A preview of the picks below. Full recommendations and notes throughout the article.
I have nine different kinds of cooking oil. I don’t know how this happened. There are two of us in this house and most of the cooking I do is on the weekends. How did I end up with nine different kinds of oil?? I have a feeling some of these I bought for one recipe and haven’t used since. I have a feeling other bottles of oil are going to go to the same fate. Some I don’t even remember buying. Saturday I lined them all up on the counter and looked them over. The oldest I found was a light olive oil I must have purchased in 2021 (that’s what the price tag says) and I decided to test it out. I heated it up in a pan with some oil and tasted it. It tasted like an old crayon box. And so it went into the trash can. Old oil is not good oil friends.
It embarrassed the hell out of me to admit this, but I didn’t know shit about oils. What kind to use for what, how to store them properly, blah blah blah. Which meant I was buying expensive oils, letting them turn rancid, and shovelling them into the garbage disposal. When I did the math on this I realized that I was chucking about two hundred and fifty dollars worth of cooking oil a year. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS. For oil.
Twenty-one oil mistakes (and how to avoid them.) Oils are expensive. Some cost more than $20 per bottle. And you’ve probably heard a million and one recommendations about which oil to use for what purpose. This post isn’t going to go down that road. (Sorry. It’s a whole other post, food-bloggy that it may be.) Instead, I want to share some real talk about oil. What happens to it at high temperatures. Why you should (and shouldn’t) shell out big bucks for certain bottles. And why you should probably stop believing everything you thought you knew about “light” olive oil. (You’re welcome.) I recently went down an oil rabbit hole to figure out some answers for myself, and realized I’d been making a lot of common oil mistakes. So, I’m sharing them here so you can avoid them too. Most of these fixes cost less than $15 (many are free.), so they’re easy ways to start saving money in your kitchen. Ready? Keep scrolling.
The Wrong-Oil-For-The-Job Mistakes
Using extra virgin olive oil to sear at high heat.
Medium-high incinerates extra virgin olive oil’s grassy peppery taste, the very thing I paid extra for to make my food taste better. Not only that, but heating olive oil past its smoke point (~375 degrees) creates an acrid haze which permeates my kitchen (what I facetiously refer to as “cooking smell”) and coats everything I’m cooking with a slightly burnt bitter taste. And I’ve been doing this religiously for years.
Extra virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point than other oils, so it’s better suited for salad dressings or for drizzling over a finished dish (or sautéing, if you’re keeping it on low). If you’re searing on medium or above, use a high smoke point oil, like refined olive oil (460 degrees.) or avocado oil (520 degrees.) Think of it this way: you wouldn’t use your silk scarf as a dish towel… right? Same idea.
This is the bottle that lives next to my stove now. Neutral flavor, takes high heat without complaining, and it works for almost everything from searing chicken thighs to roasting vegetables. The big bottle is the better deal if you cook at home more than twice a week.
View Pricing on AmazonBuying “light” olive oil and thinking it means lower calories.
“Light” olive oil. Which is what I’ve been buying for about the last ten years. I thought “light” olive oil was like some sort of diet olive oil or something. It’s not. It’s just called “light” because they’ve processed the crap out of it and taken away all the flavor and color of regular olive oil, and you’re paying olive oil prices for it. So not only have I been getting ripped off by buying “light” olive oil, I’ve also been getting ripped off by thinking it was healthier than regular. And if I’d just taken the time to think about it I could’ve saved myself a pretty penny. Moral of the story: always read the label, kids.
Bertolli light olive oil would be my go-to light olive oil. The only time I recommend light olive oil is for baking when someone wants the texture of olive oil in a cake but not the flavor. I usually just recommend a neutral flavored oil like avocado or a refined seed oil for high heat cooking and extra virgin olive oil for everything else. I can’t think of a time when I would recommend a light olive oil.
If you’re a baker who specifically wants olive oil’s texture in a cake without the olive flavor showing up uninvited, this is the one. The two-pack is a real deal per ounce. Just keep your expectations honest. This isn’t a finishing oil and it isn’t a health food, it’s a baking workhorse.
View Pricing on AmazonUsing coconut oil in everything because it was trendy.
Around 2016, there was a trend of adding coconut oil to basically everything: stir-fries, pancakes, scrambled eggs, etc. Coconut oil has a pretty strong taste, however, and doesn’t necessarily translate well to all dishes (especially, you know, savory ones). I didn’t realize this, so for six months all of my stir-fries had a hint of pina colada and I couldn’t figure out why. (I also put it in my coffee for a while but we’re not going to talk about that.)
