8 Best Olive Oils of 2022

Without a question, olive oil is one of the most versatile culinary ingredients available. It not only contains amino acids, polyphenols, and healthful monounsaturated fats, but it also provides incredible taste and depth to practically any dish. We can’t think of a single dish that wouldn’t benefit from a drizzle of olive oil.

It’s fantastic for grilling, baking, and even frying. Nothing else has the same degree of rich taste and depth. To obtain the greatest results, make sure you use the finest olive oil for your recipes if you want to enjoy the full spectrum of advantages it has to offer.

We’ve produced a list of the best extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) products for remarkable outcomes in the kitchen, as recommended by highly recognized chefs and reputable food reviewers.

1. Best Overall – Pompeian Smooth Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is one of the most versatile and tasty oils we’ve tried. If you want to cook things with butter but want to move to a healthy option without compromising the full-bodied taste it imparts to food, you’ll appreciate what Pompeian olive oil brings to the table.

It adds a subtle peppery flavor to dishes and is ideal for sautéing and stir-frying. All of the olives used in the production of this oil are grown under strict supervision to retain their antioxidant benefits while still delivering the freshness and taste you’d expect from an everyday EVOO.

Key Features

• Smooth flavor
• First cold-pressed
• Available in sizes of 16, 24, 32, 48, and 68 fl. oz.

Pros

• Soups, stir-fries, marinades, and salads may all benefit from it.
• Delicious smooth flavor
• Affordable price-point

Cons

• The bottle cap is a little difficult to remove

2. Best Budget Choice – AmazonFresh Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil

If you’re looking for a great-tasting, low-cost olive oil, go no further than AmazonFresh Mediterranean EVOO. This brand provides excellent value for money, with a 68 fl. oz. bottle costing little under $19. Its distinctive mild buttery flavors make it excellent for daily cooking and finishing.

The olives used to make this oil are collected from farmers in the Mediterranean area, which is famed for producing some of the world’s most exquisite olives. If you like Colavita EVOO, you’ll love this AmazonFresh mix. It comes with a one-year money-back guarantee.

Key Features

• Olives are sourced from the Mediterranean region
• Mild buttery flavor
• Comes in a 68 fl. oz. bottle

Pros

• Great value for the money
• Backed by a money-back guarantee
• It is highly versatile

Cons

• It has a slight after taste

3. Best Premium Choice – The Governor Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil

As far as premium olive oil brands go, The Governor Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil is unrivaled. To begin with, the packaging and distinctive design of the limited-edition bottle are just amazing. It is 100% raw and unfiltered, and it has a very low acidity level of 0.17%.

It is exclusively derived from Corfu, Greece. It has won several industry accolades, including the Aristolio High Phenolic accolades, the Athena International Olive Oil Competition, and the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition.

It features a powerful, full-bodied taste profile with distinct spicy and fruity undertones, as well as a very smooth texture. The Governor immediately adds a level of refinement to any cuisine, whether carnivorous, vegan, or vegetarian. It has one of the highest quantities of polyphenols, because to the exceptional milling technology used.

Key Features

• Very low acidity
• Raw and unfiltered
• Comes in a 16.9 fl. oz. bottle

Pros

• It is rich in polyphenols
• Its strong taste and scent are truly delectable.
• Comes in a stunning limited-edition bottle

Cons

• The flavor might be too bold for some recipes

4. Best for Dressing – Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oils have one of the greatest taste characteristics available. Because of its rich flavor and aromatic undertones, it is ideal for salad dressings, marinades, gravies, sauces, and spreading over pasta. It may also be used to sauté vegetables or meat.

It is completely gluten-free, cholesterol-free, and includes no GMOs or trans fats. We especially like the rich yet well-balanced flavor it imparts to foods. Filippo Berio EVOO’s fresh and aromatic scent complements a variety of dishes. If you want to amp up the flavor, bake it into the dough of your favorite pizza. The flavor is just extraordinary.

Key Features

• Has a high smoke point
• Distinctly rich taste
• 8.4, 25.3, 50.7, and 101.4 fl. oz. containers are available.

Pros

• Delivers outstanding value for the money
• It is highly-versatile
• Deliciously fragrant with olive notes

Cons

• The tin container makes pouring without creating a mess more challenging.

5. Best Full Bodied – ZOE Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The ZOE Extra Virgin Olive Oil is hard to match when it comes to full-bodied EVOOs. It enhances every meal to Michelin-level greatness, from its seductive fruity and buttery overtones to its fragrant combination of almond, fresh basil, and pepper.

The olives used to create this oil are derived entirely from the Alentejo area of southern Portugal. It is home to local olive varietals like as Arbequina, Picual, Arbosana, and Carrasquena, which have a herbaceous and buttery flavor that will excite your taste buds.

It goes well with wine and balsamic vinegar, and it’s ideal for making marinades, basting sauces, and sautéing vegetables and meat. It’s the ideal accompaniment to any meal.

