Can you cook with extra virgin olive oil?

August 4, 2025|Aleksandra Zegalski

Yes, extra virgin olive oil is suitable for most home cooking, including frying, sautéing, roasting and baking. Its smoke point is commonly quoted at about 190 to 210 °C (374 to 410 °F), but it varies from oil to oil depending on quality, freshness and acidity, and research suggests that how stable the oil is when heated matters more than that single number. Good extra virgin olive oil holds up well at normal frying temperatures. You can also use it for deep frying and baking, with a few simple precautions that we explain below.

We cook with Pelops Extra Virgin Olive Oil every day, from roasting root vegetables to a lemony lentil soup. Here is what we have learned, and what the research says, about cooking with extra virgin olive oil.

Is extra virgin olive oil good for frying?

For most home cooks, yes. Shallow frying and sautéing usually take place at roughly 150 to 190 °C (302 to 374 °F), and most everyday pan cooking stays at or below about 180 °C (356 °F). That is a range where good extra virgin olive oil performs well. In Greek kitchens, olive oil is the everyday frying fat for potatoes, fritters and fish. We love its peppery, earthy and vibrant taste in the pan as much as on the plate.

Studies in which oils were heated for hours point the same way. In a 2010 study by Portuguese researchers (Casal and colleagues, Food and Chemical Toxicology), olive oils lasted 24 to 27 hours of frying before reaching 25 percent polar compounds, the point at which frying oil is considered spent, compared with 15 hours for a vegetable oil blend. A 2018 laboratory study (De Alzaa, Guillaume and Ravetti, Acta Scientific Nutritional Health) heated ten common oils, including six hours at 180 °C, and found that extra virgin olive oil produced the lowest level of polar compounds. That laboratory is linked to an olive oil producer, so it is worth reading alongside independent work like the first study, but both point the same way.

Very hot frying is a different matter. It can reduce some of the polyphenols in the oil, which are generally described as starting to degrade above about 180 °C, and the fruity, peppery flavour fades too. This is one reason we keep our most intense oils for dressings and for drizzling over finished dishes, and use a good everyday oil in the pan. You can read more in our guide to polyphenols in olive oil.

Smoke point of olive oil: what the number means

The smoke point is the temperature at which an oil starts to give off a steady stream of visible smoke. For extra virgin olive oil, figures of about 190 to 210 °C (374 to 410 °F) are commonly cited, but there is no single number. The UC Davis Olive Center reports smoke points for olive oils ranging from about 175 to 240 °C (347 to 464 °F), depending on grade, quality and freshness. A study of 48 virgin olive oils, 19 of them extra virgin, found that free fatty acids were the strongest factor: the more free fatty acids an oil contains, the lower its smoke point. In practice, fresh, carefully made oil with low acidity tends to smoke later than oil that is old or has been stored badly.

Smoke point is only part of the picture. What matters more is oxidative stability, meaning how well the oil resists breaking down when it is heated. That depends on its fatty acid profile (olive oil is mostly monounsaturated fat, which is more stable than the polyunsaturated fat in many seed oils), on natural antioxidants such as polyphenols, and on how refined the oil is. In the 2018 study mentioned above, smoke point did not predict how the oils behaved when heated.

For comparison, butter starts to smoke and brown at roughly 150 °C (302 °F), so it burns more easily in a hot pan. If you are weighing up the two, our guide to butter vs olive oil goes into more detail.

Can you deep fry with olive oil?

Yes. Deep frying is usually done at about 170 to 190 °C (338 to 374 °F), for example around 160 °C and then 180 °C for chips. That is below the commonly quoted smoke point of extra virgin olive oil, but closer to it than pan frying, so use a thermometer, keep the temperature steady and do not let the oil smoke.

Olive oil has a good track record here. In the study by Casal and colleagues, olive oils lasted far longer in a deep fryer than a vegetable oil blend, and a 2014 study of refined olive oil and three seed oils found that refined olive oil was the most stable during deep frying at 160 °C (Zribi and colleagues, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry). Deep frying needs a lot of oil, so many cooks choose a mild, more affordable olive oil for the fryer and keep their best bottle for the plate.

Can you bake with olive oil?

Yes, and it works well in cakes, muffins, quick breads, focaccia and savoury bakes. Ovens usually run at about 160 to 200 °C (320 to 392 °F), and because the oil is mixed into a batter or dough that contains water, it generally does not get as hot as oil in a frying pan.

To swap butter for olive oil, a common rule of thumb is to use about three quarters of the amount of butter and to choose a mild, fruity oil that suits the dish. Recipes that rely on butter creamed with sugar or on laminated dough, such as shortbread or croissants, are better left as they are. Our butter vs olive oil guide has more on baking swaps.

Which olive oil should you use for frying?

For everyday pan frying, sautéing and roasting, a good extra virgin olive oil is a sensible choice. Look for a recent harvest date, a dark bottle or tin, and a producer who names the olive variety and region. Fresh, carefully made oil tends to cope better with heat and tastes better too.

Pelops Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made from hand-harvested Koroneiki olives, cold extracted within 24 hours in the hills of Ancient Olympia in Ilia, Greece. Cold extraction means the olive paste is kept below 27 °C during production. It is our everyday oil for the pan and the oven, and we keep the most intense early harvest oils for raw use.

Frequently asked questions

Can you fry with extra virgin olive oil?

Yes. Extra virgin olive oil is suitable for most home frying, including pan frying and sautéing, as long as you keep the heat at a normal level and do not let the oil smoke. See the sections above for deep frying and baking.

Can you reuse olive oil after frying?

Yes, a few times, if you look after it. There is no fixed number and sources differ, so use your senses. Let the oil cool, strain out crumbs through a fine sieve, and keep it in a clean, closed container in a cool, dark place. Fish and strongly spiced foods leave their flavour behind, so use that oil only for similar dishes. Throw it away if it smells off, looks dark or cloudy, foams, or starts to smoke at a lower temperature than before, and do not pour used oil down the drain.

Does olive oil burn?

Any oil burns if it gets hot enough. Olive oil does not boil like water. If it is overheated it starts to smoke, and past that point it can burn and taste bitter. In everyday cooking you will rarely get that far. If the oil smokes, take the pan off the heat, let it cool, wipe the pan and start again with fresh oil.

Olive oil for sautéing versus roasting: what is the difference?

Sautéing is usually done over medium heat, well below the smoke point, so extra virgin olive oil is a natural fit and adds flavour. Roasting is commonly done at 180 to 220 °C (356 to 428 °F). Oil that coats food releasing moisture generally copes well, but if you see smoke in the oven, lower the temperature or use a little less oil, and add any intense finishing oil after roasting.

Can I fry with olive oil if I have reflux?

People with reflux often tolerate fried food badly, whatever oil is used, because very fatty meals can trigger symptoms in some people. For this reason extra virgin olive oil is usually best used raw or at low to medium temperatures if you have reflux, and in moderate amounts. Olive oil is not a treatment for reflux. You can read more in our article on olive oil and acid reflux, and if your symptoms are frequent or persistent, please see your doctor.

So, can you cook with extra virgin olive oil? Yes, for frying, sautéing, roasting and baking, as long as you keep an eye on the heat. And when it is Pelops, you are cooking with history and heart. Try Pelops Extra Virgin Olive Oil, crafted near Ancient Olympia: more than an ingredient, it is a tradition you can taste.