The Best Alternatives to Seed Oils for Cooking
The best alternatives to seed oils are the fats humans cooked with for thousands of years before the industrial seed oil era: beef tallow, butter, ghee, lard, extra virgin olive oil, and coconut oil. Each has distinct properties, flavour profiles, and ideal uses. This guide covers everything you need to know.
The best alternatives to seed oils are not new inventions — they are the fats humans cooked with for thousands of years before the industrial seed oil era began in the early 20th century. Beef tallow, butter, ghee, lard, extra virgin olive oil, and coconut oil were the default cooking fats across every culture worldwide until cheap industrial processing made seed oils economically dominant. The good news is that all of these traditional fats are widely available, often cheaper than premium seed oils, and dramatically better for your health.
Why Traditional Fats Are Better
The key advantage of traditional cooking fats over seed oils is chemical stability. Saturated and monounsaturated fats — which dominate traditional cooking fats — have stable molecular structures that do not oxidise readily when heated. Polyunsaturated fats, which dominate seed oils, are chemically unstable and produce toxic oxidation products (aldehydes, lipid peroxides) when exposed to heat, light, or oxygen. This is why seed oils go rancid quickly and produce harmful compounds when used for frying.
The Best Seed Oil Alternatives
1. Beef Tallow
Beef tallow is rendered beef fat, and it is the gold standard for high-heat cooking. It has a smoke point of approximately 250°C (480°F), making it ideal for deep frying, pan frying, and roasting. Tallow is rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has been associated with reduced cancer risk and improved body composition, as well as fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2. It was the original fat used for frying chips and fast food burgers before the seed oil industry lobbied for its replacement in the 1980s. Many of the best steakhouses and burger restaurants in the Unnasty directory use tallow for frying.
2. Butter and Ghee
Butter is one of the most nutritionally dense cooking fats available. It is rich in butyrate (a short-chain fatty acid that feeds the gut lining and has anti-inflammatory properties), fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2, and conjugated linoleic acid. Grass-fed butter has significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids and CLA than grain-fed butter. Ghee — clarified butter with the milk solids removed — has a higher smoke point (approximately 250°C) and is suitable for higher-heat cooking. Both are excellent for sautéing, baking, and finishing dishes.
3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest plant-based cooking fat. It is high in oleic acid (a stable monounsaturated fat that does not oxidise readily), rich in polyphenols and antioxidants, and has been extensively studied for its cardiovascular benefits. The smoke point of extra virgin olive oil is approximately 190–210°C, making it suitable for low to medium heat cooking, sautéing, and roasting. It is not ideal for deep frying. Use it raw on salads and for finishing dishes to preserve its polyphenol content.
4. Lard (Pork Fat)
Lard is rendered pork fat, and it has been a staple cooking fat in European and Latin American cuisines for centuries. It has a smoke point of approximately 190°C and is excellent for frying, roasting, and baking. Lard from pasture-raised pigs is a good source of vitamin D and oleic acid. It has a mild flavour that does not overpower dishes. Traditional Mexican carnitas, French confit, and British pastry all rely on lard for their characteristic texture and flavour.
5. Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is high in medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), particularly lauric acid, which has antimicrobial properties and is metabolised differently from long-chain fatty acids. It has a smoke point of approximately 175–200°C and is suitable for medium-heat cooking. Refined coconut oil has a neutral flavour; unrefined (virgin) coconut oil has a distinct coconut flavour that works well in Asian and tropical cuisines. It is particularly popular in Bali and Southeast Asian clean kitchen restaurants.
6. Duck Fat
Duck fat is prized in French cuisine for its rich flavour and excellent cooking properties. It is high in oleic acid (similar to olive oil) and has a smoke point of approximately 190°C. Duck fat roast potatoes are considered by many chefs to be the finest version of the dish. It is available in jars at most specialty food stores and is increasingly used by high-end restaurants as a seed oil alternative.
7. Avocado Oil
Avocado oil is one of the few plant-based oils suitable for high-heat cooking, with a smoke point of approximately 270°C. It is high in oleic acid and relatively low in polyunsaturated fats. However, it is important to note that many commercial avocado oils are adulterated with cheaper seed oils — studies have found that a significant proportion of avocado oils on the market are mislabelled. If using avocado oil, choose a reputable brand with third-party testing.
Comparison: Traditional Fats vs Seed Oils
| Fat | Smoke Point | Omega-6 Content | Stability | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef Tallow | 250°C / 480°F | ~3% | Excellent | Deep frying, roasting, burgers |
| Ghee | 250°C / 480°F | ~3% | Excellent | High-heat cooking, sautéing |
| Butter | 175°C / 350°F | ~3% | Very Good | Sautéing, baking, finishing |
| Lard | 190°C / 375°F | ~10% | Very Good | Frying, roasting, pastry |
| Duck Fat | 190°C / 375°F | ~12% | Very Good | Roasting, confit, frying |
| Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 200°C / 400°F | ~10% | Good | Low-medium heat, raw |
| Coconut Oil | 190°C / 375°F | ~2% | Very Good | Medium heat, Asian cooking |
| Avocado Oil | 270°C / 520°F | ~12% | Good | High-heat cooking |
| Canola Oil | 200°C / 400°F | ~21% | Poor | Avoid |
| Soybean Oil | 230°C / 450°F | ~51% | Very Poor | Avoid |
| Sunflower Oil | 230°C / 450°F | ~65% | Very Poor | Avoid |
Where to Find Restaurants Using These Fats
Finding restaurants that cook with traditional fats requires research, since most menus do not disclose cooking oils. The Unnasty directory is the most comprehensive resource, with 263 manually verified restaurants across 32 cities that cook without seed oils. Every listing has been confirmed to use one or more traditional fats — tallow, butter, ghee, olive oil, lard, or coconut oil — instead of industrial seed oils.
