A good spatula is durable and easy to use, and the spatula you choose can make the difference between flipping your pancake correctly or incorrectly.
To find the best spatulas in each category, we spent over 40 hours researching and testing six different types of spatulas, from flexible fish spatulas to wooden scrapers.
Whether you’re looking for products for nonstick cookware, cleaning bowls, pans and grills, or glazing your favorite desserts, we’ve got recommendations for you.
Every cook needs a spatula (or more than one) in their toolbox. After researching and interviewing professionals, we’ve identified six basic types of spatulas you might need:
This affordable and lightweight spatula can be used for a variety of tasks, including flipping delicate fish fillets in a frying pan and turning pancakes.
Forget the word “fish” in the name—a good fish turner is a versatile tool that’s flexible and durable enough to handle the job. Our favorite is the Victorinox Swiss Army Slotted Fish Turner. It’s affordable and does the job just fine.
In our tests, the Victorinox’s gentle tilt glided smoothly under a fried egg, a floured tilapia fillet, and a freshly baked cracker without damaging the yolk, peeling the skin, or crushing the top of the cracker. Even though the blade is flexible, it’s still strong enough to hold up a stack of eight pancakes without bending.
The beautiful walnut handle is lightweight and comfortable to hold, meaning your wrist won’t get tired if you plan on frying multiple fillets at once. While you shouldn’t hold the wooden handle too close to the fire, you won’t have to worry about it melting like you do with other synthetic-handled fish spatulas we tested.
Its high-carbon stainless steel blade and walnut handle will last for decades (and are backed by a lifetime warranty), but the wood handle means it’s not dishwasher safe.
This spatula is more expensive, but it has the same blade as our favorite. However, the plastic handle on this spatula makes it a little heavier, and it is dishwasher safe.
The Lamson flexible stainless steel slotted spatula performs the same functions as the Victorinox spatula, handling eggs, fish fillets, and hot cookies with ease. However, our testers found the polyester handle a bit heavy.
This is a good option if you prefer heavier handles or want it to be dishwasher safe. However, it is often twice as expensive as the Victorinox and only has a 30-day return policy. Also, the synthetic handles will melt if placed on a hot pan or stove.
For Lefties: We tested the Lamson Chef slotted spatula (as opposed to the flexible spatula we recommend) and found it felt good in the hand, but the middle blade was too flexible to hold heavy items. Still, it’s one of the few spatulas we could find that has a left-handed model.
If you use non-stick pans, this silicone spatula is a must-have because it won’t scratch your pans. Its beveled, pointed edge glides easily under delicate cookies and eggs without ruining them.
To avoid scratching the delicate surface of your nonstick pan, you should invest in a silicone spatula, like our favorite GIR Mini Flip. While it’s not as sharp or flexible as a metal spatula, its tapered blade (with a fiberglass core and seamless silicone shell, available in a variety of fun colors) allowed us to slide it under warm cookies without crushing them.
Don’t be fooled by this spatula’s smaller-than-average size and thickness; its razor-sharp blade, paper-thin edge, and offset handle let you flip delicate omelets and thick pancakes with confidence. It’s also easy to clean, and there are no crevices for food to collect.
GIR makes a larger version, the Ultimate Flip, but we found it to be too big for many tasks.
This silicone-coated straight spatula takes a little effort to get under fish and crackers, but its wide blade makes it easy to lift and flip pancakes.
If you need a spatula with a wider blade, we also recommend the OXO Good Grips Silicone Flexible Spatula. While we prefer the GIR Mini Flip’s angled blade, the OXO comes in second.
The OXO blade is thinner and larger than the GIR, but the blade isn’t as sharp, so it takes more effort to get it under fish, eggs, and crackers. However, the wide blade is perfect for lifting and flipping large pancakes with ease.
The soft rubber handle is comfortable to hold, and the spatula itself is dishwasher safe and heat-resistant up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some Amazon.com reviews complain about the silicone cracking. We didn’t encounter this issue during our testing. But if you do encounter this issue, OXO products offer excellent customer service, and customer service is generally responsive.
This spatula is small enough to fit into a peanut butter jar, strong enough to press down on dough, and flexible enough to scrape the edges of a dough bowl.
The parallel sides, flat tips, and flexible edges of silicone spatulas make them ideal for scooping brownie batter into the pan, punching down the batter, and mixing in toppings (yes, like cheese, David). For all these tasks and more, we recommend the GIR Ultimate Spatula.
While the tip is thick enough to allow the spatula to press firmly into the dough, the tool itself is flexible enough to glide smoothly and cleanly along the edge of a mixing bowl. We also like that the blade is thin enough to fit into small jars, and its angled tip can fit along the bottom of beveled-edge dishes.
Plus, its rounded handle is easier to hold than the flat, elongated spatulas of many competitors. Because both sides of the spatula are symmetrical, it can be used by both left- and right-handed cooks.
