The first ingredient you reach for in the kitchen is often oil. It helps food cook evenly, adds flavour, stops it sticking and brings an attractive sheen to the dish. But which is the right oil? The choice and differences can be overwhelming. Read on to learn how oils are made, how to use them in recipes, understand the smoking point (the temperature you can heat the oil before it burns) and the flavour profile of different oils, so you can choose the best oil for the job.

When you're shopping for oils, cold-pressed is generally more desirable and expensive than refined oil. Cold-pressed oil, as the name suggests, does not involve heat extraction processes which can reduce the quality and nutritional value of the oil. It is expensive because it’s slower, less efficient and leaves oil remaining in the seed or plant after processing. Refined oil uses heat and chemicals including hexane and lye to extract more oil and is often used for large scale production.

One of the most common cooking oils in Mediterranean-style cooking, olive oil is made by crushing olives into a paste and pressing them to extract the oil. Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is cold-pressed, which means there’s no heat involved, resulting in a grassy oil with a peppery flavour. Cold-pressed oil that doesn't meet extra-virgin criteria is neutralised and refined to remove impurities; this lighter oil is labelled as light olive oil or cooking olive oil and is cheaper than EVOO.

Light olive oil has a neutral flavour and is best for general cooking as it has a high smoke point of 240˚C (470˚F). However, it isn't suitable for deep frying because of its thicker consistency. Extra virgin olive oil has a strong, distinctive flavour that's best for dips, salad dressings and drizzling. Flavours vary – some are fruity, others quite peppery. Try our potato salad, dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Get the recipe for warm new potato salad here

Light olive oil is your go-to oil for cooking, especially in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern recipes. Our Palestinian dish for roast okra with spicy tomato sauce uses it to perfection, and will dispel any myths about slimy okra. The trick is not to trim it too much – it's the release of the seeds which makes it gloopy.

Get the recipe for roast okra with spicy tomato sauce here

Vegetable oil is neutral in flavour and pale in colour. It’s made from crushed fruits, seeds, grains, and nuts (so not really vegetables at all), including corn, palm-kernel, safflower, soybean or sunflower seeds. These are mixed with hexane to extract the oil, solids are removed for animal feed and the remaining crude oil is distilled, refined, filtered, heated and deodorised until it is ready to use.

Reach for the vegetable oil when you need a versatile, neutral oil for cooking. It’s too neutral for drizzling or finishing dishes. Vegetable oil has a smoking point of 220°C (428°F) which is suitable for deep frying, and it’s useful for pan-frying anything from aromatics and vegetables to eggs and meat. Cook our spicy kidney bean and sweet potato stew, served with cooling yogurt and an aromatic mint oil

Get the recipe for kidney bean and sweet potato stew here

Sunflower oil can be cold-pressed and unrefined, however most commercial sunflower oil is heated and chemically treated to produce a pale, golden, neutral oil. Sunflower seeds are heated, pressed, and mixed with hexane. The oil is boiled to evaporate the hexane, and then processed with lye to neutralize the flavour, before being steamed and heated again.

Sunflower oil is a good all-purpose oil. It can be used for shallow or deep frying as it has a high smoking point of 232°C (450°F). It balances out stronger flavoured oils in a vinaigrette, but it doesn't have a distinctive enough taste for drizzling or finishing. Sunflower oil is great in both sweet and savoury dishes, and is a must in a classic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

Get the recipe for carrot cake here

Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, but quickly melts to a liquid when heated to 24°C (76°F). It is extracted from the fleshy, white kernel inside coconuts and is pale with a strong and distinctive coconut flavour. It's also high in antioxidants, and popular in vegan cooking. Much like olive oil, it is sold as virgin (cold-pressed, more expensive) or refined, however there are no industry-wide criteria to recognise these labels.

Unrefined coconut oil has a low smoking point of 177°C (350°F) which makes it more suitable for baking. It can be melted for baking, , and is often used to add flavour to curries. Refined coconut oil has a much higher smoke point of 232°C (450°F), which makes it well-suited for making stir-fries. We love it in this light sponge, with chunks of roasted mango.

Get the recipe for coconut and mango yogurt cake here

Not strictly speaking an oil, ghee is clarified butter that is solid at room temperature and melts to a liquid once heated. It is used as an oil in south and middle eastern Asian countries, especially India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Ghee is made by melting butter and separating the liquid fat from the milk solids. 

Read our complete guide on cooking with ghee here

Ghee has a rich, buttery flavour and high smoking point of 251°C (485°F). It’s versatile and can be substituted for oil and sometimes butter in many recipes. Ghee makes buttery, fresh chapati or delicious curries. Heating aromatics in a flavourful fat like ghee will also add extra depth of flavour to the dish, just like in our fragrant turmeric and lime mussel broth recipe. 

Get the recipe for turmeric and lime mussel broth here

Rapeseed oil is made by pressing and extracting oil from the seeds of bright yellow rapeseed flower. Some British chefs prefer to use refined rapeseed oil over olive oil, because it uses more local ingredients. In the US, rapeseed oil is similar to canola oil; they come from the same family, where the canola plant was developed through cross-breeding with the rapeseed plant. 