Coconut oil is great for baking and making popcorn and cooking dishes where you want it to impart a coconut flavor. Otherwise, try to avoid using coconut oil as your go-to cooking oil. I would recommend having coconut oil on hand for those special recipes and situations when it shines. But don’t make coconut oil your “everything oil”.
A 15-ounce jar is the right size for a household that actually only uses coconut oil for what it’s good at. It lasts longer than you’d think, the cold-pressed flavor is clean rather than soapy, and you don’t end up with a giant tub going rancid on the back of a shelf.
View Pricing on AmazonNo high-heat oil in the cabinet at all.
I’ve been using extra virgin olive oil and butter as my only fats for cooking for a really long time. I’m telling you, there is a time and a place for EVOO and butter. But when you want to get a nice sear on a chicken thigh? Butter isn’t going to cut it (literally and figuratively). Butter isn’t going to let you get nice crispy and caramelized veg. It’s just gonna make everything sad and limp and steamed. I thought I just wasn’t a good cook but I just needed to invest in a different cooking oil. That’s all. One little baby bottle of cooking oil. And my life changed.
Invest in a good high-heat cooking oil (and keep a bottle next to your stove). Browning (the Maillard reaction) requires high heat, and you need an oil with a high smoke point to achieve that perfect browned crust on chicken and actually get your veggies to roast. My IP chicken thighs went from good to great when I started searing them off in some avocado oil first.
Buying gigantic value-size bottles that go rancid.
I bought the three liter jug of olive oil (same price as two smaller bottles.) at one of those warehouse stores, figuring I would have olive oil to last me nine or ten months. Only around month four it started to go bad, and by month seven it had a distinct taste (that wasn’t olive). I guess I saved some money, but I don’t know if it was worth it to use bad olive oil.
After olive oil is pressed it begins to degrade and once it’s exposed to heat, light and oxygen (i.e. after you open the bottle), it degrades even faster. So it’s best to purchase a smaller amount of olive oil that you can use within six to eight weeks versus a large amount that will last you six months.
A 32-ounce bottle hits the sweet spot. Big enough to last a few weeks of regular cooking, small enough to finish before it turns. The smooth profile is mild and approachable for everyday cooking, not the assertive peppery style that some people find too strong for daily use.
View Pricing on AmazonOne single olive oil for finishing and cooking both.
Previously I’d purchase one high-quality, high-priced olive oil to use for all of my cooking and drizzling needs. When I’d sauté something on medium heat in that pricey olive oil, however, much of the olive oil’s personality would dissipate, leaving behind a sad, burnt tasting residue of polyphenols. The twenty dollar olive oil I thought I was savoring would ultimately end up being worth only about two dollars to my taste buds.
I have found that it’s worth having two bottles of olive oil in your kitchen at any given time. I like to use a better quality, more flavourful olive oil for drizzling and dressings, and keep a separate, slightly cheaper, smoother flavoured oil for cooking. Not only will you get five times the use out of your good olive oil (which, let’s face it, isn’t cheap.), but you’ll notice a world of a difference when it comes to drizzling and dressing with a flavourful olive oil as opposed to one that’s been abused in hot pans. Your salads will taste like they came from an expensive restaurant.
This is the elegant cheat for the two-bottle system. The smooth bottle becomes your everyday cooking oil. The robust bottle becomes your finishing oil for salads, roasted vegetables, and the drizzle at the end of a soup. One purchase, two clear jobs, and the robust one suddenly tastes a lot more impressive because you stopped wasting it in hot pans.
View Pricing on AmazonCheap “vegetable oil” for everything.
Growing up, “vegetable oil” was just what we called oil. It came in a big plastic jug and that was that. Vegetable oil is typically a combination of highly processed soybean and corn oil. Highly processed to the point where it’s pretty much flavorless and nutrition-less. Not poison, mind you, but not exactly the healthiest choice either. Turns out oil goes rancid quicker than you might think, especially when it’s kept in clear plastic containers which allow light to get in.
Investing in a neutral oil from a smaller, more intentional producer can be worth it, though. For just a few dollars more you’ll likely receive a more refined product with a similar smoke point from canola, or a single-variety oil from another plant. Many come in dark-colored bottles, which helps prolong their lives, and are less likely to be commodity-style blends of unknown oils.
A clean, non-GMO neutral oil for high-heat frying, baking that needs no flavor of its own, and the times you want a true blank canvas. I keep one bottle for the kind of cooking where olive or avocado would clash, and this is the one. It’s the upgrade from the generic plastic jug.
