Essential Oils Guidelines in the Kitchen

Essential Oils are great for adding flavor or spice to your favorite meal. They also have huge therapeutic benefits when ingested. It is fairly easy (and a lot of fun!) to substitute essential oils into your own favorite recipes in place of spices, flavoring extracts, and fresh or dried herbs. There are a few tips to keep in mind when substituting essential oils in recipes.

Amount to Use

Essential oils are extremely concentrated, so you won’t use as much oil as you would dried spices or extracts. Start with a drop or two instead of a teaspoon, then adjust the amount according to taste.

Remember this: 60 drops = 1 teaspoon

(And to show you how concentrated they are – 1 drop Peppermint Essential Oil = 28 cups of Peppermint tea!)

If a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of a dried spice (e.g. Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Cardamom, Oregano) that is the equivalent of a HALF a drop of the equivalent essential oil.

If a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of a spice, that is the equivalent of a ‘swirl’ of a toothpick dipped in essential oil.

Always start one with one drop! You can always add more if required.

Dried herbs lose up to 90% of their nutrients and oxygen molecules – essential oils do not.

Essential oils are 50-70 times more therapeutically potent than the herbs and plants they are extracted from.

When to add

The preferred time to add essential oils is at the end of cooking or when the food is cooled a bit. This is so the volatile oils don’t evaporate out and also the heat of the cooking doesn’t affect the oils natural constituents. If you need to add the oils sooner in the recipe, you may need to add a bit more oil to account for any oil that will evaporate during cooking.

However, remember that these oils are extremely concentrated – so err on the side of caution, even when considering oil evaporation. You can always add more oils just before serving the dish – you’ll get a great freshness of flavor coming through from the oil when you add it in that way.

Essential Oils Recommended for Cooking

Sweet Oils (for sweet dishes and desserts): Cassia, Cinnamon, Clove, Fennel, Ginger, Peppermint

Savory Spice Oils (for savoury dishes, main courses and appetizers): Basil, Black Pepper, Cilantro, Coriander, Fennel, Ginger, Lavender, Marjoram, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme

Citrus Oils (add a tangy citrus zip to main dishes, desserts, drinks and more): Bergamot, Grapefruit, Lemon, Lemongrass, Lime, Wild Orange

Check out some of my recipes here and have some fun!