How to Use Avocado Oil for Cooking

Have you heard the buzz about all things avocado oil? The hype is real! More than the centerpiece of your morning toast or the star of happy hour guac, this favorite fruit can also be made into a versatile oil. Whether you’re already a fan looking for some fresh inspiration or you’re new to the avocado game, here’s the scoop on all the ways to use one of our favorite cooking oils.

With so many cooking oil choices, why use avocado oil? We call it a ‘fat we love’ for a reason: Avocado oil is the culinary workhorse you’ve always dreamed of. Rigorously tested for quality, Primal Kitchen Pure Avocado Oil is made from premium ingredients; plus, it’s Certified Paleo, Keto Certified, and Non-GMO Project Verified. If you’re cleaning up your kitchen cabinets and looking for new pantry staples, adding avocado oil to your lineup is an easy update. 

Cooking With Avocado Oil

Light, neutral, and clean-tasting, avocado oil won’t overpower whatever dish you’re whipping up. It will sing backup for baked goods, crunchy kale salads, and broiled veggies, letting the other ingredients’ flavors take center stage. Refined avocado oil can also take the heat, with a smoke point of 500°ºF+, making it an excellent choice for high-heat cooking methods such as baking and frying. This high smoke point only increases the myriad of culinary avocado oil uses, so you can get your chef’s hat on and be creative in the kitchen.

How to Use Avocado Oil in Cooking

With so many benefits of cooking with avocado oil, there come many questions, too. If you’ve ever looked at a recipe and wondered if you can use avocado oil instead of vegetable oil, then this section is for you. You can use avocado oil in nearly every type of cooking where oil or fat is required. Let’s look at a few of the more popular culinary uses for avocado oil.

Searing and Sautéing with Avocado Oil

If you’re breaking out the skillet and need to prep your pan for medium-heat cooking methods like sautéing, avocado oil is an excellent choice. With a clean, neutral flavor, our pure avocado oil is ready to give your veggies that perfect gloss or help you get that restaurant-quality sear on a sirloin steak before finishing it in the oven. We especially love avocado oil for cooking in a cast-iron pan, which can go straight into the oven, sit on the burner, or do a combination of both. 

Recipe: Seared Scallops with Avocado Oil and Lemon

With a buttery flavor tinged in citrus, this simple dish is delicious served atop gluten-free pasta, nestled in a bed of cauliflower rice, or paired with roasted asparagus.

Baking with Avocado Oil 

Can you use avocado oil for baking? Yes, you can! Easily swap our pure avocado oil for other oils in your tried-and-true recipes or discover new ways to incorporate it into cakes and bread. Avocado oil adds moisture and “good fats” without changing the taste of your dish. It’s also perfect for greasing baking sheets, loaf pans, and cake molds. Bonus tip: Grease baking pans quickly and more effectively with Avocado Oil Spray.

Recipe: Sweet Potato Casserole

Our quality-tested Avocado Oil gives this tasty twist on a favorite Thanksgiving staple its signature creamy, buttery texture. 

Frying and Air-Frying with Avocado Oil

Keep that smoke point in mind when frying, and you’re in the clear. Avocado oil is ideal for pan-frying or deep-frying at temperatures of 500°F or below. With avocado oil, you’ll get a light and crisp fry on your veggies, meats, or starches without that greasy, oily residue and “day-old french fry grease” flavor some other oils can leave behind. Since you typically want a light mist of oil rather than a full coating in your air fryer, we recommend using our sprayable avocado oil— which also has a smoke point of 500°F+.

Recipe: Avocado Fries with Chipotle Lime Mayo

With a crisp, golden coating on the outside and a creamy, earthy center, these fries will be your new favorite side for burgers, sandwiches, and more.  

Substitute Avocado Oil for Butter

If you can’t tolerate dairy, you’re vegan, or you’re simply trying to reduce your intake, avocado oil is a sensible alternative to traditional dairy butter. Because butter and avocado oil have similar nutritional profiles, you can typically substitute at a 1:1 ratio (so a tablespoon of butter could be replaced with a tablespoon of avocado oil). This will create the same soft texture in baked goods or crispness in pan-fried veggies without any dairy ingredients.  

Swap Avocado Oil for Seed or Nut Oils

What do you do if your recipe calls for peanut oil and you have a family member who can’t have nuts? Avocado oil is an easy one-to-one swap for other oils such as peanut, canola, vegetable, or corn. So, if you prefer not to use these other oils, you don’t have one on hand, or there’s a potential allergen concern, consider replacing the oil that’s called for with delicious avocado oil.   

The Final Word on Cooking with Avocado Oil

With its neutral flavor and high smoke point, avocado oil is an excellent choice for sautéing, baking, air frying, and much more. Primal Kitchen Pure Avocado Oil is third-party tested for quality and purity to ensure that only the best makes the bottle. So, the next time you pin, post, or look up a recipe that calls for cooking oil, reach for the high-quality, delicious avocado oil you trust.