The variety of oils used in baking and cooking recipes can be overwhelming. In order to properly follow the suggestions of amateur and professional chefs, you would need a pantry stocked with nearly every vegetable oil available. As this can be costly, wasteful and take up excessive amounts of room, knowing whether you can replace vegetable oil with a blend of soybean and olive oils can aid you in your culinary adventures.
Vegetable Oil
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a number of different edible oils and blends can be labelled as "vegetable oil." While the department's regulations dictate that canola, safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean or peanut oil can be labelled as "vegetable oil," most vegetable oils contain either pure soybean oil or a blend of soybean and canola oils. For example, both Crisco and Wesson market their pure soybean oils as vegetable oil, while Mazola's vegetable oil is a soybean and canola oil blend.
Soybean and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Because most products sold under the vegetable oil name are either pure soybean oil or a blend containing soybean oil, soybean oil is a suitable replacement for vegetable oil. Olive oil, which can withstand higher heats than soybean oil, may also be used in recipes that call for vegetable oil. In contrast with the relatively flavorless soybean and canola oils, however, extra virgin olive oil is popular in cooking due to its unique, pronounced flavor. While a soybean-olive oil blend that is mostly soybean may have little effect, an even blend or one heavy on olive oil may add an unwanted flavor to a dish that calls for vegetable oil.
Fat Content
Fats make up all of the nutritional content of all vegetable oils. With different distributions of saturated, polyunsatured and monounsaturated fats, however, some oils behave differently from others when cooked or added to foods. Of the fat content of soybean oil, approximately 15 percent is saturated, 61 percent is polyunsaturated and 24 percent is monounsaturated. Canola oil contains 7 percent saturated, 35 percent polyunsaturated and 58 percent monounsaturated fats, while olive oil contains 14 percent saturated, 12 percent polyunsaturated and 74 percent monounsaturated fats.
Stability and Substitution
Soybean oil's high proportion of unstable polyunsaturated fats makes it unsuitable for cooking at high heats. However, the higher proportion of stable saturated fats in both olive and soybean oils leads to a blend that is less likely to change in texture, color and flavor when cooking than vegetable oil. In addition, the high concentration of heart-healthy, relatively stable monounsatured fats in extra virgin olive oil results in a soybean-olive oil blend that is both more stable and healthier than commercial vegetable oil. However, due to the powerful flavor and aroma of extra virgin olive oil and its drastically different fat profile, it may not be a suitable replacement for vegetable oil either on its own or in a blend.
References
- United States Department of Agriculture: USDA Specifications for Vegetable Oil Margarine
- Wesson: The Four Oils: Vegetable
- Crisco: Vegetable Oil
- Mazola: Mazola Vegetable Plus!
- International Olive Council: Designations and Definitions of Olive Oils
- Fat Free Kitchen: Best Cooking Oil, Healthy Cooking Oils and Olive Oil
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