I’ve noted that plant-based oils often get a bad rap. Some people are scared to eat any type of oil at all, some claim that coconut oil can heal all woes, and others are worried about oils going rancid when cooked. And unless you’ve been living under a rock, the latest trend has been the unfortunate demonization of seed oils.
Canola and sunflower oil are two such misunderstood oils, yet they’re both popular choices. If you’re looking for the best cooking oil, you’ve probably wondered what the main differences between canola vs. sunflower oil are.
To help you understand how these oils compare, I’ll discuss their respective nutrition profiles, health benefits, how well they hold up to oxidation, and the best culinary uses for each.
Canola vs sunflower oil – a quick comparison
Canola and sunflower oils are plant-based oils rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. Canola oil is also an excellent source of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids absent in sunflower oil. Sunflower oil, on the other hand, is higher in antioxidant vitamin E, while canola oil is higher in vitamin K, a micronutrient known for its role in blood clotting.
Canola and sunflower oil are often used in similar ways when cooking. Both have relatively high smoke points, making them great choices for cooking with heat. They’re also frequently used in baked goods thanks to their mild, neutral flavors and are very good at resisting oxidation, especially expeller-pressed and high-oleic varieties.
An exception is unrefined (cold-pressed) sunflower oil, which has a more pronounced nutty flavor and is best used raw in salad dressings or as a finishing oil drizzled on top of a cooked dish.
RELATED: Is Canola Oil Vegan? Is It Healthy?
Types & processing methods
Cooking oils can vary in the degree of processing used to produce them. You’ll often find bottles of canola and/or sunflower oil with the following labels:
- Refined: The most highly processed type of oil; often, you’ll find these labeled “Pure”. Seeds are washed, heated, rolled, cooked, and pressed by machines to extract most of the oil. The remaining oil is extracted with the help of hexane or other chemical solvents. The oil is then filtered to remove the remaining hexane residues. Lastly, it usually undergoes a steam distillation (deodorization) process to remove unwanted odors or colors.
- Expeller-Pressed: Expeller-pressed oil is produced the same way refined oils are, except that a second pressing is performed instead of applying chemical solvents. It may or may not be deodorized.
- Cold-Pressed: Cold-pressed oils are produced without the use of heat or chemical solvents. Oil is extracted by gently pressing the seeds with slow-moving machinery that doesn’t generate heat. This produces oil higher in beneficial antioxidants.
- High-Oleic: High-oleic oils contain more monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) than refined versions of those same oils, with MUFAs typically making up at least 70-80% of the total fat content.
- Mid-Oleic: Mid-oleic oils contain 55-75% MUFAs, less than high-oleic oils but more than refined oils.
Nutrition
As you can see in the chart below, canola and sunflower oil are both 100% fat with no protein, carbohydrates, or dietary fiber. And because they’re plant-based, they’re also cholesterol-free.
Types of fat
As plant-based oils, canola and sunflower oil are classified as unsaturated fats. They both contain more heart-healthy monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) than polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs).
However, canola oil stands out as a surprisingly good source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the type of omega-3 fats found in plant-based foods. In fact, one tablespoon provides just over 100% of the daily recommended amount of ALA for women and 80% for men!
You can see in the chart above that high-oleic sunflower oil is a bit higher in MUFAs than mid-oleic varieties, which makes sense considering what we learned earlier about high-oleic oils.
RELATED: Your Guide to Vegan Fats (And Which Are The Healthiest)
Micronutrients & Antioxidants
Both oils contain fat-soluble vitamin E, although sunflower oil contains more.
Of note, antioxidant levels are affected by factors like oil storage conditions and the amount already present in the canola plants and sunflower seeds used to produce the oil, so levels can vary.
Health benefits
Let’s take a closer look at how the nutrition profile of these oils translates to their effects on our health.
Both oils
Because canola and sunflower oils are both plant-based, rich in MUFAs, and low in saturated fat, they offer many of the same health benefits.