Key Features

• It has fruity, herbaceous, buttery, and peppery overtones in its taste profile.
• Sourced from Portugal
• Available in 33.8 and 68 fl. oz. containers

Pros

• Pairs well with virtually every kind of dish
• Kids love it
• It is cholesterol- and sodium-free

Cons

• For certain recipes, the taste may be a tad overpowering.

6. Best Kosher – Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil

If you want kosher olive oil, try Colavitas Premium Selection EVOO. It is created from a combination of Koroneiki, Picual, and Arbequina olives picked using cold-press extraction techniques from the greatest orchards in Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Italy. It has a well-balanced taste profile with fruity and spicy overtones that makes it great for dressings, marinades, roasting, and even baking.

It has twice been chosen the Best Everyday Cooking Oil in the annual Mens Health Magazine Nutrition Awards. It also has the North American Olive Oil Association’s quality mark.

With an acidity level far below the 0.4% threshold, Colavita is by far one of the healthiest high-quality EVOOs on the market right now. It doesn’t get much more perfect than that.

Key Features

• Fruity and spicy notes
• 100% certified kosher
• Available in 17 fl. oz., 25.5 fl. oz., 34 fl. oz., and 68 fl

Pros

• Its versatility makes it excellent for daily usage.
• It has low-acidity levels
• Tastes amazing

Cons

• The bottle cap is difficult to remove

7. Best for Cooking – La Tourangelle Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Most EVOOs are not suitable for high-heat cooking. The exception to the norm is La Tourangelle olive oil. It is cold-pressed from Spanish single-variety Picual olives and is ideal for cooking on medium-high heat.

It has a rich, well-balanced taste profile of fresh olive leaves, almond, and newly cut grass, with a crisp, peppery finish. La Tourangelle complements most wines, balsamic vinaigrette, and is an excellent addition to marinades and gourmet foods.

It is kosher, gluten-free, and devoid of GMOs and chemical additives. It is also high in antioxidants and Omega-6 and 9 fatty acids.

Key Features

• Nutty and peppery notes
• Excellent with meats, salads, pasta, vinaigrettes, and marinades.
• Available in 5, 16.9, and 25.4 fl. oz. containers

Pros

• Made from single-variety olives
• Excellent for cooking
• It has a deep, strong taste that makes it quite adaptable.

Cons

• Has a slight aftertaste

8. Best Everyday Use – Lucini Italia Olive Oil

Lucini Italia EVOO has a pleasant taste that makes it ideal for daily cooking and dressing. It constantly exceeds the International Olive Oil Council’s testing criteria, so you know you’re getting the good stuff.

The olives used to manufacture it come from the fertile soil of Argentina’s Andean foothills, a temperate area known for its olive production.

Lucini olive oil is a well-balanced blend of fruity, peppery, and nutty flavors that enhance fresh vegetable meals and salad dressings. It’s also a terrific starting point for creating your preferred basting sauce and marinade for grilling meats.

Key Features

• It has a fruity, peppery, and nutty flavor
• Vegan, certified kosher, and gluten-free
• Available in 17 fl. oz. containers

Pros

• Its smooth and delicious flavor isnt overpowering
• Ideal for salad cooking, marinating, and dressing.
• Great value for the money

Cons

• The taste may be too light for recipes that call for a robust EVOO.

Key Considerations When Choosing the Best Olive Oil – Buying Guide

 

With so many various varieties of olive oil on the market, how do you know if you’re using the correct one? Extra-light, extra-virgin, pure, pure-virgin, how do you know if you’re using the right one?

If you live a healthy lifestyle and cook with olive oil, the question you should be asking is whether you are receiving the entire spectrum of health advantages from the exact kind of oil you are using.

We’ve compiled a list of important factors to consider when selecting the finest olive oil for your culinary requirements.

Understand What the Words on the Label Mean

If you’re like most people, you probably purchase olive oil because the words on the bottle seem appealing. You’re probably taken in by terms like first cold press or extra-virgin, but do you know what they mean?

Don’t worry if this precisely describes you. You are not alone. When it comes to purchasing the finest olive oil, most individuals have no clue what they’re doing. Instead of haphazardly putting a random bottle to your shopping basket, here’s what those annoying labels signify.

1. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Extra-virgin olive oil, or EVOO for short, is the highest grade for olive oil as defined by several organizations such as the International Olive Council (IOC). Unrefined EVOO has no more than 0.8 percent free acidity and has never been chemically or heat-treated.

Most food enthusiasts believe it has a greater taste and scent when compared to other types. The color, price, and specific health advantages differ depending on the brand. While EVOO may be used in cooking, it is best used as a light and flavorful salad dressing.

2. Virgin Olive Oil

Virgin olive oil has a little lesser grade than EVOO and includes between 1.5 and 2% free acidity. It works nicely for sautéing and frying.

Remember that, although it may be of poorer quality than its extra-virgin rivals, it is still a hundred times healthier than any other cooking oil you may use, and it tastes better. It is also less costly than EVOO, making it the greatest next-best option if extra-virgin products are out of your price range but you still want to eat healthily on a budget.

