What Are Olive Oil Blends And Can You Make Them At Home?

People have preached the benefits of cooking with premium olive oil. But that's easier said than bought. Top-shelf olive oil, like extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), is often pricey, but cheap olive oil might leave a disappointing taste in your mouth. The solution to extending the use of a bottom-shelf olive oil and controlling its strength of flavor is to mix it with another cooking oil.

The reason cooks love olive oil is because of the rich, earthy boost it gives to food, but not all foods get along with it. It can throw off the delicate sweetness of baked desserts or give pan-seared meat an unwanted "oily" taste. Cutting olive oil with another cooking oil can give you the best of both worlds. 

Olive oil has a lower smoke point of around 350 degrees Fahrenheit, so mixing it with a high smoke point oil like vegetable or canola can help it tolerate intense heat. These oils are neutral enough to work with almost anything. As a result, you get a sturdy, more heat-tolerant oil with a hint of olive flavor.

Making your own blended and infused oils at home is a great way to add more flavor to food and get the most life out of your ingredients. The golden ratio for blending tends to be around one part olive oil to three parts of another oil. Combining a 3:1 to 4:1 ratio of a high smoke point oil with olive oil creates a versatile blend ideal for stovetop and low-and-slow oven recipes with chicken and fish.

For low-heat cooking or finishing applications where you want an explicit green olive twang, blending olive oil with a seed or nut oil such as hemp or walnut can add an umami depth to your dish. In this case, the ratio of olive oil should be greater than the finishing oil (3:1 to 4:1). Finishing oils, like the toasted sesame kind, have a strong flavor. Olive oil helps dilute and stretch this flavor over all sorts of foods, and these blends are ideal for vegetable-forward salads, sandwiches, and noodles.

By warming — not boiling — olive oil in a small pot on low heat, you can stir in another cooking oil and aromatics to make an infusion. Lemon can brighten up a salad or hummus, and a rosemary garlic infusion might be all your pasta needs to taste delicious. Think of the dishes you cook most often, and base your oil blend around what would bring the best out of them.