View Pricing on AmazonThe Storage Mistakes
Keeping oil right next to the stove.
This is probably my pet peeve, but it pains me to see cooking oil sitting next to the stove. Heat is one of the top three factors that will cause oil to degrade the quickest, so placing it near a heat source that’s going to be turned on for an hour (or more) a night is not ideal. You’re basically pre-cooking the oil.
Instead of storing it next to the stove, move your cooking oil to a cabinet (not the fridge or freezer we’ll get to that later). Even moving it just three or four feet from the heat source will preserve the taste and nutrients in the oil for months instead of just weeks.
Keeping olive oil in a clear bottle on the counter.
Light. Oleo-phobic oleic acid. Even kitchen light will oxidise olive oil, making it taste stale and just a little bitter within a matter of weeks. Decanting your olive oil into those lovely glass cruets for display on your kitchen countertop? Charming idea, but your oil will turn all the faster.
If you’ve got your eye on that gleaming glass cruet, think again. Save the pretty cruet for pictures; olive oil itself should be stored in stainless steel or dark glass containers (like the brown or green bottles it often comes in). Quality producers put their product in these bottles for a reason because they block out the damaging effects of light. If you keep olive oil on your counter, stash it somewhere shady, like in a cabinet.
Leaving the lid loose or off entirely.
Make sure you’re capping your bottles. I did this for years, resting the cap on top of the bottle instead of screwing it on tightly, and the oil would slowly oxidize, especially since the bottle would sit at an angle or the cap would fall off and the bottle would sit uncapped (usually behind the stove, so I didn’t even notice). The last cup’s worth of oil in the bottle would taste really off because of this. Oxygen is the third great enemy.
Cap the bottle. Always. You’ll save yourself a lot of grief later on. The oil at the top of the bottle tastes just like the oil at the bottom of the bottle and screwing the cap back on takes just a second. This is a free solution that will add weeks to the life of your oil.
Putting olive oil in the fridge.
Never put olive oil in the refrigerator. The waxes naturally found in olive oil will turn to a waxy solid and cloud the oil, turning it into an unappetizing white mass. While the oil will eventually liquify, repeated chilling and warming affects the flavor of the oil. I once stored olive oil in the refrigerator, having read somewhere that this would lengthen the shelf life of the oil. The result was a muddy-tasting olive oil that I used up as quickly as possible and replaced with a better bottle.
Store it away from heat and light sources in a tightly closed container. The best place for it is probably a cool, dark cabinet. Keep it out of the refrigerator. Unlike avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil doesn’t benefit from chilling. Store it at room temperature, away from heat and light.
Storing oil in clear plastic bottles long-term.
Light can penetrate clear plastic and degrade oils stored in it. Also, some plastic containers can leach plasticizers into oils with which they’re in contact for extended periods of time. I suspect that most oils packaged in plastic are intended to be used up relatively quickly and not stored for nine months or more. The cheap oils sold in jugs at warehouse clubs may be convenient to purchase, but may not be so convenient to your oil in the long run.
If you’re buying plastic, consider investing in a smaller, dark glass bottle to keep on the counter. When it comes time to refill, top off from the larger plastic container that lives in your dark cabinet. Decant only enough oil for about a two week’s worth of use into your glass container.
Mistaking a “best by” date for an “open by” date.
It’s important to note that the date on a bottle of olive oil refers to the unopened bottle’s expiration date. After opening, olive oil’s freshness is cut in half, so if the bottle’s expiration date is two years in the future, expect the olive oil to last only one year. After opening, I was shocked to learn that the shelf life of my bottle of olive oil was only six to eight weeks, not months like I’d been assuming.
Use up opened olive oil within eight weeks of opening (mark the bottle with a Sharpie to note when it was opened) or it’s headed down the rancid path. Crayon-like or putty-like smells and tastes signal that an olive oil has passed its prime. Fresh olive oil should smell peppery or grassy or fruity.
The Sneaky Habit Mistakes
Pouring straight from the bottle into a hot pan.
This may sound minor, but adding too much oil to a pan can leave your food greasy, give your leftovers an unappetizing sheen, and cause you to run through your oil supply faster than you expected. Free pouring oil from a large bottle into a skillet is hit or miss, and I’ve found myself dumping anywhere from a tablespoon to a quarter cup into my pan depending on the night (completely unintentionally, I assure you).
