We Judged Extra-Virgin Olive Oils In A Blind Taste-Test—These Are The Winners

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Swing by the store for some olive oil and you’ll be faced with rows and rows of choices. You'll find picks from California, Italy, Greece, and beyond, plus a variety of labels calling out terms like “cold-pressed” and “unrefined.” Health-minded shoppers (we see you!) may be wondering which bottle of this healthy pantry staple offers the best nutrition boost, while value-seekers want the best bang for their buck. It’s all… overwhelming.

So we asked nutrition and culinary experts for their must-have selects and rounded up a dozen bottles to taste in the Women’s Health Test Kitchen. We slurped, drizzled, and dipped our way through each bottle during a blind taste test in order to crown our winners. Below, find the absolute best olive oils you can buy.

The experts we spoke to agree: Stick with extra-virgin olive oil. “Extra-virgin olive oil is definitely the top choice when it comes to flavor, quality, and health benefits,” explains Serena Poon, a celebrity chef.

While Taylor Fazio, RD, CDN, a wellness advisor at The Lamby prefers to use EVOO raw in dressings and sauces, citing its relatively low smoke point (roughly 350-400°F), we don’t mind cooking it over medium to medium-high heat. Quality olive oil remains stable at high temps due to its monounsaturated fats and inflammation-fighting antioxidants, according to an Acta Scientific Nutritional Health study.

EVOO is clutch when raw or cooked, loaded with nutrients, and delish—so let’s get drizzling.

Meet the experts: Serena Poon is a certified nutritionist and celebrity chef. She developed Culinary Academy, which combines integrative and functional nutrition with energy work and mindfulness practices to help people find sustainable holistic health.

Taylor Fazio, RD, CDN, is a nutritionist and a wellness advisor at The Lamby.

100% California

This favorite—one of Fazio’s personal selects—boasts high-quality flavor for the right price. It leans peppery with hints of white flower, but has an overall mild taste that's ideal for all-purpose cooking. As one of the few larger producers to include a harvest date, California Olive Ranch makes oils that are both reliable and versatile—plus, they won’t break the bank.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Toscano

Find yourself reaching for EVOO on the reg? Costco's got you covered with this one-liter staple that can hold its own against smaller-batch bottles. It was one of the top-rankers in our blind test, with reviewers noting its full-bodied texture, pleasant grassy aroma, and light peppery flavor. It has a slightly bitter finish, but considering the price (which is closer to $15 in stores, with a Costco membership), that can easily be overlooked.

California Extra Virgin Olive Oil

With a rich, buttery mouthfeel and delicate flavor, this decadent pick was easy to enjoy straight-up. All that richness gave way to a spicy, welcome burn at the back of the throat that just made us want more.

The complexity of this upgrade pick, made by an independent, small-batch olive oil producer working in the San Joaquin Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, is a testament to its quality. The adorable tin helps keep the olive oil fresh and looks great in your pantry or on your counter.

100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This is our Test Kitchen's go-to pick for everything from sautés to salads to roasts. Its mild flavor won't overpower your dish and it still tastes great on its own. One taster noted that it has a nice spiciness that soon dissipates and leaves your mouth watering. *Cue the oohs and ahhs.*

457 Spuntino Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This one received exclamatory responses from our tasters (example: "love!!!") for its well-rounded flavor that didn't lean too far in any one direction. Tasters noted a pleasant grassiness balanced by butteriness, and a light floral quality countered by a fruity edge. It was a favorite drizzled on bread but we'd also use it to cook: It comes in a value-size tin that you can feel comfy using with abandon.

"Sizzle" Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Cook and plate your food like a total pro with this squeeze bottle that allows for a controlled, steady stream of EVOO. It smells deliciously fruity, like a fresh peach, with a peppery, slightly bitter bite. While tasters found it a little overwhelming on plain bread, it adds a welcome punch to a bowl of leafy greens. At roughly $16 for a 750 ml bottle, it's also a total steal.

First Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil

If you don't have a Costco membership and you're still interested in a value pick, reach for Pompeian’s extra virgin olive oil. Mellow, mild, and affordable, it's great for cooking. This bottle boasts a clean and simple taste, with both fruity and oaky notes, so it’ll add a pleasant flavor to whatever you’re cooking without overpowering it.

