Lush Food & Drink

Buying Guide ·Prep

Best Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls for a Weeknight Dinner

Lids and a non slip base matter more than diameter when the bowl also stores dinner.

By the Lush Editorial Team·Researched & Compared

  • Researched & ComparedSpecs pulled from the manufacturer listing
  • Like-for-LikeSame measures across every model
  • No Paid PlacementsNobody pays to appear here

I compared sixteen stainless steel mixing bowl sets on the fact sheet using only each maker's published capacities, weights and feature bullets, and kept five that answer the weeknight problem differently.

Our shortlist

Five products, one set of published numbers.
  1. Winco 8 qt Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl
    Best single bowl that stays put

    Winco 8 qt Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl

    Publishes 11.75 by 11.75 by 5.5 inches with a silicone covered base.

    • Winco
    • 8 Quart
    • 1.1 lb
  2. Wildone Mixing Bowls with Lids Set
    Best span of sizes with lids

    Wildone Mixing Bowls with Lids Set

    States five bowls from 8 qt down to 1.5 qt, each with an airtight lid.

    • Wildone
    • 8, 5, 3, 2, 1.5 QT
    • 5.8 lb
  3. Non-Toxic Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
    Best lids with no plastic on the food

    Non-Toxic Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls

    The only pick with glass lids, stated as dishwasher safe themselves.

    • Ziruma
    • 9.4 inches (width) x 5.5 inches (height)
    • Weight not listed
  4. Cuisinart Mixing Bowl Set
    Best three bowls for prep and freezing

    Cuisinart Mixing Bowl Set

    States 1.5, 3 and 5 quart, and refrigerator and freezer safety.

    • Cuisinart
    • 3-Piece Nesting Bowl Set
    • 3.9 lb
  5. 28pc Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls with Lids Set
    Best set that brings its own graters

    28pc Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls with Lids Set

    Adds three graters and a fifteen piece utensil set to five lidded bowls.

    • Priority Chef
    • 5-Piece Set
    • Weight not listed

Side by side

Blank means the maker does not publish it.
ModelBrandSize (capacity)WeightBest for
Winco 8 qt Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Winco 8 Quart 1.1 lb Best single bowl that stays put
Wildone Mixing Bowls with Lids Set Wildone 8, 5, 3, 2, 1.5 QT 5.8 lb Best span of sizes with lids
Non-Toxic Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls Ziruma 9.4 inches (width) x 5.5 inches (height) not published Best lids with no plastic on the food
Cuisinart Mixing Bowl Set Cuisinart 3-Piece Nesting Bowl Set 3.9 lb Best three bowls for prep and freezing
28pc Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls with Lids Set Priority Chef 5-Piece Set not published Best set that brings its own graters

Each pick in detail

What the listing says for it, and against it.
1 Best single bowl that stays put

Winco 8 qt Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl

Publishes 11.75 by 11.75 by 5.5 inches with a silicone covered base.

  • For it
  • Publishes 11.75 by 11.75 by 5.5 inches, the only bowl dimensions here that are not a carton
  • Publishes 1.1 pounds for a single 8 quart bowl
  • States a silicone covered base so the bowl does not slide while mixing
  • States a thick reinforced rim and approval for commercial dishwashers
  • Against it
  • One bowl only, so a set of sizes means more purchases
  • No lid, so it does not double as a container
  • States nothing about refrigerator or freezer use
2 Best span of sizes with lids

Wildone Mixing Bowls with Lids Set

States five bowls from 8 qt down to 1.5 qt, each with an airtight lid.

  • For it
  • States five capacities, 8, 5, 3, 2 and 1.5 qt, the widest span of the five picks
  • States airtight BPA free lids for refrigeration and marinating
  • States scale marks stamped inside the bowls for measuring
  • States rolled rims and a nesting design for cupboard space
  • Against it
  • Publishes 5.8 pounds for the set, the heaviest figure on this page
  • States no non slip base, relying on the rim for grip
  • Publishes no dimensions for any individual bowl
3 Best lids with no plastic on the food

Non-Toxic Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls

The only pick with glass lids, stated as dishwasher safe themselves.

  • For it
  • The only pick with glass lids, stated as dishwasher safe in their own right
  • States no plastic touches the food, lids included
  • States non slip rubber bases and measurement marks inside
  • States five capacities, 1, 2, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 qt
  • Against it
  • Publishes no weight, which matters most on the set with glass lids
  • One of its three published package figures reads 0.2 inches and cannot be right
  • No bowl in the set reaches the 8 quart size two other picks offer
4 Best three bowls for prep and freezing

Cuisinart Mixing Bowl Set

States 1.5, 3 and 5 quart, and refrigerator and freezer safety.

