Soybean Oil substitute

Best substitute

Canola oil

Use the same amount as the soybean oil you are replacing

Best for baking

Close match

Any neutral oil replaces it exactly, 1:1, with no adjustment at all. Canola oil is the nearest twin in flavour, price and smoke point. A bottle labelled vegetable oil is very often literally soybean oil, so check what you already have before buying anything. Sunflower, safflower and corn oil are all straight swaps too, and refined peanut oil is the best choice if you are deep frying. Soybean oil's only job in a recipe is to be a cheap fat that tastes of nothing and takes high heat, so unlike most oils there is no flavour to try to recreate.

Other soybean oil substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Generic vegetable oil
Close match
Use the same amount
Worth putting near the top because the answer is often already in your cupboard.
What changes
Vegetable oil is a category rather than a single oil, and in North America the bottle usually contains soybean oil, sometimes blended with canola. So swapping one for the other is frequently swapping a product for itself. Absolutely no adjustment needed anywhere, in any recipe.
Best for
everything soybean oil is used for
If you are avoiding soy, read the label rather than trusting the word vegetable, because that bottle is very likely soy.
3Sunflower or safflower oil
Close match
Use the same amount
Both are clean, pale, neutral oils that behave like soybean oil in every application, and both are the default vegetable oil in large parts of Europe and the Middle East.
What changes
High-oleic versions are more heat-stable than soybean oil and are the better pick if you plan to reuse frying oil. Regular versions are marginally more prone to going off, so buy a size you will finish. In baking the difference is undetectable.
Best for
frying, baking, roasting, dressings, soy-free cooking
These are the natural choice if you are replacing soybean oil for allergy reasons, since neither is a common allergen.
4Corn oil
Close match
Use the same amount
A solid swap with a slightly bigger personality.
What changes
Corn oil is a touch heavier in the mouth than soybean oil and has a faint sweetness that is invisible in fried food and just detectable in a plain cake or a bare vinaigrette. Its smoke point is high, around 230C, and it is stable in a deep fryer, so it is a good pick for doughnuts, fried chicken and popcorn. In cornbread it is arguably an upgrade.
Best for
deep frying, cornbread, popcorn, fried fish, baking
The faint sweetness only matters in something delicate. If you are making a very plain vanilla cake, canola is the safer choice.
5Light or refined olive oil
Different taste
Use the same amount
A good swap that most people do not think of, because light olive oil has been refined to strip out the colour and the bitterness, leaving a mild oil with a high smoke point.
What changes
In a cake or muffin it contributes only the faintest fruitiness, and in shallow frying and roasting it is excellent. Use light or the plain-labelled pure olive oil rather than extra virgin, because extra virgin is peppery and bitter enough to change the taste of a sponge and turns harsh at frying heat.
Best for
baking, roasting, shallow frying, sauteing, mayonnaise
Light olive oil refers to flavour and colour, not calories. It has the same fat and energy as any other oil.
6Melted butter, in baking only
Different texture
use about 10 percent more butter than the oil called for
Not a like-for-like swap but often a delicious one in muffins, quick breads and brownies.
What changes
Butter is fifteen to twenty percent water, so measure a little extra to keep the fat content right, and expect three changes: the bake tastes richer and faintly nutty, the crust browns more because of the milk sugars, and the crumb is a shade firmer and less moist on day two, since oil keeps cakes soft longer than butter does. Do not use butter for frying at high heat, because the milk solids burn.
Best for
muffins, quick breads, brownies, cookies, cakes
Cool the melted butter slightly before mixing into a batter with eggs, or you will start cooking them.

What is Soybean Oil?

Soybean Oil is Soybean oil, also labelled soy oil or soya oil, is the pale, thin, refined and almost tasteless oil pressed from soybeans, and it is what most unlabelled bottles of vegetable oil actually contain.

Cooking tips

Check the bottle you already own before you buy anything. In North America, plain vegetable oil is usually soybean oil, so the substitute you are hunting for and the thing you are replacing are frequently the same product with different labelling.
Soybean oil is one of the most heat-tolerant everyday oils, with a refined smoke point around 230C or 450F, which is why restaurants fry in it. If a recipe specifically calls for it in deep frying, pick a substitute with a comparable smoke point such as peanut, corn or high-oleic sunflower rather than an unrefined oil.
Do not confuse soybean oil with anything else soy in the cupboard. It is not soy sauce, not soy lecithin and not sesame oil, and it contributes no soy flavour whatsoever. The oil is fully refined and tastes of nothing.
Because it is so neutral, soybean oil is the standard base for homemade mayonnaise and creamy dressings, where any flavour in the oil becomes very obvious. If you substitute, stay neutral. Extra virgin olive oil in a blender mayonnaise commonly turns bitter and metallic.
Highly refined soybean oil has the soy protein removed and is generally exempt from allergen labelling for that reason, while cold-pressed or expeller-pressed soybean oil can retain some protein. Anyone with a diagnosed soy allergy should follow the advice of their own allergist rather than a recipe site, and when in doubt sunflower or safflower oil sidesteps the question entirely.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave soybean oil out?

No, if it is the frying medium or the fat in a cake batter, because there the oil is doing structural work and something has to replace it. But you never need to, since there is no flavour to lose and any neutral oil substitutes exactly. If you are baking and want to cut fat rather than swap it, replacing up to half the oil with unsweetened applesauce or plain yoghurt works in muffins and quick breads, though the crumb comes out denser and gummier.

Is soybean oil the same as vegetable oil?

Usually, in practice. Vegetable oil is a generic label that can cover soybean, canola, corn, sunflower or a blend, and in the United States the most common contents are soybean oil or a soy and canola mix. That is why the two are interchangeable in every recipe with no adjustment. It also means that if you are avoiding soy, the word vegetable on a bottle tells you nothing useful and you have to read the ingredient list.

What is the best substitute for soybean oil in baking?

Canola oil, 1:1, with no other change. It is equally neutral and equally thin, so the crumb, the rise and the moisture all come out the same. Sunflower and light olive oil are also fine. If you would rather use butter, melt it and use about ten percent more by volume to account for the water in it, and expect a richer flavour and a slightly firmer crumb.

Can someone with a soy allergy eat soybean oil?

This is a question for an allergist, not a recipe site. What is well established is that highly refined soybean oil has the soy protein removed and is treated differently from soy protein in allergen labelling, while cold-pressed and expeller-pressed versions can retain protein. If you are cooking for someone with a soy allergy, the simple and safe move is to use sunflower, safflower or canola oil, which are straight 1:1 swaps.

Can I use olive oil instead of soybean oil?

Yes, and the choice of olive oil matters more than the swap itself. Light or refined olive oil is a clean 1:1 replacement for baking, sauteing and shallow frying. Extra virgin olive oil will make itself known: peppery and fruity in a cake, harsh and wasteful in a deep fryer, and often bitter in blender mayonnaise. For roasting vegetables, extra virgin is a genuine improvement.

Related substitutes

More oils & fats substitutes

Soybean Oil substitute

Other soybean oil substitutes

2Generic vegetable oil

3Sunflower or safflower oil

4Corn oil

5Light or refined olive oil

6Melted butter, in baking only