This Little-Known Cooking Oil Could Be The Best To Replace Your Olive Oil

The olive oils from each country taste different, but irrespective of origin and flavor, this fruit oil has long reigned supreme in the pantry kingdom, drizzled on salads, sizzled under eggs, and poured with reckless abandon onto anything vaguely Mediterranean. But there's a quiet contender you've probably overlooked, and it's time to give it a proper spotlight: rice bran oil.

Yes, rice bran oil, the smooth, mild oil extracted from the outer layer of rice. It may not come with a Tuscan villa fantasy or rustic glass bottle, but what it lacks in branding, it makes up for in versatility, flavor neutrality, and some surprisingly solid health perks.

It starts with the real showstopper: smoke point. Rice bran oil clocks in around 450 degrees Fahrenheit, making it a heavyweight for high-heat cooking. Compare that to extra virgin olive oil, which smokes out between 350 and 410 degrees Fahrenheit and can leave a bitter note behind if pushed too far. That means rice bran oil is your new go-to for everything from stir-frying to deep-frying to roasting your Sunday veggies until they're perfectly caramelized.

Then, there's the flavor, or rather, the lack of it. Rice bran oil is light, clean, and neutral, which is to say it won't compete with whatever else you've got going on in the dish. Olive oil is bold, grassy, and assertive, which is great in pesto but not always welcome in baked goods or delicate sauces. Rice bran oil, on the other hand, slips quietly into those chewy coconut chocolate chip cookies, cakes, dressings, and grilled whitefish fillets without taking over the whole party.

Health-wise, rice bran oil holds its own. It's rich in vitamin E and oryzanol, an antioxidant compound believed to support heart health and potentially lower cholesterol. It's also naturally low in saturated fat and free of trans fats, with a good balance of mono- and polyunsaturated fats. Basically, it checks the same health-conscious boxes as olive oil, just without all the olive oil drama.

And let's not forget rice bran oil's international street cred — it's a staple in many Asian kitchens, prized for its high smoke point and gentle finish. If you're flash-frying that famed baked sesame tofu, searing dumplings, or giving your fried rice some golden crunch, rice bran oil shows up and does the work quietly, as it has for decades.

There's certainly no need to ditch olive oil forever. But rice bran oil deserves a permanent spot in your rotation too. It's the low-key MVP that makes weeknight cooking cleaner, crispier, and less smoke alarm-y.