Discover Healthier Cooking Techniques with EVOO

Are you looking to elevate the healthiness of your favorite dishes but don’t want to compromise on flavor? Enter: olive oil. 

Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, is often known as one of the healthiest cooking oils to use. With its rich lineup of benefits, it’s long been called a health hero. One of its many perks is that it can be used in the kitchen to replace other unhealthy fats, boosting your overall nutrition.

Let’s discover just how olive oil can help elevate the quality and flavor of your dishes. 

Is Cooking with Olive Oil a Healthy Substitute? 

Olive oil brings on a host of health benefits that can be easily incorporated into your everyday cooking. It’s versatile and packed with flavor so when substituting, you won’t skimp on flavor. 

So what can you swap out to incorporate olive oil? Typically, the most common is butter and other oils. Butter is high in saturated fat, which is the type of fat that should be more limited than unsaturated, which is found in olive oil. If you’re looking to be vegan or dairy-free, olive oil makes a great alternative. While olive oil and butter can be used in tandem in a recipe, olive oil can also make a great swap in to boost health benefits. 

Olive oil, and extra virgin olive oil in particular, can also be a healthier substitute for other cooking oils. Other cooking oils lack health benefits and are chemically extracted. Olive oil, on the other hand, is minimally processed, meaning it retains its precious characteristics when going from fruit to oil. 

Swapping in olive oil can also be great if you’re focusing on a specific eating plan, such as a Mediterranean diet or being gluten-free. With olive oil, you don’t need to miss out on your favorite flavors but instead can fully enjoy them with a healthy and quality ingredient. 

While there are so many great uses and purposes for olive oil in cooking, it may not be the perfect solution for all your cooking needs. Keep in mind that olive oil you find on the grocery store shelves has a relatively low smoke point, meaning it burns easily at high temperatures.

However, fresh olive oil and olive oil with more polyphenols have a higher smoke point, ranging from 350-375 degrees F for sautéing, grilling, and roasting. 

Why is Cooking with Olive Oil Healthy? 

Cooking with olive oil brings in those health-boosting qualities and characteristics to your dish. Olive oil, particularly extra virgin olive oil, is praised as a great source of healthy fats. Extra virgin olive oil is graded at the top, free from processed chemicals. It is not processed or refined so all the color, taste, vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants it provides remain intact from the olive to your dinner plate. 

Check out even more health benefits in this blog article.

Another key reason to switch to extra virgin olive oil? Freshness. Here at Fustini’s Oils & Vinegars, we prioritize fresh and quality olive oil, as we have partnerships with dedicated growers. We select oils based on seasonal freshness, alternating between northern and southern hemisphere oils.  

When choosing which olive oil to cook with, the answer comes in what you’re making.

Our flavor-infused crush olive oils use a fresh olive oil and then brings in wholesome flavor, whether through herbs or fruit. These flavor-infused olive oils are super versatile and help to amplify boring recipes to a whole new flavor profile. 

Our SELECT single varietal olive oils are not infused with herbs, spices, or fruits but instead are praised for their fresh crush flavor. 

Whether flavor-infused or SELECT, olive oils can be your go-to for cooking–and baking!--in the kitchen. 

What are the Best Ways to Cook With Olive Oil? 

Ready to get cooking? Extra virgin olive oils can be an easy addition to just about any recipe or dish. From desserts to beverages to marinades to salad dressings and so much more, the possibilities are endless. Here are a few of the many healthy cooking techniques that include this quality ingredient of olive oil. 

Sauté - Toss ingredients like vegetables and meats in a pan with olive oil to bring in some exciting flavor. 

Baking - Swapping in olive oil for butter or other lower-quality cooking oils can be an easy way to lighten up baked goods. Desserts can also easily incorporate both single varietal and flavor-infused olive oils. 

Marinades - Olive oil is a core component of a balanced and flavorful marinade. By pairing with a balsamic vinegar and other herbs, you can amplify the flavor of your meat, poultry, or fish. 

Roasting - Whether meats or veggies, drizzling on some extra virgin olive oil can help your ingredients cook and become extra flavorful. 

Check out this blog article for more easy ways to enjoy extra virgin olive oil and its partner, balsamic vinegar. 

Get Cooking with Healthy Olive Oil 

With so many easy applications of extra virgin olive oil, incorporating flavor can be that much easier. When swapping olive oil in for other lower quality ingredients that lack health benefits, you can not only bring in more flavor but also boost your health, too!