Learn the best cooking oils to use, find out when to use them, and get tips for substituting healthier oils for less healthy ones in recipes.
Butter or margarine? Canola or olive oil? When it comes to healthful cooking, these choices can seem difficult. But they’re important.
Even though cooking oil makes up a relatively small part of most people’s diet, it’s something people should pay attention to, says Lola O’Rourke, M.S., R.D., speaking for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). And it’s actually relatively easy to make good choices, if you know what to look for.
It comes down to fat
The key to choosing the right cooking product is the type of fat it contains.
Here’s a quick primer from the ADA and other dietary experts on what oils and fats make the grade:
The best oils are those high in unsaturated fats, which have health benefits when eaten in moderation. These include oils made from plants such as corn, canola, olive, safflower, soybean and sunflower. Soft, light and trans-fat-free margarines also fall into this category.
Monounsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. These oils from canola, olives and peanuts are especially good because they lower LDL cholesterol and raise healthy HDL cholesterol, O’Rourke says.
Polyunsaturated fats found in safflower, corn and soybean oils are liquid or soft at room temperatures. They are generally healthful, but somewhat less desirable than monounsaturated fats because they lower “good” HDL as well as “bad” LDLÂ cholesterol.
Oils to avoid are those high in trans or saturated fats, which increase the amount of harmful LDLÂ cholesterol in your blood. These include solid fats such as shortening and hard margarine, butter, lard and fatback.
Palm and coconut oil also fall into this category because although they’re made from plants, they’re high in saturated fat.
“The key point—regardless of which [vegetable oil] you’re using—is to use a small amount,” O’Rourke says.
Best uses for vegetable oils
When cooking with oils, O’Rourke recommends:
• Olive oil for light sautéing and salad dressings. Don’t use for high-temperature cooking.
• Peanut oil for higher-temperature sautéing.
• Canola oil for baking.
• Soybean and safflower oils for most purposes.
Substitutions
If a recipe calls for a less healthful oil, you can make a healthy substitution. For example, when your recipe calls for butter, lard, bacon, bacon fat or chicken fat, use margarine that contains no more than 2Â grams of saturated fat per tablespoon, or use unsaturated vegetable oil instead.