  • For it
  • States 1.5, 3 and 5 quart nesting bowls, a clean spread for prep
  • The only pick stating both refrigerator and freezer safety for the bowls
  • States a smooth surface that does not retain flavors, and dishwasher safe
  • Publishes 3.9 pounds, lighter than the Wildone set of five
  • Against it
  • No lids at all, so covering means foil or a plate
  • States no non slip base and no measurement marks
  • Publishes no dimensions for any individual bowl
5 Best set that brings its own graters

28pc Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls with Lids Set

Adds three graters and a fifteen piece utensil set to five lidded bowls.

  • For it
  • States five bowls at 1.5, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Qt, each with an airtight lid
  • Adds three graters for fine, coarse and slicing work
  • Adds a fifteen piece utensil set in the same box
  • States a non scratch silicone base that anchors the bowl for one handed whisking
  • Against it
  • Publishes no weight at all for a twenty eight piece set
  • Only the bowls are stated top rack dishwasher safe
  • Publishes no dimensions for any individual bowl

Our verdict

A weeknight bowl mixes and then stores, so lids and grip decide it. Winco publishes 11.75 by 11.75 by 5.5 inches and 1.1 pounds for one 8 quart bowl with a silicone base. Wildone states five bowls from 8 qt down to 1.5 qt with airtight lids. Ziruma states glass lids across five bowls. Cuisinart states 1.5, 3 and 5 quart and freezer safety. Priority Chef adds three graters.

“Six bowls here hold eight quarts. None is the same shape.”

Lush Editorial Team

What separates these five

Eight quarts is not one shape Winco publishes 11.75 inches across, Oggi 12.25 and four other listings 13.25. All six state 8 quarts, so capacity alone does not tell you the footprint.
Only one listing publishes bowl dimensions Winco publishes 11.75 by 11.75 by 5.5 inches. The other four picks are sets, so their fields describe cartons and were set aside.
Lids come in plastic, glass or not at all Wildone and Priority Chef state airtight plastic lids that need hand washing. Ziruma states dishwasher safe glass lids. Winco and Cuisinart have none.
Three picks state a non slip base Winco states silicone, Priority Chef states non scratch silicone and Ziruma states rubber. Wildone offers rolled rims instead and Cuisinart states neither.
Nobody publishes a steel gauge Not one listing in this pool states wall thickness or gauge, so dent resistance cannot be compared between any two bowls here.

How we chose

Priorities, not a computed score. The inputs are published specifications, so we rank by what matters most and say how much.

  1. 25% Lids and what they are made ofA weeknight bowl goes into the fridge, and three of these five make that possible without a second container.
  2. 25% Non slip baseWhisking with one hand while a pan is going is the actual weeknight task, and three picks address it in writing.
  3. 20% Stated capacitiesThe span you get decides whether one set covers a dressing, a marinade and a batch of dough.
  4. 15% Published bowl dimensionsOnly one pick publishes any, so having the figure at all is worth weighting.
  5. 15% Dishwasher, fridge and freezer claimsThe exclusions matter: several sets machine wash the bowls and not the lids.

How the Five Compare on the Numbers

On a weeknight a mixing bowl is also a marinating dish and a container for whatever is left. That shifts the useful figures away from diameter and towards three things: whether there is a lid, whether the bowl stays still while you whisk one handed, and what range of sizes you get for the cupboard space you give up.

Only three of these five publish a weight, at 1.1 pounds for the single Winco bowl, 3.9 pounds for the Cuisinart set of three and 5.8 pounds for the Wildone set of five. Only one publishes dimensions for the bowl itself rather than the carton. Stated capacities across the group run from 0.7 qt in the wider pool up to 8 quarts.

