We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Why Trust Us?

Our experts tested grill baskets to find the best mesh, stainless steel, cast iron and more.

If you love grilled vegetables, shrimp or fish, a grill basket is a smart investment. These easy-to-use devices make it simple to maneuver small ingredients on a hot grill and to help them develop charred flavor. Grill baskets can be used on a pellet grill or a large indoor grill, and some can even be used over an open flame while camping. Grill baskets come in a number of styles: perforated or mesh square tray with high, sloping sides; hinged grids that clamp together like a clamshell and have long handles; skillet-like baskets; and mesh bags. They’re an efficient way to turn and rotate foods that might fall through the grates, like thinly sliced onions, or that could require time skewering before cooking, like diced chicken or shrimp. They're also great for foods that tend to stick to the grates, like a delicate fillet of flounder.

In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation Lab, we test a wide variety of grill gear, everything from grill thermometers to portable grills to help you have a successful barbecue. In our recent grill basket testing, we tested eight grill baskets and grilled over four pounds of veggies to find the grill baskets that performed best. The grill baskets that ranked highest produced caramelized red onion, roasted asparagus and perfectly charred bell pepper; they were easy to handle and to clean.

Here are the best grill baskets you can buy in 2022, according to testing:

Proud Grill UltraVersatile Stainless Steel Grill Basket is our best overall grill basket because it is, as named, versatile. Whether you like to separate your shrimp from your veggies or are grilling a small whole fish, this grill basket is up to the task. In our testing, the veggies had a nice char on the exterior, but still were a little crisp on the inside. We love that it has perforated walls and dividers that can be removed for large ingredients or added to create separate compartments based on what you are grilling.

This grill basket is lightweight and has a handle that can be snapped on for easy carrying or taken off so that it doesn’t get in the way of closing the grill hood. Our pros were able to easily remove all veggies from the grill basket, and it was easy to clean — but the stainless steel did discolor, which would need to be removed with stainless steel cleaner to keep it looking new.

• Weight: 2.9 lbs. • Dimensions: 15" x 10" x 2 ½" • Material: Stainless steel

This Lodge pick is a circular cast iron grill basket with teardrop shaped holes in the bottom. At under $40, this grill basket is very affordable while also built to last. In our testing, it produced veggies with a really beautiful char, perfect for tucking into your favorite summer sandwich. It offers a decent amount of surface area for a bunch of veggies: We found that it was okay if the grill basket was a little crowded as the veggies still cooked evenly. Because of its circular shape with handles on the sides, it may be difficult to pair with another grill basket on many grills.

Just like your favorite cast iron pan, this grill basket is heavy. Take caution when carrying and maneuvering it, as it was the heftiest we tested — and it also remained hot the longest. This preseasoned grill basket was incredibly easy to hand wash after testing and still looked brand-new after veggies were removed. And for future uses, you can clean and maintain this grill basket as you would your other cast iron cookware.

• Weight: 7 lbs. • Dimensions: 12 ½" x 2 ¼" • Material: Cast iron

While Weber offers a handful of grill baskets, we were especially impressed with the Weber Style Professional Grade Grill Pan. This stainless steel grill basket offers a lot of surface area, but its size also allows it to be paired with another grill basket on a standard sized 450 square foot outdoor grill. In our testing, it produced well-charred veggies after only five minutes of grilling, and after eight minutes, the veggies were soft and had the greatest number of char marks out of any other grill basket we tested.

Our pros love how slim and compact this grill basket is for storage compared with other grill baskets with high sloping walls — you could easily store it with your rimmed sheet pans. It's also lightweight and released all veggies easily, but it did discolor after grilling.

