Pantry Basic
Olive Oil
A practical guide to choosing, storing and using olive oil for everyday cooking, dressings, marinades and finishing.
Use for
Dressings, roasting, marinades, pasta, vegetables, finishing
What it is
Olive oil is oil pressed from olives and it is one of the most useful fats in a Western European kitchen. It can be used as a cooking fat, a dressing base, a marinade ingredient and a finishing oil. The main difference between bottles is not just price, but flavour, refinement and freshness.
Extra virgin olive oil is the highest everyday category. It is unrefined, fruity and should have no sensory defects. The European Commission notes that extra virgin olive oil is the highest quality virgin olive oil category and must have acidity no higher than 0.8%. Read the EU olive oil overview.
For home cooking, it is useful to keep two bottles: a good extra virgin olive oil for dressings and finishing, and a milder everyday olive oil for roasting, sautéing and marinades.
How to choose
Choose extra virgin olive oil when the flavour matters. It should smell fresh, grassy, fruity, peppery or gently nutty, not flat, waxy, greasy or stale. A bitter or peppery finish can be a good sign, especially in fresher oils.
- Look for dark glass, tins or opaque packaging, as light damages oil.
- Prefer bottles with a harvest date or clear origin information when available.
- Buy a bottle size you can finish within a few months.
- Use mild or regular olive oil for cooking when you do not want a strong olive flavour.
- Do not assume that colour means quality. Olive oil can be green or golden depending on variety and age.
How to store
Store olive oil tightly closed in a cool, dark cupboard. Avoid keeping it beside the hob, oven, dishwasher or window. Heat, light and air make the flavour fade faster.
If you use a large tin, decant a small amount into a clean bottle for everyday use and keep the tin closed. Do not store olive oil in the fridge for normal use, as it may become cloudy and slow to pour.
How to use
Use olive oil for vinaigrettes, tomato sauces, roasted vegetables, grilled fish, beans, pasta, focaccia, marinades and simple salads. Extra virgin olive oil is especially good as a final drizzle over soups, roasted peppers, grilled courgettes, tomatoes, bread and pulses.
- Use a mild oil for roasting potatoes, peppers, aubergines and courgettes.
- Use extra virgin oil for salad dressings, pesto-style sauces and finishing.
- Whisk with vinegar or lemon juice, mustard and salt for a fast vinaigrette.
- Combine with garlic, herbs and lemon zest for a simple marinade.
Substitutions
For cooking, replace olive oil with rapeseed oil, sunflower oil or another neutral oil. For dressings, use an oil with flavour, such as walnut oil, avocado oil or a mild nut oil, depending on the dish.
Butter can replace olive oil in some sauces or pan-fried dishes, but it changes the flavour and browns more quickly.
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