We Asked Chefs To Name the Best Olive Oil and These Are Their Favorites

A mere decade or two ago, most Americans thought of EVOO (aka extra-virgin olive oil) as the starting ingredient for a salad dressing or for sautéing meats and vegetables. But these days, as food trends stack up and home cooks become more experimental, we’re using this heart-healthy fat in coffee, cakes, as an ice cream topping (trust us—it’s incredible!), and so much more.

In lockstep with the booming popularity of olive oil recipes, a growing number of olive oil brands are entering the market, making the already-crowded shelves even more daunting. Similar to how there are dozens of butter options available at most supermarkets, there is a dizzying array of olive oils to choose from now, too. How do you narrow down all of those options to land on the one or two worthy of your shelf space?

We previously sipped our way through 18 bottles to select the six best olive oils money can buy. Now that even more options have joined the party, we decided to ask the pros to chime in with their olive oil obsessions. Whether they’re from legacy brands or are new on the scene, you can drizzle, dress, and pour confidently with these chef-approved options.

Our Panel of Olive Oil-Judging Chefs

• Caroline Chambers, the Carmel Valley, California-based author of the Substack and forthcoming cookbook “What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking”

• Brooke Gil, the Austin, Texas-based principal category merchant and olive oil sommelier for Whole Foods Market

• Elaine Gordon, MPH, MCHES, a Baltimore, Maryland-based recipe developer and owner of Eating by Elaine

• Jonathan Gutierrez, executive chef at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

• Dominic Iannarelli, chef-owner of Prime & Providence in West Des Moines, Iowa

Qualities of the Best Olive Oil

When you’re shopping for the best olive oil, look for the following features:

• An opaque bottle. Light exposure degrades quality, according to Gil. Whole Foods Market’s olive oil sommelier. Don’t be afraid of the bag-in-a-box format. It’s “highly underrated,” but the benefit is that the oil is never exposed to light or air after it’s packaged.

• Date listings. It should mention the harvest year and the bottling date. Check both, and select the youngest possible product. “Extra-virgin olive oil is the opposite of some wines in that it does not get better with age. The younger the oil, the closer it should theoretically be to the optimal quality it was at bottling,” Gil adds.

• A pleasant flavor and aroma. This feature is tough to tell without tasting, so it might require some at-home experimentation to hone in on what you enjoy (and what you don’t). Since extra-virgin olive oil is the most flavorful and aromatic of all olive oils because it’s cold-pressed, not chemical- or heat-treated, Gil explains that “extra-virgin olive oil is a very personal experience. Explore the various olive varietals by trying a few different oils to learn what you like best,” she suggests. She prefers a pungent and peppery flavor. Gutierrez digs a fruity kind with a peppery finish, while Iannarelli adores extra-virgin olive oils with a grassy element.

• An absence of any signs of spoilage. “Avoid oils that have a bland, musty, or overly bitter taste, as these can indicate poor quality or that the oil has gone rancid,” Gutierrez advises.

The Best Olive Oil, According to Chefs

As we mentioned, there are dozens of trustworthy, terrific extra-virgin olive oils available at the grocery store or online. “It’s hard to choose a favorite; we have so many great brands, and it really depends on the occasion,” Gil says. “When I want to intensify the flavor [of] a dish, savory or sweet alike, I use a more premium EVOO, preferably early harvest for the higher polyphenol content and bolder flavor.”