Cooking oil is an essential part of any cooking process. It extracts the flavors from the aromatics, is used for sauteing, and is a part of marinades and dips. The oil you choose for any dish impacts more than just the flavor—it also affects its cooking technique and nutrition, and has health implications. Each type of cooking oil has a unique profile: smoke point, fat composition, and flavor intensity. For instance, virgin olive oil is better for salad dressings, whereas pomace olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, and avocado oil are more suited to high-heat cooking. 

Today, we explore everything you need to know about cooking oils—their importance in the culinary world, nutritional profiles, and uses. 

The importance of cooking oil in the culinary world

Cooking oil is central to all kitchens around the globe. It shapes how we cook food—the art and science of the process. Its function goes beyond preventing food from sticking to the pot. It is fundamental to determining the cooking technique, flavor, texture, and nutrition of the food it makes. 

Let us take a look at some of the ways edible oils contribute to the process of cooking and how:   

Prevents food from sticking 

Food sticks to the surface of a cooking utensil when its particles make a chemical bond with the metal’s atoms. Foods rich in protein and sugar are more prone to sticking than others when cooked in a metal pot. 

Edible oil molecules have an affinity for mutual bonding, so they clump together and spread over a utensil’s surface to form a continuous layer upon which the food can rest and cook. This increases the surface area of the food in contact with heat, while avoiding direct exposure. Also, the buffer layer formed by the oil prevents chemical bonding between food particles and the utensil’s surface. Like the Teflon coating, cooking oil seeps into the microscopic cracks and crevices present even in an apparently smooth-looking surface of a cooking utensil, making them unavailable for food particles to stick in and bond with. 

This is why it is easier to stir, flip, and lift delicate items like sunny-side-up eggs, fish, or pancakes without breaking them when an adequate amount of cooking oil is used.   

Allows for uniform heat conduction 

Cooking oils can take the heat in the kitchen better than water and air.

This makes them an excellent medium for cooking food. They have a much higher boiling point than water, are quicker to heat, and are more efficient at transferring heat to the contours of all the different ingredients in the pot. The continuous thermal interface created by the oil thus helps every ingredient in the pot to reach the right cooking temperature without burning or drying out. No part of the food gets overdone or remains uncooked. 

Extracts, carries, and enhances flavor 

Most edible oils in their unrefined state—whether from olives, coconuts, peanuts, or sesame seeds—carry a distinct flavor and aroma. Adding just a few drops of the right cooking oil can do magic by adding a whole new dimension to its flavor profile. Refined oils, however, are processed to be a blank canvas and let the flavors of the ingredients be more pronounced.  

All cooking oils are rich in fats, which are excellent at extracting and carrying flavor molecules. When warmed up, unsaturated fatty acids break down via autooxidation and release new flavor compounds. Fats also dissolve and absorb many aromatic and flavor compounds in herbs, spices, and meats etc. Seasonings ‘bloom’ in hot oil to release deeper and more complex notes into the surrounding fat. The oil, a carrier that reaches every nook and cranny in the pot, helps the aromas and flavors blend in evenly.

The high-heat absorption capacity of cooking oils also allows them to kickstart chemical reactions that result in flavor generation through browning and caramelization. 

Adds texture

Cooking oils add a lubricated mouthfeel to food. They lend crumbliness and flakiness to the pastry dough by inhibiting the development of gluten strands. When mixed with sugar, fats trap air, making cakes soft and spongy. Oils also make emulsions like mayonnaise creamy and sauces smoother. When used to fry foods, the ability of cooking oil to withstand high heat helps evaporate the moisture quickly from the surface of food, creating a crispy crust that is delicious, and keeps the moisture intact on the inside. The result is a beautifully crisp crust on the outside with a fully cooked and juicy center. 

The chemical process initiated by fats also adds beautiful textures and a natural sheen to food—the dark crust of baked bread, the golden crispy exterior of French fries, and the browned, seared meats and roasted vegetables—all of that!

Understanding the ‘health’ factor in cooking oil 

Cooking oils are almost entirely fat and, therefore, calorie-dense, providing significant energy per small serving. They are not very rich in protein or carbohydrates, and have a very modest content of vitamins and minerals, except for some bioactive compounds, such as antioxidants. Yet, the dietary guidelines for Americans recommend including healthy oils in our diet because they help reduce the risk of heart disease and support a healthy body weight. 

