Can You Cook with Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

One of the most common questions we're asked is whether it's a waste, or even unsafe, to cook with extra virgin olive oil. In short: you can cook with it, and in southern Italy people always have.

The smoke point myth

Smoke point is the temperature at which an oil starts to visibly smoke. Good extra virgin olive oil typically smokes at around 190–210°C, while most home sautéing and shallow frying happens well below that, usually around 160–180°C.

Smoke point also isn't the whole story. What matters more is how well an oil resists breaking down when heated. Extra virgin olive oil is mostly monounsaturated fat and contains natural antioxidants, both of which help it stay stable at normal cooking temperatures.

When to cook with it

• Sautéing vegetables, onions and garlic
• Roasting potatoes and vegetables
• Shallow frying and pan-frying fish or meat
• Making sauces, soffritto and slow-cooked dishes

When to save it for the table

Heat softens some of the fresh, grassy and peppery flavours that make a great oil special. So use it freely for cooking, and keep a little back to drizzle over the finished dish, where you'll taste it at its best.

A note on quantity

If you cook with olive oil every day, a larger format makes sense. Our extra virgin olive oil comes in a 3L size for exactly that reason.