Seed oils in Portugal
Of the 10 chains we track in Portugal, 2 use real fats in the fryer and 4 use seed oils. That leaves 4 with something in between, no fryer or no answer. Below: what they fry in, how people cook there, how to read a label and what to say to ask about the oil.
What the chains fry in
These are the 10 chains we track in Portugal, with what each one fries in according to our records. Open any chain for its full report card. See the full country index.
- Real fats: beef tallow, lard, butter, olive oil or coconut oil.
- In between: palm or peanut oil, a high-oleic grade, or a mix of real fat and seed oil.
- Seed oils: canola (rapeseed), soybean, sunflower or corn, or a "vegetable oil" blend.
- No fryer: the chain does not deep fry. It can still cook with oil elsewhere in the kitchen.
- Unknown: our records do not say what the chain fries in.
(estimated) means our note on that chain is hedged, so read the oil as a good guess rather than a confirmed fact. How we read these notes.
Cleanest picks
Chains that fry in real fats come first. After them come chains that mix real fats with other oils or fry in palm or peanut oil.
- Pizza Hut Olive oil (estimated)
- Starbucks Olive oil (estimated)
- Burger King High-oleic sunflower oil (estimated)
- Vitaminas Vegetable oil blend and olive oil (estimated)
All 10 chains
| Chain | Fryer oil |
|---|---|
| A Padaria Portuguesa | Vegetable oil blend and sunflower oil (estimated) |
| Burger King | High-oleic sunflower oil (estimated) |
| H3 | No fryer |
| KFC | Vegetable oil blend (estimated) |
| McDonald's | Vegetable oil blend and rapeseed oil (estimated) |
| Pans & Company | No fryer |
| Pizza Hut | Olive oil (estimated) |
| Starbucks | Olive oil (estimated) |
| Telepizza | Sunflower oil (estimated) |
| Vitaminas | Vegetable oil blend and olive oil (estimated) |
Same chain, different oil
A chain can fry in one oil at home and another abroad. We can compare 5 chains with the U.S., and all 5 show a different fryer oil in Portugal. Rows where the color changes come first.
| Chain | In the U.S. | In Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| Burger King | Vegetable oil blend and soybean oil | High-oleic sunflower oil (estimated) |
| Pizza Hut | Soybean oil and vegetable oil blend | Olive oil (estimated) |
| Starbucks | Canola and sunflower oil | Olive oil (estimated) |
| KFC | Canola and soybean oil | Vegetable oil blend (estimated) |
| McDonald's | Canola and soybean oil | Vegetable oil blend and rapeseed oil (estimated) |
The brands that state their fryer oil in many countries are compared in Same chain, different country.
How people cook in Portugal
Olive oil (azeite) is a base of Portuguese cooking, used both for cooking and for seasoning. Lard (banha) still appears in northern dishes such as rojões à moda do Minho, which may be fried in lard, and the base of Porto-style tripe (tripas à moda do Porto).
Sunflower oil is widely used because it is cheap, and the frying oil from Fula, a big Portuguese brand, is a sunflower and rapeseed blend. So casual restaurants, snack bars and takeaways that deep-fry (pastéis de bacalhau, rissóis, croquetes, chips) probably use oils like these.
We found no survey of what Portuguese restaurants actually fry in, so it varies by place.
Reading labels
Packaged food in Portugal follows EU Regulation 1169/2011. Oils can be grouped as 'óleos vegetais' (vegetable oils) only if the plants are listed right after, for example 'óleos vegetais (girassol, colza)', so palm has to be named ('palma'), and hydrogenated fats must say 'totalmente hidrogenado' or 'parcialmente hidrogenado'.
These rules cover packaged food, so restaurant and takeaway menus generally do not have to name the frying oil.
Say it in Portuguese
Read these out loud or show your phone to your server. The first two rows are the questions to ask. The rest are the oil names you will see on menus and labels.
| You want to say | Say it like this |
|---|---|
| Ask the kitchen | |
| What oil do you fry with? | Fritam em azeite ou em óleo? Que óleo usam? |
| Can you cook it in butter or olive oil? | Podem cozinhar isto com manteiga ou azeite? |
| Seed oils to watch for | |
| Sunflower oil | óleo de girassol |
| Canola oil | óleo de colza (canola is also used on some labels) |
| Soybean oil | óleo de soja |
| Vegetable oil (often a seed oil blend) | óleo vegetal or óleo alimentar (gordura vegetal for solid fats) |
| Fats to ask for | |
| Olive oil | azeite (always olive oil) |
| Butter | manteiga |
| Lard | banha (de porco) |
| Beef tallow | sebo (de vaca) |
| In between | |
| Palm oil | óleo de palma (also gordura de palma) |
Tips for eating out in Portugal
- Ask 'É azeite ou óleo?'. In Portuguese 'azeite' always means olive oil, while 'óleo' means other oils such as sunflower, so the answer is quick and clear.
- Grilled fish and meat (grelhados), soups such as caldo verde and boiled dishes like cozido à portuguesa are not deep-fried, so they are the easier orders. Ask for 'batata cozida' (boiled potatoes) instead of 'batatas fritas' (fries) on the side.
- Fried snacks (pastéis de bacalhau, rissóis, croquetes, farturas) go through the shop's fryer, and in casual places that is probably a seed oil. Ask, or skip them.
- In supermarkets, check the label for 'manteiga' (butter) versus 'margarina' or 'gordura vegetal'. At a pastelaria, ask 'É feito com manteiga?' (Is it made with butter?).
Use the app on your trip
Seed Oil Tracker has local menus for 10 chains in Portugal. Switch your country in Settings before you go.
Download for iPhone Get it on Google Play
Free to download. Want the full tour first? See what the app does.
Sources
The cooking, label and tip sections come from these pages. The chain fryer oils come from our own records.
- Portuguese cuisine (Wikipedia). Olive oil as a base of cooking, fried fish, bifanas
- Banha (Portuguese Wikipedia). Lard in Minho and Porto dishes; use has declined
- Oleos alimentares e receitas a nao perder (humbertodelgado.pt, industry sponsored, promotes Fula frying oil). Sunflower and rapeseed as frying oils
- ASAE (Portuguese food safety authority): Oleos de Fritura FAQ. Monounsaturated oils such as olive resist heat better (page would not open for us; claim taken from the search summary)
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex VII (wording checked on the UK legislation.gov.uk copy of the EU text)
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, official text on EUR-Lex (page would not load for us)
More countries
Menus, recipes and rules change, so treat this page as a starting point and check the label or ask in the moment. Need a refresher on what counts? See what seed oils are and the full list. Back home, the eating out playbook covers restaurants in the U.S.