5 Best Budget Olive Oils
California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil
It’s a delight to finish a dish with a drizzle of artisanal extra virgin olive oil, but for cooking applications and everyday meals, it’s easier on the budget to reach for a bottle from the supermarket. By shopping wisely, consumers can find budget-friendly olive oils that are also tasty. Here’s how.
Harvest Date
All of the experts we spoke with emphasized the importance of purchasing olive oil that clearly lists the harvest date on the label. “Olive oil is best when it’s fresh, and knowing the harvest year helps the consumer judge how old the oil is,” says Maca Garau Sobron, Vice President of Marketing at Deoleo, the world’s largest olive oil bottler. Sobron notes that Bertolli, which is one of Deoleo’s brands, clearly indicates the harvest date.
Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil photo credit Bertolli
“The use-by date is useless, frankly,” says Nancy Harmon Jenkins, food writer, olive oil producer, and author of Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of Olive Oil. “The use-by date can be two years from the bottling of the olive oil, but the olive oil could already be two years old when it's bottled.”
“Always look for the harvest date and get as close to that as possible, never more than 16 months,” recommends Roberta Klugman, food consultant and olive oil professional. “If only a best-by date is on the label, get as far away from that as possible.”
“It's very telling when you see a bottle of olive oil that only has a best-by date and is not being transparent as to what harvest those olives came from,” agrees Lori Jean Levy, founder of Portfolio (and previously profiled in Olive Oil Professor).
Country of Origin
Levy also recommends checking the label for the country of origin. “I like to see that on the front of panel, that's where it should be,” she says. She explains that supermarket olive oils are often made with blends of olives or extracted oils from several different countries, and in that case, the label should list all the origin countries.
“A good olive oil can actually come from the blend of oils of many different origins,” says Sobron, noting that the phrase “single-sourced” doesn’t necessarily guarantee freshness or quality.
Certifications
The label may also indicate whether or not the olive oil has been certified as extra virgin by a credible organization. Klugman recommends looking for EVA (Extra Virgin Alliance) and NAOOA (North American Olive Oil Association) on domestic and imported olive oils, and COOC (California Olive Oil Council) and OOCC (Olive Oil Commission of California) on California olive oils.
Klugman also notes that California arbequina olive oils from super high density (SHD) growers are often available at more competitive prices. SHD growers plant their trees close together in parallel rows, which allows for mechanical harvesting and pruning. “That lowers costs while increasing efficiency and yield,” she says.
Finally, Levy recommends that consumers familiarize themselves with the sale cycle at their go-to supermarket. “Buyers often require brands to have promotions,” she says. “I would look for a 20% discount 2 to 4 times a year from some of the bigger brands [...] Often these promotional periods will be before Thanksgiving, before the summer starts, and before school starts. Generally, it's major shop holidays, where you want that bottle of olive oil to get into that customer's basket.”
5 Best Budget Friendly Olive Oils
Kirkland 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
“The budget one that I repeat and go back to often is in the Kirkland brand [at Costco],” says Levy. “I know that from working on the inside as a buyer that Costco has some very high standards for quality, so something wearing a Kirkland label has been vetted.” In addition to 2-liter jugs of blended extra virgin olive oil, Costco occasionally offers smaller glass bottles of single-origin oils from specific regions. “Generally, I find Costco a great go-to for budget oils,” says Levy.
Zoe Extra Virgin Olive Oil
“If you find yourself in a supermarket, a brand that I look for—for quality and price—is ZOE from Spain,” says Levy. ZOE’s extra virgin olive oil is made primarily from cornicabra olives grown in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, blended with picual and hojiblanca olives for a consistent flavor.
Melies Extra Virgin Olive Oil
“I really am very fond of this oil for quality and price,” says Levy. Melíes is made from a blend of koroneiki and arbequina olives grown in Greece’s West Peloponnese region. It has a mild taste with notes of tomatoes, apple, and tropical fruit.
Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
“At Bertolli, we harvest our olives from a variety of places, like Italy, Spain, Greece, and Portugal, and the olives from each place provide different flavors and create our traditional rich olive oil,” says Sobron. “We go through a rigorous process of determining which olives to use in our oils.” Bertolli offers a variety of extra virgin oils, including rich taste, smooth taste, and sustainably sourced blends. It's a brand that has consistently ranked highly with tasters at Wirecutter and America's Test Kitchen.
California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil
“California Olive Ranch is a good buy,” says Levy. “If you're looking for bang for the buck, that would be the global blend. If you want to upscale a little bit, the 100% California is a little more expensive but single-origin.”
“They focus on testing the olives and harvesting them at the absolute peak moment of polyphenol content,” says Jenkins. “They’ve told me those olives are in the press within two hours of being picked.” Noting that California Olive Ranch is a SHD grower, she continues, “If you're looking for a bargain, you look for it where people have industrialized the process while still maintaining an honesty about it.”