Why EVOO is The Best Fat to Cook With

Guest written by Giulia Crouch
Illustration by Dóra Berczi

There’s a persistent and pervasive myth when it comes to extra virgin olive oil: you shouldn’t cook with it.

You’ve probably heard that it’s got a “low” smoke point and “dangerous” by-products could result from heating it.

But is this actually true?

Try to tell it to an Italian nonna or Greek yiayia and they will laugh you out of the kitchen – as they proceed to shallow fry their fritters in some local “liquid gold”. 

The grandmas of the Mediterranean have cooked with extra virgin olive oil for generations — which helps explain why these communities consume far more of it than we do in the UK.

For example, Italians consume around 9-10 litres of olive oil per person each year, Spaniards 10-11 litres, and the Greeks the most — 12-13 litres annually. By contrast, in the UK, consumption is estimated at less than 1 litre per person per year — similar to the United States.

This shows that in the Mediterranean, people aren’t shy about cooking with olive oil. It’s a fundamental part of the Mediterranean Diet, widely regarded as one of the healthiest ways of eating in the world. In fact, two of the world’s “blue zones” — Ikaria in Greece and Sardinia in Italy — use substantial amounts of EVOO in their traditional cuisine and enjoy long, healthy lives.

“Numerous studies such as the Predimed research project in Spain have shown the benefits of a Mediterranean Diet which incorporates two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil each day, rich in polyphenol antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds,” leading authority on olive oil and the Med Diet, Dr Simon Poole, told Honest Toil. “The relative risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia are reduced by approximately a third, with type 2 diabetes and breast cancer risk seen to be reduced by fifty percent. These well documented results show the extraordinary power of the Mediterranean Diet, and the contribution of extra virgin olive oil, which as a single ingredient is unparalleled in its ubiquitous presence in the kitchen and on the table.”

So, can it really be dangerous or is this just a well-circulated but misguided myth?

Let’s break it down.

What’s a smoke point?

The smoke point of any fat — whether sunflower oil, butter, or extra virgin olive oil — is the temperature at which it begins to visibly smoke and emit a burning, acrid smell. At this stage, some of the fat is chemically breaking down, and the risk of oxidation increases. If the fat is overheated for a prolonged period, this can produce potentially harmful compounds.

Different fats have different smoke points. Here are some commonly used ones:

• Sunflower oil: 225°C
• Butter: 175°C
• Rapeseed oil: 205°C
• Vegetable oil (blend of seed/corn oils): 240°C
• Coconut oil: 175°C
• Beef fat: 205°C
• Ghee: 250°C
• Lard: 190°C
• Virgin olive oil: 200°C
• Refined olive oil: 240°C

How does this compare to extra virgin olive oil? Depending on a few factors, the smoke point of EVOO is between 190-220°C.

Compared to refined seed oils, it has a lower smoke point — but it’s not low.

In fact, it’s on the higher end of the spectrum and it’s perfectly adequate for all domestic cooking. Frying and shallow-frying vegetables is between 160-180°C, roasting normally gets up to a maximum of 220°C, deep-frying gets up to 180°C and even searing a steak only requires temperatures of between 200-220°C for the perfect result.

But, crucially, while pushing your EVOO past its smoke point may compromise some of its flavour, as the Michelin Guide says, its smoke point is not a “reliable marker of quality or safety”.

Despite its “low” smoke point, EVOO is remarkably heat-stable

“Even though extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has a relatively low smoke point compared with some refined oils, that doesn’t tell the full story,” medical scientist, researcher and nutritionist, Dr Federica Amati, told Honest Toil.

“What really matters is how stable an oil is when it’s heated, and EVOO performs exceptionally well here. Olive oil is not only safe to cook with, it’s one of the best choices we have.”

The first reason for EVOO’s oxidative stability is because it’s rich in monounsaturated fats — particularly oleic acid (which typically makes up 70 per cent) — which are far less prone to oxidation than polyunsaturated fats, explains Dr Amati.

