We know that peanut oil comes from peanuts, corn oil comes from corn, and sunflower oil comes from sunflower seeds. So does salad oil come from salads? The answer might surprise you – salad oil doesn’t come from salads at all! In fact, this common recipe ingredient refers to something completely different than what its name suggests.
If you’ve ever encountered “salad oil” in vintage recipes or family cookbooks and wondered what exactly to use, you’re not alone. This generic term has confused home cooks for generations, but understanding its meaning will unlock countless classic recipes and help you make more informed choices about cooking oil.
What is Salad Oil?
Salad oil is a generic term for any light-tasting, neutral vegetable oil that won’t overpower the flavors in your recipe. The name comes from its original primary use – making salad dressings where you want the oil to blend seamlessly without adding its own distinct flavor.
This isn’t a specific type of oil but rather a category that includes several different neutral oils. Many recipes written decades ago, especially those from the 1950s through the 1980s, commonly called for “salad oil” instead of specifying the exact type of oil. You’ll find this term frequently in vintage family recipes, church cookbooks, and older community recipe collections.
Why Recipes Used to Call for Salad Oil
Historical Context: In earlier decades, home cooks had fewer oil options available in grocery stores. “Salad oil” was a catch-all term that allowed recipe writers to give cooks flexibility in choosing whatever neutral oil they had on hand or could easily find.
Recipe Flexibility: Using the generic term “salad oil” meant recipes could work regardless of regional availability or personal preferences. Whether you had vegetable oil, corn oil, or canola oil, the recipe would still turn out correctly.
Simplicity: Many grandmothers’ recipes and vintage cookbooks used this term because it was understood that you needed a neutral oil that wouldn’t interfere with the dish’s intended flavors.
Best Oils to Use as Salad Oil
When a recipe calls for salad oil, choose from these neutral, light-flavored options:
Top Choices:
- Vegetable Oil – The most common modern equivalent, usually a blend of soybean and other neutral oils
- Canola Oil – Light flavor with a high smoke point, perfect for most applications
- Corn Oil – Mild taste that works well in both cooking and dressings
- Safflower Oil – Very neutral flavor, excellent for delicate recipes
- Sunflower Oil – Light, clean taste that won’t overpower other ingredients
- Grapeseed Oil – Subtle flavor with a high smoke point, great for cooking and dressings
What Makes a Good Salad Oil:
- Versatile for both cooking and cold applications
- Neutral flavor that doesn’t compete with other ingredients
- Light color that won’t darken your finished dish
- Stable at room temperature for dressings and marinades
Recipes designed for Salad oil
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I’m looking through old recipes but maybe this will help someone — not sure if ‘sandwich oil’ is considered the same thing, but you can often find that product near the grocery store deli or sometimes in the salad dressing section.
I have often fretted because I took a gamble and used either vegetable oil or canola oil when a recipe called for salad oil. I have NEVER found anything on any grocery shelf that said salad oil. I finally woke up and “googled” it. Thank you for your explanation.
óleo de salada, é um termo genérico ,utilizado pelos fabricantes de óleos para nomear um produto que é uma mistura de óleos, normalmente um sub-produto da indústria.
O melhor óleo para saladas é o azeite de oliva extra-virgem com acidez de 0,5 %.
Abraços Socio
olive oil is great on salads. I’ve only ever used extra virgin olive oil on salad and I could not dream of using anything else. But then again, I’m Italian.
Salad oil is not referring to salad dressing oil. But rather it is a cooking term that means light or NO flavor oils . As the article said. Of course olive oil could be good on a salad as a dressing.
Not often you see that term in a recipe anymore… made me think of my daughter…. at Christmas time she borrowed my pizzelle iron & I loaned her my mother’s recipe that came with it.
I got a phone call asking what the heck oleo is! LOL!
I never had given it a thought before that, there are recipes out there with terms that the 30 and unders do not have a clue what some of the terms in them mean!
That’s too funny, I was looking through a family recipe book and noticed a lot of recipes called for oleo. I had to call my mom and ask her what it was, I never heard of it! My mom got a kick out of that too.
because these smug >30s couldn’t be bothered to say their secrets, oleo is just a colloquial term for margarine.
WOW LIKE OMG !!!
There was something called Salad oil (the label actually said Salad oil) seems like it faded out around the late 1960’s, I wonder what happened