The Olive Oil Brand Giada De Laurentiis Swears By

If you are still blindly choosing your olive oil based on the label design and looking for keywords like "Italy" or "Greece," then it is high time you learned the key points to choosing a good bottle of olive oil. The primary characteristics to look for when selecting olive oil are the use-by date, the type of bottle it is in, and the type of olive oil it is (via Food & Wine). You should typically stick with buying extra-virgin olive oil which is best for general use. Unfiltered olive oils are better for adding flavor but not cooking with (via The Kitchn). The use-by date is an easy characteristic to look for. Olive oil is not shelf-stable for long periods of time. It actually needs to be used within about a year and a half of being bottled. So don't hold onto your olive oil to use it for special dishes or meals.

Finally, it is very important to choose an olive oil that is packaged well to keep light away from the oil. Olive oil is sensitive to light and heat, both of which can cause it to spoil faster. So don't buy a bottle that's clear glass and don't store it near your stove or oven either. And if you prefer to just take the advice of a celebrity chef who knows their olive oil, you can always turn to Giada de Laurentiis.

The Italian-American chef certainly has her favorite brands of olive oil. De Laurentiis actually told The Kitchn that she loves two kinds. One is better for cooking while the other is perfect for topping dishes. Her first pick and favorite olive oil for cooking is Lucini Extra Virgin Olive Oil. She said, "I really like to use Lucini olive oil in my cooking. It is an extra virgin olive oil, but it's a very light one, so it's really easy to cook with — you just have to be careful not to cook with it at too high a heat. But otherwise, it's fantastic." 

De Laurentiis also has a favorite unfiltered olive oil that she uses to top dishes for added richness before serving them. It's Paesano Unfiltered Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but she says she only uses it this way because "it's too strong to cook with." So if you don't trust yourself to buy great olive oil, try ordering one or both of De Laurentiis's recommendations to test out in your own kitchen.