The Best Oils for High Heat Cooking (2024)

FAQs

The Best Oils for High Heat Cooking? ›

You can't go wrong with a neutral, high quality high-heat cooking oil like Avocado or Grapeseed or even a less expensive option like Canola. But you can also use these oils to add flavor to your food!

Avocado oil is a popular choice for high-heat cooking because of its high smoke point, ranging from 375°F to 520°F. It is also rich in monounsaturated fats, known to be heart-healthy, and can help reduce inflammation.

Best suggests olive, avocado, soybean, peanut, and canola oils, which are all high in monounsaturated fatty acids, making them more stable to use for frying.

Extra virgin olive oil is the most stable oil to cook with and can be heated as high as 400° F (deep frying occurs at 350°-375° F). Even when heated past its smoke point, virgin olive oils produce low levels of harmful compounds due to the high antioxidant content in the oil.

Because of its high fat concentration, coconut oil stands up to high heat fairly well, which means it's a good choice for sautéing and stir-frying, but for the best results, we recommend keeping your burners at a medium heat cooking with coconut oil. (It's also not the best option for deep-frying.)

Whether used for frying (like in this aubergine parmigiana recipe), braising (as in this artichoke tagliatelle) or sauce-making (like a classic Italian pesto), olive oil is a cornerstone of Italian cooking.

Sesame oil

It is an oil best for cholesterol. It also has a balanced fat content, with 2 g of saturated fat and nearly 5 g of monounsaturated fat per tablespoon.

The oils which should be avoided for cooking are oils like soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, and safflower. These oils have unstable fats and will decimate the nutritional properties of your food. Oh, and they'll give you a big fat health risk in the meantime.

Best all-around award goes to olive oil. You can use it for almost any kind of cooking without breaking it down. The healthiest type is extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). It can help lower your blood pressure and fight inflammation.

Canola Oil: 375 to 450°, good for high-heat purposes like deep-frying. Grapeseed Oil: About 420°, good for sautéing and stir-frying. Soybean Oil: 450 to 475°, ideal for high-heat stir-frying. Sunflower Oil: 450°, good for deep-frying, stir-frying, grilling and other high-heat purposes.

Which oil is best for cooking in summer? ›

Groundnut and virgin coconut oils can withstand moderate heat, making them ideal for sautéing vegetables or fish, adding a subtle depth of flavour that encapsulates the essence of summer.

The best oils for stir frys are the oils with the higher smoke points. These tend to be the “thinner” oils such as peanut, grapeseed or canola.

"Heating oils can change the flavor and the nutrients, so it's good to know the basics when it comes to cooking, baking, and dressing with oils," explains Brooks. For baking, the best oils are coconut oil and olive oil.