Unfortunately, you can not. If you were in a pinch- technically you could, but you would not receive the same level of even heat, and cooking many different types of food may become problematic. Some of the products out there on the market actually come with a pan that is made especially for that particular burner. However, if you were curious to see if your pots and pans in your pantry would work- there is actually a simple way to test this. Due to the fact that these special types of burners utilize an electromagnetic field to generate heat, all you will need to do to test your pan is pop off one of your refrigerator magnets and stick to the bottom of your pan. If it sticks- it’s good to go. If it doesn’t stick, you are going to need to find one that does.