Specification Winco Wildone Ziruma Cuisinart Priority Chef
Stated capacities 8 quarts 8, 5, 3, 2 and 1.5 qt 1, 2, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 qt 1.5, 3 and 5 quart 1.5, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Qt
Bowls in the set One Five Five Three Five
Lids stated not published Airtight, BPA free Glass, dishwasher safe not published Airtight, one per bowl
Published dimension fields 11.75 by 11.75 by 5.5 inches set aside as a carton set aside as a carton set aside as a carton set aside as a carton
Published package size not published 6.6 by 12.2 by 11.9 inches 9.45 by 5.51 inches, with a third figure of 0.2 10.5 by 10.5 by 10.5 inches 9.4 by 9.4 by 5.5 inches
Published weight 1.1 pounds 5.8 pounds not published 3.9 pounds not published
Non slip base stated Silicone covered base not published Non slip rubber bases not published Non scratch silicone base
Measurement marks stated not published Scale marks stamped inside Measurement marks not published not published
Dishwasher stated Yes, residential and commercial Yes Yes, glass lids included Yes Top rack, for the bowls
Fridge or freezer stated not published Refrigerator, and marinating Airtight storage for leftovers Refrigerator and freezer safe Fridge or freezer
Rim stated Reinforced, thick Rolled not published not published not published
Extras stated not published not published not published not published Three graters and a fifteen piece utensil set

The table cannot tell you the steel gauge of any bowl, because not one listing in this pool publishes one, and gauge is what decides whether a bowl dents. It cannot give bowl dimensions for four of the five, since their fields describe cartons. And the weight column mixes a single bowl with sets of three and five, so it cannot be ranked as if it measured the same thing.

Three 8 Quart Bowls, Three Different Shapes

Same capacity, different diameter

The clearest finding in this pool has nothing to do with the picks. Six listings sell an 8 quart stainless bowl. Winco publishes 11.75 inches across, Oggi publishes 12.25 inches, and Chef Craft, Notana, Stock Your Home and Great Credentials all publish 13.25 inches. Same stated capacity, an inch and a half of spread in diameter.

The heights explain part of it. Winco publishes 5.5 inches, Oggi publishes 5.75, Chef Craft publishes 5.0 and Great Credentials states 5 inches in its own bullet. A narrower, deeper bowl and a wider, shallower one can hold the same volume, and on a crowded weeknight counter the narrow one is the easier object. Capacity alone does not tell you which you are getting.

One weight that cannot be right

Great Credentials publishes 1.17 pounds for a set of two 8 quart bowls, and its own bullet says the price reflects two bowls per order. A single Chef Craft 8 quart bowl publishes 0.88 pounds and a single Winco publishes 1.1 pounds. Two bowls at 1.17 pounds would make each one lighter than anything else here by a wide margin.

That figure was not used for anything on this page. Its stated dimensions are more useful: the bullet gives a diameter of 13 1/4 inches and a height of 5 inches, while the published package figures read 13.25 by 13.25 by 4.25 inches. The two heights disagree, and the maker’s own sentence is the one this page would quote.

Lids Turn a Bowl Into a Container

Plastic, glass or none

Wildone states airtight BPA free lids and names refrigeration and marinating as the reason. Priority Chef states a matching airtight lid for every bowl so batter or marinade goes straight to the fridge without changing containers. Both are plastic, and both sets state that the lids should be hand washed rather than machine washed.

Ziruma takes the opposite position and makes it the whole pitch: glass lids, described as plastic free so no plastic touches the food, and stated as dishwasher safe in their own right. The trade is weight and breakability against a lid you can put in the machine. Winco and Cuisinart supply no lids at all.

Marinating and the fridge

Cuisinart is the only pick that states both refrigerator and freezer safety for the bowls themselves, which matters if you portion and freeze rather than seal and chill. It has no lids, so covering means foil or a plate, but stainless steel in a freezer is a claim the other listings mostly leave implicit.

Wildone states a deepening base and airtight lids for keeping recipes fresh longer, and Priority Chef states fridge or freezer with the lids on. Winco states nothing about cold storage at all, which for a commercial bowl is unsurprising: it is sold as a mixing tool rather than as a container, and its bullets are about rim strength and dishwasher approval.

Staying Put While You Whisk

Non slip bases

Three of the five state a non slip base and it is the most practical difference on this page. Winco states a silicone covered base to keep the bowl from sliding on a countertop. Priority Chef states a non scratch silicone base that protects the counter and anchors the bowl so you can whisk with one hand. Ziruma states non slip rubber bases.

Wildone and Cuisinart state nothing of the kind. Wildone states rolled rims that make the bowl easy to grab and hold, which is a different answer to the same problem, and Cuisinart states neither. For beating eggs while you watch a pan, a base that grips is worth more than a rim you have to hold.

Measurement marks and rims

Wildone states scale marks stamped inside the bowls for accurate measurement and Ziruma states measurement marks as well. Neither says what units or what increments. Winco, Cuisinart and Priority Chef state nothing about internal markings, so measuring means a separate cup.