Good for heart health
As unsaturated fats, canola and sunflower oil are both heart-healthy choices. Research suggests that canola is extra effective in lowering total cholesterol1 and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels, likely due in part to its omega-3 fat content.
Similarly, both oils also contain phytosterols, compounds found in some plant-based foods that help lower cholesterol levels in the blood by preventing the body from absorbing as much cholesterol from the food we eat. Canola has the edge again here, with 3.5 times the amount of phytosterols2 as sunflower oil.
Improve nutrient absorption
Contrary to years of messaging claiming that fats are unhealthy, the body needs a certain amount of fat from food for optimal health. Healthy fats, like canola and sunflower oil, actually help us absorb more of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K from our food, in addition to carotenoids like lycopene (in tomatoes) and beta-carotene (in carrots).
May fight oxidative stress
Thanks to their antioxidant content, using either oil in moderation may help fight the oxidative stress that occurs as a result of an unhealthy diet, exposure to environmental pollutants, and the natural biochemical reactions in our bodies.
Sunflower oil is a bit higher in vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant, than canola oil is. Still, I wouldn’t rely solely on sunflower oil for reducing oxidative stress. It’s best to get the bulk of your antioxidants from a balanced diet rich in whole, minimally processed plant-based foods.
Can support healthy vision
Both oils contain lutein, an important carotenoid found in the macula component of the eyes. When combined with lutein-rich foods like leafy green vegetables, corn, and bell peppers, these oils can help maintain healthy vision.
Extra health benefits of canola oil
Canola oil offers a few additional health benefits over sunflower oil:
Especially anti-inflammatory
Canola oil may have a leg up on sunflower oil in terms of its ability to calm chronic inflammation in the body. Because canola oil is so rich in omega-3 fats, it likely offers extra anti-inflammatory benefits.
May benefit women with PCOS
Canola oil could help improve cardiovascular health, reduce fat accumulation in the liver, and reduce insulin resistance in women with PCOS who consumed just under 2 tablespoons a day, according to a 2021 study3. Canola oil outperformed both olive oil and sunflower oil in all three of these areas.
Now, I wouldn’t start adding tons of canola oil to your meals just to get these benefits, as eating a balanced diet and managing your weight are also essential when managing PCOS. But you can certainly start using it in place of other oils in your cooking.
RELATED: Is The Whole Food Plant Based No Oil Diet Healthy?
Oxidation & smoke point
When choosing an oil to cook with at high heat, two things to consider are how well it resists oxidation and how high its smoke point is.
Oxidation
Oxidation4 is arguably the most important factor of the two. Over time, the individual fatty acids in oils can start to degrade and turn rancid. During this process, toxic, pro-carcinogenic compounds start to form. This can happen during storage before an oil is ever used for cooking.
Some oils are more prone to oxidation than others. Storage conditions also play a role as well. Oils are prone to oxidizing more quickly when they’re:
- Exposed to oxygen (not tightly sealed)
- Exposed to light (stored in a glass or lightly colored bottle)
- High in PUFAs
- Stored at higher temperatures
- Aren’t rich in antioxidants, polyphenols, saturated fats, or MUFAs
Since canola and sunflower oils (especially high-oleic options) are both rich in MUFAs and antioxidant vitamin E, they have relatively good oxidative stability as long as they’re tightly sealed and stored in a dark, cool pantry. This is true despite the high omega-3 fat content (a type of PUFA) in canola oil, according to a 2018 study5, likely because canola oil contains more MUFAs than PUFAs overall.
Smoke point
Smoke point comes up a lot when discussing the best cooking oils, although I’d argue that it isn’t quite as important as oxidation.
Smoke point is the temperature at which an oil starts to burn, turn black, and produce smoke. You’ll quickly notice an off-smell when an oil reaches its smoke point. Typically, refined oils have higher smoke points, meaning they can be cooked at higher temperatures without burning.
