The least seed oil Christmas
The roast and the ham are rarely the problem. Most of the seed oil at Christmas rides in on the fat the cookies, the sides and the fried party food are made with. Know where it hides, then swap the easy ones.
New to seed oils? Start with what they are, then come back.
One Christmas dinner, two ways
One serving of each:
- Roast beef, 6 oz
- Gravy, 1/4 cup
- Roasted potatoes, 1 cup
- Roasted vegetables, 1 cup
- Creamed spinach, 1/2 cup
- Dinner roll, 1 roll
- Chocolate chip cookies, 2 cookies
Our estimates: each dish from the table the app's Cook at home screen uses, its own ingredients plus its usual added fat.
Where the seed oil hides at dinner
| Dish | Serving | With vegetable oil or margarine | With butter | Where it hides |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roasted potatoes | 1 cup | 7.7 g | 0.5 g | vegetable oil on the pan |
| Roasted vegetables | 1 cup | 5.2 g | 0.4 g | oil tossed on before they go in the oven |
| Mashed potatoes | 1 cup | 5.2 g | 0.4 g | margarine or a buttery spread mashed in |
| Stuffing | 1/2 cup | 4.4 g | 0.8 g | the fat the mix is made up with, often margarine |
| Green bean casserole | 1/2 cup | 3.3 g | 0.9 g | canned cream soup and the fried onion topping |
| Candied yams | 1/2 cup | 5.1 g | 0.3 g | margarine melted into the glaze |
| Mac and cheese | 1 cup | 3.1 g | 0.7 g | margarine in the sauce |
| Creamed spinach | 1/2 cup | 5.4 g | 0.6 g | margarine or oil in the sauce |
| Dinner roll | 1 roll | 1.7 g | 0.5 g | the oil or shortening in the dough |
Our estimates. Each dish gets its usual added fat (the app's Cook at home numbers), made once with a vegetable oil blend and once with butter.
Cookies, cakes and pies
| Dish | Serving | With vegetable oil or margarine | With butter | Where it hides |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chocolate chip cookies | 2 cookies | 4.4 g | 0.8 g | margarine or shortening in the dough |
| Brownies | 1 brownie | 5.5 g | 0.7 g | vegetable oil in the batter |
| Banana bread | 1 slice | 5.8 g | 1.0 g | vegetable oil in the batter |
| Yellow cake with frosting | 1 slice | 8.0 g | 0.8 g | oil in the batter and shortening in the frosting |
| Cheesecake | 1 slice | 3.3 g | 0.9 g | margarine in the crust |
| Apple pie | 1 slice | 8.0 g | 0.8 g | the shortening in a two-crust pie |
| Pumpkin pie | 1 slice | 3.1 g | 0.7 g | the shortening in the crust |
Our estimates, worked the same way. The fat in the dough is the whole story: the flour, sugar and eggs add very little.
Holiday baking: read the fat
These are printed label numbers (or USDA measurements) from our grocery data, so you can see what each baking staple adds.
- Butter, 1 tbsp: 0.5 gUSDA
- Soft margarine (80% vegetable oil), 1 Tbsp (14 g): 6.0 gFrom the label
- Vegetable oil, 1 Tbsp (14 g): 9.0 gFrom the label
- Vegetable shortening, 12 g: 6.0 gFrom the label
- Extra virgin olive oil, 1 portion (15 ml): 1.5 gFrom the label
- Canola oil, 14 g: 4.0 gFrom the label
- Store pie crust, ready to bake, 1 serving (30g): 3.3 gUSDA
- Canned vanilla frosting, 1 oz (28g): 2.2 gUSDA
- Whipped topping, 1 serving (30g): 0.1 gUSDA
The easiest baking swap is butter for margarine or shortening: a tablespoon of butter is 0.5 g, soft margarine is 6.0 g and vegetable shortening is 6.0 g.
Canned frosting is a smaller win than the dough: it shows 2.2 g for the serving listed. Whipped topping is 0.1 g.
Want more label checks? See the grocery aisles ranked and the skip this, pick this swaps.
Roasting it in what?
Roasts, hams and prime rib carry their own fat, and the pan is where seed oil sneaks in. Olive oil is about 12% polyunsaturated, butter about 5%, beef tallow about 5% and coconut oil about 2%. Canola is about 32%, soybean oil about 60% and an unnamed vegetable oil blend about 58%.
So roast the potatoes and vegetables in butter, tallow or olive oil and the dinner stays low. Compare more oils on the oil comparison, or check one in is it a seed oil.
Holiday party and office tray food
| Dish | Serving | With vegetable oil | With a better fat | Where it hides |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo wings | 6 wings | 16.0 g | 8.0 g (lard or tallow) | the fryer oil |
| Egg rolls | 2 rolls | 11.1 g | 3.1 g (lard or tallow) | the fryer oil |
| Potstickers | 6 pieces | 5.5 g | 2.5 g (olive oil) | the pan oil and the dough |
| Meatballs | 4 meatballs | 3.5 g | 1.5 g (olive oil) | the pan oil |
| Homemade pizza | 1 slice | 4.8 g | 1.8 g (olive oil) | oil in the dough and on the pan |
| Stovetop popcorn | 3 cups | 5.5 g | 0.7 g (coconut oil) | the popping oil |
| Garlic bread | 2 slices | 6.0 g | 1.2 g | margarine or oil spread on the loaf |
Our estimates, from the Cook at home numbers. The better fat is named in brackets: tallow for the fryer, olive oil for the pan, coconut oil for the popcorn, butter for the garlic bread.
Reading the tray: chips, dips and nibbles
Store-bought party food is easy to read: the label tells you the fat. These are printed label numbers (or USDA measurements) from our grocery data.
- Tortilla chips, 1 oz (28g): 3.0 gUSDA
- Potato chips, 1 oz (28g): 3.4 gUSDA
- Pretzels, 1 oz (28g): 0.4 gUSDA
- Popcorn, air-popped, 1 oz (28g): 0.6 gUSDA
- Popcorn, oil-popped microwave, 1 oz (28g): 6.5 gUSDA
- Mixed nuts, dry roasted, 1 oz (28g): 3.0 gUSDA
- Mixed nuts, oil roasted, 1 oz (28g): 4.1 gUSDA
- Hummus, 1 tbsp: 1.3 gUSDA
- Beef salami, 3 oz (85g): 0.9 gUSDA
- Dry pork salami, 3 oz (85g): 4.2 gUSDA
- Bottled ranch dressing and dip, 2 Tbsp (30 ml): 8.0 gFrom the label
Easy swaps on the tray: pretzels are 0.4 g against 3.4 g for potato chips, and air-popped popcorn is 0.6 g against 6.5 g for the oil-popped microwave kind.
Dry roasted mixed nuts are 3.0 g against 4.1 g oil roasted, and beef salami is 0.9 g against 4.2 g for a dry pork one.
The dip is where it adds up: the bottled ranch shows 8.0 g for two tablespoons, so hummus (1.3 g a tablespoon) is the lighter dip.
New Year's Eve party food
- Wings are the big one. Six wings come to 16.0 g fried in a vegetable oil blend and 8.0 g fried in tallow (our estimate).
- Pizza is mostly crust and cheese, but the oil in the dough counts: a homemade slice is 4.8 g by our estimate, or 1.8 g with olive oil.
- Popcorn is the cheapest swap on the table: three cups popped in a vegetable oil blend are 5.5 g, and 0.7 g popped in coconut oil.
- Egg rolls and potstickers are a fry-oil game: egg rolls are 11.1 g fried in vegetable oil and 3.1 g in tallow, potstickers 5.5 g against 2.5 g pan-fried in olive oil.
Eating out on Christmas Day
These chains were open on Christmas Day 2025 (news roundups of chain announcements); hours vary by location, so call ahead. Grams come from each chain's own nutrition guide.
Sources for the open-on-the-day list: LiveNOW from FOX (December 24, 2025), Patch (December 8, 2025), Parade (via AOL) (December 24, 2025).
Five easy Christmas swaps
- Bake with butter, not margarine or shortening. A tablespoon is 0.5 g against 6.0 g for soft margarine.
- Roast the potatoes and vegetables in butter or olive oil. Roasted potatoes come to 7.7 g with a vegetable oil blend and 0.5 g with butter (our estimate).
- Make the cookies with butter: two chocolate chip cookies are 4.4 g the usual way and 0.8 g with butter (our estimate).
- Pick the pretzels, the hummus and the air-popped popcorn on the party tray.
- Going out, pick the plain roast, ham or steak and skip anything fried or breaded.
Then January: Half by February
After the holidays, cut your seed oil in half in four weeks, one small swap at a time. See the plan.
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Common questions
Is the Christmas ham or roast high in seed oil?
No. A plain baked ham or beef roast is low. The seed oil at Christmas is mostly in what the sides, cookies and party food are made with, and in anything fried. See what counts as a seed oil.
Is butter really better than margarine for cookies?
For seed oil, yes. A tablespoon of butter is 0.5 g of polyunsaturated fat and soft margarine is 6.0 g, from the USDA and the margarine's own label. See more skip this, pick this swaps.
Are the restaurant numbers exact?
They are worked out from each chain's own published nutrition, item by item. Long-press any item in the app to see how. See how the numbers work.
Does the app cost anything?
The tracker is free. You can download Seed Oil Tracker for free, and logging your meals, the restaurant report cards, the order builder, the barcode scanner and your goal plan all stay free. Premium is optional. It adds a few extras and helps support the project.
More guides
Seed Oil Tracker doesn't tell you what to eat. It shows you the grams so you can pick your own number. Curious about the research? Read the studies on both sides.