25 of the best dinner sets 2024 that are functional and stylish
If there's one way to make mealtimes a little more special, it's with one of the best dinner sets. Whether you're hosting a party or enjoying a cosy night in, a beautifully-set table adorned with elegant crockery can make every spread feel like an occasion.
There's nothing more appealing than laying your dinner table and having some aesthetically-pleasing, high-quality dinnerware that actually matches. Nor is there much more satisfying than owning an 18-piece set comprised of dinner plates, side plates, cereal bowls and dessert plates to suit every dish you serve up.
We're firm believers that your tablescaping skills are just as important as what you actually cook, and the best dinnerware sets make your culinary creations (even if they do come straight from a meal delivery service) as much a feast for the eyes as they are for your tastebuds.
Of course, there are quite a few functionality factors to consider when it comes to shopping for a genuinely good dinner set that span far past just its aesthetic. So, we've curated an edit of the best dinner sets as tested by GLAMOUR editors – that also make the perfect housewarming gift if you're in the market. Happy hosting.
What to consider when shopping for a dinner set | What type of dinner set is most durable? | What is the best dinner set?
The best dinner sets at a glance:
- Best Dinner Set Overall: Symons Bone China 12 Piece Set, £175, The White Company
- The Runner-Up: Starter Set, £140, Our Place
- Best For All Occasions: Hampton 12 Piece Dinner Set, £160, The White Company
- Best Dishwasher-Safe: Sophie Conran for Portmeirion 12 Piece Dinnerware Set, £170 , John Lewis
- Best For Everyday Use: Oslo Rim Stoneware Dinner Set, £79, Pro Cook
- Best Luxury: Laetitia Rouget Food for Thought Ceramic Dessert Plates, £230, Net-a-porter
What to consider when shopping for a dinner set:
Your dinnerware should be lightweight enough to pick up (kinda obvious), dishwasher safe, durable enough to withstand daily wear-and-tear and purchased from a brand that'll allow you to add pieces to your collection as your family grows/you drop and smash them. For me, the latter is the more likely scenario.
You should also consider the combination offered, and the number of people you're hoping to serve. Generally speaking:
- Formal dinnerware sets commonly include a dinner plate, a salad plate, a bread plate, a soup bowl, a tea cup, and a saucer for each person. You can get usually get them in sets of one, four, six, eight or twelve.
- Traditional dinnerware sets include a dinner plate, a salad plate, a cereal bowl and - on occasion - a mug.
- Open stock dinnerware is when you mix and match your dinnerware as opposed to choosing an entire set, which means you can purchase only the pieces you know you'll use. It does tend to work out more expensive, but everything still matches and the personalisation options are endless.
What type of dinner set is most durable?
The most common dinnerware offerings are bone china, porcelain and stoneware (often called earthenware), with porcelain being the most durable.
- Bone china is the most expensive and the most thin. It's best for formal dining and isn't as durable as some other offerings.
- Porcelain is the most common material for a dinnerware set. It'd found everywhere and purchased a lot: affordable, durable, often available in different hues and prints, dishwasher-safe, microwavable and sometimes oven-safe.
- Stoneware is a very stylish option - it looks rustic and textured, is heavier than porcelain and is often quite affordable. You do have to take good care of it, though, to ensure it doesn't get marked and ruined quickly.
What is the best quality dinner set?
For us, this has to be the one that'll last the longest, including withstanding scratches, frequent microwave and dishwasher use. A brand that does that well? Corelle.
This glass dinnerware set from the brand, via Amazon, promises triple-layer strength that's resistant to chips, scratches and cracks. It's also reasonably priced and lightweight, not to mention the design looks like something out of a heavenly Nancy Meyers movie kitchen. Need we say more?
If you're after more kitchen content, head this way for cookware sets that'll last a lifetime, over here for cutlery sets to finish your table to perfection and in this direction for glassware you'll love to sip your boxed wine from. We’ve also got melamine plate sets if you’re in the market for some crockery for your garden. For more from GLAMOUR UK's Commerce Writer Mayola Fernandes, follow her on Instagram @mayolafernandess.
Ahead, our full edit of the best dinner sets.
Best Overall Dinnerware Set
Symons Bone China – 12 Piece Set
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Four dinner plates, four side plates and four pasta bowls.