Lucid Lemon Olive Oil

One of the tell-tale signs of a truly great olive oil is how well it coats a salad and how few ingredients are needed alongside it in a dressing. Brightland’s Lucid olive oil is a clear winner here. Infused with lemon, this early-harvest oil is zesty and bright, and works as well with fruit and vegetables as it does protein.

Sicilian Delicate PGI Extra Virgin Olive Oil

While EVOO isn’t necessarily a go-to for baking, it can be an important ingredient in certain recipes—looking at you, olive oil cake. To make sure olive oil doesn’t just fade into the background or leave things too dense, avoid the mild varietals and instead try something with a bold flavor, like this fruity olive oil from Sicilian producer Claudio Vignoli.

Original Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Harvested in Southern Greece, then cold-pressed in small batches, Koseterina’s signature olive oil is bursting with robust flavor, making it the perfect match for a crusty, soft bread. The taste is clean, fresh, and fruity, but what really makes this olive oil great is its signature peppery finish.

The Everything Olive Oil

Dubbed “Grecian liquid gold,” this EVOO is made using handpicked olives sourced on a single estate, and as the name suggests, it’s designed to be truly all-purpose. But beyond its impressive taste and versatility, this olive oil boasts a long list of potential health benefits, according to the brand, from better brain function to improved metabolism. The 3-liter tin isn't cheap, but should last a long time.

Biancolilla Centinara

If you’re looking for an olive oil that’s as scrumptious and smooth as it is sustainable, look no further than Bona Fortuna. The company, which received B-Corp certification in January 2022 and is a member of 1% for the Planet, has an entire farm that’s certified organic, and it focuses on permaculture and the promotion of biodiversity.

Bona Fortuna even uses olive oil waste to nurture its soil and has free-roaming animals across the property. This particular olive oil brought the Biancolilla Centinara olive back from extinction to offer a fantastic taste with notes of wild herbs and dried flowers.

Heritage Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Made from organic olives grown by family-owned farms in California’s sun-soaked valleys, Flamingo Estate’s EVOO boasts a vibrant, green, and peppery flavor with underlying sweet, fruity notes. Use it for dipping or finishing to fully appreciate these tasting notes. It's also a great choice for cooking, though it is more expensive than our other skillet-friendly picks.

Extra-Virgin Italian Olive Oil in a Hand-Painted Ceramic Vessel

Whether you’re attending a friend’s housewarming party or looking for something to bring when meeting your partner’s parents for the first time, olive oil can be a wonderful choice. With extreme versatility and such a wide range of oils available, it can seem tough to know which one to choose, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more beautiful olive oil than this one from Frantoia Galantino.

While the award-winning extra virgin olive oil is great in its own right, it’s the hand-painted, ceramic bottle created by local artisans in Puglia that really makes this EVOO so special.

The Benefits of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

“As an unrefined olive oil that comes from crushed olives, extra-virgin olive oil contains more fatty acids and polyphenols than olive oil that is refined,” says Poon. Polyphenol, an organic compound found in plant foods, is a powerful antioxidant that’s been shown to support gut microbiota and immune function, support cell proliferation, and protect against conditions like heart disease, obesity, and even cancer.

Extra-virgin olive oil is also a great source of heart-healthy fats since it’s made without heat. “Olive oil is high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, making it vulnerable to oxidation by heat or light,” says Fazio. “So, processing olives into oil through cold-pressing is an optimal option.” These fats have been linked to a long list of health benefits and allow for greater absorption of vitamin E, a fat-soluble antioxidant found in olive oil.

How to Choose an Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

When choosing one that's best for you, there are a few things to consider: “First, you’ll want to make sure that your olive oil is extra-virgin,” Poon says. Beyond that, she suggests finding an EVOO that’s packaged in a dark glass, ceramic, or metal bottle, which will prevent light from damaging the oil.

And unlike wine, olive oil does not get better with age, so it’s a good idea to check the harvest date printed on the bottle (not all bottles will have a harvest date, but this marker is a sign of quality) and remember that the closer to the printed harvest date you buy your EVOO, the better.

There are also several seals that can help you identify quality olive oil. “From Europe, these might include PDO (protected designation of origin) and PGI (protected geographical indication),” Poon notes. “From California, you’ll want to look for the COOC (California Olive Oil Council) or CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers).”

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