What is vegetable oil actually made of?

Jun 17, 2026

So... what vegetable is it squeezed from?

It’s the cheapest, most common bottle in your pantry – but unlike olive, peanut or coconut, there is no actual ‘vegetable’ plant. So, here’s what you’re really cooking with.

‘Vegetable’ oil is a fairly confusing term – what vegetable is it made from? In fact, it’s not made from vegetables at all, but from the seeds, nuts or grains of plants. Most vegetable oils you’ll find in supermarkets are made from soybeans, corn, canola or sunflower seeds.

Then why is it called vegetable oil?

Essentially, the term ‘vegetable oil’ was coined in the early 20th century to distinguish it from the animal-derived cooking fats like lard, tallow and butter that dominated home kitchens at the time.

Now, it serves as a convenient, catch-all marketing term to indicate that an oil is plant-based, rather than a literal description of the ingredients inside the bottle.

Vegetable oil vs. canola oil: what is the difference?

Because they look and behave identically in the pan, vegetable oil and canola oil are often used interchangeably. Both are refined, neutral-tasting oils with high smoke points, making them perfect for frying or baking without imparting unwanted flavours into your food.

The main difference between these two pantry staples comes down to their exact make-up:

Vegetable oil is usually a generic blend of several different plant-based oils. Every brand’s blend is slightly different.
Canola oil is a specific product. It is extracted solely from the tiny seeds of the canola plant.

Vegetable oil at the supermarket — Your vegetable oil, decoded.

The best vegetable oil substitutes for baking and cooking

If a recipe calls for vegetable oil and you don’t have any in your pantry, any neutral oil will work as a one-to-one substitution.

You want to look for oils that have a high smoke point and won’t let their flavour get in the way of your recipe. The best straight swaps include:

Canola oil
Grapeseed oil
Sunflower oil
Light or extra-light olive oil (avoid extra virgin olive oil for baking, as its robust, peppery flavour will overpower sweet treats)

Is vegetable oil healthy?

There has been a fair amount of controversy surrounding vegetable oil in recent years – namely ‘seed oils’ such as canola and sunflower – with claims that they’re toxic, cause inflammation in the body and are linked to a range of health problems. But this has mostly come from social media influencers and others with dubious medical backgrounds. However, science disagrees.

Claims that seed oils are unhealthy often centre around their omega-6 fatty acid content.

What are omega-6 fatty acids?

Omega-6 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats that your body needs for a range of important functions. Omega-6 fatty acids are ‘essential’ – meaning that your body can’t make them on its own, so you must get them from your diet.

Critics say that omega-6 fatty acids cause inflammation, which leads to heart disease, cancer and other health problems. However, scads of recent research has demonstrated that higher intakes of polyunsaturated fats – including omega-6 fatty acids – reduce your risk of heart disease and other serious health problems, or have a ‘neutral’ effect.

Where seed oils can become a problem lies in the fact that they are both cheap and shelf-stable. This means they’re used to produce ultra-processed foods like fast food and packaged snack products. Any health problems that come from eating these foods are far more likely to be caused by the high levels of calories, fat, salt and sugar that they contain.

So, in a seed shell, vegetable oils like canola and sunflower are high in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. These fats support heart health, and are an important part of a healthy balanced diet.

What about how vegetable oils are produced?

Seed oils like canola and sunflower undergo industrial processing, which involves high heat, mechanical pressing and sometimes chemical solvents. This makes them shelf-stable and gives them their neutral flavour. Critics claim that this process makes them ‘toxic’. However, while processing does strip away natural vitamins and antioxidants, there is no evidence to suggest that there is anything ‘toxic’ remaining in the oil after processing, as the chemical solvent evaporates during the process, or only remains in microscopic trace amounts that are completely harmless. The heart-healthy unsaturated fats remain.