At a chemical level, the more double bonds a fat contains, the less stable it is when heated. Polyunsaturated fats — such as flaxseed or walnut oil — contain multiple double bonds, which makes them particularly prone to oxidation.

Monounsaturated fats, by contrast, have just one double bond (“mono”), making them far more stable under heat. But EVOO has another advantage.

Another reason it’s very heat-stable is because it’s full of polyphenols. These clever, antioxidant plant chemicals are not only good for our health, they also protect the oil from oxidation. And the higher the polyphenol content of an oil, the more heat-stable it is.

One study deep fried different olive oils and found that it wasn’t until they’d been frying for 24-27 hours that they reached the legal limit of degradation. Vegetable oil, on the other hand, only lasted 15 hours. 

The researchers concluded that: “The chemical composition of olive oils, particularly the amount of natural antioxidants, are important parameters in their predictive behavior along the frying process, but mostly that olive oil is clearly resistant to frying conditions, independently to the commercial category chosen.”

Another study found that even refined olive oil was a better choice than common seed oils (sunflower, soybean, and corn) because even after repeated frying, it maintained both chemical stability and nutritional quality better than seed oils.

Extra virgin olive oil holds onto much of its goodness when heated

Another remarkable thing about cooking with extra virgin olive oil is that even after being heated for long periods — far longer than we’d ever use in home cooking — it retains most of its healthy compounds. One study heated two types of EVOO at 180°C for 36 hours and found that while they lost some of their polyphenol content, the oils “maintained most of its minor compounds and, therefore, most of its nutritional properties”. 

“Research consistently shows that when EVOO is heated at typical home-cooking temperatures — around 120 to 200°C — it retains much of its nutritional value,” says Dr Amati. “While some polyphenols are lost, the reductions are generally modest and depend on factors like temperature, cooking time, and the olive variety used.”

So not only is extra virgin olive oil resistant to breaking down into harmful compounds, it also holds onto much of its nutritional value when heated. And the good news doesn’t end there.

Cooking with EVOO can up the antioxidant capacity of vegetables 

While sautéing or frying is often assumed to be unhealthy, cooking vegetables in olive oil can actually help preserve — and even enhance — their nutritional value.

When vegetables are boiled, many water-soluble phytonutrients leach out into the cooking water. Unless that liquid is consumed, much of their nutritional value is lost.

By contrast, cooking vegetables in oil helps keep fat-soluble compounds in the food itself. And when that oil is extra virgin olive oil — an especially rich source of polyphenols — the effect goes a step further. Polyphenols from the oil transfer into the vegetables during cooking, increasing the dish’s overall phenolic content, as demonstrated by this study. 

As Dr Amati explains, this transfer “increases the overall antioxidant capacity of a dish.”

So, get cooking!

In conclusion, the idea that you shouldn’t cook with extra virgin olive oil is a myth and one that’s scared people off accessing this wonderful, healthy ingredient for far too long.

As the International Olive Council notes: “Olive oil is ideal for frying. In proper temperature conditions, without over-heating, it undergoes no substantial structural change and keeps its nutritional value better than other oils, not only because of the antioxidants but also due to its high levels of oleic acid. Its high smoking point is substantially higher than the ideal temperature for frying food (180ºC). Those fats with lower critical points, such as corn and butter, break down at this temperature and form toxic products.”

So far from being dangerous when heated, EVOO is one of the safest fats to use, and, undoubtedly, the healthiest.

As leading olive oil expert, Dr Simon Poole, puts it: “I used to simply advise that it is safe to cook with olive oil, now I advise that it is actually highly desirable. If it were unsafe to cook with olive oil, the Mediterranean Diet would not achieve its status as one of the healthiest patterns of eating because preparing and cooking foods with olive oil is absolutely central and commonplace in the diet.”

So yes: grab your Honest Toil and cook with it. Generously! It’s heat-stable, incredibly healthy — and it makes your food taste better.