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Best Soybean Oil Substitutes – 6 Alternatives To Try Next

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 Containing no cholesterol and very little saturated fats, soybean oil a vegetable based oil that’s widely used for cooking and baking. But some people need to avoid soybeans due to certain health concerns or allergic reasons. If you are looking to replace soybean oil with an equally good or better alternative, here are some amazing substitutes to choose from.

soybean oil

Best soybean oil substitutes

Some of the best soybean oil substitutes are canola oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil, safflower oil, and butter. The main consideration when you are choosing a substitute to soybean oil is the flavor. Like most vegetable oils, soybean oil is very mild in taste.

Any substitute for it must not overpower the dish you’re making, or at least go well with the food. While there’s a bunch of oils that work as a great soybean oil substitute, the best ones are mild in flavor.

Now let’s take a look at each substitute in particular.

Canola oil

One of the best alternatives to soybean oil is canola oil, made from pressing the canola plant seeds. Interestingly, it contains only 7 percent saturated fat, which is the lowest found in all vegetable oil.

canola oil

Another great thing is that it has very little flavor, thereby being great for cooking and baking cakes. In fact, it’s so light in taste that you wouldn’t even notice any difference in the dish when you substitute it for soybean oil.

It keeps the heart healthy, and produces less aldehydes when you use it for high heat frying. It can even replace margarine and butter for sautee and grilling.

Read Also:Best Black Bean Substitute

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is made using coconut meat, wither cooked or raw and then pressed to remove the fats. It contains saturated fats that are more neutral than those found in most vegetable oils.

To substitute coconut oil for soybean oil, you can go for the same amount of oil for all the recipes. However, coconut oil remains solid at room temperature. That’s why you need to melt it if the final dish requires liquid oil.

Also make sure that the other ingredients are not very cold to prevent them from re-solidifying the coconut oil. This one’s a great choice for baking and high-heat, cooking as coconut oil works wonders when it comes to withstanding high heat. Its rich, vanilla-like flavor makes baked goods so much more delicious.

Avocado oil

Worked by pressing avocado pulp, avocado oil is mostly oleic acid, which is a healthy monounsaturated fat. While it’s not easy available at all local grocery stores as compared to vegetable oils, you can find avocado oil at most natural food health stores and substitute it for soybean oil in equal amounts.

Coming with a high heating point, this one features a buttery, creamy flavor. This makes it perfect for grilling, marinades, sauces, dressings, sauteing, baking and even stir-frying. It will reduce the risk of certain cancers and increase carotenoids’ absorption in salsa and salads.

Olive oil

There’s no doubt in the fact that olive oil is one of the healthiest oils available out there. Prepared from the olive tree fruits, this oil can replace soybean oil in marinades or dressings, as well as can be sautéed over medium to low heat. However, it comes with a low smoke point, avoid using it for recipes that need high heat. 

Also, go for some other alternate if you plan to make a baked treat as olive oil comes with a strong flavor. This oil contains mostly healthy monounsaturated fats, which lower the risk of heart diseases and regulate blood sugar.

Safflower Oil

With its high smoke point, monounsaturated safflower oil is one of the best cooking options at high temperatures. If you want to prepare deep-fried foods, use foods rich in minerals and vitamins, such as zucchini or assorted vegetables in tempura batter.

safflower oil

To fake deep-fried dishes and eliminate empty calories, you can go for oven-baked alternatives using monounsaturated safflower oil. For example, make oven-fried potato wedges or chicken using very little oil to avoid the food from sticking to the baking sheet.

Safflower oil goes well with stir-fries, baked goods, and sauteed dishes, appealing to many for its milder flavors. Despite the name this is not the flower that is used for saffron. It’s a distant relative, but it will stain everything yellow-orange.

Butter

The great flavor and texture of butter makes it a lovely choice over oil in baking. If you are using butter in place of soybean oil, you can add a bit more butter than the measurement mentioned in the recipe. However, even if you replace it with a one-to-one ratio, it will yield flavorful and quite crisp treats.

Butter works wonders when baking muffins, cakes, brownies or cookies. Over the past decades, it was claimed that butter can be bad for you. But, it has now been researched that butter may help with weight-loss, while its animal fat makes lard very good for high-heat cooking.

Read Also:Can You Mix Peanut Oil And Vegetable Oil ?

Non-oil substitutes for soybean oil

A substitute for soybean oil or any other vegetable oil doesn’t always have to be other oils. This is because in baking, oil and fat is there mostly to give everything a richer flavor and maintain the dough moist. This can also be done with other food items.

In fact, it can be substituted with mashed fruit, unsweetened applesauce, or pureed fruit such as pears, prunes and bananas when it comes to baking.

For every cup of soybean oil, you can go for a cup of any of these alternatives. However, it may bring out slight changes to the texture of the preparation. For example, when you go for applesauce when making cookies, they may be a bit more cake-like and moist.

You can also use yogurt to substitute soybean oil in baked treats. While most people prefer going for plain yogurt, using some vanilla yogurt to do the job makes the flavor more interesting. Make sure you go for low-fat, organic varieties – but reduce the amount of other liquids in your recipe for a perfect preparation.

Each of the above substitutes come with their own properties and constituents. Every soybean substitute may not be appropriate for all the recipes or cooking methods.

Some oils feature a stronger flavors and may change the final preparation taste. Others may have low heat points that make them unfit for high-heat cooking or baking. It totally depends on what you are preparing, and all you need to do is make a careful choice, and voila!


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