Rapeseed oil can be used in place of olive oil, vegetable or sunflower oil. It has enough flavour to bring interest to a salad dressing, but it’s neutral enough to work in dark chocolate brownies. Refined rapeseed oil has a high smoking point of 220°C (430°F), whereas unrefined cold-pressed smokes at 150°C (300°F) and is better suited to dressings and drizzles. Rapeseed oil is also a great oil to infuse with spice then use in our tandoori chicken.

Get the recipe for tandoori chicken here

Grapeseed oil is extracted from the grape seeds after the fruit has been juiced. It’s a useful by-product of winemaking that’s considered a healthier alternative to vegetable oil. It can be cold-pressed or extracted using chemicals much like vegetable, olive and sunflower oils.

Use grapeseed oil for shallow frying as it has a moderately high smoking point of 216°C (421 °F). It is light and odorless, so many chefs prefer it to other oils to let other ingredients shine whilst still carrying flavour. It works a treat in our hot dog recipe, where it's used for sauerkraut and caramelised onions.

Get the recipe for hot dogs here

There are two types of sesame oil to use in cooking. One is made from raw sesame seeds, has a relatively high smoke point so handy for stir-fries and noodle dishes. The other is made from toasted (or roasted) sesame seeds, is dark in colour and a very different oil with its complex flavour. It's quite strong, so should be used sparingly as a condiment rather than an oil for frying.

Whereas untested sesame oil can be used in cooking instead of peanut or sunflower oil, toasted sesame oil is used as a final drizzle or as a dressing. It's strong and, although expensive, you only need a little. In our roasted red cabbage recipe, it's in a Japanese-style dressing with savoury miso paste and sweet mirin.

Get the recipe for sesame miso roasted red cabbage here

Walnut oil is extracted from fresh walnuts by crushing the nuts to a paste before extracting the oil. Cold-pressed, unrefined is the best quality. Walnut oil, like other nut and seed oils, can turn rancid if exposed to light or not used within date, so it’s best to buy smaller bottles.

Walnut oil is a finishing oil or is used in salad dressings. It shouldn't be heated which would destroy its intense, nutty flavour. In our recipe for devilled eggs, the retro canapé is given a makeover by combining the walnut oil with tahini, lemon and za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend of dried oregano, thyme, sumac and sesame seeds.

Get the recipe for devilled eggs here here

Also known as groundnut oil, peanut oil is a mild-tasting vegetable oil derived from peanuts. It is mass-produced as a neutral oil suitable for deep-frying, though there are oils made from roasted peanuts, which are stronger in taste, or unrefined organic oils made from one cold press.

Unrefined peanut oil has a smoke point of 160°C (320°F) and is used as a finishing oil, much like sesame oil. Refined peanut oil is more stable and has a higher smoke point of 232°C (450°F), which makes it suitable for deep fat frying. For peanut lovers, try it in our recipe for seared lamb cutlets in a peanut sauce. It's spicy and aromatic, with a lovely crunch from roasted peanuts.

Get the recipe for lamb cutlets with peanut sauce here

Avocado oil is made by pressing the pulp or green fleshy part of avocados. The fruit is washed, peeled and the stone removed, then processed in a vat to make a smooth avocado purée. The vat is spun using a centrifugal process, which forces oil and water out of the pulp. They are separated to leave unrefined avocado oil.

Avocado oil has the highest smoke point of any oil at 271°C (520°F), which makes it suitable for cooking at high temperatures – although it's expensive, so it’s more commonly used as a finishing oil. It's high in monounsaturated fats, and can be used in anything from salad dressings to baking where olive oil or vegetable oil is used.

Rice bran oil is a byproduct of the rice milling process which converts brown to white rice. The outer husk is removed to make brown rice, and when the brown bran and rice germ layer are removed, it leaves a white rice grain. Rice bran oil is extracted from the bran and germ, and then refined and filtered to create a pale, golden oil.

With a high smoke point of 232°C (450 °F) and mild flavor, rice bran oil is often used for high-temperature cooking like deep-frying or stir-fries. It is also useful to season woks or cast iron pans, because of its high smoke point. It has a nutty, slightly sweet flavour so it works well in salad dressings.

Hempseed oil, or hemp oil, is made by pressing hemp seeds. The oil is extracted and cold-pressed for unrefined hemp oil, which is dark green with a nutty taste. The darker the colour, the grassier the flavour. Refined hemp oil is clear with little flavour and is often used in beauty products.

You will typically find unrefined hemp oil in health food shops. Because of its nutritional properties – it helps to reduce cholesterol – it is usually a finishing oil. It works particularly well in salads, so try our health-boosting spiralized vegetable salad which is full of vitamins and minerals.

Get the recipe for vegetable salad here

You can buy infused oil, but it's really simple to make your own at home. Light olive oil is often used as a base for chilli oil, as it’s a good finishing oil for pasta and pizza, but any neutral oil, such as peanut or sunflower, will carry the infused flavour and transform a dish. 

Get the recipe for chilli oil here

Palm oil is a vegetable oil made from the fruit of oil palm trees. It’s most commonly found in mass-produced foods like chocolate and margarine, as well as shampoo and makeup. Mass produced palm oil is severely destructive to the environment and it's best to avoid products containing palm oil as much as possible. You can still buy sustainable cold-pressed palm oil to cook traditional recipes from West Africa, Indonesia or Malaysia where palm oil trees grow.