Cast iron is definitely not the best for lazy cookers. Mine always started to rust after a while. They require a lot of babying to keep them seasoned.

Personally, I like having a regular old carbon steel pan with no non stick surface. A decently sized one so I can meal prep for the week. I can set it high to sear, I can use metal utensils on it. Works great for most of my cooking needs. Clean up is as easy as soaking it for a minute and hitting it with a brush or scrub sponge, with the occasional barkeepers friend to bring back the shine. Its a workhorse of a pan and pretty bulletproof.

The only use for a non stick pan is for frying eggs, and I can usually accomplish that with a cheap non stick pan for $20. Mind you, this pan is ONLY FOR EGGS. I never use it for anything else, or else the non stick coating will wear. I generally hate using non stick pans for other stuff, as you cant crank the temperature very high to sear stuff or to reduce liquids, or else youll damage the coating.

Enameled cast iron is nice, but its also pretty fragile in that you have to baby it so you dont chip the enamel. You cant get it too hot or youll scorch the enamel. Cant go in the fridge, or the uncoated edges rust. Its very heavy. Its more of the kind of pot youd buy for specific use , like making a stew or something that needs to go from stove to oven and retain its heat and moisture.

So tl:dr get a carbon steel pan with no coating, and a super cheap non stick for eggs. Those two pans will do most of what youll need.

To me, the obvious answer is stainless steel. There are cheap ones and expensive ones, and everything in between. The more expensive ones tend to be constructed with more even surfaces, with better heat transfer (things like an aluminum or copper core), and more durable to regular or even careless use. But even the cheap ones are great.

Stainless advantages over traditional Teflon-based nonstick:

• Metal utensils and scrubbers don't damage it, which means you can use thinner spatulas and scrub more aggressively, or do things like whisk in the pan (helpful for making sauces or gravies)
• No need to worry about maximum temperature (Teflon reacts poorly to high temperatures, degrading quickly and off-gassing fumes that are mildly harmful to humans but deadly toxic for birds)
• Oven-safe (if the handle is oven safe), which is good for certain recipes that are easier to just transfer to the oven (certain sauces or braises)
• Much better thermal conductivity, for faster temperature response to turning the heat up or down.

Stainless advantages over ceramic non-stick:

• Metal utensils and scrubbers OK (ceramic nonstick is more resistant to scratches than traditional nonstick, but the guides still all tell you not to use metal)
• Can withstand higher temperatures (ceramic nonstick isn't as bad as traditional nonstick at high temperatures, but it still loses nonstick properties under high heat, over time).
• More likely to be oven-safe (some ceramic nonstick is oven safe, but you'd have to look and check, and still be mindful of temperature limits)
• Better thermal conductivity

Stainless advantages over cast iron:

• Better thermal conductivity (cast iron actually sucks at this but nobody seems to acknowledge it)
• Easier care, no need to season
• Can handle acids no problem, so things like slow cooking a tomato sauce or deglazing with wine/vinegar/juice are possible without weird dark discoloration in your food.
• Much lighter in weight, so much easier to use when transferring or pouring food, washing the pan, etc.

Stainless advantages over carbon steel (including carbon steel woks):

• Easier care, no need to season
• Can handle acids

Don't get me wrong: I literally own every single type of cookware listed here, and I cook on all of them for different purposes. But the stainless is my workhorse, the default I use on weeknights, because it's easy and mindless and I literally can't mess it up.

EDIT: Wow, can't believe I forgot to actually list the disadvantages of stainless. Main disadvantages:

• Not non-stick. When things stick, it can be a huge pain in the ass, ranging from making your food ugly to actually ruining a dish (for example, if the sticking causes you to destroy the structural integrity of the thing you're cooking, or the the stuck food starts scorching and adding bitter burnt flavors to your food).
• A little bit more effort to clean in typical situations, and a lot more effort to clean when there's food residue stuck to the pan.

If you're a novice cook and want to keep it simple then get a nice nonstick pan and just don't use metal on it - silicone, plastic, or wood. You can even use the rough side of a sponge fine. Just don't run it through the dishwasher. Should easily last you 5+ years.

Cast iron and stainless steel are great but more particular in how you use and maintain them.

You could buy a more traditional metal pan like you see in professional kitchens. Non-stick has a lot of issues and some of those are also present in coated cast iron.