- Material: Bone china.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
As stylish as you'd expect from The White Company, this crisp white serveware is crafted from bone china and comes presented in a beautiful gift box. We love that it comes with pasta bowls instead of cereal bowls – not least because we're eating spaghetti far more than we are porridge. Whether you use it every day or save it for special occasions and formal dinners, it's sure to elevate your dining room set-up endlessly. It's also one of the best dinner sets for a wedding gift (that'll out-do a store gift card…).
The Runner-Up: Best Contemporary Dinner Set
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Four large ceramic Full Plates, perfect for serving or big appetites, four medium ceramic Midi Plates and four Demi Bowls (your go-to cereal, oats, and soupy situations).
- Material: Ceramic stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
From female-founded brand Our Place comes our favourite stoneware dinnerware set of them all: the brand's starter bundle which serves up the building blocks for your tableware ecosystem. Bowls and plates are hand-glazed and available in a plethora of muted hues – and we love how neatly they all stack for easy storage. They feel heavy enough to reassure you of their good quality, but they're light enough to easily lift, and the matte, scratch-resistant interior keeps them looking fresh for a long time. The exterior has a satin finish which feels soft and looks expensive, and you can put them in the dishwasher, oven, microwave, fridge and freezer.
Best For All Occasions
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Four dinner plates, four side plates and four pasta bowls.
- Material: Stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
For something that's going to work for all occasions, a white dinner set will never fail you. Soft edges make this handmade Portuguese clay dinner set feel more elevated, and there are matching items available too. It contains four dinner plates, four side plates and four pasta bowls that are all sleek, simple and timeless.
Best Dishwasher-Safe Dinner Set
Sophie Conran for Portmeirion Dinnerware Set, White, 12 Piece
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 x Dinner Plates, 4 x Salad Plates and 4 x Cereal Bowls.
- Material: China.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Designed by Sophie Conran, this 12-piece dinnerware set contains four dinner plates, four salad plates and four cereal bowls. It's dishwasher safe, microwave safe, oven-proof and freezer-proof, so perfect for everyday use. Plus, the china it has been crafted in is clay and kiln-fired for durability.
Best For Everyday Use
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 dinner plates, 4 side plates, 4 pasta bowls.
- Material: Durable stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Reduced in the sale right now and available with free next day shipping, this stoneware dinner plate set is ultra contemporary and sure to elevate your mealtimes in an instant. It includes 12 individual pieces for four place settings: four dinner plates, side plates and pasta bowls – each of which are dishwasher, microwave and oven safe and finished with an oatmeal reactive glaze.
Best Dessert Plates
Food for Thought Ceramic Dessert Plates
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 dessert plates.
- Material: Multicolored ceramic.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: N/A.
To serve up the best at-home desserts, look to Laetitia Rouget’s ceramic dessert plates. Handmade in Portugal by local artisans, these pretty plates are accented with playful tongue-in-cheek statements that will add instant joy to any tablescape.
Best Affordable Porcelain Dinner Set
M&S Collection 12 Piece Marlowe Dinner Set
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 dinner plates, 4 side plates, 4 cereal bowls.
- Material: Porcelain.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Available in three different colours, the M&S Marlowe dinnerware set is not only the perfect housewarming gift, but a lovely gift-to-self if you're looking to move home or update your kitchen home decor. It's crafted from porcelain and designed with the collection's signature ribbing around the edges. You get four bowls, four side plates and four dinner plates in the set, meaning there's everything you need to become the ultimate hostess with the mostest – plus using our Marks and Spencer discount code you can save on your purchase.
Best White Dinner Set
Wedgwood Gio Bone China Dinnerware Set, White, 16 Piece
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 Dinner plates, 4 side plates, 4 cereal bowls and 4 mugs.
- Material: Fine bone china.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
If it's luxury dinnerware for special occasions that you're after, make a beeline for this Wedgwood dinner set – crafted from fine bone china and finished with an Intaglio texture edge. It's clean and contemporary, can be layered with other dinner and side plate collections from Wedgwood, and has been kiln-fired for durability.
The Dinner Set Sale Pick
MAISON MARGAUX Gisele set of eight ceramic dinner and dessert plates
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Four dinner plates + four dessert plates.
- Material: Glazed ceramic.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: N/A, but glazed ceramics are usually microwave-safe, providing they don't have a lead glaze.
