What Is Soya oil and How Can I Use It?

Here's everything worth knowing about soya oil and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 9 recipes to cook tonight.

Key Points

Soya oil is just the British and Indian name for soybean oil, the same neutral cooking oil.
Nearly flavorless with a high smoke point near 450°F (230°C), good for frying, searing, and baking.
A bottle labeled "vegetable oil" usually is soybean oil, so use it straight across.
See the soy oil page for full cooking, substitute, and storage details.

What is soya oil?

Soya oil is simply the British and Indian name for soybean oil, the same neutral, pale oil that North American cooks call soy oil or just "vegetable oil." Different spelling, identical bottle.

Pressed from soybeans, it has almost no flavor and takes high heat well. That makes it a default fat for frying, stir-frying, and everyday cooking where you want the food to lead and the oil to disappear.

Using Soya Oil

Use it anywhere a recipe asks for a neutral or vegetable oil. Refined soya oil has a smoke point around 450°F (230°C), so it handles deep frying and searing without smoking, and it keeps cakes and quick breads moist without adding taste.

For the full rundown on cooking with it, substitutes like canola or grape seed oil, and how to store it, see soy oil. Everything on that page applies here, since the two are the same oil under different names.

One quick note: if a recipe calls for soya oil and you only have a bottle marked "vegetable oil," use it straight. In most markets that bottle is soybean oil to begin with.