Olive Oil Cost Spike -- Best Alternatives?

Okay foodies, help me out,

The cost of olive oil has gone crazy. I still buy it but I'm using it much more sparingly.

Canola oil is heavy and undergoes a fair bit of processing. I use it for pan frying red meats and its high smoke point is good for that. But it's far too heavy and cloying to stir fry summer veg or delicate chicken filets.

I note that corn oil and sunflower oil are still reasonably priced and have zero trans fats. But I have never used them.

Any advice on a passable alternative to olive oil?

I have been seeing a lot of recommendations for avocado oil, though I bet the price is not any better ...

Then there is coconut oil ....

Sesame oil, and safflower oil are also recommended as healthy.

The omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is found mainly in plant oils such as flaxseed, soybean, and canola oils.

I think for both health and sustainability Sunflower oil is your best alternative! I've seen it pretty affordable, but when I buy it it's from a small local regenerative outfit so it's not competitive with canola and the like. I think it cooks fine and hasn't got much taste of it's own.

As I try to avoid seed oils, I typically use bacon lard for things like fried eggs and pan-seared steaks and use grass-fed butter for things like scrambeld eggs or stir-fry.
I find beef tallow is a good option for things like french fries.

If someone is vegan, I would recommend coconut oil.

Not sure if the butter or coconut oil options are a big money saver, but I drain-off the tallow and lard so those two are freebies in a sense.

Sunflower oil is a neutral oil meaning that it does not give dishes any flavor. Something to keep in mind while you cook otherwise I find it to be a fine oil. It can be an advantage because your spices really get highlighted when cooked in said oil.

Sunflower oil also generally has a higher smoke point than olive oil.

We used Braggs olive oil for years and now cannot afford even their quart bottles.  I found that organic coconut oil ( not virgin) is reasonable and we buy smaller bottles of olive oil and use more sparingly.

We're going to try "Azure Market Organics Rice Bran Oil" on our next Azure order.

This organic oil is extracted from rice bran, the outer husk of rice grains. Because it has a 480 °F smoke point, it’s ideal for tempura, deep-frying, and other high-heat cooking. Its mild, yet nutty flavor makes it a good choice for salad dressings, too. Rice bran oil has more antioxidant activity than olive oil due to its higher vitamin E content, and is a great source of poly- and mono-unsaturated fats, which have many health benefits!

Timothy Norton wrote:Sunflower oil is a neutral oil meaning that it does not give dishes any flavor. Something to keep in mind while you cook otherwise I find it to be a fine oil. It can be an advantage because your spices really get highlighted when cooked in said oil.

Sunflower oil also generally has a higher smoke point than olive oil.

If you live somewhere with a large Ukrainian or Russian community, you can usually find “unrefined” sunflower oil, which is cold-pressed, bright yellow, and flavorful. It is used as a dressing for salads in Russia similar to how extra-virgin olive oil is used in Mediterranean salads. I usually keep a bottle around, it is an inexpensive oil.

It has a fairly low smoke point, though. A very different substance from the clear refined sunflower oil used for frying.

Thank goodness I stocked up a year ago when the price at Costco took a dip. I am not committed to Olive Oil. I do use peanut oil for oriental dishes. I also keep Sunflower and Canola oil around.

Thanks for all the replies! We're going to try processed sunflower oil.

If it works out, it may replace canola oil in our house. We used to use canola oil because it was dirt cheap, even though we could see firsthand what a toll it took on the soil. Now it's doubled in price and doesn't look like much of a deal.

I would avoid any seed oils. They're full of poly unsaturated fatty acids which  we're learning are really bad for us. https://millersbiofarm.com/blog/the-pufa-predicament-a-look-into-healthy-fats

The main problem with avocado and olive is that they're often adulterated in order to lessen the cost. We use Coconut oil and MCT oil, with a small bit of olive oil (all organic,  but I still don't feel confident about the olive oil not being adulterated).

Cara Campbell wrote:I would avoid any seed oils. They're full of poly unsaturated fatty acids which  we're learning are really bad for us.

Maybe. We use it sparingly, and it's important for cooking from scratch which is ultimately the most healthy option.

But this is a different discussion.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:.....

I note that corn oil and sunflower oil are still reasonably priced and have zero trans fats. But I have never used them.

Any advice on a passable alternative to olive oil?

The link below provides a good discussion.  We used a lot of olive oil in the past,.... less so now.  I was fond of safflower and sunflower oils as they were locally produced and could be found in expeller-pressed form, but became a bit worried about the omega 3:6 ratio in the fatty acid content.  The link below has a good discussion and for similar reasons detailed there we've adopted more expeller-pressed canola oil into our cooking.  Better than olive oil for higher temp cooking, but not as good tasting as olive oil. I like the fact that it *can* be locally sourced. Good luck!

https://www.drfabio.com/healthblog/cooking-oil-comparisons

Update: For testing, I was able to pick up a litre of processed sunflower oil (on a good sale).

It is light like olive oil, but it has no character or flavour profile at all. It doesn't brown veg or meat as quickly as canola oil; but it seems to be much more non-stick when using my secondhand ceramic fry pans.

I may try a bit of a mix with canola for heavy browning, and with olive for light jobs like eggs.

The good news is that olive oil is projected to drop in price next year.

