Can you mix olive oil and vegetable oil?

Have you ever wanted to mix two oils to get the benefits of each when cooking?

High in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat, along with low in saturated fat, olive oil is perhaps the preferred frying and dressing medium for most health-conscious people.

However, the sheer versatility of vegetable oil makes it one of the best and possibly tastiest oils for frying foods.

Vegetable oil may not have the same health benefits as olive oil, but it is considered a neutral frying oil that cooks food better without smoking or burning.

This means that the vegetable oil will not impart any unwanted or additional flavors to your food and will fry it at higher temperatures without discoloring or burning.

But, can olive oil be mixed with vegetable oil?

Yes, these two oils can be mixed for various purposes. Vegetable oil is already a product of different oils such as canola, sunflower, cottonseed and others. The proportions may need to be adjusted, but in general, you can mix these two oils together. 

However, it is not that simple. There are a few things to keep in mind before preparing your brand of oil. Keep reading to know more!

Why olive oil?

Olive oil is considered one of the healthiest options on the market. It is better than vegetable oil if you compare the nutritional profile of both oils.

Many health experts have confirmed that the use of olive oil is linked to possible health benefits.

But to understand why olive oil is better than others, we must first understand the oil extraction process, because therein lies a huge factor that contributes to olive oil’s nutritional profile.

Also, not all olive oils are the same. There are two varieties: the pomace and the extra virgin.

These two varieties dominate the market when it comes to olive oil, and even within these two, there are many factors that determine the quality and health benefits of the oils.

Pomace oil, for example, is a processed oil that can be considered more of a by-product of extra virgin oil.

You see, when the olives arrive at the factory, they are first washed, treated and cleaned of remains. The olives are then passed through a crusher. This crusher continuously compresses and extracts the natural oils from the olives.

The temperature of the press also determines the quality and flavor of the oil, but we will come back to that later . When all the oil has been extracted from the olives, the excess residues accumulate and are collected.

The oil that came from the “first extraction” will become extra virgin olive oil, since it is the least processed and has come directly from the olives without much transformation.

However, it turns out that the residue also has a lot of oil, but it cannot be extracted from the mincer.

This is where chemical processing comes into play. The residue is treated with a solvent that extracts the remaining oil, which is initially considered inedible.

This mixture is then filtered and processed to make it edible. This is how the pomace is collected.

There are different qualities of olive oil on the market, some extra virgin oils are inferior to others just because of the way they are processed.

For example, when grinding olives, the mill gets hot due to friction, and this heat is significant enough to damage the nutrition and change the flavor of the oil.

To counteract this, manufacturers use what is known as a “cold press,” in which the mincer is constantly cooled to maintain a uniform temperature.

Ideally, the cold-pressed extra virgin variety is considered the best of the best in terms of olive oil.

Olive Oil vs. Vegetable Oil

Compared to olive oil, vegetable oil is highly processed, as it is usually a blend from one or more sources.

For example, canola and sunflower oils are popularly combined for how well they complement each other in their flavor profiles and smoke points.

Combining oils is often done to increase or improve the efficacy or health benefits of a particular oil. There are a few things manufacturers keep in mind when blending different vegetable oils:

• smoking point
• Taste
• Nutrition 
• Volume
• Cost

The smoking point determines the temperature at which the oil begins to smoke. For example, olive oil has a smoking point of 190°C, while vegetable oil can withstand up to 240°C before smoking.

Many manufacturers may blend oils to increase the smoke point, as this influences the flavor and color of the oil once it is heated.

This is why vegetable oil is the preferred choice when it comes to fried foods, since the food needs to be cooked on high heat and you don’t need to change the oil frequently.

Taste is very important when it comes to oils.  Comparatively, olive oil has a much more pronounced flavor than vegetable oil, which is why olive oil is often drizzled on salads and food.

Vegetable oil is considered neutral and is equally important in order not to change the taste of food.

Nutrition is another big factor why most oil manufacturers choose to blend different sources.

For example, olive oil and canola oil are popular choices when it comes to oils for everyday use. Shares the health benefits of olive oil and the high smoke point of canola.

It is often called “canola” and can be purchased at any supermarket. Be sure to check out the variety of sources blended into your vegetable oil the next time you shop for a bottle.

We speak of volume when the amount of oil must be increased to lower the sale price of a brand, while maintaining the benefits of oil for health and frying.

This is common practice and blending oils is a great way to get lower retail prices for consumers.

Cost, as mentioned, determines how much a particular brand of vegetable oil will sell for. Olive oil costs the most, as it is marketed as offering better health benefits than other oils, so manufacturers can command a higher retail price.

However, in the case of vegetable oil, most people cannot afford to have extra virgin or pomace oil for cooking on a daily basis.

That is why manufacturers mix different vegetable oils to achieve better frying characteristics and reduce costs.

Most of the industries use vegetable oil to fry and prepare their product as having olive oil would be quite expensive as it costs more, burns easily and needs to be changed after short use.

How to mix different oils

So you have some olive oil and some vegetable oil in your kitchen and you want to mix them together to get the health benefits or change the flavor profile of the oil. Can you mix them successfully? The short answer is yes.

However, you would have to check the ratios of both oils in order to get the most benefits.

The ideal would be to mix 1/4 of olive oil with any neutral vegetable oil, and since the density of both oils is more or less the same, you will be able to mix them without separating them.

If you find that the oil smokes more or tastes different than what you want, you can reduce the amount of olive oil. It is also highly recommended to mix canola oil with olive oil, as these two oils tend to complement each other.

You can also try mixing canola oil with pomace oil instead of extra virgin oil.

For extra virgin oil, instead of adding 1/4 cup, try adding 2 tablespoons to a cup, mixing, then checking for flavor and smoke point.

We would not recommend mixing olive oil with a type of vegetable oil that already has some olive oil in it, as it would throw the balance off too much and could ruin the flavor of the oil.

Also, if you want more health benefits, try drizzling some extra virgin olive oil over your food after you’ve cooked it.

Conclusion

Mixing vegetable oil and olive oil will bring out the best in each other, but be careful when trying to overmix.

The right amount will always add flavor and health benefits, but the wrong proportions can ruin the oil.

There are many varieties of olive oil, so you can mix and match different types until you find what you are looking for. Start small by mixing 1 cup and tasting each batch before committing to the full bottle. 

Always remember that olive oil is better for dressing, frying and sautéing foods, as it gets wet easily and can lose some of its nutrition.

Vegetable oil is best for frying, shallow frying, and general cooking. Therefore, knowing the difference between the two will help you better understand how to mix them.