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Top 10 Best Olive Oils for Cooking – Buyer’s Guide and Reviews
When you want to start cooking healthy, you often choose food products which delicious replacements for your normal choices, right? Switching from vegetable oil or butter to olive oil is one of the best improvements you can make for healthier cooking. Olive Oil consists mainly of monounsaturated fats which are the healthy fats we need in our diets. Also, olive oils for cooking. Olive oil contains just 1% less trans fat than vegetable oils such as corn oil.
When you want to fry food, using olive oil is a brilliant idea, as it has a higher smoke point than other oils. Extra virgin olive oil doesn’t start smoking until you hit temperatures above 350 to 400 degrees, where standard olive oil can withstand heat above 450 degrees Celsius.
Choosing healthier alternatives such as olive oil will benefit people who want to reduce cholesterol and calorie intake. We believe that our Top Olive Oil for Cooking list provides a wide variety of items to fit all cooking types as well as offering quality ingredients and exclusive flavors.
Buyer’s Guide
Choosing the right olive oil might mean you would like to add a few bottles to your shopping list. We think you should select a favorite brand for most dishes to eat, and then pick up another one for sides like sauces, salads, and dips. The lighter olive oils typically perform better for fresh meals, where standard olive oil is useful when cooking. Some of the top picks that end up in your new recipes because they have unique flavor profiles you may want to play with and mix and match.
Versatility
We recommend our top pick as a staple pantry, the Filippo Berio Olive Oil. This oil can work for just about every form of cooking and recipe. It doesn’t make the best salad dressing, but if you forget to pick up your favorite EVOO on our list it can work.
Flavor
If you want an olive oil that enhances the meal with deep undertones of natural flavors such as artichokes, then the EVOO may just be what you’re looking to add when you shop next time. The oil is made of a pure species grown in Sicily which sees production only in October. Our top olive oil pick, Zoe Organic EVOO has spicy and nutty hints which can improve your herbal choices when cooking.
Accessibility
If your goal is to keep oil in your cabinet that you know you can easily pick up from the grocery store, then the brand of California Olive Ranch may be the oil you want to buy. This product is easy to find, comes with great praise, and is a versatile oil that can be used to cook, finish the food, and serve as a snack.
Organic
If using organic products is a big deal for you, then you may want to choose an alternative such as the Kasandrinos EVOO. It’s a 100 percent organic product, so you always know the quality and taste is good. The oil is also certified Paleo.
Quality
The use of olive oil such as the Kalamata EVOO is a perfect choice for a balanced diet. You may feel confident knowing what area your olives are grown in, making this olive oil an excellent choice for people who only use products of the highest quality when cooking. Our favorite top-quality brand is the PJ Kabos brand because it wins leading awards year after year, and it has a very distinct taste.
Healthy diet
If you’re looking for the leanest oil on our list, then we’d have to say our nutritional value choice is Governor EVOO. The higher antioxidant level in this product is due to the brand’s low acidity which makes it very safe to use while cooking. The tin will make sure it stays fresh too.
We suggest you pick from our list some of the best sounding olive oils and check them out. Most of our options are readily accessible and inexpensive, so it can be easy for you to store cooking oil. Surprise your friends and family by mixing the olive oils with a favorite range of wines or meals to see if they enjoy the combination as much as you do.
Reviews
Check out our reviews below to see how many choices you want to buy the next time you go to the grocery store for the best olive oil. We hope you’ll like we find some mild cooking blends along with bolder flavors that can be used for special meals and gourmet cooking.
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Buy 10 Best Olive Oil for Cooking
1. Filippo Berio Olive Oil
Need a healthy oil that helps you to cook whatever you want, without having to worry about what you need to graze the pan? We just want to drop some oil in the pan some days and get our eggs finished so we can get a head start on reading emails or feeding the kids so we can get out of the house.
You can know the brand oil in Filippo Berio is a great staple in the pantry because you never have to worry about it. You might put some of the oil in the pan and fry your eggs, pancakes, or mush without thinking about the calories or whether the oil would burn or not.
- 100 percent pure
- Excellent for high-heat use
- Cholesterol-free
- Gold label with bold black lettering makes the oil easy to find on grocery store shelves
- Works well as a salad dressing or dip, but it is not as good as some of our top EVOO picks for this application
2. O-Live & Co. Premium 100% Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Would you want to mash a little drizzle of olive oil on fresh bread? We are doing so, too! The O-Live & Co. brand is one thing you’ll only want to keep sprinkling on your salad, tossing with some fresh spinach, or enlivening your arugula. We like the olive press squeezes out this nectar to keep it fresh and full of nutrients within a few short hours of harvesting.
If you want to lose weight, reduce bad cholesterol, or eat better, we hope the O-Live & Co. oil will help you accomplish your goals by combining it with your doctor’s other guidelines. You can enjoy the bright fragrance that enhances fresh food. For a good change, we recommend that you try this oil on roasted peppers.