One of the main things no matter what kind of pan you use is to use oil and an appropriate temperature. If your heat is too high it'll make it harder to flip or move anything in the pan. Even a non-coated cast iron can be used if you use oil and a middle temperature heat.

Stainless steel, flat-ish bottom, tall curved (wok-like) sides, all metal. Something like this mf: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81O93YXWJ-L._AC_SL1500_.jpg

you can:

• pan fry
• stir fry
• stew
• throw it in the oven for roasts
• soup in a pinch
• use it on every kind of stove top

care:

• minimal
• steel wool and scraping is a-okay if it gets nasty!

downsides:

• you'll never have a good time frying wet starches like noodles without some serious oil
• your first 4 attempts at pan fried fish will inevitably result in destruction
• fried eggs are gonna be tough

quirks:

• heats and cools very quickly, so you'll have to break some habits if you ever expand your cookery collection with carbon steel or cast iron

What you're looking for doesn't exist. You are going to have to make a compromise on clean up, upkeep, and/or durability if you just want one pan. I wish it wasn't true, but non-stick fails, cast iron (and carbon steel) requires upkeep, and stainless (or high quality aluminum) can be hard to clean.

The toyota camrys are cast iron and stainless steel. They aren't always pretty, but with the right care they will last 3 generations.

Stainless steel is buy it once and use until you die with low maintenance, use any utensil in it and can withstand the rough side of the sponge. Its also much kighter than cast iron, so easier to use. Look for one with stainless steel handles without any wooden or plastic parts, then you can also put it in the oven. No rivets on the inside is a bonus for cleaning if you find one like that.

I clean mine while it's still warm (if I can, doesn't work always unfortunately), use a stiff brush under warm water first and that usually gets 90 percent of the stuff stuck to the bottom, the rest I do with dish soap and the soft side of the sponge and don't need to be aggressive at all. Brushes are great for cleaning pots and pans!

In my experience :D, you can't use any utensil you want, use the rough side of the sponge, and expect a non stick pan to last more than a year. I stopped using nonstick for anything high heat like searing, I use it pretty much only for eggs these days and used my last nonstick for 5 years before I had to buy a new one for induction. It had no scratches when I gave it to a friend and was still nonstick, even if not as good as new.

Plain cast iron. Once it's been broken in it's mostly non-stick. To clean, scrub with a nylon scrubber or sponge without using soap and the coating will last.

Good quality stainless steel with metal handles, nothing to wear out, indestructible!

To me, a pan for a lazy cook means easy to clean, and you don't need to worry about what you cook in it. I wouldn't care about what types of utensils you need, because a true lazy person would simply throw out all of ones you can't use.

With that in mind, I think an oven-safe ceramic nonstick pan is your best bet. The nonstick is great for both cooking and cleanup, and unlike a cast iron you don't need to worry about acidic foods or reseasoning. If all you own are silicone utensils, the only downside is that you can't crank the heat up too much. And even then, all that does shorten the lifespan of its nonstick properties, at which point you're no worse off than a steel pan.

I usually love to recommend non enameled cast iron pans.
Those are the pans I use most and I am pretty lazy myself.
Most times I just clean them with soapy water and a sponge, dry them well, rub a really really small splash of oil around in it and heat it back up until I see the first signs of smoke.

If even that is too much work (and you have a gas stove or similar) I would recommend a simple wok from any Asian store.
I have a glass stove top right now so I rarely use mine anymore, but if I had a gas stove I think that I would use it all the time.

I'd want the nonstick and stainless/cast iron, personally. Each does things the others don't, and since you're cooking for four, having more than one pan is a good idea anyway: side dishes or whatever. You may not need nonstick, but it does make a lot of things very convenient. Stainless or cast iron for most other cooking - anything high heat at least, anything where you want a pan sauce. That way the nonstick pan gets a break and a longer lifespan, arguably less maintenance overall.

If not: stainless. Lower maintenance than cast iron, will do mostly the same things and stand up to almost anything.

Edit: I think you could learn to cook eggs and fish almost no matter what you use, but I'm not an expert. Supposedly it has a lot to do with just temperature control and using fat properly.

I find cast iron to be a bit heavy for everyday use, carbon steel gets you most of the benefits while giving you more flexibility on the weight.

The only thing I use my non stick for is omelette dishes mostly because it’s much easier to fold French omelet when you can lift the pan easily with 1 hand.

