If you’ve paid attention to the cooking oil section in any major grocery stores, you know how many kinds of oils are available. Common cooking oils include canola oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil. On the healthy end, there are olive oil, coconut oil and now avocado oil is getting the spotlight. What else? Grape seed oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil… OMG! So many cooking oils, so little time.

Different oils fulfill different needs — for health, taste and cooking. For comprehensive good health, our bodies need a variety of healthy fats and other essentials that are found naturally in different oils.

The questions are which oil you should use for what purpose; which oil is food for you; which oil tastes better in your salad; which oil is absolutely not for grilling, etc.

You could easily get into a rabbit hole if you want to dive deeper. That’s why we created a little infographic regarding some of the most commonly used cooking oils and their uses including how to use them, smoke point, how to store different oils properly and their health benefits.

Download it, save it, pin it, print it out and stick it on your fridge. Do whatever you need to do to keep it handy so that you can refer to it whenever you need to.

Now, tell us which cooking oil you prefer to use as the all-purpose oil in your kitchen and why in the comments below.

About the Author

Sharon Chen, StreetSmart Kitchen
Sharon Chen

Sharon Chen is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, an author and a sous vide fanatic who believes food not only brings healing but also connection. As the creator of StreetSmart Kitchen, she's on a mission to help you find balance, ease, joy, and simplicity in the kitchen as you improve your well-being.