The Best Sesame Oil Brands, According to Our Taste Test

When searching for the best sesame oil brands, it’s important to distinguish between the two major varieties: toasted and untoasted. As one of the most fragrant, robust oils you can buy, toasted sesame oil is nutty, rich, and best in smaller doses than the untoasted variety. It makes a great ingredient or finishing oil for roasted veggies, Asian noodles, salad dressings, dumplings, and more (seriously, the list goes on). Untoasted sesame oil is basically plain ol’ cooking oil. You can use it to fry a variety of dishes that call for a more fatty, complex oil than, say, canola or vegetable oil. This ranking explores the best of both oils—with a clear bias towards toasted sesame oil, because that’s where the real flavor comes in.

Now, you might be thinking: Ariana, how the heck did you manage to taste test and rank over a dozen brands of sesame oil? Are you superwoman? Did your stomach survive it? Do they even taste different enough to tell them apart?

All great questions; allow me to address them. In a bout of insanity, I did, in fact, taste test 15 brands of sesame oil. I tried them right off the spoon and, when that was starting to feel like the beginning of my villain origin story, drizzled them over plain, freshly cooked Momofuku noodles (that’s what I had crammed in my pantry, okay). Here’s what I learned: Even the best sesame oils can differ in consistency, boldness of flavor, and origin of sesame seeds. Lighter color typically means a lighter flavor. And importantly, just because it doesn’t say “toasted” on the bottle, doesn’t mean it’s not toasted. (It probably is.) Most sesame oil you find at the grocery store is, believe it or not, toasted. The more you know!

Also, yes, my stomach did survive this ranking, thank you very much. I consume too much olive oil on a daily basis to be fazed by a mere taste test. So without further ado, from the best sesame oil to the best toasted sesame oil, let’s get into our top five.

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Best Untoasted

An ideal all-purpose sesame oil can withstand higher cooking temperature, and thanks to Spectrum’s light refining process, this untoasted sesame oil has a smoke point up to 445 degrees. It’s the best sesame oil we tasted for your general frying, sauteing, and cooking needs. Compared to the others on this list, which range from lightly toasted to very robust, the nutty flavor is much more muted and neutral!

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Balanced

Fruitful Island sources sesame seeds from Taiwan and uses a low-temperature toasting procedure that creates a less bitter flavor overall. The result is a lightly toasted sesame oil with a much more rounded, balanced nuttiness. While you definitely can’t call this an untoasted sesame oil, the thinner consistency and lighter flavor does make it more versatile. I would use this in vinaigrettes, or even drizzled over vanilla or coffee ice cream. 

Credit: Merc / Kroger

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Practical

Packaged in a large, light-resistant tin container that makes it easy to store outside of the fridge, French brand La Tourangelle makes an artisan-tasting sesame oil that’s extremely convenient to use. This has a thinner, runnier consistency and more balanced flavor—similar to Fruitful Island, but slightly toastier. As someone who loves to fry eggs in sesame oil and a dash (read: generous serving) of chili crisp every morning, I personally took this big guy home with me from the office. 

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best Korean

Following the traditional Korean oil-marking method, Ottogi is an authentic Korean sesame oil brand that’s filtered three times to achieve a boldly roasted flavor. It comes out much darker and more fragrant than other brands. This is the best sesame seed oil for Korean dishes—but it’s also our second favorite pick for the best toasted sesame oil, period. Versatility is great, but at the end of the day, I’m looking for strong, complex flavor profiles and authenticity. Ottogi, you go-gi.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

It’s not controversial to say Kadoya is the best sesame seed oil you can buy. Not only is this an affordable and easily accessible brand of pure, toasted sesame oil, it’s easily the most flavorful of the bunch. Kadoya Sesame Mills is a Japanese company founded in 1858—basically, they’ve been doing this (and perfecting it) for a long time. They source high quality black sesame seeds across the globe and use a time-honored roasting and pressing process to get their signature rich, deep toastiness. I would eat plain instant noodles tossed in this stuff. It’s the best sesame oil you can find. I absolutely recommend making it a staple on your shelf.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other sesame oils we tried: Shirakiku Sesame Oil 100% Pure, Fruitful Island Sesame Oil Pure, Imperial Dragon Sesame Seed Oil, Spectrum Sesame Oil Toasted, International Collection Oil, Toasted Sesame, Chosen Foods Sesame Oil Toasted 100% Pure, Spectrum Sesame Oil Organic Toasted, Cookwell & Company Sesame Oil, Toasted, Kroger Pure Sesame Oil, Kikkoman Sesame Oil, Sun Luck Sesame Oil Pure

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