Peanut Oil for Frying

Amber Bracegirdle | Bluebonnet Baker

Can you use peanut oil for frying? Find out here and discover why it is one of the healthier oils to use in your recipes

There is such a wide variety of cooking oils available in the supermarket that you may wonder what the difference is between them and which are best for different cooking methods.

In this article we focus on peanut oil, also know as groundnut oil!

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Can you use peanut oil for frying?

Peanut oil is high in monounsaturated fat, which makes it fairly stable at high temperatures. This makes it an excellent option for frying.

Not only is peanut oil perfect for frying foods, it provides some health benefits too.

Cooking methods like frying are typically quite unhealthy due to the consumption of large amounts of oil, which tends to be high in calories and unsaturated fat.

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Peanut oil, however, is an excellent source of vitamin E; in fact, a tablespoon of it provides 11% of your daily vitamin intake! 

Of course, this does not mean that frying becomes healthy if you use peanut oil, but it is a way to make it healthier for you.

Vitamin E helps to protect the body against harmful substances, called free radicals. These can cause cell damage if their presence becomes too plentiful.

Vitamin E strengthens your immune system and can reduce the risk of heart disease, certain types of cancers and cataracts. 

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Unlike other types of oil, peanut oil is low in saturated fat, which makes it a healthier oil.

Healthy oils are considered to be healthy when they have less than 4 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon.

In the case of peanut oil, the majority of its fat content comes from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

What is interesting is that many people consider coconut oil to be a healthy oil, but it has nearly three times the amount of saturated fat (11g!) per tablespoon compared to peanut oil! 

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The smoking point of peanut oil

How an oil reacts once heated to its smoking point is important.

At an oil’s smoking point it begins to visibly smoke and will break down; at this point free radicals are released which can cause harm to your body.

Oils with higher smoking points tend to be more stable, meaning they are less likely to release free radicals. Peanut oil has a smoking point of 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

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This means you can use peanut oil for deep frying, pan frying and shallow frying. Other oils with high smoke points, making them ideal for frying, including soybean, canola, vegetable, sunflower, corn and cottonseed oil.

Now that you have learned about the wonders of peanut oil for frying, why not try frying these goodies in peanut oil to make them a bit healthier for you! 

- Fried pickles

- Fried Cheese Balls

- Fried Avocado Tacos

- Arancini 

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Amber Bracegirdle

About Amber

Amber is a native Texan, born to a family of fabulous cooks. She shares her love of all things Tex-Mex and Southern both on her blog, Bluebonnet Baker, and here on Food Fanatic. She heavily endorses the use of the contraction "y'all".