Non-Seed Oils: What to Cook With Instead, and What Works for Frying

Quick answer: Non-seed oils are olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, palm oil and animal fats such as butter, ghee, tallow and lard. Extra virgin olive oil is the best all-purpose choice according to Cleveland Clinic, refined avocado oil and light olive oil suit high-heat frying, and coconut oil and animal fats are high in saturated fat, so use them in smaller amounts. Avoiding seed oils is a preference, not something mainstream guidance requires.

If you have decided to cut seed oils from your cooking, the practical question is what to use instead. This guide covers what counts as a non-seed oil, which ones suit which jobs, what the saturated fat trade-offs are and what major health organizations say. For the full list of seed oils, see our guide to the seed oils to avoid, and for the basics, what seed oils are.

Which Oils Are Non-Seed Oils?

• Olive oil, pressed from the fruit of the olive, in extra virgin, virgin and refined (light) forms.
• Avocado oil, pressed from the flesh of the avocado.
• Coconut oil, made from the meat of the coconut.
• Palm oil, from the fruit of the oil palm. Cleveland Clinic lists it at 52 percent saturated fat and does not recommend it as a healthy cooking choice.
• Macadamia nut oil, made from the nut.
• Animal fats: butter, ghee, beef tallow and lard.

Peanut oil sits in a gray area, because peanuts are legumes and strict and relaxed seed-oil avoiders treat it differently. If you have a peanut or tree nut allergy, ask your allergist about nut oils before using them. The seed oils to avoid, in the usual lists, are canola, soybean, corn, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed and rice bran oil, plus generic vegetable oil.

What to Use for Each Job

Cleveland Clinic's guide to choosing and using healthy cooking oils sorts oils by how hot you are cooking. The non-seed choices it lists, with saturated fat in parentheses, fit like this:

What Works for Frying

For shallow or deep frying at home, the practical non-seed options are refined avocado oil, refined (light) olive oil, ghee, and animal fats such as tallow and lard. Cleveland Clinic says smoke point is the temperature at which an oil starts smoking and producing harmful compounds, that refined oils generally have higher smoke points, and that if oil smokes in the pan you should discard it. It also notes that extra virgin olive oil has the lowest oxidation rate of any cooking oil, so it is less likely to produce free radicals, which is why it is reasonable for everyday sauteing and roasting.

• Do not heat oil until it smokes. Turn the heat down, or choose a more refined oil for higher heat.
• Do not keep reusing frying oil. Discard it when it smells off, looks dark or smokes.
• Use less. Frying uses a lot of oil, which Cleveland Clinic says can cancel out a healthy oil's benefits. It suggests air frying as an alternative.
• Store oil in a cool, dark, dry place, use it within 30 to 60 days of opening as Cleveland Clinic advises, and replace it if it smells bitter or off.

Are Non-Seed Oils Healthier?

Not automatically, and the evidence is the main reason to be careful with claims. The American Heart Association's 2017 Presidential Advisory on dietary fats and cardiovascular disease concluded strongly that lowering saturated fat and replacing it with unsaturated fats, especially polyunsaturated fats, lowers the incidence of cardiovascular disease. It also noted that replacing saturated fat with refined carbohydrates or sugars was not associated with lower disease rates. Seed oils are the main polyunsaturated vegetable oils, so many guidelines treat them as acceptable. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and other major health groups generally consider them safe to eat in moderate amounts.

Several non-seed fats are high in saturated fat. Harvard's Nutrition Source notes that coconut oil raises LDL cholesterol about as much as other saturated fats such as beef fat and palm oil. Extra virgin olive oil is both a non-seed oil and mostly unsaturated, so it fits both approaches, and Cleveland Clinic says some studies link up to 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil a day to benefits, but only when it replaces other oils and added fats. If you have high cholesterol or heart disease risk, ask your doctor or dietitian which fats suit you.

Why People Choose Non-Seed Oils Anyway

Common reasons are a preference for less-processed ingredients, concern about the omega-6 content of seed oils, worry about reheating polyunsaturated oils, and following an elimination or autoimmune-style diet that excludes them. Those are reasonable personal choices. They are not proven medical necessities for most people, and our seed oils guide covers how the evidence is mixed on both sides.

Swaps You Can Make Today

• Dressings: extra virgin olive oil and lemon or vinegar, instead of bottled dressings that usually contain soybean or canola oil.
• Sauteing and roasting: olive oil or ghee.
• Searing and frying: refined avocado oil or light olive oil.
• Baking: melted butter, or coconut oil in moderation, in place of canola oil one for one by volume.
• Snacks and sauces: check the label, because many chips, crackers, mayonnaise and spreads use seed oils.

For recipes that use these swaps, see our anti-inflammatory diet recipes.

Eating Out and Packaged Food

Restaurants often fry in seed oils, because they are cheap and stable at high heat, so ask what the kitchen uses, and expect that many cannot say. For packaged food, the ingredient list is the answer. Look for canola, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, grapeseed or rice bran oil, and for generic vegetable oil. Foodsage lets you choose industrial seed oils among your avoid categories, scan a barcode or ingredient list, and see which ingredients matched, and it suggests friendlier alternatives. It does not diagnose or treat any condition, and nothing here is medical advice.

If you have a condition that affects what you can eat, or a nut allergy that affects which oils are safe, check with your doctor or dietitian before changing the fats you use.