Try measuring the amount of oil you use in cooking for a week. I found that although I thought I was using only a few tablespoons of cooking oil, I was actually using four or five tablespoons every time I cooked. Most recipes call for one to two tablespoons of oil to grease a pan, not four or five tablespoons. Once you know how much oil to use, you can stop measuring and go back to adding oil from the bottle, you’ll just have a better eye for how much you should use.
No spray oil for pans and baking sheets.
Spraying is particularly helpful for applying a light coating of oil to baking sheets and casserole dishes (instead of drizzling olive oil all over the place, which is what I used to do). It allows for more even coverage, which results in better-roasted vegetables (hello, dry Brussels sprout tops and greasy Brussels sprout bottoms). And it’s more efficient, and you’ll probably use only one-tenth as much cooking oil as you otherwise would.
Bronzed vegetables happen when they are given a light coat of oil before hitting the pan. Avocado oil in a spray bottle (without additives) helps ensure an even coating. I also give a spritz to my trivet when making instant pot mashed potatoes to keep them from sticking. My favorite way to cook vegetables is to toss them in a bowl with a little bit of avocado oil and my favorite seasoning and bake them on a lightly oiled baking sheet until bronzed. The avocado oil helps to ensure even browning and I like that the avocado oil spray bottle doesn’t have any additives like propellants like many cooking sprays do. Just oil and a pump.
Pure avocado oil in a pump-spray bottle with no additives, no propellants, no mystery ingredients. Two bottles last me close to a year because the spray uses so little compared to pouring. I use one on roasting sheet pans, the air fryer basket, and any nonstick pan where I want a barely-there mist instead of a puddle.
View Pricing on AmazonUsing olive oil spray for finishing.
Sprays aren’t good for finishing dishes either. The tiny droplets of oil in an aerated spray don’t pack the same punch for flavor (or texture) as unadulterated oil. This is particularly true for delicate applications, like drizzling finishing oil over a salad. (I learned this lesson the hard way after going through a pricey bottle of olive oil spray that I used exclusively for salads, and no wonder mine tasted bland.)
However, there are exceptions to every rule, and when it comes to drizzling over a finished plate, there is one spray bottle I love to have on hand: California Olive Ranch’s (the ingredients list simply reads “pump, olive oil,” which is refreshing). It’s best suited for a nice finishing touch and I like how controlled the mist is. As for dressings and other applications where I want to ensure every last bit of herb, crumb, or salad leaf is well-coated, I always stick with pouring from the bottle.
When you do want a fine mist of real extra virgin olive oil (for crostini, for finishing a pizza, for the top of focaccia before it goes in the oven), this is the one that’s actually just olive oil and a sprayer. No additives. The mist is fine enough to coat without drowning, and the flavor is good enough that it earns its place next to the regular bottle.
View Pricing on AmazonNo squeeze bottle for everyday cooking.
Another example of friction shaping behaviour: cooking with olive oil. If you’re anything like me, chances are that you own a big bottle of olive oil (probably 750ml) which you’d reach for when cooking. The problem is, more often than not, you just need a teaspoon of it. The friction of lifting and pouring from a large, awkward and unpredictable bottle discourages use, especially when compared to cooking sprays which are readily available and easy to use.
It also came in a smallish plastic squeeze bottle which I have to say has converted me to using more olive oil for cooking as it is so easy to use (a squeeze = a tablespoon, no more glugging it out and getting your arm tired.). Some of the newer brands come in these by default.
This is the squeeze bottle that started a small revolution in my kitchen. It’s a real Spanish extra virgin olive oil, smooth enough for everyday cooking, and the squeeze tip means you control exactly how much goes in the pan. The opaque bottle protects the oil from light, the design fits in a drawer, and you stop over-pouring almost overnight.
View Pricing on AmazonBuying oil based on the front label, not the back.
You may also want to check the country of origin of the olives themselves. “Made in Italy” only means that the bottle was filled in Italy, but the olives may have come from anywhere in the Mediterranean. Check the back of the bottle for the harvest date, the country of origin and whether the oil is cold-pressed. “Pure” olive oil may contain refined oils.
Look for one country of origin. Not a blend of oils from Italy, Spain, Greece, and Tunisia. Look for a harvest date. Ideally within the last 12 months. I stopped buying half the oils I used to and started buying oils that cost half of what I thought I needed to spend. I just kept buying worse product than I thought because I wasn’t reading the back of the label. Better product. Less expensive. Just read the label.
Saving used frying oil to reuse.
