Stockpots are the unsung heroes of any kitchen. From sumptuous soups and nutrient-packed broths to hearty stews and sauces, these versatile pieces of cookware possess the ability to infuse flavours like none other, delivering delicious and nutritious meals time and time again.
Featuring ample capacity that allows for generous portions, stockpots are perfect for feeding a crowd or meal-prepping dinners for the whole family. Le Creuset’s Stockpots are available in different sizes and materials, including Enamel on Steel, Stainless Steel, and Toughened Nonstick Pro. Each Le Creuset Stockpot offers its own unique set of features and advantages.
Whether you’re preparing family dinner or tasked with hosting, our Stockpots accommodate cooking techniques and recipes of all sizes. Built to last, these versatile pieces of cookware have rightfully become staples in kitchens across Canada.
Here is a complete comparison of Le Creuset’s Stockpots, including their different features and uses, recommended recipes to make in them, as well as a guide on how to choose the right size of stockpot for your cooking needs.
What is a stockpot used for?
Ultimately, each Le Creuset stockpot is best suited for different cooking techniques and recipes depending on the material. Le Creuset offers Enamel on Steel, Stainless Steel, and Toughened Nonstick Pro Stockpots, providing the flexibility you need in the kitchen. Keep reading for more information on each stockpot.
Enamel on Steel Stockpot
Our Enamel on Steel Stockpot delivers all the high-heat performance of stainless steel without sacrificing the personality of your favourite colours. This staple piece of cookware comes equipped with a tight-fitting lid and a high-profile design, creating the perfect environment that limits evaporation. This allows liquids from soups and stews to infuse with the flavours of the surrounding ingredients while they simmer in the stockpot.
This versatile piece of cookware is a go-to for preparing a range of ingredients and recipes, particularly when steaming seafood, vegetables, corn, and to simmer soups, chilis, and pasta sauces. Our Enamel on Steel Stockpot is available in three different sizes, ensuring you have the ideal piece of cookware for preparing and serving family-style portions, offering both superior heat retention and superior heat distribution at every stir.
Compatible with all cooktops, including induction, and available in a range of Le Creuset’s iconic colours, our Enamel on Steel Stockpot makes for a great addition to any growing collection, opening up the possibilities in the kitchen.
Stainless Steel Stockpot
When equipping your kitchen with a stockpot, it’s always important to consider the type of recipes you intend on preparing the most. Our Stainless Steel Stockpot, for example, is the ideal pot for acidic cooking, particularly when making a tomato sauce as stainless steel is a non-reactive material. This Stainless Steel Stockpot is resistant to corrosion, featuring a protective layer on the surface of the metal. This layer, in turn, protects the stainless steel from damage caused by acidic foods. Common acidic ingredients include tomatoes or foods that include lemon juice or vinegar. If you regularly use these ingredients, the Stainless Steel Stockpot is for you.
Le Creuset’s award-winning stainless steel has been carefully crafted with a proprietary blend of professional-grade metals and a heat-responsive aluminum core that can withstand higher temperatures and acidic cooking for years to come. Indeed, our Stainless Steel Stockpot offers superior heat conductivity and distribution due to its three-layer Stainless Steel construction, ensuring all your favourite soups, stews and sauces are exposed to a consistent heat source without the risk of scorching or burning ingredients.
Our Stainless Steel Stockpot is available in two different sizes, 6.6 L and 10.2 L, serving between five and 10 people at a time respectively. Its tight-fitting lid features a built-in steam vent to lock in heat and moisture while preventing boil overs. Equally easy to use as it is to clean, our Stainless Steel Stockpot can quickly become an essential piece of your kitchen arsenal.
Toughened Nonstick Pro Stockpot
Our Toughened Nonstick Pro Stockpot is a popular choice for home chefs looking to simplify everyday meal preparation due to its convenience and ease of use. This versatile piece of cookware is best suited for preparing weeknight meals, delivering all the ease of nonstick cooking. Our Toughened Nonstick Pro Stockpot has been optimized for any kind of cooktop, offering a pot that is not only easy to use, but extremely versatile.
Available in a 6 L capacity, our Toughened Nonstick Pro Stockpot is perfectly suited for preparing batches of food with the minimum of fuss, as well as meal prepping for the upcoming week. Whether that means blanching veggies, steaming seafood or preparing one-pot recipes, our Toughened Nonstick Pro Stockpot is extremely versatile.
Featuring a nonstick surface that will not chip or flake, this stockpot helps you prepare recipes with less oil and fat compared to traditional pots and pans, offering a healthier alternative to everyday meal preparation. Our Toughened Nonstick Pro Stockpot has been carefully crafted to tackle recipes with delicate ingredients, allowing foods to slide right off and making cleanup a breeze.