On rims, Winco is the most specific: a thick reinforced rim stated as preventing the bowl from bending or warping, which is what a commercial bowl is for. Wildone states rolled rims for grip. The other three make no rim claim, and no listing anywhere in this pool publishes a steel thickness, so rim strength cannot be compared as a number.

Which One Fits Your Kitchen

One big bowl that grips the counter. Winco publishes 11.75 by 11.75 by 5.5 inches and 1.1 pounds for an 8 quart bowl with a silicone covered base, a reinforced rim and dishwasher approval for both home and commercial machines.

The widest span of sizes. Wildone states five bowls at 8, 5, 3, 2 and 1.5 qt with airtight lids, scale marks stamped inside and rolled rims. It publishes 5.8 pounds for the set and states the lids should be hand washed.

No plastic on the food. Ziruma states five bowls at 1, 2, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 qt with dishwasher safe glass lids, measurement marks and non slip rubber bases. It publishes no weight, which for a set with glass lids is the figure you would want.

Three bowls and nothing else. Cuisinart states 1.5, 3 and 5 quart nesting bowls, dishwasher safe and stated safe for the refrigerator and the freezer. It publishes 3.9 pounds, has no lids and makes no non slip claim.

Prep tools in the same box. Priority Chef states five bowls at 1.5, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Qt with airtight lids, three graters, a fifteen piece utensil set and a non scratch silicone base. The bowls are stated top rack dishwasher safe.

What We Could Not Verify

These are the figures that would separate these bowls properly, and that no listing here gives.

  • Steel gauge or wall thickness for any bowl in the pool, so dent resistance cannot be compared.
  • Bowl diameters and heights for the Wildone, Ziruma, Cuisinart and Priority Chef sets.
  • A published weight for the Ziruma and Priority Chef sets.
  • The units and increments of the scale marks stated by Wildone and Ziruma.
  • Whether the Winco bowl is stated safe for a refrigerator or freezer.
  • The temperature range of any lid, plastic or glass, on the three sets that include them.

Frequently asked questions

Why do six 8 quart bowls have different diameters?+

Because a bowl can be narrow and deep or wide and shallow and still hold eight quarts. Winco publishes 11.75 inches across by 5.5 inches high. Oggi publishes 12.25 by 5.75. Chef Craft publishes 13.25 by 5.0, and Notana, Stock Your Home and Great Credentials all publish 13.25 inches across. If counter space is the constraint, the diameter matters more than the quart figure.

Which of these five publishes the lightest weight?+

Winco publishes 1.1 pounds, which is a single 8 quart bowl. Cuisinart publishes 3.9 pounds for three bowls and Wildone publishes 5.8 pounds for five. Ziruma and Priority Chef publish no weight at all. Because one column is a single bowl and the others are sets, the figures are not comparable as a ranking, and this page does not treat them as one.

Can the lids go in the dishwasher?+

Only the glass ones. Ziruma states dishwasher safe glass lids as a selling point. Wildone states the bowls are dishwasher safe and that the lids and graters are hand wash items. Priority Chef states the bowls are top rack dishwasher safe and does not extend that to the lids. Winco and Cuisinart have no lids, and both state the bowls themselves are dishwasher safe.

Which set covers the widest range of sizes?+

Wildone, with five bowls stated at 8, 5, 3, 2 and 1.5 qt. Priority Chef states 1.5, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Qt, so its largest bowl is smaller. Ziruma states 1, 2, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 qt, which starts smaller and ends smaller. Cuisinart states three bowls at 1.5, 3 and 5 quart. Winco is a single 8 quart bowl with nothing below it.

Do any of these stay still while you whisk?+

Three state a base for it. Winco states a silicone covered base to stop the bowl sliding on a countertop. Priority Chef states a non scratch silicone base that protects the counter and anchors the bowl for one handed whisking. Ziruma states non slip rubber bases. Wildone offers rolled rims for grip instead, and Cuisinart states neither a base nor a rim feature.

Why is one published weight in this pool not believable?+

Great Credentials publishes 1.17 pounds for a set of two 8 quart bowls, and its own bullet confirms the price reflects two bowls per order. A single Chef Craft 8 quart bowl publishes 0.88 pounds and a single Winco publishes 1.1 pounds. Two full sized steel bowls cannot weigh 1.17 pounds together, so that figure was not used anywhere on this page.

Specifications come from the manufacturers' own published listings. Lush Food & Drink may earn a commission if you buy through a link on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we research.