It's Okay To Add More Oil To A Sauté Pan. In Fact, Sometimes You Should

Whether you're making a crispy Thai basil beef stir fry or caramelizing onions on the stove for French onion soup, using enough oil is the key to an effective sauté. By definition, sauté means to fry food in a small amount of fat. Instead of trying to decipher what qualifies as a "small" amount, it's far better to pay attention to your pan, adding oil as needed to prevent sticking and uneven browning to achieve the glorious glossiness inherent in well-sautéed foods.

Using 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil, or enough to coat the bottom of your sauté pan, is a general rule of thumb when sautéing — as is always starting with a hot pan before adding any oil. But if you've taken these steps and the pan is dry while sautéing, do not hesitate to add more oil, regardless of what the recipe or the voice in your head might say. Sautéing is a method of convection cooking in the sense that heated molecules of oil naturally move in a way that circulates around the food, transferring the heat more evenly from all sides. Without enough oil, the method becomes conduction and the parts of the food touching the pan will cook faster, leading to uneven browning and sticking.

Adding enough oil to your hot sauté pan not only allows for convection or even heat distribution, it also prevents sticking. Oil actually lowers the surface tension of the pan, allowing the food to slide more easily. Also, oil molecules interact with the metal atoms in your pan forming a thin layer or barrier that prevents direct contact — For example, burning the bottom of the food while the top remains uncooked.

As with all rules, there is an exception. When sautéeing, you don't want to add too much oil which will only make food too greasy. On the flip side, some vegetables, such as the mushrooms and eggplant in a shrimp and eggplant stir fry, tend to absorb oil, later releasing it when they've fully cooked. Just maintain a watchful eye on your pan. If worst comes to worst, you can always pat your cooked veggies dry with paper towels to remove any excess oil.