3. Cold-Pressed Olive Oil

The phrase “cold-pressed” merely refers to the process of extraction utilized to get the oil. Oil was once extracted using presses and stone mills. Whatever was left over after the initial press was heat-treated to produce lesser grades of oil.

In truth, the term “cold-pressed olive oil” means nothing. The majority of oil is extracted by press and centrifuge, which is a cold extraction technique by definition since no heat is used at any time.

EVOO is cold-extracted, which is what distinguishes it as extra-virgin. When describing EVOO, adding the phrases cold-pressed or first cold-pressed is superfluous. If you come across two brands of extra virgin olive oil, one with any of the aforementioned phrases on the label and one without, feel certain that they are both the same.

4. Refined Olive Oil

If you see olive oil labels branded pure olive oil or just olive oil, you’re looking at the refined type. It is made from virgin olive oil by refining procedures that do not alter its native glyceride structure.

It has a maximum free acidity of 3.3 percent, expressed as oleic acid. In terms of flavor profile, refined olive oil doesn’t taste like anything. It also lacks color and fragrance. To compensate for its blandness, it might be infused with stronger oils.

5. Extra-Light Olive Oil

Most people equate the word extra-light with low-fat or low-calorie when it is used in the culinary realm. While this is true for drinks, the same cannot be stated for olive oil.

Oil, whether olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, or any other kind of oil, is 100 percent fat. As a result, there is no such thing as light or low-fat olive oil. Several companies use the phrase as a marketing technique.

This signifies that the oil has been refined to remove all flavor and odor, thus it has no taste or odor. That does not make it any healthier. This oil is ideal for baking, when a rich taste profile would be too overpowering.

6. Filtered/Unfiltered

You may also see oils labeled filtered or unfiltered. The preference for one over the other is personal. Unfiltered oil is often cloudier, purer, and more natural. It’s a lot closer to what the product should be in its natural state.

Filtered olive oil, on the other hand, is cleaner and believed to be better and longer-lasting than unfiltered olive oil. The sediments in unfiltered oil make it more volatile, reducing its shelf life dramatically.

However, both forms of oil provide the same set of health advantages.

7. “Nocellara del Belice”

Olives, like grapes used to make wine, come in a variety of varietals, each of which imparts a distinct taste to the finished product. The Arbequina olive, for example, has a lovely buttery flavor when contrasted to the Nocellara del Belice olive from Sicily, which provides a bright, fruity flavor to the oil.

8. Product of Italy

All olive oil labels must include the source. Remember that just because the label says Bottled in Italy or Product of Sicily doesn’t guarantee the oil originated from there. To determine the real source of the oil, you must study the tiny print.

The initials of the real nation of origin are generally found on the rear label. You may see IT for Italy, GR for Greece, PT for Portugal, TN for Tunisia, and so on. The greatest olive oil brands often have a single-source origin that can be traced back to the original farm.

Color

Light causes olive oil to deteriorate more quickly. Choose oils that are packed in colored bottles or opaque tins to enhance their shelf life.

The notion that the color of the olive oil itself is important is a glorified fantasy. The color of the oil is influenced by how ripe the olives were at the time of harvest. It is not a quality indicator in any manner.

If the olives were not totally mature when harvested, the oil obtained from them will be greenish in color. If the harvested olives were purplish-black, the oil produced from them would be golden in color.

Several variables influence the taste of olive oil. The milling process employed, farming and irrigation techniques, temperature of the location they were grown in, soil quality, how ripe the harvested olives were, and even the individual variety all have an impact on the taste of the finished product.

Flavor

In terms of taste, green olive oil, with a few exceptions, has a powerful and somewhat peppery flavor. It goes nicely with fatty meats like as hog and beef. It’s also delicious on robust greens like kale and roasted root vegetables.

Try adding a little green EVOO to a meal that asks for heirloom tomatoes, for example. The outcomes will pleasantly surprise you.

Golden olive oil, on the other hand, has a subtle buttery taste. This makes it ideal for pesto and goes well with chicken and fish.

You may also sprinkle it over vanilla or chocolate ice cream for a taste explosion in your tongue. The key to flavor layering with olive oil is to use the same bottle for cooking and finishing, regardless of brand.

However, you should avoid purchasing oil that has little to no color, since this indicates that it has been processed. Avoid copper-colored olive oil as well, since this indicates oxidation exposure.

Value

Sometimes a 500-ml or 750-ml bottle of EVOO simply isn’t enough. When you find bargains that include up to 5-liter bottles or tins of olive oil, you save even more money.

These are especially useful over the holidays or if your family drizzles olive oil on almost everything, even nutritious veggie pies. But who can blame them? The food is wonderful.

Time to Get Reacquainted

We suggest testing out the brands we evaluated in this guide now that you know what to look for when selecting the finest olive oil. A tiny sprinkle of it has the extraordinary capacity to transform even the most ordinary veggies into superstars.

Go on get reacquainted with this liquid gold.

In the meanwhile, visit our blog for a detailed explanation on how to oil a cutting board. You might be doing it incorrectly.