While you could, of course, use these plates as your day-to-day crockery, we think the large dinner plate is beautiful enough to use as a serving platter, adorned with a tumble of cherry tomatoes, a generous spoonful of burrata and a healthy drizzle of olive oil. What could be better?
Save money on everything from luxury hand wash to New York-style homewares with these Net-A-Porter discount codes.
Best Denby Dinner Set
Denby Halo Speckle Stoneware Coupe Dinnerware Set, 12 Piece
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 dinner plates, 4 medium plates, 4 cereal bowls.
- Material: Stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
If you have a little more to spend, Denby are the creators of some of the chicest dinnerware sets around. This gorgeous speckled set will jazz-up your dining table no end. It comes with four coupe dinner plates, four medium-sized coupe plates and four cereal bowls - all of which are dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe, as well as oven safe up to to 250°C.
Best Value For Money Dinner Set
Coastal Stoneware Green Dinner Set
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 dinner plates, 4 side plates, 4 pasta bowls, 4 cereal bowls.
- Material: Stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Stoneware plates and bowls with a staple-worthy design, this 16-piece set is sure to be a best selling pick when BBQ season comes around. Just think: everyone gathered around with burgers and skewers in hand, all colourfully strew atop your timeless coastal dinnerware. Lovely.
Best Sustainable Dinner Set
Corelle 18-Piece Dinnerware Set
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Six dinner plates, six side plates, six deep bowls, six cereal bowls.
- Material: Vitrelle glass crockery set.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
If you like the aesthetics of enamel dinnerware but the inevitable chipping is putting you off, then vitrelle glass will make for a welcome alternative. Not only is this set well loved by buyers with an average 4.7/5 customer rating, but it's made from up to 80% recycled glass for more eco-conscious buyers. Tick, tick.
Best Sage Green Dinner Set
Amalfi Reactive Glaze 12 Piece Dinner Set, Sage
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 x dinner plates, 4 x side plates and 4 x cereal bowls.
- Material: Stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Looking for on-trend sage green dinner set? Look no further than this 12-piece set courtesy of M&S. It's a staple set that's suitable for casual to formal dining, and is finished with organic edges and a reactive glaze that add some interest.
Best Soho Home Dinner Set
Hillcrest White 12 Piece Dinnerware Set
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 x dinner plates, 4 x side plates and 4 x cereal bowls.
- Material: Stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Soho Home's Hillcrest range is perfect for everyday use. It's equipped with everything you need for family meals – dinner plates, side plates and cereal bowls, but the rustic organic shape and decorative embellishments make this a statement set despite its understated hue.
Best Striped Dinner Set
Set of Four Kintaro Dinner Plates - Cochineal
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 x dinner plates
- Material: Ceramic.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
This ceramic dinner set is comprised of 4 pieces and part of Oka's Kintaro dining collection. Dishwasher and microwave safe, it's finished in a modern striped design in a crimson hue to update your dining table in an instant. You'll get four dinner plates, but there's matching side plates and bowls available in the full range.
Best Dinner Set On Amazon
Amazon Basics 18-Piece Dinnerware Set
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 6 dinner plates, 6 side plates, 6 cereal bowls.
- Material: Porcelain.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Keep things classic with this fail-safe dinnerware set from Amazon. It's plain white, affordable and suitable for six people (with 18 pieces) - so it'll cover your whole family/ground of friends. It's microwave, dishwasher, freezer and even oven safe (so functional!) and comes in at just over £30.
Best Dinner Set For Minimalists
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Four dinner plates, four salad plates, four breakfast bowls, four stoneware pasta bowls
- Material: Hand-finished stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
A more personalised choice given that each piece is individually made and finished by hand, Fable have such high faith in this 16-piece set that they'll even give you a 100-day trial within which to test the stoneware. Plus, you'll get free delivery if you spend over £220 and Fable's drinkware is just yearning for you to peruse its fine, delicate wares.
Best Rustic Dinner Set
Old Havana Dinner Plates, Set of 4
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Set of 4 dinner plates. Cereal bowls, side plates, bread plates and mugs can be purchased separately.
- Material: Glazed stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Praised for creating aesthetic homeware, Anthropologie is often at the top of people's wishlists when it comes to stylish, durable dinnerware. So, whenever's there's a chance to snap up a discounted set, we're absolutely going to be all over it. Enter: this gorgeous rustic set that's hand-crafted from crackle glazed stoneware and is both dishwasher, and microwave safe.
