Dutch Oven Sizes (Standard Measurements)
Dutch ovens are versatile and functional cookware that can be used in the oven for baking or on a stovetop like a traditional stockpot. They’re typically made of ceramic or heavy-gauge metal, which can withstand extreme temperatures and can be used for almost any cooking method, like simmering, frying, and sautéing. They’re available in a wide range of colors, shapes (round and oval), and sizes.
To maximize the use of these Dutch ovens, one must carefully consider the right size they need based on the number of people they’re cooking for and the recipes they’re using in the Dutch oven.
Standard Dutch Oven Size
Dutch ovens come in different sizes from mini to small 2-qt pots to as big as 13-qt ones. For most people, they opt for five and seven quarts for a Dutch oven because it’s perfect for cooking for four. But for manufacturers like Le Creuset and Staub, the most popular size is the 5 ½ quart capacity. It is also the ideal size for sourdough bread.
A serving of food is one quart as a general rule of thumb. So, for a Dutch oven for a family of four, a 4-quart casserole dish can be enough. For specific size dimensions, these can vary from one manufacturer to another.
The depth of Dutch ovens will vary depending on the capacity. The average depth is about 4 to 5 inches, with those larger than 5 quarts reaching 6 inches or more deep.
2 qt Dutch Style Oven (Serving For 1 or 2)
Cooking for two or a campfire/fireplace? This casserole size can be just for you. It measures 8 inches (diameter) and 3 inches deep, but it can also have 10.62 inches (length), five inches (height), and 8.25 inches (width) size.
This is a serving pot commonly used for soups and is a portable one for making a side dish. It can also be used for simmering, sautéing, and frying on a stovetop. Some people also use it to refrigerate food and leftovers and marinate meat.
3 qt (Serving 2)
Just like the 2-qt casserole, this serving pot can be used for simmering, frying, and sautéing as well as marinating and refrigerating food. It can measure 12.56 inches long, 6.06 inches tall, 9.93 inches wide, and weighs 9.5 lbs.
4 qt (Serves 4 People)
Typically, it measures 10 inches in diameter and 4 inches deep and can serve from four to five people.
5 qt (Serves 5 People)
This Dutch oven for one-dish wonders measures 11 inches wide and 5.5 inches tall, but again, this can vary from one manufacturer to another. You’ll also find varieties measuring 12.56 inches long, 7.14 inches tall, and 10.43 inches wide and weighing 12.78 lbs. The 5 to 6 quart range tends to be the most popular sizes.
6 qt Family Size
It is a common size that’s quite flexible for a couple or a family and is not too heavy or bulky for storage. A 6-quart casserole can help prepare most dishes, like a casserole, meat on the bone, and cuts of meat.
This classic piece can be used for baking, broiling, braising, or even roasting in the oven for up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. You can also use it for refrigerating or marinating food.
Its size can slightly vary from brand to brand. For instance, a Lodge Cast Iron 6-qt can measure 13.56 long, 7.31 inches tall, 10.93 inches wide, and weighs 14.88 lbs—meanwhile, an Amazon Basics casserole measures 13.54 by 11.02 by 4.72 inches.
7 qt Large Gatherings (Serves 6 to 8 People)
Homeowners who would love to throw a party or host a dinner in their homes can choose this size, which can be used for grilling, braising, broiling, baking, searing, sautéing, and frying. A 7-qt casserole can measure 14.68 inches long, 7.12 inches long, and 12.81 inches wide and weigh 18.1 lbs.
Le Creuset Stovetop Cooker Sizes
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Le Creuset Dutch ovens, which are cited for their durability, are available in many colors, styles, and sizes. However, one must select the perfect size for their needs.
According to Le Creuset, their best-selling casserole size is the 5 1/2 quart round shape and the 6 ¾ quart oval shape because they’re flexible to accommodate any food. They’re also not too bulky and heavy in that they fit home ovens.
Lodge Cocotte Dimensions
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Cocottes are versatile kitchen helpers that can be used to bake, broil, simmer, fry, and roast and can be used for preparing meals for parties, families, couples, and friends.
Lodge Dutch ovens are also available in a wide range of colors and sizes, from small 1-qt capacity pots to as big as 9-qt capacity ones. They also have 2-qt, 3-qt, 4.5-qt, 5-qt, 6-qt, 7-qt, and 7.5-qt pots.
For an idea, 3 or 4.5-qt capacity casseroles are good for a small chicken, while a 5 or 6-qt oven can be used for preparing up to four pounds of chicken.
People who want to prepare up to six pounds of chicken can opt for the 7-qt or 7.5-qt sized ovens or the 9-qt ones to cook up to 9 pounds of chicken.
Staub Cocotte Sizes
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Staub cocotte or Dutch ovens also come in a wide range of sizes, from mini to 28-centimeter ones.
The mini cocotte has a 0.25-liter capacity, is 7 centimeters tall, and weighs 0.85 kilograms. It serves one person and can be used for making single-serve cheese fondue, scalloped potatoes, and scrambled eggs.
A 16-cm casserole has a 1.2-liter capacity (1 quart), and 12.6 centimeters in height, and weighs 2.34 kilograms.
Meanwhile, a 20-cm covered casserole has a 2.2-liter (1.9-quart) capacity, stands 14.5 cm tall, and weighs 3.6 kilograms.
A 22-cm covered casserole has a 2.8-liter (2.75-qt) capacity, stands 15 cm tall, and weighs 3.98 kilograms. A 24-cm pot has a 3.8 liter (3.3-qt), is 15.3 cm tall and weighs 4.6 kilograms.
