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In the kitchen, cooks have plenty of options when it comes to choosing a cooking oil to saut\u00e9, bake and drizzle with. Some, like olive oil, are well known, and others, like avocado or sesame oil, are less familiar.<\/p>\nIn the kitchen, cooks have plenty of options when it comes to choosing a cooking oil to saut\u00e9, bake and drizzle with. Some, like olive oil, are well known, and others, like avocado or sesame oil, are less familiar.<\/p>\n
Which oil is right for you? That depends largely on the type of cooking you\u2019re doing. An oil\u2019s smoke point, which is the point when oil starts burning and smoking, is one of the most important things to consider. If you heat oil past its smoke point, it not only harms the flavor, but it may loose any nutrients in the oil\u00a0 as it degrades.<\/p>\n
One of the most versatile and healthy oils to cook with and eat is olive oil, as long as it\u2019s extra virgin. Generally, you want an oil that is not refined and overly processed. An \u201cextra virgin\u201d label means that the olive oil is not refined, and therefore of high quality. Extra virgin olive oil contains a large amount of monounsaturated fats and some polyunsaturated fatty acids; many studies have linked it to better heart health. Olive oil has a relatively lower smoke point compared to other oils, so it\u2019s best for low and medium-heat cooking.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also one of the healthiest oils to use when baking. As a dressing it\u2019s great, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Depending on who you ask, coconut oil should either be avoided or embraced in moderation because coconut oil is primarily a saturated fat. Not everyone agrees that such a concentrated source of saturated fat is a no-go for health, but the American Heart Association, argue that replacing foods that are high in saturated fat with healthier options can lower blood cholesterol levels.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean it should not be used in the kitchen. Coconut oil can be a healthier oil to use when you\u2019re cooking at a very high temperature or frying food, because they are more stable at high heat. This means that they are less likely to break down and smoke.<\/p>\n
The term \u201cvegetable oil\u201d is used to refer to any oil that comes from plant sources. Most vegetable oils on the market are a blend of canola, corn, soybean, safflower, palm and sunflower oils.\u00a0 They\u2019re not necessarily bad for you, but you can get so much more health benefit from olive oil.<\/p>\n
Vegetable oil is guaranteed to be highly processed. It\u2019s called \u2018vegetable\u2019 so that the manufacturers can substitute whatever commodity oil they want\u2014soy, corn, cottonseed, canola\u2014without having to print a new label.<\/p>\n
Avocado oil is a great choice. It\u2019s unrefined like extra virgin olive oil, but it has a higher smoking point, which means it can be used to cook at higher heat and is great for stir-frys. It doesn\u2019t have much flavor, which makes it a good option for cooking.\u00a0 One downside is that it tends to be more expensive.<\/p>\n
Nut oils, like peanut, can be very useful in the kitchen, especially since there are so many different types. Peanut oil has one of the highest monounsaturated fat contents among cooking oils. It\u2019s usually flavorful with a nutty taste and smell, and cooks well at high heat. Many restaurants use peanut oil for their fried food.<\/p>\n This oil has a low smoke point, so it\u2019s not good for cooking, but it can be used in plenty of other ways to add the nutty flavor of walnuts to dishes.<\/p>\n Flaxseed oil has a very low smoke point, which means it also shouldn\u2019t be used for cooking. Flaxseed oil is better suited\u00a0 for salad dressing than for cooking and make sure it\u2019s stored\u00a0 in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n This oil is often used for its potent flavor, especially in Asian cooking and a little goes a long way. It contains both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, though it\u2019s not especially high in other nutrients. It has a higher smoke point and can be used for high-heat recipes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project<\/a>, a website that helps families and individuals collect, preserve and share food memories by creating their own printed personal cookbooks. He is the author of The Wellfleet Oyster Cookbook<\/a> (Available on Amazon) and the Cape Cod Cocktail Cookbook, both created using FamilyCookbookProject.com. He is also editor of the Donovan Family Cookbook, now it\u2019s third printing.<\/em><\/p>\n Follow Family Cookbook Project on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and Pinterest<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the kitchen, cooks have plenty of options when it comes to choosing a cooking oil to saut\u00e9, bake and drizzle with. Some, like olive oil, are well known, and others, like avocado or sesame oil, are less familiar. Which oil is right for you? That depends largely on the type of cooking you\u2019re doing. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":3268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cooking-tips","has-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3271"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4477,"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3271\/revisions\/4477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.familycookbookproject.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/6-BlogAdL-169x300.jpg\")
<\/a>This oil\u00a0 has a high smoke point and doesn\u2019t have a strong flavor, which means it won\u2019t overwhelm a dish. However, sunflower oil contains a lot of omega-6 fatty acids which are thought to be pro-inflammatory, so moderation is key.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nPeanut oil<\/b><\/h2>\n
Walnut oil<\/b><\/h2>\n
Flaxseed oil<\/b><\/h2>\n
Sesame oil<\/b><\/h2>\n