What Cooking Oil Should I Use?

By Marissa Silver, MS, RD, LDN

One of the essential components of many recipes is the oil you use to prepare it. Today, the supermarket is packed with endless types of oils and the internet is inundated with confusing health claims about each of them. The overwhelming amount of choices and information about these oils can make it difficult to decide which ones are best for your health and for your cooking needs. To simplify it, the most important features you are looking for in an oil is its smoke point and what type of fat is most prevalent in the oil.

When looking at smoke point, if you are cooking at high temperatures you want an oil with a high smoke point so it doesn’t burn and lose its taste and health properties. When you are cooking with low heat or preparing something without any heat (like dips and dressings) an oil with a low smoke point is a great choice.

From a nutrition standpoint, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 and most research agrees that consuming mostly unsaturated fat (comes from plant-based fat) and limiting saturated fat (comes from animal fat like red meat, high fat dairy products and butter) and trans-fat (processed foods) are most beneficial for long-term health, especially heart health.1 Notably, most oils have a combination of unsaturated fat and saturated fat, so it helps to choose an oil that is mostly made of unsaturated fats.  Oils that are higher in unsaturated fat include olive oil, canola oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil, sunflower/safflower oil, grapeseed and vegetable/soybean oil. Oils that are highest in saturated fat that can be used but in limited amounts include coconut oil, palm oil and cottonseed oil.

It’s worth noting that cold-pressed or unprocessed oils are most likely to retain the most nutrients during the production process. If it’s fiscally possible and available at your local supermarket, try to buy cold-pressed or unrefined oils.

When trying to decide which oil is the right the choice for your culinary needs, choose an oil higher in unsaturated fat and then look at the oil’s smoke point to see if it’s the right fit.

For Drizzling Oil, Salad Dressings, Marinades and Dips:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil  (EVOO) – EVOO has been well-researched to have positive health benefits like minimizing cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. EVOO does have a low smoke point and therefore, it will burn easily when cooked under high temperatures which can negatively impact its flavor and health benefits. Therefore, it’s best to use extra virgin olive oil without heat and as a drizzle on dishes or in dressings and dips.

• Flaxseed oil – This oil has the highest amount of omega-3 fatty acids2 which are well-researched to aid in reducing inflammation and improve cognitive and cardiovascular health.  This oil also has a very low smoke point, so use it similarly as EVOO.

Roasting and baking:

• Canola and vegetable oil – Due to their high smoke points and neutral taste and smell properties, these oils are great options when you’re roasting and baking a recipe. Also, if you ever heard canola oil was bad for your body, here is a great article that digs into this further and debunks this claim.

For frying, sautéing or stir frying food: 

• Vegetable, Canola, Olive, Avocado or Sunflower oils all have high smoke points and therefore are great plant-based options to use when frying, deep frying or stir-frying food. All these oils have fairly neutral smells and tastes, so they won’t overwhelm the flavor of most dishes.

• Olive oil is also rich in antioxidants which have protective properties for our bodies. You can easily infuse olive oil with your favorite flavorings like garlic and pepper.

• Avocado oil has one of the highest smoke points of all oils so it’s great for very high temperature cooking like grilling.

• Vegetable, canola and corn oil are typically lower in price than olive oil and avocado oil and can be good alternatives for high smoke point cooking oils.

• Note: Sunflower oil does go bad quickly so try to buy it in smaller amounts.

For cooking with specific taste profiles:

• Sesame oil and peanut oil both have high smoked points and can be used for high temperature dishes. However, when cooked, they both do have very pronounced flavors. Peanut oil is great for Asian and stir fry dishes. When cooked, sesame oil has a nutty flavor and so it’s best enjoyed when you don’t mind the strong sesame flavor peeking through. A little goes a long way with this oil.