Best extra virgin olive oil

Whether you're drizzling, dipping, dressing or roasting, a good extra virgin olive oil is an essential staple in many kitchens. But does spending more get you a better bottle? 

To find out, we asked a panel of independent olive oil experts to blind-taste and rate a selection of 14 bottles, from supermarket own-label extra virgin olive oils to big brands such as Belazu, Filippo Berio and Odysea.

Our test uncovered two top-scoring Best Buys that stood out for their fresh, well-balanced flavour. 

Best supermarket extra virgin olive oil

Only logged-in Which? members can view our full independent test results and tasting notes from the expert panel for every olive oil we tested below.

If you’re not yet a member, you’ll see an alphabetically ordered list of the olive oils we tested. To get instant access to these and all our reviews, join Which? today.

Aldi Specially Selected Terra di Bari Castel Del Monte Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£5.59 for 500ml | Italy (PDO)

Label tasting notes: Intense and fruity.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Aldi (in-store only).

Asda Exceptional Spanish Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£7 for 500ml | Spain

Label tasting notes: Intense and fruity, with distinct spicy notes.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Asda.

Belazu Crete Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£10 for 500ml | Greece (PDO)

Label tasting notes: Robust and full-flavoured, with a balanced aroma and peppery finish.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Ocado, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

Filippo Berio 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£9.95 for 500ml | Italy

Label tasting notes: Hints of herbs, artichoke and ripe tomato, with a spicy and slightly bitter finish.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Ocado and Sainsbury's.

Gaea Kalamata Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£12 for 500ml | Greece (PDO)

Label tasting notes: Well-balanced, with a pepper and almond aftertaste.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Ocado and Waitrose.

Good Phats Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£12.95 for 500ml | Spain

Label tasting notes: Fruity and balanced with warm, rounded flavours.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Ocado and Sainsbury's.

La Espanola Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£7.50 for 500ml | Spain

Label tasting notes: Bold and fruity.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Ocado, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

Lidl Deluxe Puglian Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£5.49 for 500ml | Italy (PDO)

Label tasting notes: Perfect with cold meats or pasta.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Lidl (in-store only).

M&S Collection Nocellara Del Belice Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£12 for 500ml | Italy (PGI)

Label tasting notes: Medium green fruitiness.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from M&S (in-store only) and Ocado.

Odysea Greek Kalamata Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£9.95 for 500ml | Greece (PDO)

Label tasting notes: Robust with medium fruitiness, and a full-bodied herbaceous flavour.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Sainsbury's.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Greek Athinoelia Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£7 for 500ml | Greece 

Label tasting notes: Fruity, pleasant bitterness and a warming peppery finish.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Sainsbury's.

Terra Delyssa Tunisian Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£7 for 500ml | Tunisia

Label tasting notes: Mild, uniquely flavoured olive oil.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

Tesco Finest Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£7 for 500ml | Greece 

Label tasting notes: Intense and peppery, with notes of olive leaf, oregano and artichoke.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Tesco.

Waitrose No.1 Valli Trapanesi Extra Virgin Olive Oil

£13 for 500ml | Italy (PDO)

Label tasting notes: Fruity and aromatic, with a spicy finish.

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Waitrose.

Pricing and availability information correct as of June 2026.

How we test extra virgin olive oil

Our panel of four independent olive oil experts blind-tasted 14 supermarket extra virgin olive oils for our taste test in May 2026.

Our expert tasting panel included:

• Giulia Crouch Food journalist and certified olive oil sommelier
• Matteo Frescobaldi Producer of the award-winning Tuscan Laduemio Frescobaldi EVOO
• Issy Carey Oil importer for The Oil Merchant
• Marco Peri Executive head chef at Wild restaurant, London

We included premium supermarket own-label and branded extra virgin olive oils from a variety of regions, including Greece, Italy, Spain and Tunisia. We buy all the test samples ourselves and always pay for products we test, to maintain our independence. We also buy a backup bottle, so if our experts think there may be an issue with the olive oil, we can open a fresh bottle to check. 