Stockpot Sizes: What size stockpot do I need?
Now that you are familiar with the different Le Creuset stockpots, it’s time to start considering size. When purchasing a Le Creuset stockpot, it is crucial to consider the amount of people you will be cooking for on a regular basis. The general rule of thumb when picking a stockpot size is that each litre serves approximately one portion. Indeed, A 6 L Stockpot, for example, can easily serve between five and six portions.
Much like it was the case for Le Creuset’s stockpots, each stockpot size comes with its ideal uses. For example, our 6 L Stockpot is best suited for preparing weeknight meals, offering a generous cooking surface for multiple portions. Once dinner is served, portion out the leftovers for an easy next-day lunch option.
The 10.2 L Stockpot, on the other hand, is great for preparing one-pot soup recipes and stocks, creating the perfect environment for all the heated liquids to gradually infuse themselves on a slow simmer. This is ultimately what makes the Le Creuset Stockpots a wintertime essential in any household.
When it is not being used for everyday meal preparation, this 18.9 L Stockpot is also great for canning, as well as making preserves and jams. Simply put, canning helps you capture the best flavours of the season, whether that is fresh berries, sweet tomatoes, or your preference of seasonal ingredients. The Enamel on Steel Stockpot is best suited for cooking the preserves and jams before sealing them in a tight-fitting mason jar. Ingredients that are commonly canned include seasonal fruits, vegetables, tomatoes, as well as jams and jellies, to name a few.
Stockpot Recipes
Here are three of our favorite stockpot recipes you can prepare in your Le Creuset Stockpots, including a Basic Chicken Broth and Boiled Corn, perfect for any occasion.
Basic Chicken Stock
No repertoire of stockpot recipes would be complete without a Basic Chicken Stock. Perfect for those colder days or when you’re feeling under the weather, this recipe serves as a building block for a variety of your favourite soups, stews, and risottos.
Our Basic Chicken Stock recipe is as simple as combining all the ingredients with three quarts of cold water in your stockpot. Next, bring the liquid to a boil and reduce the heat, allowing it to simmer. A stockpot simplifies the preparation of this recipe, creating the ideal environment for the chicken stock to simmer to perfection.
Be sure to skim the surface occasionally until the stock is reduced by one third before straining. This stock recipe can be prepared up to three days ahead of time and can even be frozen away for up to three months, offering a classic chicken broth whenever a recipe calls for it.
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Boiled Corn with Toppings
Looking for the perfect stockpot recipe for your next summer get-together? Look no further than our Boiled Corn with Toppings. This recipe has all the makings to become an instant classic in your household, featuring two delicious toppings including savoury feta and fresh herbs.
Simply fill your 11.4 L Stockpot two thirds full of cold water and season generously with kosher salt. Once the Stockpot has been brought to a boil, lower the corn into the pot and cover with the lid. The Stockpot’s tight-fitting lid is designed to lock in heat and moisture, boiling your corn until bright yellow and the kernels are slightly tender to the touch.
The combination of our fresh herb compound butter and feta cheese topping is sure to leave your guests salivating. This recipe takes no longer than 30 minutes to prepare and serves up to 12 portions at a time.
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Mussel Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes
Our Mussel Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes recipe offers home cooks a simple, yet delicious meal, perfect for weeknight cooking when you may be pressed for time. Delicious and easy to put together, this stockpot recipe has everything you need to impress your friends and family.
Our Stockpot with Pasta Insert and Revolution® Pasta Fork are the perfect trio of tools to simplify the preparation of this recipe. In fact, our Stainless Steel Stockpot is perfect for steaming the mussels before adding the beans, tomatoes, cream and herbs to the pot, delivering superior heat retention and even heat distribution.
This delicious and beginner-friendly stockpot recipe can be prepared in just over an hour, serving between four and six people at a time. So, next time you’re short on inspiration, grab your Stainless Steel Stockpot and tackle our delicious Mussel Pasta recipe.
Get the recipeChoosing a Le Creuset Stockpot
Choosing between Le Creuset’s Stockpots ultimately boils down to the following two considerations: what you cook the most, and for how many people you typically cook for. Answering these two questions will ultimately help you determine your stockpot size and desired material, whether it’s Enamel on Steel, Stainless Steel or a Toughened Nonstick Pro Stockpot. Using a stockpot is a great way to familiarize yourself with a variety of new ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques.
Common stockpot recipes include, but are not limited to, one-pot pasta dishes, steaming seafood and veggies, as well as reducing soups, sauces, and stews. Put simply, every cookware collection should feature a Le Creuset stockpot. We hope we answered all of your questions about Le Creuset Stockpots, including the different materials and stockpot sizes, but in case we didn’t, be sure to visit our Stockpot FAQs.
