Best Cooking Oils and Fats Ranked by Use
From liquid gold olive oil to rendered duck fat, every kitchen fat has its moment — vote up the ones that earn a permanent spot on your counter and vote down the ones that belong in the back of the pantry.
What counts: Ranked by overall versatility and value across everyday cooking: how well each fat performs across heat levels, the flavor it contributes, its general nutritional standing, and cost per liter. Smoke points, prices, and ratings are approximate averages — actual numbers vary by brand, refinement level
The undisputed king of the pantry, EVOO built its reputation on the Mediterranean diet halo and a flavor profile ranging from buttery to peppery depending on the harvest. It's not built for screaming-hot woks, but for dressings, dips, and gentle sautéing it has no real rival. Eve
Smoke Point: 375 °FFlavor Impact: 9/10Healthiness: 9/10Best Use: Finishing, dressings, low-medium heat sautéingPrice per Liter: $12
added by IJRextra virgin olive oil
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The upstart challenger, avocado oil surged in the 2010s as the high-heat answer to olive oil's smoke-point limitations. Neutral enough to sear a steak at 500°F yet still marketed on health credentials, it's become the go-to for searing and grilling among home cooks chasing restau
Smoke Point: 520 °FFlavor Impact: 6/10Healthiness: 9/10Best Use: High-heat searing, grilling, fryingPrice per Liter: $18
added by IJRavocado oil
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Butter
No fat has more cultural weight in a kitchen — French cuisine is arguably built on it. Butter's low smoke point means it scorches under high heat, but nothing browns a piece of fish or enriches a pan sauce like it does. Julia Child's entire philosophy rested on 'more butter.'
Smoke Point: 300 °FFlavor Impact: 10/10Healthiness: 5/10Best Use: Baking, sauces, pan-searing at moderate heatPrice per Liter: $8
added by IJRin 3 rankings
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Clarified butter's higher-heat cousin, ghee strips out the milk solids that make regular butter burn, unlocking a nutty depth prized in Indian cooking for millennia. It's shelf-stable without refrigeration and has become a favorite of the paleo and keto crowds for its high smoke
Smoke Point: 485 °FFlavor Impact: 9/10Healthiness: 6/10Best Use: High-heat frying, Indian cooking, saucesPrice per Liter: $15
added by IJRghee
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Coconut Oil
Coconut oil rode a wellness wave in the 2010s, marketed as a superfood before nutrition science pushed back on its saturated fat content. It still shines in baking and vegan cooking, lending a tropical sweetness and solidifying at room temperature like a plant-based butter substi
Smoke Point: 400 °FFlavor Impact: 7/10Healthiness: 5/10Best Use: Baking, medium-heat sautéing, vegan butter subPrice per Liter: $10
added by IJR
0Canola Oil
Bred from rapeseed and rebranded in Canada in the 1970s to shed a bad reputation, canola became the default 'healthy neutral oil' on supermarket shelves. It's cheap, flavorless, and versatile enough to handle everything from cake batter to stir-fry, which is exactly why it's in n
Smoke Point: 400 °FFlavor Impact: 3/10Healthiness: 7/10Best Use: All-purpose frying and baking, neutral flavorPrice per Liter: $5
added by IJR
0Vegetable Oil (Soybean Blend)
The generic yellow bottle that stocked American pantries for generations, vegetable oil is usually soybean oil in disguise. It's the workhorse of deep fryers and boxed cake mixes everywhere — unglamorous, but it's the reason fried chicken and funnel cakes are affordable.
Smoke Point: 400 °FFlavor Impact: 2/10Healthiness: 6/10Best Use: Deep frying, baking, all-purpose neutral cookingPrice per Liter: $4
added by IJR
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Famous for deep-frying whole turkeys and powering countless Chinese wok stations, peanut oil earns its spot through a high smoke point and a faint nutty backbone that doesn't overpower delicate stir-fries. It's the classic choice at state fairs and southern kitchens alike.
Smoke Point: 450 °FFlavor Impact: 6/10Healthiness: 7/10Best Use: Deep frying, stir-frying, wok cookingPrice per Liter: $9
added by IJRpeanut oil
0Sesame Oil (Toasted)
A few drops of toasted sesame oil can define an entire dish — this is the finishing oil of East Asian cuisine, drizzled onto noodles, dumplings, and stir-fries at the very end. Its low smoke point means it's rarely used to cook, only to season, and that restraint is exactly its p
Smoke Point: 350 °FFlavor Impact: 9/10Healthiness: 7/10Best Use: Finishing Asian dishes, stir-fry flavoringPrice per Liter: $11
added by IJR
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A staple across European and Russian kitchens, sunflower oil offers a clean, neutral taste and solid heat tolerance at a budget price. It rarely makes headlines, but it's the quiet backbone of countless baked goods and pan fries worldwide.
