Make Your Own Flavored Cooking Oils

Adding Spice–or Herbs–To Your Favorite Oils

Flavored oils are a delightful addition to your kitchen staples. Use them to saute vegetables, sprinkle on pizza, flavor a soup or stew, or combine in salad dressings. Just a few drops can transform a simple appetizer, make an omelet a thing of dreams, or turn steamed vegetables into a sumptuous delicacy.

Distinctive and delicious flavored oils easy to make but a few simple precautions must be observed. First of all, be sure your base oil is not rancid. Many oils are fragile and not especially shelf-stable. A fruity olive oil or cold-pressed canola oil might taste great for a few weeks but can develop off-flavors from sitting round too long. Nut and seed oils (such as walnut and sesame) can go bad even quicker, so keep them in the refrigerator.

Cooking With Care

Safety matters as well. Oils that have added herbs, shallots, or garlic must be baked at 300 degrees F for 90 minutes in a wide-mouthed container (such as a 2-cup glass measuring cup) in order to evaporate moisture from the foliage or vegetables that could harbor harmful bacteria. When you strain the oils, if the remainder looks cloudy or has a definite layer of clear and cloudy oils, it did not get hot enough for long enough and must be reheated. Give it plenty of time to come up to temp and bake it for another half hour.

Make sure the bottles or jars you store oils in are absolutely clean. That goes for the corks, jar lids, or stoppers you use as well. Run them through a hot cycle in your dishwasher or rinse them in boiling water to be sure they won’t contaminate your carefully prepared culinary treasures. Label each creation with the date you made it, and store specialty oils in the refrigerator. I’ve found that most hold their quality for up to three months, however, the latest research from OSU suggests that flavored oils should be used within 4 days, or frozen. If you won’t use much of a flavored oil, don’t make a big batch, or if you do, plan to share it with friends so it doesn’t go to waste.

Revel In Kitchen Creativity

There are literally dozens of combinations that result in lovely flavored oils, but there are also a few that don’t. Start with very small batches and keep careful notes about amounts and combinations so you can replicate your successes and won’t repeat your failures. The recipes below can be varied freely, depending on your taste preferences. Use favorite combinations of herbs and spices, and try pairing different kinds of peppercorns with lemon, orange, lime or grapefruit zest, as well as toasted nuts or seeds.

Lemon Pepper Oil

1 cup safflower or canola oil
2 teaspoons lemon zest (finely grated peel)
1 tablespoon black or mixed peppercorns

Place all ingredients in a glass 2-cup measure set into a baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees F for 90 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes, then strain through muslin or a coffee filter into a sterilized bottle and seal.

Rosemary Garlic Oil

1 cup safflower or canola oil
2 2-inch sprigs rosemary
2 cloves garlic, peeled

Place all ingredients in a glass 2-cup measure set into a baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees F for 90 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes, then strain through muslin or a coffee filter into a sterilized bottle and seal.

Sizzling Szechuan Oil

1 cup safflower or canola oil
1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns

Place all ingredients in a glass 2-cup measure set into a baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees F for 90 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes, then strain through muslin or a coffee filter into a sterilized bottle and seal. (Taste check a few drops on a piece of bread or you might burn your tongue!).

Lemon Basil Oil

1 cup safflower or canola oil
6 leaves basil
2 teaspoons lemon zest (finely grated peel)

Place all ingredients in a glass 2-cup measure set into a baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees F for 90 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes, then strain through muslin or a coffee filter into a sterilized bottle and seal.

Almond Oil

1 cup safflower or canola oil
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds (or any nuts)

Place all ingredients in a glass 2-cup measure set into a baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees F for 1 hour (nuts will be dark brown). Cool for 30 minutes, then seal bottle with nuts included OR strain through muslin or a coffee filter into a sterilized bottle and seal.