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Ingredient Guides: Avocado Oil

Avocado oil is a heart-healthy oil suitable for high-heat cooking. But the good ones can be hard to pick out. Here’s what to look for.

Ekaterina Boiko / Depositphotos
By Dim Nikov,
editor-in-chief of Tastyble, formally trained chef, and author of Cooking Methods & Techniques: A Crash Course on How to Cook Delicious Food at Home for Beginners.

These days, your local grocery store has a seemingly endless selection of bottles in the oils aisle. As can be expected, each claims to offer unbeatable health benefits and suitability for all cooking methods.

With so many cooking oils to choose from, it can be frankly overwhelming to decide which one to put in your cart. Avocado oil is certainly a great pick — delivering stability in high heat, smoothness of flavor, as well as a number of science-backed nutritional benefits.

However, tread with caution: Due to lax regulation, the terms on avocado oil labels can be misleading, potentially indicating an inferior product inside. Given the hefty price tag carried by avocado oil, if you want to get your money’s worth, it’s a smart move to arm yourself with the knowledge we’re about to share with you in this guide.

What Is Avocado Oil?

Avocado oil is a cooking oil made from the pulp of avocados — the pear-shaped fruit of the avocado tree.

Avocado oil is renowned as one of the best oils for high-temperature cooking methods, such as searing, sautéing, and broiling, thanks to its high smoke point and heat resistance.

It’s also said to be heart-healthy. The American Heart Association puts forward that the majority of fats you consume should be monounsaturated — and avocado oil is made up of 70% monounsaturated fat.

However, due to its cost, many home cooks opt for other, more affordable oils. (At the time of writing, most avocado oils at US retailers sold for 48-50 cents per liquid quart.)

How Avocado Oil Is Made

Avocado oil comes from avocados, which grow on avocado (Persea americana) trees native to Central America. In the US, avocados are grown in California and Florida. Worldwide, the top three growers of avocados are Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Peru.

Before harvesting, the avocados are given time to ripen. The unblemished fruits are sent to supermarkets and sold in the produce section. The fruits that were harmed during harvesting, but still suitable for use, are turned into avocado oil.

For oil production, the selected avocados are washed and then de-skinned and de-pitted. (Almost all the oil is contained in the pulp. If the skins or pits are kept in place, it would make the avocado oil taste unappealingly bitter.)

To produce unrefined avocado oil, the pulp is ground into a paste and then mechanically extracted — either through hydraulic pressing, centrifuge spinning, or expeller pressing.

Hydraulic pressing remains the predominant mechanical method for extracting avocado oil. Centrifuge spinning is a more modern alternative that produces high quality oil efficiently and without too much heat. Expeller pressing, in which the pulp is run through a screw-like mechanism, produces excessive heat from friction.

To make refined avocado oil, the pulp is either heated to high temperatures or mixed with chemical solvents that separate the fats from the solids. Both of these methods yield oil with less flavor and fewer nutrients.

Types of Avocado Oil

Depending on how the avocado oil was extracted from the avocado pulp, it’s either unrefined, obtained by cold-pressing, or refined, meaning that either heat or chemical solvents were used to separate the oil from the pulp.

Like all foods, the more processing oils undergo, the less healthful they become.

Unrefined avocado oil — often labeled as first cold-pressedcold-pressed, or extra virginakin to olive oil — is considered healthier and more flavorful, as it retains the flavor compounds and nutrients from the avocados. However, since it’s pricier to produce, it’s sometimes sold at a prohibitively high price tag.

Unrefined avocado oil has a nutty and grassy taste and is of a dark-green shade. Refined avocado oil, like all processed oils, has little-to-no distinct smell or taste and can withstand higher temperatures without smoking.

Choosing the Best Avocado Oil

A study at University of California, Davis found that 70% of private-labeled avocado oils had gone rancid or were blended with other, lower-grade vegetable oils. The cheaper the oil, the more likely it was to have been adulterated. High prices, however, did not necessarily guarantee that the oil was pure!

This should tell you two things as a consumer:

  1. The freshness of the oil can be the difference between getting a good deal and getting ripped off.
  2. The oil’s purity — which may or may not be disclosed by its producer — is of the essence. In other words, you’ll have to make momentary judgments and sniff out the truth on the spot.

When selecting bottles of avocado oil in the supermarket, be inquisitively suspicious of big price differences and go for 100% unrefined, cold-pressed avocado oil with the farthest-out best-by date. Opt for oils from reputable producers who’ve disclosed where they source their avocados from, and how.

Organic certification is a plus; it guarantees that no pesticides were used for growing the avocados. Some avocado oil producers also list a harvest date, which indicates when the avocados were harvested and turned to oil. If this is the case, select the oil with the most recent harvest date.

The avocado oil bottle should be dark green to shield the oil from light. Never pick the first bottle that you come across, which is usually right at the front of the shelf, as it has probably been exposed to light for the longest.

Consider the storage system employed by the store:

Are the avocado oil bottles well secured from light — or have they been located close to a window, where light and heat could cause the oil to go rancid quicker?

Take the time to read the labels and don’t be tricked by the marketing ploys of some avocado oil producers. For instance, a “naturally refined” oil is still a refined oil, regardless of how it was obtained, be it heat or chemical solvents.

How to Use Avocado Oil

Avocado oil, with its buttery and slightly nutty flavor, is perfect for both high-heat cooking and cold applications.

Use it for grilling, stir-frying, and even deep frying due to its high smoke point. When drizzling over salads or using in cold dishes, its smooth texture and unique taste shine through.

You’ll want to grab avocado oil when you’re aiming for a subtle richness in your dishes. It’s fantastic in dressings, adding a creamy touch without the need for dairy. While it’s a newer player in the culinary world compared to olive oil, it’s quickly becoming a favorite for its versatility, health benefits, and ability to complement a wide range of flavors, from seafood to roasted vegetables.

Storing Avocado Oil

Exposure to air, light, and heat can cause avocado oil to go rancid faster than it would have were it stored correctly.

Keep your avocado oil in a cool and dark place, like in the pantry or inside a kitchen cabinet. The oil should be in a dark-green glass bottle or stainless steel container with the cap screwed on tight to keep air light and out.

Do not place your avocado oil on the windowsill, on top of the fridge or dishwasher, close to the oven, or near heating vents or hot water pipes, as all of these areas can leave it exposed to unnecessary amounts of heat.

Avocado Oil’s Shelf Life

Sealed and stored correctly, unopened avocado oil has a shelf life of 1 to 2 years. Selection is key; all other things equal, the farthest best-by date or most recent harvest date guarantee a longer shelf life.

Avocado oil should be used up within 3 to 6 months after opening for best quality. The longer it sits, the more likely it is to go rancid, developing off odors and undesirable flavors.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the smoke point of avocado oil?

Avocado oil starts to smoke at temperatures between 480 and 510 °F (250 to 265 °C). Refined avocado oils contain less free fatty acids and impurities, so they tend to have a higher smoke point than their more natural, unrefined counterparts.

Can you sear steak with avocado oil?

Absolutely yes, you can sear steak with avocado oil. In fact, due to its high smoke point and heat resistance, avocado oil is frequently chosen for demanding cooking methods.

Does avocado oil come from the seed?

No, avocado oil is extracted from the pulp of avocados, which can contain as much as 30% oil by weight. Since the skins and seeds can give the oil a bitter flavor, they are removed prior to extraction.

My avocado oil smells weird when heated. What does this mean?

If your avocado oil gives off an off odor when heated, it has likely gone rancid. Test the cold oil in the bottle by giving it a sniff. If it smells like play dough, that’s how you know it’s rancid.