My mother always saved used fryer oil in a jar for re-use, and so did I, until I realized that every time you re-heat oil past its smoke point, you break it down further. By the third re-use, the oil is generating a heck of a lot more of these breakdown compounds, and food cooked in it has a definite hint of staleness.
For shallow-frying (like potato wedges), it’s fine to use the oil once and discard it. I’ve reused frying oil in the past for shallow-fried foods when the food didn’t involve dirty elements and the oil didn’t get to the smoking point. I find it best to reuse the oil only once though. There’s not a huge cost savings for reuse and the flavor (and probably health) cost is larger than I thought.
Pouring used oil down the drain.
Plumbing problems can get expensive very fast. When I had a nasty clog in 2019 it cost over two hundred dollars to have a plumber come out (still makes me a little mad thinking about it). Throwing cooking oil, even in small quantities, down the drain can lead to exactly this sort of problem because as it cools the oil congeals in the pipes and over time can result in a nasty clog.
Pour (cooled) oil down the drain and you can clog your pipes and spend a lot of money on a plumber. Save your plumbing (and your plumber’s time) by saving used cooking oil in the can it came in (or another sealable container) and tossing it in the trash. Freezing larger quantities first will prevent leaks. It takes thirty seconds to save your pipes.
Not knowing your finishing oil is the flavor of the dish.
Finishing with a really good extra virgin olive oil instead of cooking with it. Pasta, soup, grilled bread…all benefit from a drizzle of really good extra virgin olive oil. This one took me a bit to wrap my head around. I always thought of cooking oil and finishing oil as basically the same thing, except the cooking oil soaks into the food while finishing oil sits on top. But good extra virgin olive oil is so flavorful that drizzling it over just about anything (bread, pasta, soup, etc.) takes that dish to a whole new level.
Buy a small bottle of really good extra virgin olive oil, just for finishing, and it will last three times as long as the stuff you use for cooking. And it will make everything you put it on taste better. (I finish off my chicken tortilla soup with a little drizzle of finishing oil, and also my zuppa toscana. It takes the soup from being a soup to being a restaurant soup.)
A real single-origin extra virgin from California olives, with a harvest date on the back and a flavor profile that’s grassy and rounded rather than aggressive. The six-pack is the bulk move for households that have committed to actually finishing dishes with good oil. Decant one bottle for daily use, keep the others sealed in a cool pantry for the year.
View Pricing on AmazonA Few More Bottles Worth Knowing About
La Tourangelle makes another cold-pressed avocado oil that’s also organic and similar to Chosen Foods’, but I find its flavor a tad more refined. For that reason, I use it for dressings and vinaigrettes where I want the flavor of the avocado oil to be present, but not overpowering. For families who use avocado oil a lot, the Chosen Foods organic 33.8oz size is a godsend. I’ve used a lot of smaller sizes over the years, but if you’re a big avocado oil user, this larger size will save you the trouble of having to constantly run out and get another bottle.
A more refined cold-pressed avocado oil with a slightly buttery profile. The 16.9oz bottle is the right small-batch size for a household that wants a second avocado oil specifically for finishing salads, drizzling on avocado toast, or any dish where the oil’s flavor is supposed to be noticed.
View Pricing on Amazon
If avocado oil is your daily driver, the one-liter bottle is the smarter buy on a per-ounce basis without crossing into “going rancid before you finish it” territory. Non-GMO, gluten-free, and the same neutral-but-clean flavor that makes it the right choice for high-heat searing, roasting, and frying.
View Pricing on AmazonOne small follow-up. Once you’ve sorted out your oil cabinet, the leftover bottles you’ve decided to retire are still useful for one last thing: rubbing into wooden cutting boards. A teaspoon of even slightly-past-it olive oil, worked into a dry cutting board, will revive it and keep it from cracking. Your oil doesn’t have to go in the trash, it can go into the kitchen one more time.
These tweaks made my oil cabinet more useful, my cooking more delicious, and my grocery bill a little smaller. And, no, none of these are earth shattering changes that will inspire memoirs. But sometimes the small stuff adds up. Chicken came out of the Instant Pot (try my Instant Pot chicken recipes or slow cooker whole chicken, both of which benefit from better browning) with browned, flavorful skin instead of sad boiled chicken skin. Roasted vegetables came out of the oven evenly bronzed instead of pale and dry on one side and greasy on the other. Salads tasted less flat. I still have one bottle of walnut oil I bought for a recipe in 2022 I’ve never made. But other than that, my olive oil situation makes sense. And I’m happy to report that I’ve made good use of my squeeze bottle and sprayer.