evenness of cooking. Chicken Wing Test: I preheated each basket on the grill, oiled it, and grilled the chicken wings. During cooking, I watched for sticking, how well the chicken wings rendered, and the crispness of the skin. Cleaning: Between each test round, I cleaned each basket, noting the ease or difficulty, any sticking, and if different ingredients affected the ease of cleaning. I collected my findings from these practical tests, combined them with general observations, and compared them with the price to determine each basket's performance, build, and value. Food & Wine Factors to Consider Style Latching: This style is typically a hinged rectangular design that allows you to place the food in between two grates while the handles latch together. I’ve found this design helpful for grilling whole fish, but ineffective for other foods, as it doesn’t allow direct contact with the grill and the food tends to steam rather than char. Basket: The name essentially says it all: This style is a flat-bottomed basket with perforations that allow heat and “grilled flavor” to penetrate the pan’s bottom (and sometimes sides) for greater heat exposure and browning. Skillet: This newer design features holes that allow heat and flavor to reach the food. Essentially, you’re sautéing on the grill, but the holes allow for more direct grill contact, better flavor, and deeper browning. Rolling: This cylindrical clamshell design opens at a hinge, allowing you to fill half the basket with food, close it, then rotate the basket to ensure all the food comes into contact with the grill during cooking. It reminded me of the hatch chile roasters I’ve seen in the Southwest. While the idea is great on paper, I found the rolling design to be greatly lacking, resulting in uneven cooking and slight browning. Food & Wine Material Carbon Steel: Carbon steel reacts quickly to heat changes, whether increasing or decreasing. It heats quickly, so you won’t have to wait long to start cooking, and the basket sheds heat when moving from a hot to a cool side of the grill, minimizing scorching. Most, but not all, skillet-style baskets are made of carbon steel. Carbon steel requires seasoning (think of a griddle), but its heat responsiveness and non-stick finish make the task worthwhile. Carbon steel produced the best browning among the grill baskets I tested. Stainless Steel: Stainless heats quickly but isn’t a good conductor of heat, so it tends to heat unevenly. Most stainless steel cookware has layers of material, such as aluminum, which are better conductors, between the steel sheets. Stainless steel proved to be a fine material for grill baskets, showing quick heating and cooling in my testing. It discolors quickly from heat and burnt oil, so you may need to add some extra cleaning to keep it looking new. Cast Iron: Cast iron cooks evenly and retains heat well, resulting in a pleasant searing experience. It also takes the longest to heat, so failing to allow extra time for heating can result in pale, mushy vegetables. It’s also slower to react to heat changes than carbon or stainless steel. Enameled cast iron is durable, but non-enameled baskets require periodic seasoning to maintain the smooth, non-stick finish. Food & Wine Frequently Asked Questions How much food can I put in a grill basket? The biggest mistake I’ve seen people make with grill baskets is piling food on top of each other and placing them on the grill. You don’t stack food when grilling on the grates, do you? That’s because direct contact with the grill imparts its flavor to the food. If the food in the basket isn’t making direct contact with the basket’s bottom, it’s not grilling; it’s steaming because of the moisture released by the food on the bottom. So, the correct answer to this question is that you can put as much food into the basket as fits in a single layer across the bottom. What's the best way to use a grill basket? A grill basket constrains small food items so they don’t fall through the grill. With that in mind, use a grill basket as an extension of the grill grates. Heating and oiling the basket before adding food is the same as preheating your grates. Once the basket is hot, add your food so it will start cooking right away, giving it the browning and flavor you expect from a grill. How do I clean a grill basket? Different materials require different cleaning methods. As a general rule, I like to soak the basket in warm soapy water to loosen any stuck-on food residue, then clean it with a sponge. Stainless steel will discolor, so a gentle abrasive cleaner like Bar Keepers Friend is in order if you want to keep it shiny. Other Grill Baskets I Tested Strong Contender Le Creuset Alpine Outdoor 12-inch Enameled Cast Iron Grill Basket ($160 at Williams Sonoma) The Le Creuset basket eventually produced good results, but it took a while to get there. Think of this pan like a tractor-trailer taking off from a stoplight, with heat as the speed. It’s very slow at first, but once it reaches cruising speed, it moves right along. I had poor initial results until I realized I needed extra heating time. Even then, some of the chicken wings stuck to the bottom, but they later turned out quite moist and crisp. Food & Wine What Didn’t Make the List Sur La Table Stainless Steel Rolling Grill Basket ($50 at Sur La Table) I was very intrigued by the newer design of rolling grill baskets. A rolling basket allows more food to make direct contact with the grill by rotating it to shuffle the food. However, this model disappointed me in every test. The diced vegetables showed no browning, and the chicken wings stuck to the steel, not releasing for over five minutes while hanging upside down. Food & Wine Our Expertise Food & Wine writer Greg Baker is a former chef and restaurant owner with multiple James Beard award nominations. He’s an avid outdoor cook and has tested and reviewed hundreds of pieces of outdoor cooking equipment, including eight grill baskets for this piece. Explore more: Food Cooking Techniques Grilling Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit