Essential oils can provide amazing flavor to any dish! The flowers and herbs that are in our gardens are delicious sources of wellness and cooking with essential oils widens our appreciation for creation and all of the goodness available at our fingertips. Essential oils have been used as flavoring agents for years. It’s just too easy to add a drop or two of an intensely flavored oil in place of time consuming ingredients with much more volume. The idea that we can cook with essential oils or incorporate them into our kitchen process is nothing new. The important thing is to do so safely, appreciating the differences between a whole herb or spice and its essential oil.  Essential oils actually help to make cooking much easier and more flavorful. There’s always a place for herbs and spices, but sometimes, it’s just easier to add a drop or two instead of spending time chopping and slicing and preparing. 


The number of drops needed in a recipe can also differ based on a number of factors such as when the oils are added, the kind of food or beverage you are preparing, the strength of the oil, and your taste preferences.

If you are adding the oils at the end of cooking, smaller amounts are needed than if adding before baking, simmering, or steaming because oils tend to start to evaporate under heat. It is generally better to stir the essential oil in at the end of cooking or when the food has cooled; but some oils such as basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, and thyme are quite strong and may actually benefit from cooking a little to get a milder flavor.


For the basics of cooking with essential oils, remember to:

  • Convert
  • Dilute
  • Delay

Convert

Remember that the essential oil is a concentrated portion of its original source. Just like cinnamon sticks take up more space than cinnamon powder, the essential oil should be used in much smaller quantities than the whole substance.

We don’t quite have a hard-and-fast rule for substituting essential oils for whole herbs and spices, but a good rule of thumb is that a drop will replace a teaspoon and that you don’t need more than one or two drops for a full recipe.  Some oils are strong, and you may only need to dip a toothpick in the oil and then stir the toothpick into your recipe mixture.


Dilute


Another thing to remember when cooking with essential oils is that they should still be diluted into a lipid first. This not only keeps us safe, but it helps to ensure the oil (and flavor!) gets dispersed throughout the whole dish.

For savory recipes, dilute into a bit of olive or coconut oil. Stir, then add to the recipe. For sweet recipes, honey or a syrup works well.


Delay

Finally, for hot recipes, wait until the end of the process before adding the essential oil. These are called “volatile oils” for a reason – they are relatively fragile and will dissipate quickly in high heat!

For stove top recipes, after the cooking is finished, stir your diluted essential oil into the dish. For baking, you’ll simply expect to lose a bit of the properties in the process. Dilution throughout the recipe will help, and you’ll still be able to enjoy the flavors no matter what!