What Is Oleo? History, Uses, and Substitutions

Oleo, also known as margarine, is a plant-based spread made from refined oils and water, developed to taste like butter. Making oleo involves hydrogenation, which hardens the oils, producing trans fatty acids. It can feature almost any type of plant oil, including vegetable oil, olive oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, or canola oil.

Oleo may also contain colorants, emulsifiers, and ingredients to improve texture and flavor, like soy lecithin and mono- or diglycerides.

Learn how oleo came into being and rose in popularity.

• Invention: Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès invented oleo in 1869, at the direction of Emperor Napoleon III of France, in response to a dire butter shortage. Mège-Mouriès synthesized a product that mimicked the appearance and behavior of butter using cow byproducts, including beef fat.
• Naming: In terms of its etymology, the name “oleo”—and “margarine” as well—came from biochemist Michel-Eugène Chevreul’s mistaken belief that margaric and oleic acids constituted animal fat. In its earlier days, oleo went by the name oleomargarine.
• Move to America: Oleo made its journey across the pond when the Oleo-Margarine Manufacturing Company established itself in New York City soon after Mège-Mourièss’s innovation. The company even claimed it was producing real butter, though by artificial means. Despite pushback from the dairy industry, oleo grew in popularity as a cheaper alternative to butter. As manufacturing techniques improved, producers dyed oleo to more closely resemble butter and replaced the original animal fats with vegetable oils.
• World War II and beyond: Oleo use boomed during World War II and into the 1950s, as home economists recommended it to home cooks. Oleo use rose again in the 1970s in response to public fears of saturated fats (like the kind found in butter). As oleo products have diversified, people continue to use them in place of butter. However, the more recent move away from artificial foods has made butter a robust competitor at the grocery store once again.

Oleo is spreadable and can taste buttery when used directly from the tub or stick for everyday use as a butter substitute. Due to differences in the texture and makeup of oleo, it may or may not be a reasonable butter substitute for baking and cooking.

Oleo and butter may taste similar, but their makeup is completely different:

• Cholesterol: For many years, marketers claimed oleo was a heart-healthy alternative to butter due to its lower levels of saturated fats. However, recent research regarding trans fatty acids suggests that the trans fats in oleo may raise LDL cholesterol levels (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) and decrease HDL cholesterol levels (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) in the blood, which may lead to heart disease.
• Dairy content: Butter comes from the churned cream of milk, making it a dairy product, while oleo comes from plant-based hydrogenated oils.
• Fat content: Both butter and oleo are relatively high in fat, but they contain different types of fatty acids. The fat in butter is 62 percent saturated fat, 29 percent monounsaturated fat, and 4 percent polyunsaturated fat. Stick oleo’s fat comprises 19 percent saturated fat, 59 percent monounsaturated fat, and 18 percent polyunsaturated fat. (Tub oleo has a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fat.) Some oleo also contains added omega-3 fatty acids.
• Flavor: Butter has a richer, creamier flavor than oleo. Fresh butter may taste like the milk of the animal from which it came. Oleo may have a milder or artificial flavor.
• Vitamins and minerals: Like most dairy products, butter is naturally high in calcium and contains small amounts of vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin K. As a processed food product, oleo contains varying levels of vitamins and minerals, depending on the manufacturer. Oleo producers typically add vitamins A, E, and K to their product, giving margarine higher levels of those vitamins than butter.

Oleo and butter are different products that respond differently to heat. Here’s a breakdown of when it’s acceptable to substitute oleo for butter:

• Baking: Substituting oleo for butter in baking recipes can be tricky. Reduced-fat oleos often have a higher water content than butter, throwing off the moisture balance in baked goods. If a recipe calls for butter, but you want to go dairy-free, seek out high-fat stick oleo specifically marketed for baking, or use vegetable shortening.
• Frying: Both butter and oleo pose problems when it comes to frying. The milk solids in butter can burn at high temperatures, which is why clarified butter or ghee are better choices for high-heat cooking. Similarly, the stabilizers found in spreadable oleo burn easily, and low-fat oleo spreads may not melt at all. For non-dairy frying, use cooking spray or oil.
• Spreading: Use butter and oleo interchangeably as a spread for toast, bagels, muffins, or pancakes. The two creamy spreads act and taste similar when used at room temperature or cold.

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