Just keep away from non-stick materials if you’re worried pretty much. For pans I have two cast iron ones and a stainless steel one, they work for pretty much everything. I have a large enameled pot for large stews, a couple of glass and metal trays for the oven and otherwise just aluminium pots for things that aren’t fried (and also popcorn). I used to do the teflon and non stick ones pans for a while as my partner insisted it was necessary but I got tired of having to chuck the pan after a couple of years as it started peeling off into the food. The only non-stick one we have now is a rice cooker.

Also, the old wisdom about how you can’t use washing up liquid for cast iron is bunk, the modern stuff works just fine (it is something that has stuck around from when there used to be lye in the washing up liquid).