Olive Oil vs Coconut Oil

Olive oil and coconut oil don't really compete with each other. They're for different things, mostly. But because they get talked about together, in health forums, in cooking blogs, in the "which oil is best" wars, it's worth laying out what each one actually does.

So: olive oil for almost everything in a home kitchen. Coconut oil for specific things that aren't most things.

Olive oil vs coconut oil: the quick verdict

For everyday cooking and for health, olive oil wins, mostly monounsaturated fat plus polyphenol antioxidants, versus coconut oil's ~90% saturated fat, which the American Heart Association explicitly advises against as a primary cooking fat. For solid-fat baking, vegan butter substitutes, and coconut-forward cuisines, coconut oil earns its shelf space. If you're choosing one default bottle, it's not close: olive oil.

Here's the longer version.

Where coconut oil is actually useful

Coconut oil has real properties that earn it a place in some kitchens.

It's solid at room temperature. Refined coconut oil melts at 76°F. That makes it useful in baking and pastry work where you want the structural behavior of a solid fat, pie crusts, certain cookies, vegan baking that needs butter substitutes. Olive oil, being liquid, can't do that.

Its flavor is distinct. Unrefined coconut oil tastes and smells like coconut. For some cuisines, Thai, South Indian, Caribbean, that flavor is the point. Using olive oil in a Sri Lankan curry would be wrong in a way that has nothing to do with health.

It contains MCTs. Medium-chain triglycerides are absorbed and metabolized differently than longer-chain fats. There's some research suggesting MCTs can support energy use and possibly some weight management, though the evidence is more mixed than coconut oil's marketing suggests. Still, it's a real distinguishing feature.

So coconut oil isn't useless. It's just narrow. The set of things it does well is much smaller than the set of things olive oil does well.

Where olive oil wins

Almost everything else.

Flavor depth. A good extra virgin olive oil has actual flavor, grassy, peppery, slightly bitter, slightly sweet. It enhances most savory dishes by being on them or in them. Coconut oil only enhances dishes that are supposed to taste like coconut. For everything else, it either does nothing or makes the dish taste wrong.

Health profile. This is where the comparison opens up. Both oils are 100% fat, but they're very different fats. Olive oil is mostly monounsaturated fat, around 73% oleic acid, plus the polyphenol antioxidants that drive the Mediterranean diet's health benefits. Coconut oil is mostly saturated fat, around 90%, higher than butter, higher than lard. The American Heart Association has explicitly advised against using coconut oil for cardiovascular health, citing studies that show it raises LDL cholesterol similarly to other saturated fats.

The MCT angle softens this somewhat, because MCTs behave differently than other saturated fats. But the overall research consensus is that olive oil's effect on cardiovascular markers is consistently better than coconut oil's.

Heat performance. Coconut oil's smoke point is around 350°F. Refined coconut oil reaches higher, around 400°F. Olive oil sits between 325°F and 410°F. Comparable on paper, except olive oil's polyphenols give it real oxidative stability under sustained heat that coconut oil doesn't have. The 2018 University of South Australia study that compared multiple oils under cooking heat found olive oil the most stable. Coconut oil was middle of the pack. (More on the smoke point myth here.)

Versatility. Olive oil can finish a salad, dress a piece of fish, sauté vegetables, sear a steak, drizzle on bread, get baked into a cake. Coconut oil can do some of those, but most of them taste like coconut afterwards, which is fine if you wanted coconut in your dish and not fine otherwise.

What about hair and skin?

A lot of people compare these two oils for the bathroom, not the kitchen. Short version: coconut oil has the better evidence for hair-shaft repair: it's the one common oil shown to penetrate the shaft and reduce protein loss. Olive oil is the heavier moisturizer and the better base for scalp treatments, especially infused with rosemary. I wrote the full honest version in Olive Oil for Hair Growth: What It Actually Does. For skin, both work as occlusive moisturizers; neither is magic.

The health forums confusion

Coconut oil had a marketing moment in the 2010s. It got positioned as a superfood. There were claims about brain health, weight loss, metabolic benefits, antimicrobial effects. Some of these claims were based on real but limited research. Most were extrapolated beyond what the evidence supported.

The current state of the research: coconut oil isn't poison. It also isn't a superfood. It's a fat, useful for specific applications, problematic if it replaces healthier fats as your dominant cooking oil. The verdict has shifted back toward olive oil as the cooking fat with the best research-backed health profile.

This is the part where I'd expect a brand selling olive oil to overstate the case. I'm not going to. Coconut oil isn't the enemy. It's just not the right default for most cooking.

Our take, for what it's worth

We make olive oil for a living. Three bottles sit by my stove: Early Harvest for finishing, Mature Harvest for everyday cooking, Garlic Infused for shortcuts. There's no coconut oil. Not because of an anti-coconut position, but because I don't make Thai curries often enough to justify having a separate fat dedicated to a specific cuisine.

If you cook a lot of Southeast Asian or Caribbean food, keep coconut oil in your pantry. If you don't, you can probably live without it.

Olive oil, on the other hand, is the cooking fat I think every kitchen should have. One bottle if you're starting. Two if you want to separate cooking from finishing. The bottle matters: most U.S. supermarket olive oil doesn't meet the actual definition of extra virgin. Look for a harvest date, a single origin, a published polyphenol number.

The honest takeaway

This isn't really a contest. Coconut oil is a specialty fat with narrow uses. Olive oil is a generalist that handles most of what a home kitchen requires, with better flavor and better health metrics. The "which one is better" framing doesn't quite work because they're doing different jobs.

But if you're choosing one to be your default, the bottle you reach for when you don't have a specific reason to reach for something else, get the olive oil.

FAQ

Is olive oil healthier than coconut oil?

Yes, by the weight of current research. Olive oil is ~73% monounsaturated fat with polyphenol antioxidants; coconut oil is ~90% saturated fat and raises LDL cholesterol. The AHA recommends against coconut oil as a primary cooking fat.

Which is better for cooking, olive oil or coconut oil?

Olive oil for nearly everything savory, better stability under heat and flavor that works across cuisines. Coconut oil for solid-fat baking, vegan butter substitutes, and coconut-forward dishes.

Can I substitute olive oil for coconut oil in baking?

In recipes where the fat is melted, usually yes (use about 25% less). Where the recipe needs a solid fat, pie crusts, some cookies, olive oil can't replicate the structure.

Which is better for hair, coconut oil or olive oil?

Coconut for shaft repair (it penetrates and reduces protein loss); olive as a heavier scalp moisturizer and rosemary carrier. Neither speeds up hair growth.

Does coconut oil have a higher smoke point than olive oil?

No, unrefined coconut is ~350°F, refined ~400°F, olive oil 325–410°F. And under sustained heat, olive oil's polyphenols make it the more stable oil in testing.

Keep reading

• Avocado Oil vs Olive Oil: I Make One and Don't Use the Other
• Olive Oil Smoke Point: The Real Numbers
• Best Olive Oil for Cooking: A Producer's Honest Guide
• Olive Oil and the Mediterranean Diet
• Cold Pressed Olive Oil: What It Actually Means

Berk Bahceci