Vegetable oil substitutes

Refined rapeseed oil: the same flavourless liquid fat with the same 400-450F (205-230C) working range, which is why much of what is sold as vegetable oil is partly or wholly this anyway.

Amount

1 cup canola oil for 1 cup vegetable oil

Best for

any recipe at all, baking or frying, where you want no flavour of its own, when you want the swap nobody at the table will detect

Texture

identical

Look

identical, including how deeply fried food browns

Prep

Measure and use exactly as the recipe says.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Nothing to change. Same volume, same heat range, no other adjustments needed.

This is the one genuinely invisible swap on the page. If you have canola oil, stop reading and use it.

Another refined seed oil with no flavour and a smoke point around 440F (225C) in its high-oleic form, which covers everything vegetable oil is used for.

Amount

1 cup sunflower oil for 1 cup vegetable oil

Best for

when canola is not in the cupboard but sunflower is, deep frying, where its high smoke point gives comfortable headroom

Texture

identical

Look

identical

Prep

Check the label says refined rather than cold-pressed.

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Nothing to change. Refined safflower oil behaves the same way and swaps in on the same terms.

Cold-pressed sunflower oil is a different product with a definite seedy flavour and a lower smoke point. The ordinary refined bottle is the one that swaps invisibly.

Olive oil that has been refined, which strips out most of the olive flavour and raises the smoke point to about 465F (240C), making it the highest-heat option most kitchens already own.

Amount

1 cup light or refined olive oil for 1 cup vegetable oil

Best for

baking, when the only oil in the house is olive oil, shallow and deep frying at high temperatures, when you want a very faint fruitiness rather than none

Taste

a faint fruitiness in a plain vanilla cake; undetectable in anything chocolate or spiced

Texture

identical

Look

the batter is slightly more golden; the finished crumb looks the same

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Buy the bottle labelled light, refined, pure or simply olive oil, not extra virgin. The word light refers to the flavour, not the calories.
2. 02In a delicate white or vanilla cake, expect a trace of olive flavour. In chocolate, spice or citrus bakes you will not notice it at all.

Refined olive oil has the highest smoke point of the common household oils, which makes it a better frying oil than most people assume.

Use the refined grade. Extra virgin will make a plain cake taste distinctly of olives.

A refined fruit oil with the highest smoke point of the lot, roughly 500F (260C), and a mild buttery character that disappears in a bake.

Amount

1 cup refined avocado oil for 1 cup vegetable oil

Best for

searing in a screaming hot pan, where anything else would smoke, when you want a neutral oil that will not break down over a long fry

Texture

identical

Look

identical, with less smoke coming off the pan

Prep

Refined, not cold-pressed, for high heat.

Pantry

Special trip

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Nothing to change on the amount. It is the priciest oil here, so save it for the pan rather than the cake.

Its selling point is heat, not flavour. If nothing in your recipe goes above 400F, canola does the same job for a fraction of the price.

A clean, thin, flavourless oil with a smoke point around 420F (215C) and a lighter body than canola, which matters in a dressing and not at all in a cake.

Amount

1 cup grapeseed oil for 1 cup vegetable oil

Best for

vinaigrettes and mayonnaise, where its thin body is an advantage, stir-frying and pan-searing up to about 400F

Texture

a shade lighter on the palate in a raw dressing

Look

identical

Pantry

Special trip

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Nothing to change on the amount. It is thinner than vegetable oil, which you will feel in an emulsified dressing but not in a batter.

Its light body is the reason restaurant kitchens reach for it in dressings and homemade mayonnaise.

Refined groundnut oil with a smoke point around 450F (230C) and enough body that it is the traditional choice for deep frying chicken and turkey.

Amount

1 cup refined peanut oil for 1 cup vegetable oil

Best for

deep frying, where its stability over a long fry is the point, wok cooking at high heat

Texture

identical

Look

identical, with a slightly crisper fried crust over a long fry

Prep

Check the bottle says refined if you are frying.

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free

Contains

peanuts

1. 01Nothing to change on the amount, but tell anyone you are cooking for. This is a peanut product.
2. 02Use refined peanut oil for frying; the cold-pressed kind tastes strongly of peanuts and smokes lower.

The reason to choose it is that it holds up over repeated frying better than most seed oils do.

Not an option where anyone may have a peanut allergy, even refined.

Only about 80% fat, so you need a quarter more of it, and it brings milk solids that brown and a dairy flavour the oil was not providing.

Amount

1 ¼ cups butter, melted and cooled slightly for 1 cup vegetable oil

Then

let it cool to just warm before adding it to eggs, or it will start to cook them

Best for

brownies, muffins and quick breads you want to taste richer, when the oil has run out but there is butter in the fridge, shallow frying at moderate heat where you want a buttery flavour

Texture

the crumb firms up in the fridge, where the oil version stays soft

Look

the top browns deeper and more golden, and the crumb looks a shade yellower

Prep

Melt, then let it stand 5 minutes so it is warm rather than hot.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegetarian

Contains

dairy

1. 01Use 1 ¼ cups melted butter per cup of oil, because butter is 80% fat and oil is 100%.
2. 02Cool it to lukewarm before it meets the eggs.
3. 03For frying, keep the heat at medium: butter's milk solids blacken at about 300F (150C), which is well below oil's range.

The one real trade-off is fridge texture. Oil stays liquid at 40F while butter goes hard, which is exactly why oil cakes still taste soft on day three.

Not for deep frying, and not where the cake has to be served cold and soft.

