Sesame Oil Substitute

Sesame Oil Substitute or What can I Substitute for Sesame Oil in my Recipes?  As you may have noticed, my family likes to try new things. We have been making some discoveries in the kitchen with Asian dishes and all sorts of things. Well, many Asian dishes include Sesame oil in the recipe and sometimes you may need a Sesame oil substitute. The first question is WHICH type of sesame oil does the recipe call for? The second question is WHAT is the purpose of the sesame oil?

1st you need to answer those question THEN, you can explore the possibilities to choose a substitute for sesame oil; Toasted Sesame Oil or or non-toasted. I have discovered that not all of the brands tell you which type is in the bottle…the bottle may or may not say that it is Toasted Sesame Oil, but it is fairly easy to tell the difference. Non-toasted is a light-colored oil much like safflower oil and Toasted Sesame Oil is a dark brown color.

Toasted sesame oil has a bold, distinctive, nutty flavor and non-toasted has a hint of flavor that is light and almost sweet. The 2 types of sesame oil have 2 different uses: Non-toasted (heat pressed) Sesame Seed Oil is used for high temperature cooking like frying and stir-frying (there is a cold pressed sesame oil that is not generally used for cooking as it smokes easily, but it is great for salad dressings – actually delicious! . Toasted Sesame oil is used primarily for the flavor to finish the dish and adds a rich nutty, almost meaty flavor. If you have a burnt flavor or bad flavor when using toasted sesame oil, you probably added too much or at the wrong time in your preparation which overheated it thus changing the flavor.

You can substitute almost any of the cooking oils for the non-toasted sesame oil in the cooking process. If you don’t have an allergy to nuts, the nutty oils like peanut oil are the most similar and therefore the most desirable. There really is no sesame oil substitute for the Toasted oil; because it has such a distinct flavor, there is no match. That being said… depending on the dish, you can try walnut oil or toast some unsalted peanuts or cashews to add flavor or try putting some smoked bacon in the dish to increase the flavor or just leave it out (toasted sesame oil is the perfect substitute for vegetarian dishes so there is a meaty/bacony flavor without the animal fats).

I hope some of my discoveries and research will help you find enjoyable ways to have flavorful Asian dishes with the substitutions you need for your family. Enjoy! ☺