## Vegetable Oil Substitutes: Here’s What You Can Use Instead June 7, 2022 **WRITTEN BY:** Corey Nelson ## Article at a Glance - Vegetable oils are harmful to your health and the environment. They’re also often rancid and can have a stale flavor. - The easiest one-to-one substitutes for vegetable oils are olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil. Each has its trade-offs depending on your recipe needs, and all have some health and environmental downfalls to keep in mind. - Other ingredients like fruit purees, buttermilk, Greek yogurt, or cornstarch can also work in a pinch. - Sauces, marinades, and dressings are the most forgiving when it comes to vegetable oil substitutions, while baking and high-heat cooking require more trial and error. ## Introduction Vegetable oils are incredibly common in most recipes today. You can find vegetable oils like soy oil, sunflower oil, and canola oil in everything from salad dressings to baked goods, but there’s a catch — they’re terrible for your health and the environment. Luckily, replacing vegetable oils with healthier alternatives is easy. Whether you want a vegetable oil substitute that’s better for your health, or you’re in a pinch and need a convenient ingredient swap for a recipe you’re planning to cook, we’ve got you covered. First, we’ll take a quick look at the problems with vegetable oil, taking into account several health, sustainability, and culinary issues. ## The Problems with Vegetable Oils While “vegetable oils” might sound like wholesome, healthy ingredients, most of them are actually made from seed crops and refined through complicated industrial processes involving high pressure, heat, and solvent chemicals: - Canola (rapeseed) oil - Corn oil - Cottonseed oil - Grapeseed oil - Peanut oil - Rice bran oil - Safflower oil - Soybean oil - Sunflower oil Where does every oil rank? The list might surprise you. Get the full comparison for smart shopping. And with these new, inexpensive, and widely available ingredients, global production of vegetable oils has skyrocketed, increasing over 1600% in the past hundred years. In the United States, the consumption of soybean oil alone has grown 1,000-fold since 1909. ## Health Concerns Some early, flawed 20th-century studies suggested that vegetable oils were “heart-healthy,” but experimental and clinical evidence shows they’re unsafe and even meet the scientific definition of toxicity. Compared to most dietary fats and cooking oils, vegetable oils are very high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fat shown to increase inflammation. The other problem with vegetable oils is that they’re very unstable and oxidize — or break down easily — during manufacturing, transport, storage, cooking, and even in your body after you consume them. And evidence suggests the byproducts of oxidized omega-6 fats are even more inflammatory and harmful than the fats themselves. Studies link vegetable oil and seed oil consumption to heart disease, neurological issues, cancer, and even weight gain and obesity. ## Sustainability Issues The low production cost of vegetable oils makes them appear economical, but they’re actually one of the most inefficient crops when it comes to land use. In other words, the amount of land used to produce a kilogram of vegetable oil from soybeans, rapeseeds, or sunflowers could instead produce 30 to 50 times more real vegetables by weight, such as spinach, sweet potatoes, or carrots — which have far more nutritional value. As a result, vegetable oil crops are some of the biggest crop drivers of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions today. ## Culinary Downsides Vegetable oils also have their share of disadvantages from a culinary perspective. Omega-6 oils are inherently unstable and oxidize easily. When stored or used for cooking, even below the “smoke point,” they break down into other compounds that are unhealthy. The instability and oxidation of vegetable oils can also give them a rancid or bland taste. You might not notice it if you’re eating processed pre-packaged foods, but if you’re cooking a tasty recipe at home, there’s a good chance you’ll find that food cooked with vegetable oils has an underlying stale flavor, whereas healthier vegetable oil substitutes can impart a fresher taste. ## What Are the Uses of Vegetable Oil in Food and Cooking? Vegetable oil usually refers to “all-purpose” cooking oils derived from crops that can be used for sauteing, frying, baking, and braising. They’re also used in dressings, sauces, marinades, and other oil-based mixtures. Cooking oils serve all kinds of culinary purposes: - Preventing foods from sticking and burning during heating and cooking. - Their liquid nature helps other ingredients mix (in batters, for example) or lends a smooth, silky texture (like in salad dressings). - Fats can help create a tender, crispy, or chewy texture during cooking. - At high temperatures, oils help create buttery, sweet, nutty, and toasty flavors through caramelization. - Oils in recipes help to balance and blend the flavors of other ingredients. - Adding fats to some foods can help stabilize them and increase their shelf life. Finally, vegetable oils also serve as an inexpensive source of calories in processed foods and some recipes. ## How to Choose the Best Vegetable Oil Substitute Substituting other ingredients in place of vegetable oils in your recipes isn’t difficult at all. If you’re replacing them to make your meals healthier and tastier, you’ll want