Avocado oil is a great option for people who are looking for healthy cooking oils. It’s got a ton of great nutritional benefits, has a mild almost neutral taste, and it has a high smoke point that makes it very versatile in cooking.
However, sometimes avocado oil isn’t available or isn’t a good option. If you don’t like the flavor or texture of avocado oil there are good alternatives. You can also use these substitutions if you or someone you’re cooking for has an avocado allergy.
Here are some common avocado oil substitutions you can use in your cooking anytime you want to.
Avocado Oil Substitutes You Can Use At Home
There are a lot of potential avocado oil substitutions that you can use. It’s important to think about things like the cooking temperature the oil can handle, as well as the flavor and health benefits or consequences of your different options.
Peanut Oil
Peanut oil is a fantastic avocado oil substitute in most aspects. It’s one of the most flavorless oils out there, has a high smoke point, is good for frying, and works as an oil substitute in most cases.
However, peanut oil can cause a reaction in people who have a peanut allergy and doesn’t have the same benefits as avocado oil from a health perspective.
It’s also worth thinking about how much peanut oil you want to get before you choose this substitute. Smaller containers of peanut oil can be hard to find since it’s such a common oil for frying. Large containers are good, but the oil can go rancid or stale before you finish using it.
Sunflower Oil
Sunflower oil is a good option for people who love the health benefits of avocado oil but are looking for a different oil to cook with. It can be a little more expensive than some alternatives, but the taste and benefits are worth it for fans.
Sunflower oil is also a fantastic choice for salad dressings and vinaigrettes since sunflower oil has its own pleasant flavor and also tends to heighten the flavor of other ingredients.
This oil also has one of the highest smoke points, with 450 degrees Fahrenheit as its maximum temp.
Speaking of health benefits, if you’re looking for more ways to make your cooking healthier, these tips and tricks can help.
Grapeseed Oil
Grapeseed oil is another common cooking oil, and, like avocado oil, it has a lighter flavor and is more neutral than many oils. Grapeseed oil is especially popular in salad dressings or adding to sandwiches, in part because it has a slightly sweet taste rather than the slightly bitter flavor of many other oils.
It’s also high in antioxidants and other nutrients. So, while the nutritional profile is different from avocado oil or olive oil, it’s still a safe and healthy alternative to heavier fats.
Grapeseed oil also has the advantage of having a higher smoke point, so it’s good for frying and sautéing, and can handle high-heat cooking like stir-fries.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is another common substitute and is one of the most common cooking oils you can get. However, there are drawbacks. For one thing, olive oil has a lower smoke-point, which means that it can’t handle as much heat as avocado oil can.
You can increase the smoke point slightly by choosing extra virgin olive oil, which is the oil harvested from the very first pressing of the olives, but it’s still lower than avocado oil.
Olive oil also has a much stronger and more distinctive flavor, and extra virgin olive oil has even more flavor.
You want to use about ½ the amount of olive oil as you would use avocado oil, because of the stronger flavor. But, that might not offer enough fat or frying grease for some recipes.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is another good option, and, like grapeseed oil, it’s got a slightly sweet flavor that makes it a favorite for sweeter cooking and baking. However, it’s got a stronger flavor than avocado oil or grapeseed oil, though much milder than olive oil.
Some people worry about the health consequences of eating coconut oil since coconut oil tends to have more fats than some other oils like olive oil. However, like avocado oil, it’s high primarily in good fats, and relatively low in the more harmful forms of fats associated with weight gain and circulatory health challenges.
Coconut oil is good for 1:1 replacement for avocado oil in lower heat applications, but it has a lower smoke point. It’s not good for anyone who wants to use high-heat cooking.
Ghee
Ghee is a form of clarified butter, commonly used in Indian and other Southeast Asian cooking. Ghee does have a strong butter flavor, but it tends to be nuttier and slightly smoky tasting compared with other forms of butter.
The process of making ghee removes the majority of the milk solids that remain in butter, though different brands do remove more or less of the milk solids. It’s a good idea to look at the details behind the brands you buy since some brands sell a lower quality ghee with more milk solids. That kind of ghee has a lower temperature tolerance, while ghee with most of the milk solids removed are good for medium-high to high-heat cooking.
Macadamia Nut Oil
Macadamia nut oils are another good option, though they can be more expensive than some of the other replacements we’ve discussed in this article. Macadamia nuts are in high demand for coffees and products like Nutella, which can drive the price of the oil higher.
This oil has a high-temperature tolerance and a higher smoke point than many oils, able to handle temperatures up to 410 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s a good option for both cooking and baking.
Macadamia nut oil does have a nutty, creamy taste that is neither sweet nor bitter. It’s also considered a heart-healthy oil, so it can be a good option for people who are looking to improve their cardiovascular health without cutting fats out of their diet.
The strong flavor does mean that you might want to mix this oil with another oil if you don’t want to change the flavor of your cooking.
Vegetable Oil
Vegetable oil is one of the most universal cooking oils and is often used as a substitute for other more specialized oils because of its highly versatile nature.
However, this oil is well-named because, unlike most other oils, it doesn’t have a single source. Instead, vegetable oils are a combination of other oils, including corn oil, safflower oil, canola oil, and sometimes others. Different brands can have a different ingredient list and different proportions, which means that the taste and texture of the vegetable oil can vary from brand to brand.
That also means that there can be variability in how well vegetable oil performs in your cooking.
Generally, vegetable oil is formulated to have a high smoke point, around 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and also has a very neutral flavor. It can add a sense of fattiness to your cooking, but otherwise shouldn’t alter the taste.
Canola Oil
Canola oil might be a little controversial, but it is a good substitute for avocado oil. Like avocado oil, canola oil has a very light taste and is one of the more neutral oil options out there. It also has a high smoke point at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, which is great because it means that it works for stir-fry, deep frying, and other high-temperature cooking.
It’s also a good option for high-temperature baking and won’t turn bitter or sour even at higher temperatures.
Canola oil can also help your cooking feel lighter because it naturally has a thinner texture than most oils. Rather than feeling greasy, it’s just light and thin.
Canola oil also has a low percentage of saturated fats, which are the more dangerous form of fats, which makes it work well in healthy cooking.
Sesame Oil
Sesame oil is another good substitute for avocado oil, depending on what you want to use it in. Sesame oil has a strong and distinctive flavor and can be used to add a lot of umami to your meal. It’s got a rich nutty flavor and is the main flavoring component that is used in sesame-flavored foods, rather than the sesame seeds themselves.
Sesame oil is also a good option for high-heat cooking since it has a high smoke point and handles higher temperatures well.
Lastly, you might want to consider sesame oil as a substitute for avocado oil in baking since they have a very similar combination of fats and other nutrients. However, because sesame has a stronger flavor, it’s best for cooking that won’t suffer from some added umami. This oil is perfect for Asian cooking and adds familiar flavors to Chinese cooking in particular. Speaking of Chinese cooking, sesame oil is perfect for our Chinese Shrimp recipes!