- Less than 0.2 percent acidic level
- Made only in Colchagua Valley in Chile
- 2015 Los Angeles International EVOO Gold Medal Winner
3. Partanna Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Will purity and rich flavor sound an attractive combination in olive oil brands? Only the same way we do! Apart from the bright red mark, the thing about Partanna EVOO that catches our attention is the fact that it comes from a long line of family olive farmers in the Partanna area in Sicily, Italy.
The oil comes from the olives of Noceralla del Belice that offer a distinct flavor to the brand. We think the artichoke notes along with the nutty flavor will stimulate your taste buds and can give you all kinds of ideas to try.
- Excellent for dips and finishing along with cooking
- A large amount of oil
- Versatile for a variety of temperatures and cooking methods
- Comes in a tin that can make it a little difficult to pour even with the spout
4. Kalamata Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Were you a fan of top Greek flavors? Of course, we are! Our top EVOO pick is organic olive oil originating from Greece’s Iliada region. The area is preserved, which helps to keep the natural farming practices alive and offers a taste that is special to the region and the olive brand.
If you want your pasta dinner to have a specific flavor, then Kalamata oil might be the one you want to have in your pantry. This cooking oil can be a perfect choice if you have a couple of friends coming over for an intimate steak dinner because it is light in texture and totally organic.
- Uses cold extraction to retain raw flavor
- Organic
- Unique flavor
- Some users find that the tin is a little messy to use when pouring.
5. Kasandrinos Organic Extra Virgin Greek Olive Oil
Are you the sort of person worried about what your family is eating? Will the nutrient content of the food hold you awake in the evening? Fantastic! We have a choice for olive oil which we believe can best match your needs. Kasandrinos EVOO has Paleo certification and comes from processing and pressing olives with a cold process that preserves the taste and nutrient value.
- Olives come from a farm in Laconia, Greece
- Dark bottle to keep the oil fresh for longer
- Two-year shelf life
- Longer processing time than some brands on our list
6. 2 Pack Kabos Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Once it comes to picking up groceries, if the quality is high on your list, then we think you should add PJ Kabos EVOO to your pantry this weekend. This olive oil’s bold flavor has traces of fruitiness that you may not find on our list in every selection. If you’re a fan of light and refreshing oils versus the earthy, rich ones, you might like this flavor.
- Award winner for 2015, 2016, and 2017 at the New York International Olive Oil Competition
- Hand harvesting keeps bruising at a minimum
- Farming occurs in the Peloponnese region in Greece
- The spout on the container can make the oil easier to spill
7. Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Do you like of frying foods, but need a safe alternative that can stand up to the heat? We like using the Bertolli EVOO for our stir-fry dishes, and brown hash on Sunday. Why maybe ask? We assume this brand has a mild taste that we can use in nearly every recipe. Bertolli is so easy to use, that almost every day we find new ideas for it.
- Filtering provides a very mellow taste allowing you to pair this oil with any dish
- Excellent for high heat up to 400 degrees
- Certification of quality from the North American Olive Association
- Light coloring for the bottle does not protect the oil from light breakdown as well as darker containers
8. Kirkland Signature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
We love frying our favorite foods such as hash browns and omelets but it wasn’t always easy to keep the flavor in the dish and make it safe until we found this top choice for our list of olive oil. Kirkland Signature is USDA approved so you can feel more confident knowing it’s high-quality oil.
Using the first cold pressing gives this brand an excellent taste which is not present on the third or fourth pressing in the oil collections. Because of the strong flavor profile, it has new, cooking this oil at high heat does not strip the flavor out as much as it does in other olive oils.
- Superior quality
- Large size bottle
- Certification from the USDA
- Plastic packaging may be less desirable than glass for some
9. Sky Organics Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Do you want to use certified organic and pure products? And we do! The Greek Sky Organics EVOO is our top choice for pure olive oils since it is not filtered through. The method of extracting oil uses cold pressing to preserve the olives’ pure flavor.
Sky Organics olive oil keeps the nutritional value of the oil the same as if you were consuming the olive itself, by using only a pressing process to get the olive oil. You may also use this drug to take a deep moisturizing session to treat your hair and skin.
- No filtering
- High nutrient values
- Blue cap for easy recognizing when shopping
- Award winner several times over
- Plastic bottle instead of glass or tin
10. Zoe Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
In this case, we think you may feel we are finishing with the best olive oil because the Zoe Organic EVOO uses three Spanish olive varieties to get a special and robust flavor. You can feel that our top pick is also a prize item in your kitchen since it has the price seal of the North American Olive Oil Association.
The notes of basil, almond, and artichoke can be welcome flavors that tempt your palate, no matter which dish needs some jazzing up. You may find that adding this healthy oil to your diet gives you the bright flavors of the “diet” food that you want. We think you might also use it to lose some weight or bring down your cholesterol without losing the taste that you deserve.
- USDA organic certification
- Award winner
- Bright, recognizable packaging
- Tin makes pouring a little trickier than bottles
Final Thoughts
While our comprehensive list of olive oils is long, we feel you might be ready to try some of our favorites so you will be able to use a safe but sweet addition to your cooking diet. We think you might find a need for some of our top olive oils because they are so versatile that several of them can be used in desserts. Who knew that eating healthy can be so tasty and beneficial?