Olive oil actually has a relatively high smoke point and is a safe, reliable option for frying. On top of that, it is one of the healthiest cooking staples around. Olive oil has been named “the healthiest fat on Earth,” in part because of its unique ability to reduce the risk of heart disease.
Contrary to what you may have heard, olive oil does not lose its health benefits or become unhealthy when heated. Olive oil has been used for cooking for thousands of years. It is a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet.
Bottom line. Extra virgin olive oil is safe for all types of frying and can ramp up the flavor of french fries, sweet potato fries, fish tacos, fried chicken, churros, and more. And while frying isn't the healthiest way to cook, frying with EVOO is just about the healthiest way to do it!
The healthiest oils are those that are high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, such as vegetable oil and olive oil. These types of fats can help lower your risk of heart disease when used instead of saturated fats.
Multiple peer-reviewed studies have shown that olive oil is the best oil for frying. Olive oil outperformed vegetable, peanut, corn, soybean, sunflower and canola oils.
This is because olive oil is the only oil can that can withstand high temperatures (180°C) without degradation or losing its properties, and because it is an oil that creates a crusty layer which enhances the flavor of foods while preventing it from being soaked with fat.
Some of the world's top celebrity chefs agree that choosing to use genuine extra virgin olive oil in your cooking is a great way to guarantee quality of flavour in your dishes. It is an extremely versatile cooking ingredient and can be used on salads, as a dip, for roasting or for adding finishing touches to hot food.
Yes, you can fry chicken in olive oil. USDA experts have stated that it's safe to fry with olive oil (extra virgin olive oil), but they don't recommend frying with butter or coconut oil.
These are oils like soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, and safflower. They're unstable fats – they're not bound together tightly at all. Because they are unstable, they can produce higher levels of free radicals when they're heated.
Italians cook pretty much everything with olive oil. We use it to cook, to fry, and to make cakes; we even make ice cream from it (have you tried it? It's amazing!). And one gourmet chef even invented crème brulée with olive oil on the side; it's a fancy mix.
Use olive oil to stir-fry or sear a steak.
Though it's nice to have two oils (one for cooking, such as canola oil, and one for finishing, such as extra-virgin olive oil), here's a secret: We use extra-virgin olive oil for high-heat applications, too. And it's completely fine.
New research shows the transfer of olive oil's healthy plant sterols and tocopherols to deep-fried foods. New research reveals that deep frying certain foods, such as French fries, with virgin olive oil, may enhance their nutritional profile.
While there is some truth to this (olive oil does appear to cause relatively less damage than saturated animal fats), it is important to note that 'less damage' is still damage. The scientific evidence clearly shows that olive oil plays a role both in damaging blood vessels as well as forming atherosclerotic plaques.
First of all, it can be expensive. Plus, it has a relatively low smoke point, which, according to food scientist Harold McGee, is the "temperature at which a fat breaks down into visible gaseous products." That breakdown can ruin the taste of foods.
The flavor compounds in Olive Oil are delicate and will evaporate when heated. Furthermore, heating olive oil does not damage the health benefits but it will make the olive oil lose flavor. Overall, Olive Oil is safe to cook with. Heating Olive Oil will not destroy the health benefits or turn olive oil unhealthy.
Myth: Olive oil produces carcinogens when it's heated. Fact. What's true is that when any cooking oil is heated to the point where it smokes (its smoke point) it breaks down and may produce potentially carcinogenic toxins. Different oils reach their smoke points at different temperatures.
The bottom line
Some of the healthier cooking oils that can withstand higher cooking temperatures include olive oil, avocado oil, sesame oil, and safflower oil. Plus, they contain various unsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, and other compounds that may offer health benefits.
Choose plant-based oils rich in unsaturated fat.
The heart association suggests the following cooking oils, which meet its health standards: canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, soybean and sunflower, as well as specialty oils like avocado, grape-seed and sesame.
KFC said that after a two-year trial of various cooking oils, it settled on low linolenic soybean oil, a zero trans-fat cooking oil, to replace partially hydrogenated soybean oil in its U.S. restaurants.
We generally try to reach for monounsaturated fats when pan-frying. These healthy fats are liquid at room temperature (as compared to saturated fat like lard, butter and coconut oil that are solid at room temp). Our favorite healthy fats for pan-frying are avocado oil, canola oil and olive oil.
Yes, You Can Totally Fry With Extra Virgin Olive Oil and It Is the Healthiest Oil. Let's put an end to this myth once and for all. Extra virgin olive oil is one of the best oils to fry and cook with.
The Bottom Line
Quality extra virgin olive oil is an especially healthy fat that retains its beneficial qualities during cooking. The main downside is that overheating can adversely impact its flavor. However, olive oil is quite resistant to heat and doesn't oxidize or go rancid during cooking.
Global culinary icon Gordon Ramsay is known for his fiery personality, his hard-fought Michelin stars and his deep and abiding love of olive oil. Nearly every Ramsay recipe, from his early days on Boiling Point to Uncharted and the current critic's darling, Scrambled starts with "just a drizzle" of his beloved EVOO.
While extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) may be a staple in many countries' cuisine, especially in southern Europe, it only has a very marginal use in China. Usually associated with foreign brands and healthy cooking, EVOO is rarely used in Chinese kitchens where soybean and rapeseed oils are more prevalent.