What Is Avocado Oil?

Avocado oil is a cooking oil produced by extracting the fat from the pulp of the avocado fruit. This makes it somewhat unique among other plant-based oils, most of which are extracted from the seeds of the plant, not the fruit itself.

There are two main types of avocado oil, so-called virgin, and refined. Virgin avocado oil is the pure oil that's extracted by pressing the flesh of the avocado fruit and then spinning the pulp to separate the oil from the water and fruit solids. It has a rich, nutty, mushroomy flavor, and a bright green color. Like with olive oil, avocado oil made from the first pressing of the avocados is referred to as "extra-virgin."

Refined avocado oil is made by filtering the virgin oil to remove small particles of pulp and other impurities. This process also removes the green color, along with much of the flavor and aroma of the oil. So refined avocado oil has a light yellow color with hints of green.

Since avocado oil is generally made in smaller quantities than other vegetable oils, it tends to be among the most expensive cooking oils. For that reason, despite its usefulness in cooking, many cooks prefer to use it as more as a finishing oil than an actual cooking oil.

Cooking With Avocado Oil

One important factor with any cooking oil is its smoke point, or the temperature at which the oil starts to break down and smoke, imparting a burnt, bitter flavor to your food. Extra-virgin avocado oil has a smoke point of around 480 F, and the smoke point for refined avocado oil can be as high as 520 F. This makes it ideal for high heat cooking applications like sautéing and frying. It would also work well for deep-frying, although the quantities needed would make it a pretty expensive choice. 

Also, the flavor compounds in virgin avocado oil are lost when the oil is heated, so many cooks prefer to use the virgin type in no-heat applications like salad dressings and for drizzling over veggies rather than for cooking. 

Other uses for avocado oil include as an ingredient for making dips, hummus, mayonnaise or aioli, marinades, and it can also be used also in baking.