What to replace sunflower oil when frying: 5 useful products to replace vegetable oil

general practitioner, ex-director of the Hillel Foundation in Saratov

For many recipes, sunflower oil is a must-have ingredient, as it has a neutral flavor and is safe for health when fried at high temperatures. But if for some reason you are looking for an alternative to the product, we suggest considering other good options.

Smoke point

When evaluating the properties of oils, we often hear that it has a high or low smoke point. This is the temperature at which the oil breaks down and is no longer fit to eat. At this point, the product begins to smoke in the dish. Free radicals increase, which have been linked to an increased risk of cancer.

Vegetable oil is excellent for frying: refined sunflower oil has a smoking point of 232 degrees Celsius. It is better to give preference to the product, which has a smoke point of 160 degrees and more, as for the formation of a ruddy crust, the temperature in the frying pan will not be lower than 140 degrees.

Interesting fact: cooking temperatures are known thanks to the Maillard reaction, a French chemist and physician. This study of the reactions between amino acids (the substances that make up proteins) and sugars gave insight into the temperatures at which the familiar smell, color, and taste of cooked food occurs.

Alternatives to sunflower oil

Rapeseed oil

Smoke point: 190-230 degrees Celsius.

Rapeseed oil is also called canola oil (it is an oil made from Canadian rapeseed). It is a good choice for cooking.

The product has almost no flavor and is low in saturated fat. Use cold-pressed rapeseed oil for high heat frying.

Avocado oil

Smoke point: 271 degrees Celsius.

This oil is made from avocado pulp and is especially good for heart health. It has a surprisingly high smoking point and a neutral flavor similar to that of the fruit itself. The only downside: the product tends to be more expensive, so substitutions won’t work out economically.

Olive oil

Smoke point: up to 240 degrees Celsius (it is affected by the degree of refining).

What will happen if you replace mayonnaise with olive oil, told in the material.

Olive oil is a great addition to salad dressings because of its deep flavor. Mostly composed of healthy unsaturated fatty acids, the smoke point is very high, making olive oil a good choice for frying. Try to choose first cold-pressed oil with minimal acidity.

Ghee oil

Smoke point: from 190 degrees Celsius.

Comes to us from Indian cuisine. It looks like ordinary clarified butter, but differs in the way of preparation: in order to get ghee oil, butter should be evaporated for two hours.

The product can be prepared even at home. It has a pleasant structure, nutty flavor and many useful properties (starting from the content of vitamin K, positively affecting the health of teeth and bones).

Coconut oil

Smoke point: 204 degrees Celsius (refined).

Which butter is healthier – 82.5% or 72.5% butterfat? You can find the answer here.

Because of its relatively high smoke point, refined coconut oil is great for inclusion in almost any recipe. The product should be melted before you start cooking, as it naturally has a solid consistency at room temperature.