12 Affordable Olive Oils, Ranked Worst To Best

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Buying olive oil can be overwhelming; in a grocery store, you're sure to encounter at least 20 different bottles, all of a similar dark green hue. If you know how to cook anything, you probably know that olive oil is one of the most important ingredients in your toolbox — choose a bad oil and you might as well be using a bottle of canola. But many high quality olive oils can double your grocery bill. Is there a happy medium? 

We scrounged the depths of the olive oil shelves to find you the best oils for your money — as little money as possible. From lighter olive oils that are best for cooking to the Mediterranean's finest cold-pressed varieties (for a few extra bucks), we've got your roundup of the best, most affordable olive oils on the market. Below you'll find an answer to your olive oil prayers and a guide to the grocery store for your next shopping trip.

The distinguished bottle in which you'll find Colavita's extra virgin olive oil might fool you into thinking the product is out of your price range. But Colavita is one of the more affordable olive oil brands, with one-liter bottles priced at about $25. Colavita is one of 64 olive oils on the market that's received the North American Olive Oil Association's (NAOOA's) stamp of approval, which assures consumers that the oil in these bottles is purely olive. 

Colavita olive oil is made exclusively using olives grown and harvested in Italy, according to Colavita's website. An Amazon reviewer claims this olive oil "represents the best balance between value and quality." The price is lower than many of the oils you'll find on the grocery store shelf, and Colavita also offers a high-quality oil, cold-pressed, and organic. 

As Amazon user Mounir S. simply stated, Colavita is "very tasty." At this price, this olive oil should definitely become a staple in your pantry.

While many people are loyal to their Italian olive oil brands, California-grown olives make oil that tastes just as good for a fraction of the price. The California Olive Ranch brand sources its olives from California farms and uses a method of farming in which the trees are planted closer together than usual. The olives are carefully tended to and harvested at peak ripeness. "You can't make good olive oil with bad fruit," CEO Michael Fox said of the company's production process, adding, "It really is an art; it's not just a science."

The California Olive Ranch brand has received widespread acclaim for its oils over its 20+ years of production. A one-liter bottle of 100% California extra virgin olive oil costs less than $20 and offers a fresh, bright taste that can be used in any recipe. Product reviews boast an impressive 4.8 stars out of 5, with customers praising its distinct flavor and low price point.

Samin Nosrat, queen of all things flavorful and good, shops at Costco like the rest of us. According to Huffpost, the celebrity chef of the acclaimed "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" cookbook and Netflix series, recommends stocking your shelves with none other than Kirkland Signature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Nosrat says the olive oil "regularly scores well on independent administered quality analyses," and the price is, frankly, insane. For $13.49, you can get not one, but two liters of quality olive oil. 

Though Kirkland's olive oil lacks some of the accolades and complex processing techniques of other brands, it offers an organic, first cold-pressed alternative to those more expensive options. The flavor doesn't suffer, and in fact, its full-bodied taste makes it perfect for using to sauté vegetables or drizzle over handmade bread. We'd eat anything endorsed by Samin Nosrat — and you can add this olive oil to any of it.

Bertolli's extra light olive oil may not be the best option for adding a little zing to salads or dipping bread into, but if you're looking for a healthy olive oil to swap in for butter or vegetable oil, Bertolli's is the way to go. The olive oil is filtered until the flavor becomes very subtle, so it's the perfect oil to cook with, and the 410 degree smoke point makes it perfect for those high temperatures regular olive oil won't tolerate.

You can find two-liter bottles of Bertolli's extra light olive oil on Amazon for around $16.99. Founded in 1865 by Francesco Bertolli, this olive oil brand has been a mainstay on supermarket shelves for years. One Amazon customer writes: "Bertolli Light is a great oil for cooking, as it has a very light taste — almost none at all, besides being a more healthy oil than most on the market. I use it in baking, for making roux, sauteing. Its lightness makes it blend well with other flavors."

In 1795, the Nunez de Prado family bought its first mill. They initially planned to focus their business on wines, but their vineyards suffered from an insect infestation that affected grapes across Europe. Lucky for us, the family made the most of the disaster and quickly pivoted to making olive oil (via the Olive Oil Times).

Today's product is made of olives harvested in Spain. The olives are hand-picked and grown using sustainable agriculture methods, according to Amazon. Nunez de Prado's extra virgin olive oil is unfiltered "because it has a stronger flavor, an interesting look and is something different," Felipe Nunez de Prado told the Olive Oil Times. You can purchase one liter of Nunez de Prado olive oil on Amazon for roughly 20 bucks. "This is the most delicious extra virgin olive oil I've tasted in decades!" says a reviewer on Amazon. "The flavor is amazing! The aroma is amazing! It's not heavy or thick on the tongue but smooth and clean. This is what evoo is supposed to taste like!"

Though Whole Foods is notorious for being an expensive place to shop, their 365 brand has an Italian olive oil that's nutritious, tasty, and best of all, just $15 per liter. This olive oil offers a subtle taste that makes it perfect for cooking with. According to Amazon customer Joy Penn, the 365 Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a "very good deep flavor" and a "slight[ly] bitter aftertaste."This olive oil comes from olives grown in Italy, so if you're looking for the legitimate Italian stuff for a bargain, this is the way to go. As one Amazon reviewer put it, "This olive oil is excellent value for the money." The brand uses cold-pressed olives, all from a single source, so you can be sure you're getting real Italian olives. 

One consumer suggests using this oil primarily for cooking: "You won't find any better evoo for less than double the price. It is not a super flavorful finishing oil (but, of course, those go for 3 x the price of this) but it is a great cooking oil and an excellent value."