Like the GIR Mini Flip, the GIR Ultimate Spatula has a fiberglass core covered with a thick, seamless layer of silicone, available in a variety of colors. The silicone coating is heat-resistant up to 464 degrees Fahrenheit and high temperatures up to 550 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes this spatula ideal for high-heat cooking and is dishwasher safe.
After years of using the GIR Ultimate, we found that the edges of the silicone blades can get scratched and cut from rubbing against the blades of a blender or food processor. But overall, it’s a solid scraper that’s built to last because it’s not seamed.
This heat-resistant spatula features a wide blade that’s ideal for preparing large batches of dough or mixing ingredients.
If you frequently work with large batches of dough, batter, or frosting, a great alternative to the GIR Ultimate is the Rubbermaid Commercial Heat-Resistant Silicone Spatula (with a wider blade). It’s a staple in many commercial kitchens and a favorite of many members of the Wirecutter kitchen crew.
Some of our testers found the scraper head to be too stiff compared to the GIR scraper, and the flat handle was less comfortable to hold. However, after years of using Rubbermaid scrapers, we found that the blades soften over time and become more flexible with use. It also doesn’t scratch as easily as the edge of the GIR scraper.
Rubbermaid is more difficult to clean than GIR because it has more crevices where food can accumulate, but it is dishwasher safe and comes with a one-year limited warranty.
This is a sturdy metal flipper with a thicker, heavier blade that’s perfect for pan-frying burgers Shake Shack style.
If you plan to do a lot of grilling or pan-frying, we recommend investing in a good quality metal spatula. The Winco TN719 Blade Hamburger Spatula is ideal for manual tasks such as pounding, cutting, and lifting large pieces of meat.
It’s sturdy and durable, with no crevices to stuff meat into like the fish spatulas we tested. Because the TN719 is heavier than most of the other spatulas we tested, it does a great job of shredding burgers in a pan with minimal effort.
It’s also the only model we tested with a beveled edge on three sides of the blade, making it easy to scoop up pancakes and fresh-from-the-oven cookies with the spatula.
Although the sapele handle is not dishwasher safe, it is comfortable to hold and reliable when flipping burgers on the grill. Since Winco products are intended for commercial restaurants, the warranty will be voided if this spatula is used in a home environment. However, since the TN719 is very durable and inexpensive, the lack of warranty is not a big deal.
This spatula has a thinner, lighter blade that glides easily under fresh-from-the-oven crackers, though it’s not as good for mashing burgers.
If you’re looking for a small, lightweight metal pancake spatula, we recommend the Dexter-Russell Basics Pancake Spatula.
Its thin blade is more flexible than the Winco’s, so it won’t be as easy to squash burgers in a frying pan. The Dexter-Russell also doesn’t have a beveled edge on the blade, but our testers found that the thin edge still allowed the blade to glide easily under freshly baked cookies.
While the thin rosewood handle isn’t as wide as the Winco’s, we still found it comfortable to hold. Dexter-Russell blades also come with a lifetime warranty.
This wooden spatula is the perfect combination of a wooden spoon and a spatula. The flat edges make it easy to scrape the bottom of your pan, while the rounded corners allow you to reach hard-to-reach areas on slanted pans.
Not everyone needs a wooden spatula, but they are useful for scraping away burnt bits from the bottom of a pan and are better for enamel cookware (like a Dutch oven) than metal spatulas. If you need one, the best value for money option is the Helen’s Asian Kitchen Bamboo Frying Spatula.
Its sharp, angular edges and rounded corners make it easy to reach even the rounded edges of tilted pans. The wide handle makes it comfortable to hold and use for tasks like shredding ground beef in a frying pan. Keep in mind, however, that bamboo utensils don’t always last long, and this spatula doesn’t come with a warranty. But given the price, we don’t think that should be a deal-breaker for most people.
This curved stainless steel spatula glides easily under delicate, freshly baked cookies. Its long, curved blade distributes batter evenly across the baking pan and provides a smooth surface for frosting cakes.
The short blade of this mini spatula is ideal for delicately decorating cookies and cupcakes or for removing items from an overcrowded baking sheet.
If you’re a baking enthusiast, you’ll probably need a curved spatula or two for a variety of tasks, from frosting a cake to lifting cookies out of a filled baking sheet. We found the Ateco 1387 Offset Spatula (with a stainless steel blade) to be the best tool for larger projects, while the Mini Ateco 1385 Offset Icing Spatula was our pick for more delicate decorating tasks.
The Ateco 1387′s mirror finish allows the blade to glide over warm, tender cookies more easily than its competitors. The angle of the offset blade was comfortable on the wrist and provided enough clearance to keep our knuckles from damaging the cake surface when icing. And the wooden handles are lightweight and easy to hold, so our wrists didn’t get tired after baking multiple layers of cake.
Of all the mini spatulas we tested, the Ateco 1385 has the shortest blade, which gave us more control when mixing the dough. The short blade also allowed us to maneuver the filled pan with ease. We also liked how easily the Ateco 1385 spread mayo and mustard evenly across the sandwich.