A 26-cm covered casserole has a 5.2 liter (4.5-qt) capacity, is 17 cm tall, and weighs 5.7 kilograms. A 28-cm cooking pot has a 6.7 liter (6-qt) capacity, is 18.2 cm tall, and weighs 7 kilograms.
The amount of food and the number of people you’ll be cooking for will help you determine the right cocotte size to work best for your needs.
As a general rule of thumb, you can add a quart of food per person or round up if needed. The right pot size you’ll need also depends on the recipes you’ll prepare. For example, a 2-qt cocotte can be ideal for two people, and large recipes with less liquid and a few ingredients will fit in it.
Meanwhile, a mini cocotte is good only for single servings and recipes needing some help in keeping form after cooking, like pot pies and puddings.
Cuisinart Dinner Casserole Sizes
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Just like other cooking pot brands, Cuisinart also offers a wide range of sizes for their serving and cooking pots.
There are two and three-quart capacity casserole dishes that can serve two to three people; others are with five and six quart capacities to serve four to six people.
Cuisinart also has seven and eight-quart capacity cooking pots that can serve six to eight people. Dimensions vary per capacity. For example, a 5-quart Cuisinart Dutch oven measures about 12.8 by 8.66 x 6.89 inches.
Size Chart for Dutch Ovens
| Size | Capacity | Number of persons served |
| 5-inch | 1 pint | 1-2 |
| 8-inch | 2 quarts | 2-4 |
| 10-inch | 4 quarts | 4-7 |
| 12-inch | 6 quarts | 12-14 |
| 12-inch deep | 8 quarts | 16-20 |
| 14 inch | 8 quarts | 16-20 |
| 14-inch deep | 10 quarts | 22-28 |
| 16-inch | 12 quarts | 22-28 |
What Size Casserole Ovens Do I Need?
How do you know the right casserole dish size to buy? Determine the amount of food you’re cooking.
You might not want to go for a larger cooking pot, which is larger than you need based on the number of servings or number of people you intend to cook for.
Consider how you want to use the pot. Would you cook for a crowd, four people, or just you and your partner? Also, would you want to make enough food so that there will be leftovers the following day? If so, opt for a larger ovenproof dish.
How many people will you be cooking for? A smaller or mini baking pot can be for you if you live alone or a larger capacity one if you’re cooking for a family with up to five members. If you’re cooking for a crowd, a small capacity 2-qt cooking pot won’t be much help, as it is also impractical to buy a large 10-qt capacity pot if cooking for one person.
If you’re in doubt, you might want to get a mid-size ovenproof dish with 5.5-qt capacity. It’s the ideal size for cooking either small or large food quantities and can serve crowds, too. This is the happy medium that can help you cook food for a party or sourdough bread, too.
The size of your kitchen also matters when choosing an ovenproof pot. What kind of storage option do you have? A baking pot is both pleasing and functional, so you can have it displayed on your stovetop.
Speaking of stovetop, you must check on the ovenproof dish’s compatibility for it. Round ones can be good for standard stove top burners, like electric, gas, and induction, while the oval type is for oval burners or two burners positioned closer together.
What Capacity for a Family of 4
Serving for a family of four, most pick the 5-qt or 6-qt capacity baking pot size, which is the sweet spot for many households. It isn’t too small or too large for most meals that can serve up to six people.
A 6-qt baking pot is useful for preparing poultry, stews, potatoes, rolls, desserts, roasts, and bread. However, it could be packed and tight to braise six pieces of chicken thighs.
And for home cooks who want to use their stew pots for roasts, this size may not also be large enough. But for desserts, beans, and stews, it may be good, though, depending on the portion sizes, and can be for those who don’t think they’d be able to carry a heavy soup-filled 7-quart cooking pot.
Meanwhile, other home cooks go for a 7-quart capacity baking pot for their family of four. For them, it’s the ideal size for preparing any dish with leftovers. This pot is good for preparing large batches of casseroles, stews, and soups and can be enough for cooking a pot roast for four people. You can also prepare at least seven stuffed peppers and briskets in this pot.
What Size for Baking Bread?
For any size ball of bread dough, a 5-quart cooking pan is enough to give your loaf room to expand because it has just the right headspace to accommodate an oval shape or round boule loaf.
What Size for a Whole Chicken?
Preferably, most will need a 7-qt or 8-qt oval casserole pot for a whole chicken, although a round variety will also work. However, ensure that the pot has enough room to allow heat circulation and let you close the lid fully.
Best Dutch-Oven Sizes
Most home cooks prefer the five- or seven-quart cooking pots because they allow cooking for four people and have some leftovers later. However, manufacturers like Le Creuset and Staub claim that the most common and popular size is the 5 1 /2-quart ovenproof casserole.
Nevertheless, the best pot size for you is the one that can offer you the greatest versatility in the kitchen.
Largest Dutch-Oven Size
Home cooks that prepare food for crowd or batch cooking choose larger than 7-qt stew pots that can accommodate up to nine servings of food based on the size chosen.
Larger ovens give them more freedom to prepare different kinds and even larger sizes of food like bread and whole chicken and can hold more liquid, too. They’re also ideal for making big batches of soups, sauces, and deep casseroles. These larger sizes can also keep up longer with cold temperatures, so some people use them as an ice bucket for parties.
The largest ovenproof casserole size is approximately 13 quarts. However, Le Creuset, for example, manufactures a large 15-qt capacity oval cooking pot and a 13.25-qt capacity round baking pot. Visit our saucepan sizes guide for more related content.
