Everything to Know About Canola Oil, the Neutral Oil That Chefs Swear By for Sautéing and Frying

If you’ve come across a recipe that calls for canola oil, you might have wondered if you really have to use it in place of another cooking fat like butter or olive oil. You also might have seen conflicting reports on the nutritional value of seed oils like canola oil.

Related: Are Seed Oils Bad for You? Here Are the Facts

However, this neutral oil has plenty of fans: It is one of the most commonly used oils in the U.S. (behind soybean oil). Americans imported $3.6 billion worth of canola oil in 2022, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). That’s more than double our imports of olive oil, which were worth $1.7 billion.

In addition to being affordable and widely available, canola oil offers plenty of benefits for high-heat cooking methods like frying and sautéing, and commonly appears in foods like salad dressings, marinades, and baked goods. Here’s what you need to about using canola oil in the kitchen.

What is canola oil, and how is it made?

Canola oil, also known as rapeseed oil, is a seed oil that was created in Canada. “Canola oil is made by crushing the seeds of the canola plant,” says Christine Venema, EdD, a food safety educator at Michigan State University Extension. The canola plant belongs to the Brassicaceae plant family, which includes broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower.

Each canola plant can grow to be three to six feet tall and features bright yellow flowers, with pods that look like pea pods, per Venema. The seeds, which are inside, are dried before harvesting. Canola oil is made by crushing the seeds to release the oil, she explains. “Each seed is about 45% oil,” she says. “The remainder of the seed is turned into a high protein animal feed.” (While canola oil can be cold-pressed, most canola oil at the grocery store is refined, meaning that chemical solvents are used to extract the oil from the crushed seeds.)

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Though “rapeseed” is sometimes confused for “grapeseed,” these two types of oil are not the same thing. Grapeseed oil is made from the seeds of grapes, and canola (or rapeseed) oil is made from the seeds of canola plant pods. “Grapeseed oil is a byproduct of the wine industry,” says Venema. “[It] comes from the seeds left after the grapes have been pressed for wine.” By contrast, canola plants are usually grown for the purpose of creating canola oil. Grapeseed oil is also more expensive to produce, says Venema.

How is canola oil used?

Canola oil’s relatively high smoke point and neutral flavor make it suitable for high-heat cooking methods like deep-frying, or for situations where you don’t want to overwhelm the other flavors in a dish or condiment.

Oils hit their smoke point when they start to break down and give off smoke, releasing chemicals that can cause a bitter or burned flavor in the process. Canola oil has a relatively high smoke point of about 400°F, compared to butter (302°F) and extra-virgin olive oil (320°F).

“We primarily use canola oil for deep-frying because of its high smoke point," says Chris Curren, executive chef and co-owner of The Graceful Ordinary in St. Charles, Illinois. “For other forms of cooking like sautéing, we use a blend of canola and olive oil. This combination lets us enjoy the flavor of olive oil while benefiting from the higher smoke point that the canola provides. Occasionally, we use grapeseed oil for dressings if we want a more neutral flavor compared to olive oil.”

Chef Vijay Kumar uses canola oil to deep-fry samosas while Silvan Mishima Brackett employs it to pan-fry gyoza. Liz Mervosh in the F&W test kitchen sears oxtails using canola oil for her noodle soup, and Gail Simmons brushes scallops with the oil before grilling them over high heat for her miso-corn salad.

Canola oil is also a good choice for baking. Prop stylist Claire Spollen uses canola oil to help form the crust of her grandmother’s Brown Bag Apple Pie without impacting the flavor.

Canola oil vs. vegetable oil

Whereas canola oil is made by crushing the seeds of the canola plant, vegetable oil is typically created by blending different seed oils that include canola, sunflower, and soybean. Generally speaking, canola oil can be used interchangeably with vegetable oil or other neutral oils that have a high smoke point, such as grapeseed oil or soybean oil.

Related: Everything You Need To Know About Keeping Your Cooking Oil Fresh

Is canola oil bad for you?

Experts say that canola oil can be part of a healthy diet.

“Canola oil has a balanced combination of healthy fats, including monounsaturated fats, omega-6 polyunsaturated, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fats,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, director of the Food is Medicine Institute at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. “The latter is particularly important, as there are not many meaningful plant sources of omega-3’s”.

Research also shows that canola oil offers “excellent benefits” for cholesterol levels, says Mozaffarian. “The healthy fats in canola oil, especially the omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, also improve blood glucose, insulin resistance, and insulin production,” which is linked to a lowered risk of developing type 2 diabetes, he says.

In 2018, the Food and Drug Administration concluded that there was “credible evidence” that the oleic acid found in canola oil and certain other cooking oils may reduce the risk of heart disease. The American Heart Association released a statement in 2017 that supports the use of omega-6 fatty acids like canola oil.

Related: The Carnivore Diet Wants to Convince You to Eat a Stick of Butter for Breakfast

While critics claim that canola oil increases inflammation in the body, research has found the oil can actually decrease bodily inflammation, causing similar effects as olive oil, Mozaffarian points out.

It is worth noting that most canola plants grown in the U.S. and Canada are genetically modified, although you can also find non-GMO canola oil. 

There are reports circulating on social media of canola oil being banned in Europe, but these are not true. Instead, the European Union has set limits on how much erucic acid — a potentially harmful substance linked to the buildup of fat in the heart — can be in canola oil. As a result, canola oil is more tightly regulated in the European Union than in the U.S.

Ultimately, canola oil is a good ingredient to have in your cooking tool kit for frying, baking, and beyond. 

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