Smoke Point: 440 °FFlavor Impact: 3/10Healthiness: 6/10Best Use: General frying, baking, neutral cookingPrice per Liter: $6
added by IJRsunflower oil
0Grapeseed Oil
A byproduct of winemaking, grapeseed oil found a niche as the light, slightly nutty oil favored by chefs for vinaigrettes and delicate sautés. It never became a mainstream pantry staple, but food bloggers and cookbook authors keep it alive as the 'sophisticated' neutral oil.
Smoke Point: 420 °FFlavor Impact: 4/10Healthiness: 6/10Best Use: Sautéing, dressings, light fryingPrice per Liter: $10
added by IJR
0Lard
Rendered pork fat once ruled American baking before hydrogenated shortening displaced it mid-20th century, but lard has staged a comeback among pastry chefs chasing the flakiest pie crusts. Its rich, savory depth in refried beans and tamales is simply irreplaceable.
Smoke Point: 370 °FFlavor Impact: 8/10Healthiness: 5/10Best Use: Pastry, pan-frying, traditional bakingPrice per Liter: $7
added by IJR
0Beef Tallow
Tallow's biggest cultural moment came when fast-food chains admitted switching away from it to seed oils in the '90s, only for steakhouse chefs and carnivore-diet devotees to bring it roaring back for searing and frying. Crispy roasted potatoes cooked in tallow have become a vira
Smoke Point: 400 °FFlavor Impact: 8/10Healthiness: 5/10Best Use: Deep frying, searing steaks, roasting potatoesPrice per Liter: $8
added by IJR
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Duck Fat
French bistro cooking's secret weapon, duck fat turns ordinary roasted potatoes into something people will drive across town for. It's pricier and less common than other animal fats, but its luxurious richness has made it a signature move for chefs wanting an easy upgrade.
Smoke Point: 375 °FFlavor Impact: 9/10Healthiness: 5/10Best Use: Roasting potatoes, confit, searingPrice per Liter: $16
added by IJR
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A byproduct of corn processing, corn oil quietly became a diner and movie-theater-popcorn staple thanks to its neutral flavor and decent heat tolerance. It rarely gets star billing, but it's been frying onion rings and popping kernels for decades.
Smoke Point: 450 °FFlavor Impact: 2/10Healthiness: 6/10Best Use: Deep frying, baking, neutral all-purposePrice per Liter: $5
added by IJRcorn oil
0Flaxseed Oil
Prized almost entirely for its omega-3 content rather than culinary versatility, flaxseed oil is the one entry here you should never heat — it breaks down and turns bitter above low temperatures. Health-focused eaters drizzle it cold onto smoothies and salads for a nutritional bo
Smoke Point: 225 °FFlavor Impact: 6/10Healthiness: 8/10Best Use: Cold uses only—dressings, smoothies, never heatedPrice per Liter: $14
added by IJR
0Vegetable Shortening
Crisco's 1911 debut as a lard substitute changed American baking forever, giving pie crusts an ultra-flaky texture that's hard to replicate otherwise. Its trans-fat-heavy reputation has faded it from favor, but reformulated versions still sit in baking aisles for holiday pie seas
Smoke Point: 360 °FFlavor Impact: 3/10Healthiness: 3/10Best Use: Pastry, pie crusts, frostingPrice per Liter: $6
added by IJR
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A staple in Japanese tempura kitchens, rice bran oil's high smoke point and light body make it exceptional for deep frying without greasy aftertaste. It hasn't broken through in Western markets the way canola or avocado oil have, but chefs who know it swear by it.
Smoke Point: 490 °FFlavor Impact: 4/10Healthiness: 7/10Best Use: High-heat frying, tempura, stir-fryingPrice per Liter: $9
added by IJRrice bran oil
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A finishing oil beloved in French and Alsatian kitchens, walnut oil brings a deep, roasted nuttiness that's wasted if you cook it — heat destroys its delicate character and its wallet-draining price tag. Drizzle it over salads or roasted vegetables and it earns every penny.
Smoke Point: 320 °FFlavor Impact: 8/10Healthiness: 8/10Best Use: Finishing salads, drizzling, cold dishesPrice per Liter: $20
added by IJRwalnut oil
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The world's most-produced vegetable oil by volume, palm oil is everywhere in processed snacks and margarine thanks to its cheap price and semi-solid texture, but it's also the fat most tangled up in deforestation controversy. It rarely appears by choice in home cooking, more ofte
Smoke Point: 450 °FFlavor Impact: 3/10Healthiness: 4/10Best Use: Frying, baking, processed food productionPrice per Liter: $5
added by IJRpalm oil
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