Oils

4 Healthier Cooking Oils (and 4 to Avoid)

 Most people use cooking oils regularly, as you can use them to prepare all sorts of dishes, including meat, eggs, vegetables, sauces, and certain grain dishes.

People often focus on how to choose a healthy oil. However, the healthiness of an oil when it comes off the grocery shelf is only part of the story.

It’s also important to consider whether the oil is still healthy to eat after you’ve heated it during cooking.

This is because cooking oils have a range of smoke points or temperatures at which they’re no longer stable. You should avoid using cooking oils for cooking at temperatures above their smoke point.

1. Olive oil

The smoke point of olive oil is approximately 350°F (176°C), which is a common cooking temperature for many recipes, particularly those for baked goods.

Olive oil has long been the gold standard for cooking oils in kitchens across the globe. This is largely because it’s versatile. It has a subtle peppery or grassy flavor, and you can use it for baking, sautéing, or cold dressings.

Olive oil is rich in vitamin E, which acts as an antioxidant. The primary fatty acid in olive oil is a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid. Studies have shown that oleic acid may have anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties

2. Avocado oil

Avocado oil has a smoke point of approximately 520°F (271°C), making it great for high heat cooking like deep frying.

It has a neutral, avocado-like taste, which makes it perfect for sweet or savory cooking. It also has a nutritional composition similar to olive oil, with a high percentage of the heart-healthy fat oleic acid

3. Sesame oil

Sesame oil has a medium-high smoke point of approximately 410°F (210°C).

It’s high in the heart-healthy antioxidants sesamol and sesaminol, which may have various benefits, including potential neuroprotective effects against certain diseases like Parkinson’s (16, 17Trusted Source).

Plus, one small study among 46 people with type 2 diabetes found that using sesame oil for 90 days significantly improved fasting blood sugar and long-term biomarkers of blood sugar management (18Trusted Source).

Sesame oil works well for sautéing, general purpose cooking, and even as a salad dressing. It offers a mild nutty flavor that can work well in a number of stovetop dishes.

Note that regular sesame oil differs from toasted sesame oil. The latter has a more amplified nutty flavor, making it more suitable for finishing a dish than cooking one.

4. Safflower oil

The smoke point for safflower oil is higher, sitting at approximately 510°F (265°C).

Safflower oil is made from the seeds of the safflower plant. It’s low in saturated fat and contains a higher percentage of unsaturated fatty acids.

Safflower oil is available with different amounts of linoleic and linolenic acids. High oleic safflower oil has at least 70% linoleic acid. Replacing other types of fat with high oleic safflower oil could help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source).

This oil offers a neutral flavor that works well for marinades, sauces, and dips, as well as barbecuing and frying on the stovetop.

This article reviews four healthier cooking oils that tolerate high heat cooking — plus our picks of the best tasting options. We also discuss a few oils that are best kept away from the heat.