to make sure your alternative ingredients: - Are low in the inflammatory omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) linoleic acid. - Contain stable fatty acids that don’t oxidize easily — which is also mainly about avoiding omega-6 linoleic acid and other PUFAs. - Have a smoke point that’s appropriate for what you’re doing in the kitchen. Low smoke point oils are fine for dressings but you’ll need a higher smoke point oil for high temperature cooking and frying. ### Oil-Based Substitutes For Vegetable Oil In some recipes, like salad dressings, marinades, and sauces, you need a certain amount of oil to help the other ingredients mix and provide a smooth texture. Those recipes just won’t turn out as well with a non-oil substitute. All of the oils below can be substituted one-to-one (meaning that if your recipe calls for a tablespoon of vegetable oil, replace it with a tablespoon of the oil of your choice). ### Zero Acre Oil Zero Acre oil is a neutral-tasting cooking oil that's high in heart-healthy and heat-stable monounsaturated fat. It has a sky-high smoke point of up to 485°F and also has one of the lowest linoleic acid levels on the market — less than 3%. ### Avocado Oil #### The Pros Avocado oil isn’t completely neutral-tasting, but it’s less bold than olive oil. It tastes something like a mild avocado, with grassy and nutty notes that don’t stand out as much when blended with other ingredients. Like olive oil, avocado oil is high in monounsaturated fat and contains moderate amounts of linoleic acid, making it a better option than high-linoleic vegetable oil. It’s also liquid at room temperature, but is likely to clump in the fridge. It’s got a high smoke point of 428-482°F or more, which means you can use it for nearly any application, even high heat cooking. #### The Cons Avocado oil production is largely driven by unjust labor practices and managed by cartels, which seize farms and clear protected forests to harvest avocados. Additionally, avocado production has caused biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and even extreme weather conditions. ### Coconut Oil #### The Pros Coconut oil is solid at room temperature but liquefies around 78°F. Virgin coconut oil has a smoke point of 340-380°F and a sweet, nutty flavor, while refined coconut oil has a smoke point of up to 406°F and a relatively neutral taste. #### The Cons Unfortunately, coconut oil grows in the same regions as palm oil (palm oil production being a major cause of deforestation) and there’s currently a debate over whether or not coconut oil is environmentally friendly or, like palm oil, drives excessive deforestation. ### Olive Oil #### The Pros Olive oil has a smooth texture and provides a peppery, astringent, “green,” and sometimes nutty flavor to recipes. It’s high in monounsaturated fat and contains moderate amounts of linoleic acid, but still remains liquid at room temperature, making it a suitable vegetable oil replacement for dressings and sauces if you enjoy the taste. #### The Cons Olive oil does tend to solidify under refrigeration, so you might need to bring your salad dressings up to room temperature before your next meal. ### Other Substitutes For Vegetable Oil If you’re experimenting with new recipes from scratch, looking for non-oil substitutes for vegetable oil, or simply don’t have other substitutes on hand, here are additional options that can work: - **Applesauce** is a low-calorie, vegan option to moisten and sweeten recipes. - **Fruit purees** are another vegan option to add moisture and unique flavors to your favorite recipes. - **Butter** adds a rich, creamy flavor but has a low smoke point (350°F). - **Buttermilk** is lower in fat than butter and can work to moisten and help ingredients mix in batters and similar recipes. - **Greek yogurt** is a high-protein, tangy oil substitute that adds a creamy, thick texture to recipes. With high-moisture ingredients like applesauce, buttermilk, and fruit purees, try starting with a 75% substitution instead of one-to-one. ### Vegetable Oil Substitutes for Baking There’s some truth to the saying that “cooking is an art, but baking is a science.” Zero Acre oil is a one-to-one substitute for seed oils in baking and is neutral-tasting and low in inflammatory linoleic acid. Also, keep in mind that liquid fats tend to provide a chewy or soft mouthfeel, while solid fats like coconut oil will contribute a crumbly, flaky texture instead. ## Pros and Cons of Vegetable Oil Substitutes ### The Pros - **Fatty acid content:** Compared to soybean oil and other oils sold as vegetable oils, most substitutes are lower in linoleic acid and other inflammatory omega-6 fats. - **Stability:** Most vegetable oil alternatives are less prone to oxidation as long as you keep them below their smoke point ranges. ### The Cons - **Ease of use:** Substituting other ingredients for vegetable oils can sometimes give unpredictable results, especially if you use non-oil options like yogurt. - **Flavors:** Most vegetable oil substitutes don’t have a neutral taste, so if you’re not careful, you might introduce unwelcome flavors into a recipe. - **Price:** Some vegetable oil substitutes cost more than vegetable oils. ## The Takeaway Every cooking oil has its pros and cons, but there are plenty of options that are much healthier and more sustainable than vegetable oils. Zero Acre oil offers an array of culinary and health benefits, including a clean, neutral taste, a high smoke point, and high oxidative stability.