Difference Between Sauté Pan and Skillet

Sauté Pans are often confused or used interchangeably with skillets, so we thought we’d take a moment to differentiate them. the difference between a sauté pan and a skillet is a subtle but important one, and it all comes down to shape. A sauté pan, from the French verb meaning "to jump" (sauter), has a wide, flat bottom and relatively tall, vertical sides. A skillet, on the other hand, has sides that flare outward at an angle.

Both can be used for frying and as an everyday go-to pan, but they still differ in a few crucial ways. The key difference comes down to the shape of the pans’ sides and how this affects the cooking process.

The skillet's rounded edges make it ideal for flipping, while the Sauté Pan's straight sides create a larger surface area for cooking and allow for more volume when cooking with liquids. The more enclosed nature of a Sauté Pan also makes it the clear choice for dishes that involve moving from stovetop to oven (avoiding spills and overflows during the transfer process).

So that means Sauté Pans are much more versatile than skillets. Because it can do almost everything a skillet can and much more. How do you think?