Unrefined olive juice as well as oil, so it carries a peppery, grassy, sometimes bitter flavour and a smoke point of about 375-405F (190-207C), lower than refined oils but higher than most home cooking needs.

Amount

1 cup extra virgin olive oil for 1 cup vegetable oil

Best for

savoury cooking of any kind, where the olive flavour is welcome, dressings, marinades and anything raw, chocolate, citrus or olive oil cakes, where the flavour is the point

Texture

identical

Look

batters and dressings turn a green-gold colour rather than pale yellow

Prep

Taste a drop first, so you know how strong the oil you are about to bake with is.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Cup for cup, but taste the oil first. A peppery, bitter oil will come through clearly in a plain vanilla cake.
2. 02Keep the pan below about 375F (190C). For a hard sear or deep frying, use a refined oil instead.

The old claim that extra virgin olive oil cannot be cooked with is overstated. It handles ordinary sauteing and roasting fine; what it cannot do is deep frying, and it will not hide in a plain cake.

Savoury food, and sweet bakes where the flavour is deliberate. Not for deep frying and not for a delicate vanilla cake.

A 100% fat that is liquid above 76F (24C) and solid below it, which means it measures like oil and behaves like a solid fat once the dish cools.

Amount

1 cup coconut oil, melted and measured liquid for 1 cup vegetable oil

Then

warm the other wet ingredients to room temperature first, or the oil will set into hard flecks on contact

Best for

vegan bakes where you want a firmer, crisper result, granola and anything you want to set crunchy as it cools, when it is the only oil in the cupboard

Texture

firmer and crisper once cool, because the fat solidifies below 76F

Look

muffins and cakes look the same warm, but go noticeably harder and drier-looking in the fridge

Prep

Melt gently, cool to just warm, and add to room-temperature wet ingredients.

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free

Contains

coconut

1. 01Melt it and measure it liquid, or 1 cup will not be 1 cup.
2. 02Bring cold eggs, milk or yogurt to room temperature first. Melted coconut oil hitting a cold bowl seizes into white specks that never blend back in.
3. 03Use refined coconut oil if you do not want a coconut flavour; virgin coconut oil tastes clearly of coconut and smokes at about 350F (175C).

The 76F melting point is the catch that surprises people: the batter behaves like an oil batter and the finished cake behaves like a butter cake.

Never in a dressing that will be refrigerated: it sets into a solid white block. Avoid it in anything you will serve cold and expect to be soft.

Water, sugar and pectin with no fat at all, which is why it can add wetness to a batter and cannot do the tenderising the oil was doing.

Amount

½ cup unsweetened applesauce plus ½ cup oil for 1 cup vegetable oil

Best for

halving the fat in a muffin, spice cake or quick bread, bakes where a damper, denser crumb is acceptable

Texture

wetter and gummier, closer to a steamed pudding than a cake

Look

the top stays paler and flatter, and the crumb looks close and damp rather than open

Prep

Whisk it into the wet ingredients with the remaining oil.

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free

1. 01Replace at most half the oil: ½ cup applesauce plus ½ cup oil per cup called for.
2. 02Use unsweetened. If yours is sweetened, cut the recipe's sugar by 2 tbsp per ½ cup used.
3. 03Bake about 5 minutes longer and test with a skewer, because the extra water slows the centre down.

The reason all-applesauce bakes disappoint is not moisture but tenderness: with no fat coating the flour, the gluten develops fully and the crumb goes tough.

Half the oil at most, and only in muffins, quick breads and soft cakes. Never in a fried dish, a pastry or a dressing.

Roughly as wet as applesauce, with a flavour there is no hiding, so it works where banana belongs and nowhere else.

Amount

½ cup mashed very ripe banana plus ½ cup oil for 1 cup vegetable oil

Then

mash it completely smooth, or wet streaks show up through the crumb

Best for

banana bread, spice muffins and oat bakes where banana suits the flavour, using up overripe bananas while cutting some of the fat

Texture

moist and dense with a slightly sticky crumb

Look

the crumb darkens and can look grey-brown near the edges

Prep

Mash with a fork until no lumps remain, then whisk into the wet ingredients.

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free

1. 01Replace at most half the oil.
2. 02Use bananas whose skins are black-spotted. Underripe ones taste starchy and will not mash smooth.
3. 03Banana is sweet, so cut the recipe's sugar by 2 tbsp per ½ cup used.

Banana browns the crumb as well as flavouring it, so a pale vanilla cake made this way will not look like the picture in the recipe.

Half the oil at most, and only where banana belongs in the finished flavour.

Not a fat at all, so it cannot brown anything and cannot tenderise a crumb, but it will stop onions catching in a dry pan.

Amount

2-3 tbsp water or broth, added a splash at a time as the pan dries for 1 tbsp vegetable oil for sauteing

Best for

softening onions, garlic or greens when there is no fat in the house

Texture

vegetables go soft and slippery rather than golden and caramelised

Look

everything stays pale and wet-looking, with no colour on the pan or the food

Prep

Have the water or broth to hand and add a tablespoon whenever the pan looks dry.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Add a splash at a time and keep the pan moving; the food steams rather than fries, so it will take a few minutes longer.
2. 02Never put water in a batter in place of oil. There is nothing to coat the flour and the bake will be tough and pale.

Listed here because people search for it. It is a real technique for softening vegetables and nothing more.

A pan technique for vegetables only. It is not a substitute for oil in any bake, batter, dressing or fried dish.