Best oils for cooking: the complete guide

Whether you’re frying an egg or searing a steak, we walk you through the best cooking oils to use whatever you’re making. Does smoke point matter? Is it better to cook with olive oil or sunflower oil? What even is walnut oil? We answer your questions.

Food Editor

Malou Herkes

Best cooking oils: what to use when

When cooking a stir-fry, dressing a salad or making roast potatoes, most of us use some form of cooking oil in the process. But with so many different types of oils available, from olive to walnut, avocado to sunflower, how do we know what to use when? The temperature you're cooking at and the flavour you want to achieve are two places to start.

Flavour

Peppery extra virgin olive oil is delicious in a salad dressing, Toasted Sesame Oil adds lovely nutty flavour to egg-fried rice, while coconut oil imparts natural sweetness to chocolatey pudding pots. Light olive oil, sunflower oil and groundnut oil tend to have a neutral flavour, which makes them the best cooking oils when making recipes where you don't want to overpower the flavour: think mayonnaise, for example, or Yorkshire puds.

Temperature

Are you cooking a steak or roasting meat, fish or veg? When using a high heat, use oils that remain stable at high temperatures (we’ll take about smoke point later). When cooking over a low heat or not cooking at all, opt for unrefined (virgin) oils, like extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil or toasted sesame oil. These virgin oils go through minimal processing, which means they can retain a lot of their nutrients, natural flavours and beneficial compounds.

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Why does the smoke point matter?

When deciding on cooking oils for cooking, consider the oil’s ‘smoke point’. When oil is heated, it’ll eventually reach a temperature when it starts to burn and produce smoke – this is the smoke point, when the fats in the oil start to breakdown, releasing toxic and potentially harmful compounds.

Some cooking oils have a higher smoke point than others. Refined sunflower oil or vegetable oil have a high smoke point, which make them better for stir-frying or searing. Meanwhile, delicate oils, like extra virgin olive oil or walnut oil are more reactive to heat, causing them to degrade and produce harmful compounds more quickly. These oils are best used for salad dressings, sauces or low-heat cooking.

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Types of cooking oils

Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Peppery, fruity, complex flavour. Low smoke point. Use in salad dressings, pesto, or for finishing pasta or fish dishes.
Light Olive Oil. Neutral flavour. Medium-high smoke point. Good for roasting and pan-frying.
Sunflower Oil. Neutral flavour. High smoke point. Good for stir-frying, roasting, pan-frying and baking.
Toasted Sesame Oil. Deep nutty flavour. Low smoke point. Drizzle over savoury rice dishes, like egg-fried rice or cooking eggs over a low heat.
Walnut oil. Nutty and fragrant flavour. Low smoke point. Delicious drizzled on a burrata and salad.
Virgin Coconut Oil. Sweet coconut flavour. Low smoke point. Great for smoothies, baking and raw chocolatey puds.
Avocado Oil. Neutral flavour. Medium-high smoke point. Good for roasting and pan-frying.
Cold-Pressed Rapeseed Oil. Nutty, slightly peppery flavour. Low smoke point. Try it in mayonnaise.
Flavoured oils, like our Collection Truffle Olive Oil, Lemon Infused Olive Oil and Chilli Infused Olive Oil are fantastic for finishing dishes. Try a drizzle on pasta or your next pizza slice.

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Best cooking oil for stir-frying, searing and roasting

When roasting vegetables and game-changer roasties, whipping up a stir-fry or searing a steak, you'll be using a high heat. So go for a cooking oil with a medium to high smoke point. Avocado oil, light olive oil and sunflower oil are great options.

Make this 10-minute stir fry

Best cooking oil for eggs

When cooking eggs over a low heat, as with scrambled and omelettes, use an oil with a relatively low smoke point (or butter for extra richness). Extra virgin olive oil would work well, while toasted sesame oil will give your eggs a lovely, rich nutty flavour – particularly delicious with Asian-style dishes – drizzle it over this Korean-inspired beef rice bowl. If frying eggs over a medium-high heat, go for an oil with a higher smoke point, like light olive or sunflower oils.

How to cook eggs perfectly

Best oil for salad dressings

Next time you're whipping up a dressing for a salad, go for virgin oils that add delicious flavour and nutrition. Extra virgin olive oil adds peppery fruitiness to Med-inspired pasta salads and this citrus, toasted pitta and halloumi salad. Try drizzling nutty walnut oil over this clementine and burrata salad with candied walnuts or whisk up sesame oil, Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce and lime juice to make the dressing for this cold noodle salad with mango.

Salad recipes this way

Best oil for making mayo

You need a fair amount of oil to make mayo, so it's worth paying extra attention to what you use. As you don't need to use heat, you can use an oil with a low smoke point, but make sure to use one with a relatively neutral flavour so it doesn't overpower the mayo. For that reason, avoid extra virgin olive oil. We recommend our Cold-Pressed Rapeseed Oil.

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Best cooking oil for sautéing

Cooking over a low heat? Whether you're sautéing veggies in a pan or sweating a soffritto mix of onions, carrots and celery to make your next stew or soup, you don't need to use a cooking oil with a high smoke point. Sesame oil, coconut oil or any olive oil will work perfectly. Try it next time you're making this veggie shepherd's pie.

Get inspired with M&S Recipes

Heading to the kitchen? Cook your next dinner with M&S Recipes, with hundreds of recipes to choose from. From midweek one pan dinners to family-friendly dishes to healthy salads, soups and sides, there’s plenty to inspire your weekly meals.

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Published 2.20.2025