• Weight: Less than 1 pound • Dimensions: 17" x 12" x 1.5" • Material: Stainless steel

Nordic Ware Nonstick Grill & Shake Basket is an affordable nonstick grill basket, perfect for those extra-delicate ingredients that tend to stick, like a filet of salmon or blistered tomatoes. In our testing, we were impressed by its nonstick material and high sides that allow for veggies to glide across and up and down the basket with ease as they achieve a nice char. Its high sides are great for ensuring that veggies do not fall overboard and its perforated holes are key to giving veggies their grill marks. We did notice in testing that veggies cooked down quicker than other grill baskets, which is ideal for veggies that need a longer cook time like butternut squash.

• Weight: 2.4 lbs. • Dimensions: 2.5" x 14" x 12" • Material: Nonstick aluminized steel

The two-piece design of this grill basket gives you tons of options whether you're grilling veggies in your backyard or roasting mussels over an open fire. There are three ways to use it: You can use the shallower skillet, the deeper skillet or latch them together for an enclosed basket that is easy to shake and ensures that your ingredients aren’t flying out. In our testing, veggies were evenly cooked and were nice and tender.

Thanks to the basket's nonstick material, veggies also released easily, and after a quick clean, the basket looked as good as new. Its long handle is helpful for carrying and cooking over an open fire, but it should be removed when used on the grill as it will get too hot and may not allow you to close your grill's hood.

• Weight: 3 lbs. • Dimensions: 25" x 11" x 4" • Material: Nonstick steel

The experts in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Culinary Innovation lab ventured outdoors to test 10 grill baskets. We grilled equal amounts of sliced red bell pepper, whole asparagus and wedges of red onion on the same grill for each grill basket.

In addition to evaluating the results of our grilled vegetables, we rated each grill basket for ease of use, durability and cleanability. We tested a variety of grill baskets in terms of size, shape, material and handles to see how they compared in side-by-side testing. We preheated all grill baskets for five minutes at 500 degrees and cooked each batch of veggies for eight minutes, flipping halfway through the grilling process. We inspected and tasted all veggies for evenness of cooking, appearance and flavor of char marks and how easily we could remove the food from the grill pan.

In our recent review, we also tested grill baskets from Cuisinart, All-Clad, Uncommon Goods, Kingsford and another model from Weber.

✔️Size: Consider the overall surface area of the basket and the size of the perforations or slots. If you plan to cook asparagus or whole fish, you will need ample room in the basket. If you like to grill baby potatoes or shrimp, you’ll want smaller perforations or holes or a tighter matrix to a grid. If you want to use more than one basket at a time, be sure that two can fit side-by-side on your grilling surface.

✔️Shape: Some grill baskets have a fairly universal shape, meaning they can accommodate a range of foods. Others are designed to close around ears of corn or meatballs or even a quesadilla. Find the style that works for the foods you cook most.

✔️Material: Grill baskets are most commonly made from nonstick steel or stainless steel, but they can also come in cast iron.

✔️Handles: Whether you opt for a tray style or a clamshell style, you want handle placement that keeps your hands away from the flame. You also want handles that are heat-resistant and wide enough for a secure grip for shaking, rotating and transporting.

Eva Bleyer has tested everything from pizza stones to kitchen scales. She conducted the most recent side-by-side testing of grill baskets. She earned a B.S. in Food Studies, Nutrition and Public Health from New York University and is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute. As a lifelong vegetarian, Eva is very familiar with grilling veggies and knows how cumbersome the task can be without a grill basket.

Eva (she/her) is a reviews analyst in the Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she tests kitchen gear, home appliances and culinary innovations. She graduated from NYU with a bachelor of science in food studies, nutrition and public health and is a trained chef through the Natural Gourmet Institute. Eva has more than 10 years of experience in the food industry, working as a food stylist, personal chef and marketing manager.

The Best Vacuum Sealers of 2023

5 Best Pizza Stones, According to Pros

The Best Meal Prep Containers You Can Buy

4 Best Garlic Presses, According to Pros

8 Best Nonstick Cookware Sets of 2023

A Part of Hearst Digital Media

Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.

©Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.