The Case for Adding a Braising Pan to Your Kitchen (and Why I’m in a Committed Relationship with This $121-Off One from Le Creuset)

I’m a millennial, which means I’m currently living between the worlds of undeniably-an-adult and but-1995-was-15-years-ago. So even though I’m a married professional and mom to a toddler, I still call my mom at the grocery store (for the final time, are scallions the same as green onions?) and my kitchen is stocked with mismatched, hand-me-down pots and pans that might be a health hazard to my entire family. It’s that last detail that had me recently considering a very adult cooking upgrade—and ultimately springing for a high-quality Le Creuset braising pan.

After only a few kitchen sessions with my new pan, plus a conversation with pro chef Stephen Chavez, I am happy to announce that this is the do-it-all pan your kitchen (and mine) has been waiting for. Order one for yourself while it’s majorly on sale and read on for my review to find out why I'm now a sing-it-from-the-rooftops braising fan.

What is braising?

So what’s so special about a braising pan—and what even is braising? "Braising is one of the seven classic French methods of cooking," says Chavez, who's a senior chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in Los Angeles. “It is cooking medium to small cuts of meat or vegetables in a covered vessel with a small amount of liquid, using low heat, for a long period of time. In the U.S. we commonly refer to it as stewing.”

Why add a Le Creuset Braising Pan to your kitchen?

As I was thinking about ways to adultify my daily routine, I had a few criteria in mind: Any upgrade needs to be seriously user-friendly, have some lasting power, and fit seamlessly into my small New York City apartment. Oh, and bonus points if it sounds fancy when I mention it to friends. The Le Creuset braising pan checks all these boxes. For starters, it’s basically the original crockpot (with more surface area!), ideal for low-maintenance, make-ahead recipes that anyone can nail. According to Chavez, that set-it-and-forget-it convenience is the biggest reason people like to braise.

If I’m going to add any hardware to my very snug kitchen, I want to know that it’ll outlast every culinary fad and hold up for years of future cooking. Braising has been around for ages (“truly part of the history of cooking from all cultures and countries,” Chavez says)—and as for the pan itself? My mom (slash grocery-store consultant) swears by her Le Creuset cast iron dishes, which her grandmother passed down when she got married almost 40 years ago. So I know for sure that this thing is in it for the long haul.

How to use a braising pan

While Chavez says braising is best for meat (think: beef stew or osso buco), it’s also a great way to cook vegetables like potatoes, squash, legumes, bitter greens, and onions (think: ratatouille), as well as plant-based protein like tofu and tempeh. You can brown your ingredients first, he says, or simply toss them in with liquid and cover with Le Creuset's tight-fitting grill lid. It's designed to evenly retain heat, circulate steam, and return moisture to the food as it slow cooks—and on its own, it functions as a grill pan safe for the stovetop and oven. So yes, this is actually two cooking vessels in one.

The benefits of braising with Le Creuset

What’s firmly set my relationship status to committed, though, are the economical and nutritional benefits of braising. The Le Creuset pan is an investment, no doubt—but knowing it can last for generations makes it feel more than worth it. Plus, according to Chavez, braising is an economical way of cooking because you can opt for less expensive ingredients and still get delicious results. When it comes to its health benefits, "excess liquid will deplete nutrients from the main item and put it into the liquid," he says. "When you braise and have a smaller amount of liquid, those nutrients will be kept and not lost.”

So let the case rest: The Le Creuset braising pan is *so* easy to use. It promises decades of durability (and your food will taste better with every passing year, thanks to the flavor-retaining cast iron). It moonlights as a grilling, roasting, baking, and sautéing skillet. It makes delicious, nutrient-rich food—and it just sounds so adult. Snag one while it’s on sale, and enjoy the honeymoon phase. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date in the kitchen.