For cooking, any of the animal fats work well. You'd usually need to get the fat from a farmer or butcher and then render it yourself, which is easy to do. Beef fat (tallow) is what I mostly use, lard from outdoor-raised pigs is really good but harder to find where I live.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:The good news is that olive oil is projected to drop in price next year.

I read this too, thank goodness!!

We have leaned very heavily into lard, schmalz and butter over the last year or two. I use lard almost exclusively for Chinese cooking (with the rare exception of peanut oil where lard just won't work). Anything else, schmalz (homemade from chicken skin and onions) or butter usually works. We use peanut, sesame and occasionally red palm oil for seasoning, not for cooking.

The things where you really need olive oil (Turkish food comes to mind) I have honestly just been skipping for the time being. The days of putting a half cup of olive oil in my tabbouleh are not back yet, alas.

I hadn't thought of chicken skin. Sometimes I have some that's fatty and I discard it. Once you render it, how long does it keep in the fridge?

Edit: allrecipes .com says it will keep "up to 2 weeks."

In my house we use a lot of individually frozen deboned chicken thighs, and often I don`t want/need the skin, I keep a sandwich bag in the freezer for these "orphans" and when it's full I render it in a pan on the stovetop (like I would do lard- takes about half an hour, including adding the onion)-- it makes exactly enough to fit in a jam jar I keep just for this purpose in the fridge. I do keep it for much longer than 2 weeks, but always refrigerated. I do the same with pork fat scraps, and when I have bacon drippings I dump them in the lard bucket (also, always refrigerated).
I also make clarified butter (I'd call it ghee but I get called out on that every so often), which is a nice fat to saute in as well. If I find butter on sale, I buy a bunch and make a quart or so. Also, keeps very well (always fridge).

I find that these animal fats will last great if all the water is out-- so don't skimp on time! the only time I've had lard get stinky is when I was in a hurry and didn't give it the time it needed.

EDITED TO ADD: when you are done with that rendering, throw the crunchy scraps in biscuit or bread dough (that kind of bread with pork cracklings is beloved around here), or use it instead of age-dama in japanese recipes that call for leftover fried scraps (kitsune-don, age-don). Or replicate the most amazingly epic spin on steamed chinese scallion rolls I have ever made by putting them in the middle of rolled steamed buns with some sesame oil and white pepper-- it was amazing.

Before looking into the alternatives, I'd make sure to be using the right type of olive oil.

Extra Virgin should only be consumed raw in bread or in salads. Never to be heated.
Normal olive oil (also known as virgin olive oil) high acidity can be used for cooking, although it has a strong flavour, so we use it for stews, potages and the like. It may be used for frying two or three times.
Normal olive oil low acidity (very little fatty acids) has a mild flavour, more suitable for frying, mayonnaise, and also can be used in oil candles with no smell, homemade soap, etc. It can be reused.
Pomace olive oil is the lowest quality, almost no flavour and it has been heated in the process of making it, so it should not be reused. It's cheap for a reason (probably you cannot find it outside the producing country).
Unfiltered extra virgen is a delicacy, a strong fruit flavour only to be tasted with a good loaf of bread; sadly it spoils in three months.

Abraham Palma wrote:Before looking into the alternatives, I'd make sure to be using the right type of olive oil.

Extra Virgin should only be consumed raw in bread or in salads. Never to be heated.
Normal olive oil high acidity can be used for cooking, although it has a strong flavour, so we use it for stews, potages and the like. It may be used for frying two or three times.
Normal olive oil low acidity (very little fatty acids) has a mild flavour, more suitable for frying, mayonnaise, and also can be used in oil candles with no smell, homemade soap, etc. It can be reused.
Pomace olive oil is the lowest quality, almost no flavour and it has been heated in the process of making it, so it should not be reused. It's cheap for a reason (probably you cannot find it outside the producing country).
Unfiltered extra virgen is a delicacy, a strong fruit flavour only to be tasted with a good loaf of bread; sadly it spoils in three months.

Wonderful local knowledge! Thanks!

I think the only olive oil I've ever seen here is  labelled "extra virgin" or "virgin." It's hard to tell how these fit into your categories -- even though it's lovely stuff, I don't know how carefully labels and categories are regulated here, so shenanigans are possible.

I think the only olive oil I've ever seen here is  labelled "extra virgin" or "virgin." It's hard to tell how these fit into your categories -- even though it's lovely stuff, I don't know how carefully labels and categories are regulated here, so shenanigans are possible.

Virgin is the normal one. They come with an acidity marked in grades.

Fraud is always a posibility, but trust your senses. If it tastes like olives, it's good. If the flavour is mild, then that's good for cooking, but not for dressing.
In the bottle they should mark the acidity. An extra virgin is always below 0.8º. Anything over 2º is not edible.

I've watched the sales and picked up a bit more extra virgin olive oil to keep us going in the veggie bake and stir fry department.

I've been using processed sunflower oil, in tiny amounts, as my "utility oil." It has no character, but it adds remarkable non-stick qualities to old ceramic or stainless steel pots and pans. These days I put a dab on my finger and rub the pan with sunflower, even if I'm frying with a different oil.

The longest-lived person of all time consumed a lot of olive oil. She put it on her face as a beauty treatment. 125 years. She also liked a bit of wine and chocolate. Personally, I'll stick with olive oil. It's cheaper than a doctor.