Here are the smoke points of various types of canola and sunflower oil:
- Refined canola oil: 468℉
- Expeller-pressed canola oil: 375-450℉
- High-oleic canola oil: 475℉
- Unrefined sunflower: 320℉
- Refined sunflower oil: 464℉
- High-oleic sunflower oil: 478℉
As you can see, the high-oleic versions of both oils have a slight edge. Unrefined sunflower oil, on the other hand, has the lowest smoke point. This impacts its culinary uses, which we’ll discuss below.
Culinary uses
Since most varieties of canola and sunflower oil hold up well to oxidation and have a high smoke point, they’re both excellent choices for high-heat cooking techniques like:
- Pan-frying
- Roasting
- Sautéing
- Stir-frying
- Air-frying
Thanks to their neutral flavors, they’re great for recipes where you’re already getting a lot of flavor from other ingredients. They’re also popular for baked goods like cakes and muffins.
The exception would be unrefined sunflower oil, which has a significantly lower smoke point and nuttier flavor. It’s best suited for raw salad dressings or as a finishing oil.
Price
From my research, canola oil is available in the following price ranges:
- Refined: $0.09 to $0.27 per fl ounce
- Expeller-pressed: $0.28 per ounce
- Organic: $0.36 to $0.81 per fl ounce
- Organic expeller-pressed: $0.59 to $0.81 per fl ounce
Here’s how sunflower oil compares:
- Refined: $0.19
- High-oleic: $0.17 to $0.35
- Organic expeller-pressed: $0.52 to $0.86
As you can see, there really isn’t much difference in price between the two. Refined oils are the most affordable for both canola and sunflower, followed by expeller-pressed and high-oleic varieties, with organic expeller-pressed oils at the highest end of the price range.
Which should you choose?
Ultimately, you should feel free to choose whichever oil you like the best. Both are heart-healthy oils that are resistant to oxidation as long as they’re stored properly.
If picking between the two, I’d recommend canola oil as one of your go-to cooking oils primarily due to its superior omega-3 content, especially for people on a plant-based diet who struggle to eat enough whole ALA-rich foods like flaxseed, walnuts, or chia seeds.
I prefer expeller-pressed canola oil because it retains more antioxidants than refined varieties, and because cold-pressed and high-oleic varieties can be hard to find.
If you prefer sunflower oil, I recommend choosing a high-oleic version for better oxidation resistance. It’s much easier to find than high-oleic canola oil and isn’t much more expensive than conventional varieties.
Wondering how other vegetable oils stack up to each other? Check out my other comparison posts:
The scientific information in this article was accurate at the time of publishing but may change over time as new research becomes available.
References
- Shen J, Liu Y, Wang X, et al. A Comprehensive Review of Health-Benefiting Components in Rapeseed Oil. Nutrients. 2023;15(4):999. Published 2023 Feb 16. doi:10.3390/nu15040999
- Yang R, Xue L, Zhang L, et al. Phytosterol Contents of Edible Oils and Their Contributions to Estimated Phytosterol Intake in the Chinese Diet. Foods. 2019;8(8):334. Published 2019 Aug 9. doi:10.3390/foods8080334
- Yahay M, Heidari Z, Allameh Z, Amani R. The effects of canola and olive oils consumption compared to sunflower oil, on lipid profile and hepatic steatosis in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Lipids Health Dis. 2021;20(1):7. Published 2021 Jan 29. doi:10.1186/s12944-021-01433-9
- Loganathan R, et al. A review on lipid oxidation in edible oils. Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences. 2022;26(6):1378-1393. Published 2022 Dec 27.
- Maszewska M, Florowska A, Dłużewska E, Wroniak M, Marciniak-Lukasiak K, Żbikowska A. Oxidative Stability of Selected Edible Oils. Molecules. 2018;23(7):1746. Published 2018 Jul 17. doi:10.3390/molecules23071746