One pan to rule them all, eh? ;)

That's the Bialetti Impact covered Saute Pan.

https://a.co/d/bfbwppG

It's non-stick, but with a micro divot texture, so it's safe for metal tools (still a bad idea, get a silicone set).

https://youtu.be/30CdnBWuOpc

Oven safe to 400° F. You can pretty much cook everything in it. If you need more versatility, they have an entire set for around $100, but this pan is NOT included in that set.

https://a.co/d/d9XOJRS

It's deeper than a fry pan, and it has a support handle and a lid.

It basically does everything those infomercial pan sets say they do, except Bialetti is a known and respected brand.

My personal preference is Le Creuset enameled cast iron, that's my go-to. Not everybody can afford it. IIRC Bialetti Impact does NOT work with induction stovetops because it's aluminum. Electric and gas only.

If you have an induction range, look at the Bialetti Sapphire deep saute pan:

https://a.co/d/ejAv6DY

Same deal, deeper than a fry pan, and it has a support handle and a lid.

I like my steelclad set - a deep sauté pan is very versatile but it's not the best if you plan on boiling anything. if I had to pick only a single pan that's the one I'd choose.

personally, I dont think you're going to be able to cook for 4 people with a single pan (ok, maybe a really big paella pan or a wok but those are limiting). at minimum you need a sauté pan (frying, sautéing), a stock pot (boiling large volumes of liquid, soups), a saucepan (small amounts of liquid, sauces, poaching eggs, etc), and a stovetop pressure cooker (2 liter or larger). you could use the pressure cooker as a saucepan but it's useful to have both.

if you're really set on going the cast iron route, got with Le Creuset's enamel coated cast iron. they're very expensive but will last decades.

Cast iron is the only thing that will last longer than you or me. Whether or not you spring for the enamel coated big whoopty-doo expensive brand name, or just simple lodge ware, it's gonna be built tough. Personally I wouldn't recommend the enamel coated, because you will eventually crack that coating too, you can make your own, stronger coating, by simply using your cast iron pans to cook. Simply scrub it with warm soapy water after use, preferably while it's still warm enough to easily remove food, dry it, add a dab of high smoke point oil (avocado, cold pressed flax oil, and plain old canola are my go tos), dab that on after drying, make sure it's not thick and oily, just enough to prevent rust, and you're good to go.

For a few years I had a light weight aluminum wok that served me well, very versatile given the big surface and naturally light weight of the metal. Also needed regular care and seasoning routine, but was worth the steps to only have one main pan/pot.

Good luck with whatever you go with.

I got a set of these kind of pans to christmas last year. At first I was sceptical but they are really easy to maintain and great for nearly everything. (you still need a real nonstick pan for a great omelette though)

My vote is for a 10-12" traditional cast iron pan. I've used every type of pan out there, and the one I leave sitting out on my stove is my trusty cast iron skillet that was my great great grandparents'. It will oulive me too!

Buying:

I would recommend to not buy new. Buy an old used one that ideally has a smooth surface, not a rough one. (The newer ones have a dimpled surface due to how they're molded and they take longer to season up in my opinion.) Check the old pan for bulges, cracks, and extreme rust (like the whole thing is orange). If there's a few rust spots, that can be fixed with a good scrub, a thin coating of oil, and an hour in a 400 degree oven. That's it! If you are cooking with the same pan a lot, you don't need to worry about it rusting ever again. Just always coat it in a thin layer of high heat oil. (I prefer avocado or safflower.)

Cooking:

Never put food in a cold pan! Let it warm up first. Put a bead of water in to check if it's ready, it will sizzle when the pan is hot. If food sticks, add liquid or oil and scrape the bottom good with a metal spatula. You don't have to be gentle with cast iron!

Cleaning:

After cooking, turn off your burner and immediately remove all the food (do not leave it in the pan to cool! Harder to clean) and run it under blazing HOT tap water (I wear kitchen gloves for this step!) The temp change won't be high enough to damage your pan. Scrub it out with a copper chore boy or very stiff brush all over, then put back on the still warm burner (if you use electric) or turn the burner on low and wait for the water to evaporate off, it'll only take a minute or two. Then rub the pan lightly ALL OVER, every bit, with a high heat cooking oil. I keep a small rag in some oil for this purpose. Done! It takes me like 3 min to clean the pan, tops.

This cleaning method is sooo much easier than having to deal with any of my other pans. If you wash it hot and keep it seasoned, nothing will stick and it'll last forever!