So, what makes cooking oil healthy? The answer is hidden in the type of fats in an oil, and whether they are saturated or unsaturated.

Saturated fats are composed of saturated fatty acid chains and are typically found in animal and dairy sourced oils such as butter, cream, ghee, and beef tallow. They are also found in some tropical oils such as coconut and palm. On the other hand, unsaturated fats (monounsaturated/polyunsaturated) are made up of unsaturated fatty acid chains and are typically considered healthier. They are found in oils extracted from plant-based sources—sunflower, olives, avocado, nuts & seeds, and fatty fish such as tuna and salmon. 

Extra-virgin olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats (particularly oleic acid), which are considered the best for heart health. Studies have also found that it contains antioxidants that help reduce oxidative stress in the body. People on Mediterranean diets usually show better lipid profiles and have a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases. 

On the contrary, coconut oil has a very high percentage of saturated fats. While the downsides of saturated fats are not all black and white, it is no secret that they tend to raise LDL cholesterol more than unsaturated fats do, which can be harmful in the long term. The American Heart Association (AHA) limits the consumption of such fats to 13 grams or less per day.  

Generally speaking, healthier options include oils from:

• Olives and avocado—rich in monounsaturated fats
• Canola—high in polyunsaturated fats
• Sunflower and soybean—rich in both types of unsaturated fats, plus fatty acids. 

With that said, even healthy oils must be consumed in moderate amounts, and you must check the labels to see how refined a cooking oil is, since the process can negatively impact its nutritional profile. 

The smoke point of a cooking oil is also a health consideration—crossing this temperature limit makes the oil’s composition unstable, leading to the formation of harmful free radicals. Having oils with different smoke points in your kitchen can help you avoid this risk. 

How to choose the right cooking oil for your kitchen

Choosing healthier cooking oils is not the only consideration. Since each type of oil has a different smoke point and affects the flavor and texture of the food differently, we must also consider its ability to withstand heat. Refined cooking oils usually have a higher smoke point and are better for high-heat cooking, albeit they do not boast as strong a nutritional profile as the unrefined ones.

Fats and oils are used for deep or shallow-frying, sautéing, stir-frying, baking, roasting, grilling, marinades, dips, and dressings. Each application has a set of expectations for the fat or oil you choose to use. This makes it challenging for most home kitchens and necessitates having a few different cooking oils. 

Let’s take a quick look at which cooking techniques require which fats or oils so that you can handle the task more mindfully. To keep things simple, we will limit ourselves to the cooking oils most used in American kitchens—soybean, corn, sunflower, canola, olive, sesame, avocado, grapeseed, coconut, and peanut. 

• For searing, browning, and deep-frying—canola, soybean, corn, sunflower, avocado, coconut, and peanut oil
• For baking, oven-cooking, and stir-frying—canola, soybean, corn, olive, sesame, avocado, grapeseed, and peanut oil 
• For sautéing, sauces & low-heat baking—sunflower, olive, avocado, grapeseed, and coconut oil
• For roasting and grilling—canola, olive, avocado, grapeseed, and coconut oil
• For dressings, dips & marinades—soybean, sunflower, corn, olive, and sesame oil

If you’re using these oils in their unrefined form, they’ll each have a unique flavor, with avocado being the mildest, so pay attention to using them where they make sense to your palate. In refined oils, the flavor is neutralized during processing, so they become perfect for all purposes, acting as a blank canvas for the taste of other ingredients to shine through. 

Concluding words…

Whether it is getting the perfect sear on your favorite cut of steak or a golden crust on a freshly baked loaf of bread, cooking oils have always been silent but useful companions in the kitchen. They influence—often in multiple ways—the food’s flavor, texture, and nutrition. It’s easy to overlook these aspects, but it’s important not to.  

It’s amazing how traditional kitchens of yesteryears often relied on just one or two oils passed down the generations—like ghee in South Asia and olive oil in the Mediterranean. Yet today, we have an incredible variety of oils and fats to choose from, an opportunity that allows us to cook healthier and smarter. By understanding smoke points, nutrition profiles, and uses, you can find a match for a select set of cooking oils that fit the kind of cooking you do the most. After all, the right oil doesn’t just help you cook—it connects science, tradition, and flavor on every plate.