Best 12 Piece Dinnerware Set
Spode Blue Italian Dinnerware Set, 12 Piece
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Four dinner plates, four side plates and four mugs but Spode offer buyers an extensive range of everything from tea plates to jugs and teapots to expand your collection.
- Material: Clay and kiln-fired china earthenware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
A classic set that's been in circulation since 1816 (!), Spode dinnerware is by no means a new arrival in the world of crockery, and there's good reason as to why it's still on the scene. You might not have read this elsewhere but Spode is, quite miraculously, oven safe up to 180°C. What's more, it's widely available in-store and online from the likes of Wayfair and Fortnum & Mason, making it all the more hassle-free to replace those inevitable breakages. So, if you're after a practical set with all the air and grace of fine china, this Spode collection should be right up your street.
Save money on everything from stoneware sets of plates, bowls and mugs, to Disney toys for kids with these John Lewis discount codes
Best Enamelled Stoneware Plate Set
AM.PM Set of 4 Horciag Stoneware Plates
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 plates.
- Material: Enamelled stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
If you like a rustic, country-chic vibe about your table settings, then opt for a stone dinnerware set like this one from French fashion and interiors brand, La Redoute. It's dishwasher and microwave-safe, making it super functional, but also looks endlessly chic.
Don't just accept all these dinnerware prices upon first glance! You can save more on your purchase by checking out these La Redoute discount codes
Best Square Dinnerware Collection
Vancasso STEPPOJHZ Ceramic Dinnerware - Set of 16
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Four dinner plates, four dessert plates, small four bowl set, large four bowl set.
- Material: Ceramic.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Hear us out. Yes, square dinner sets may have fallen off everyone's shopping wishlists circa. 2018; however, what with the rise of 00s fashion, we see no reason why 00s homeware shouldn't have a resurgance, too. We're talking Tuscany kitchen-style table cloths and chintzy placemats - grandma-core through and through. This 16-piece dinnerware set is more of a 2024 take on your old-timey cane and floral garden furniture era, but it has echoes of the past nonetheless and we're on board with it.
Save money on everything from hot-off-the-press new in shelving units to birthday decor by using these Wayfair discount codes when you head to checkout.
Best Designer Dinner Set
Wedgwood Vera Wang Imperial Dinner Setting
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 dinner plates, 4 bowls and 4 mugs.
- Material: Fine bone china.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Part of Wedgwood's Vera Wang Venato Imperial collection, this gorgeous marble-effect dinner set can be used alone or layered with other Wedgwood collections to elevate your dining set up. It's crafted from fine bone china (which is superior in strength), and is dishwasher and microwave safe.
Best Stoneware Dinner Set
Brambly Cottage Eowyn Stoneware Dinnerware - Set of 16
Specifications:
- Number of plates: 4 dinner plates, 4 salad plates, 4 mugs and 4 cereal bowls.
- Material: Thick-walled stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
Perfect for injecting spring and summer vibes into your everyday, even when the weather is feeling a little bleak, this hand-painted rainbow dinnerware set is made up of of four cereal bowls, four mugs, four dinner plates and four side plates. Everything is chip-resistant, stackable, oven and microwave safe and dishwasher safe. And you can pick the set up in two different colour combos.
Best Colourful Dinner Set
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Four side plates with a choice to buy dinner plates and pasta bowls separately.
- Material: Glazed stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: No.
Anthropologie's punchy Lilypad range ticks all our maximalist home decor boxes and it's easy to see why. It's perfect for bringing some characterful charm home and would make a great statement centrepiece on your dining table long after guests have left. We're already thinking about what to serve on these gorgeous plates for garden parties this summer.
Best Blue Dinner Set
Nero Dinner Plate, Blue, Set of Four
Specifications:
- Number of plates: Four dinner plates
- Material: Stoneware.
- Dishwasher safe: Yes.
- Microwave safe: Yes.
This is a beautiful set with an abundance of tonal variations and speckles that mimic the glistening sun on the Mediterranean Sea. It'd work well as everyday crockery but could easily be reserved for special occasions where you're serving delicious canapés or homemade desserts at family get togethers.
