Enjoy the versatility of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the Kitchen
Easy Dipping & Drizzling • Healthier Cooking
Delicious Baking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil • Olive Oil - Butter Conversion Chart
Luckily for us our healthiest dietary fat is incredibly versatile in the kitchen. Salad dressing and bread dipping of course, extra virgin olive oil is also a tasty and healthy way to sauté meats and vegetables. For any baking recipe that calls for "vegetable oil" you can substitute a mild extra virgin olive oil. In most cases, all or some of the butter in a baked good recipe can be replaced with extra virgin olive oil. You can even use extra virgin olive oil to replace some of the heavy cream to make an excellent ice cream!
As easy as dipping and drizzling.
Enjoy your extra virgin olive oil straight out of the bottle! Just drizzle some oil over steamed vegetables, potatoes (sweet or white) or pastas for a simple and heart healthy flavor boost. Pour some into a dipping dish for your bread for a healthy alternative to butter. Easily get a bit more flavor by using a flavored oil; your choice of spicy, savory, or citrusy. With just a bit more effort a dash of balsamic vinegar, our dipping spice or some grated cheese will add even more flavor to your side or main dishes.
Your main use of extra virgin olive oil may well be in salad dressings. Classic vinaigrette is extra virgin olive oil and vinegar (3-4 parts oil to 1 part vinegar) a bit of mustard, salt, and finely minced shallot or garlic, if desired. We suggest mixing enough for the salad you are about to eat. Whisk the vinegar, mustard, salt and shallot or garlic, if using, in the bottom of a bowl. Stream in the olive oil while continuing to whisk. Taste and adjust if needed. Add a drizzle of honey if the dressing is too tart. Add your salad ingredients and toss. With just a few oils, vinegars and mustards you can enjoy a variety of fresh and delicious dressings with all natural ingredients.
Healthier cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
You can and should cook with extra virgin olive oil. It is healthy and will enhance the flavor of everything you cook. It is a myth that cooking with extra virgin olive oil will give you cancer. However, you have to be mindful of cooking temperatures. All cooking oils will burn if heated to a high enough temperature. If you see smoke the oil has reached it's smoke point and has started to burn. At this point harmful compounds may form especially if the oil is re-used multiple times and heated to it's smoke point each time. So if you are not cooking with olive oil that has been repeatedly burnt you are safe. Even at temperatures below the smoke point extra virgin olive oil resists heat damage better than other vegetable oils and lower grades of olive oil. See why below..
Avoid cooking oil heat damage.
Any fat or oil can become damaged at high heat. Supermarket vegetable oils (mostly soybean oil) are high in polyunsaturated fats. These oils are particularly vulnerable to heat damage. Polyunsaturated fats readily combine with oxygen, more rapidly when heated. This forms unhealthy and bad tasting compounds.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil has the lowest percentage of polyunsaturated fats. With the highest percentage monounsaturated fats extra virgin olive oil reacts with oxygen much more slowly. Extra virgin olive oil is also rich in antioxidants. These antioxidants further slow down heat damage from oxygen. Extra virgin olive oil's healthy fat make-up and antioxidants are good for us directly, and help this oil be more resistant to cooking heat damage than other vegetable oils.
Cook below the smoke point.
Any fat or oil will smoke when it becomes hot enough. Many oils including butter, smoke well below the smoke point for extra virgin olive oil (see table below). Extra Virgin Olive Oil smokes at around 400 degrees F. This is high enough for sautéing and pan frying. Minimize the time the oil is hot by heating the pan first, then add the oil. Heat until the oil surface shimmers then add your food. If there is a wisp of smoke remove the pan from the heat and add your food to reduce the temperature. Return to the burner after a few moments. If there is lots of smoke, clear the air and start over with new oil! Don't miss out on extra virgin olive oil's health benefits and flavor due to the myth that you shouldn't cook with it.
Select Cooking Oil Smoke Points Temperatures noted here are approximate and vary considerably based on how the oil is processed or not. | |
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200's deg. F | Unrefined:
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Low 300's | Unrefined:
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High 300's |
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Low 400's |
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High 400's + | Most refined oils such as Corn, Peanut, Safflower, Sesame seed, Sunflower, Grapeseed, Soybean, and Avocodo. |
Delicious and healthy baking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Consider extra virgin olive oil as a tasty and healthy alternative to generic "vegetable oil" (usually soybean oil) and even butter in your baking. Baked goods made with olive oil have a slightly coarser crumb compared to butter and in general are moister and stay fresher longer. As an added bonus using olive oil instead of butter reduces the cholesterol and saturated fat content.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Flavor Profiles and Flavored Oils
Always healthy, extra virgin olive oils have a wide range of flavor profiles; from light and delicate to big and bold. You may use the buttery and delicate oils more often in your baking, but the bolder pungent ones can be perfect for the right recipe such as a cheese bread made with Swiss and caramelized onions!
Flavored olive oils (citrus, herb or pepper) work great with many baking recipes. Upgrade your chocolate brownie recipe (or box mix) by substituting our blood orange olive oil for the called for amount of vegetable oil. Do the same for cheddar jalapeno corn muffins with our jalapeno olive oil, or cilantro jalapeno olive oil. It is easy and healthy to choose and use olive oil as the "vegetable" oil in a recipe.
Use Olive Oil Instead of Butter!
You can often use olive oil instead of butter in your baking. For recipes that require creaming butter and sugar, start by combining the eggs and the sugar. Beat until fluffy then while beating slowly stream in in the olive oil. Continue with the recipe as written. We suggest refrigerating cookie dough for about an hour before scooping and baking to avoid too much spreading.
Olive oil is 100% fat, butter about 75% (the rest is air and water). So, use 3/4 the amount of butter called for when converting a baking recipe to olive oil. Round up to the nearest unit when necessary. Use the handy table below to avoid breaking out the calculator.
Butter | Olive Oil | Butter | Olive Oil |
---|---|---|---|
1 tsp | 3/4 tsp | 5 ml | 3 ml |
2 tsp | 1 1/2 tsp | 10 ml | 8 ml |
1 tbs | 1 1/4 tsp | 15 ml | 12 ml |
2 tbs | 2 1/2 tsp | 20 ml | 15 ml |
1/4 C | 3 tbs | 30 ml | 23 ml |
1/3 C | 1/4 C | 60 ml | 45 ml |
1/2 C | 3/8 C | 80 ml | 60 ml |
2/3 C | 1/2 C | 125 m | 94 ml |
3/4 C | 5/8 C | 150 ml | 113 ml |
1 C | 3/4 C | 175 ml | 132 ml |
1 1/2 C | 1 1/8 C | 250 ml | 188 ml |
2 C | 1 1/2C | 500 ml | 375 ml |
From our best area chefs:
Love going to Extra Virgin an Olive Ovation. I want to have everything there in my pantry.
- Ben Poremba, Olio, Elaia
Marianne Prey is a wealth of knowledge. Every time I go in there, I learn something new about olive oil.
- Gerard Craft, Niche, Brasserie, Taste, Pastaria
I like Extra Virgin An Olive Ovation for imported mustards, vinegars and olive oils. Incorporating these ingredients into a dish can change it significantly. For instance, a Zinfandel vinegar over a dessert is divine, and mustard in a soup is quite amazing.
- Natasha Kwan, Frida's Deli