Our experts sniffed and sipped each olive oil, scoring the aroma, taste, complexity and balance.

The taste test was blind, so the testers didn't know which olive oil they were trying, and each expert tried them in a different order to avoid any bias. 

After all the samples had been tasted and rated, the panel discussed any discrepancies in score and agreed which bottles deserved to be Best Buys. Only then did we reveal the products.

Why you can trust us: at Which? we're free from manufacturer and retailer influence. Find out more about our editorial independence policy and see behind the scenes of our taste tests to understand more about how we work.

What is extra virgin olive oil?

Both virgin and extra virgin olive oils are protected terms and must meet specific requirements regarding their production. They must be obtained from olives solely by mechanical means, without heat or chemicals. This produces better-quality olive oil but a lower yield, making it more expensive.

The difference between virgin and extra virgin oils comes down to quality. Both types have to pass a sensory and chemical test. Extra virgin olive oil must have an acidity level of no more than 0.8%, while virgin olive oil must have an acidity level of no more than 2%.

The lower the acidity, the more it indicates the olives have been cared for while on the tree and during harvesting and processing.

Looking for more expert taste test recommendations? See our guides to the best ground coffee and the best champagne

Benefits of extra virgin olive oil

Is extra virgin olive oil good for you? Shefalee Loth, Which? nutritionist says:

'Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is increasingly recognised as a nutritional powerhouse. While regular olive oil is often refined using heat and chemical processes, EVOO is a pure, cold-pressed extract of the olive fruit. As well as differences in flavour, this means EVOO typically contains higher levels of polyphenols (natural compounds with antioxidant effects) than regular olive oil – and some may contain more than 30 different polyphenols. 

It has a high concentration of oleic acid (a monounsaturated fat), which helps lower LDL (bad) cholesterol while maintaining or even raising HDL (good) cholesterol. Its benefits aren’t limited to heart health; EVOO also supports satiety. Consuming these healthy fats triggers the release of hormones such as GLP-1, which signal to the brain that you are full, supporting more sustainable weight management.

Combine EVOO with colourful vegetables. Many essential vitamins (A, D, E and K) are fat-soluble, meaning your body can't efficiently absorb them without a fat source such as olive oil.

Don’t be afraid to use EVOO in cooking. While it is often used for salad dressings, its stability makes it suitable for everyday cooking, including sautéing, roasting and shallow frying. It has a smoke point of around 190°C to 210°C, and its antioxidant content helps protect it from breaking down into harmful compounds when heated.

Whether you’re drizzling it over vegetables, adding to your salad leaves or using it to sear fish, EVOO is a versatile choice for both flavour and health.'

Extra virgin olive oil jargon decoded

Olive oil marketers use all sorts of buzz phrases to make their product sound more special than rivals, but it's worth knowing what's a real selling point and what's just jargon. 

Here's what common marketing terms really mean – and whether they matter.

• PDO/PGI Look for the PDO label (Protected Designation of Origin), which certifies that the olive oil has been grown, produced and bottled in a specific region. PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) is also a good indicator of quality, although the requirements aren't quite as strict.
• Cold extracted To be classed as 'extra virgin', an olive oil must be extracted at low temperatures (below 27°C), so terms such as 'cold pressed' or 'cold extracted' are meaningless when comparing bottles, as this applies to all extra virgin oils. 
• Solely extracted by mechanical means Again, under EU law, all extra virgin olive oil must have this label, which simply confirms that chemicals are not used in the extraction process. 
• Filtered vs unfiltered Olive oils are typically filtered to remove residual olive fruit particles. While the cloudy appearance of unfiltered oil might look more authentic, our experts warn that it doesn’t keep as well and will go off more quickly than filtered oils. Plus, they don't necessarily taste any better.
• Early harvest Olive oils that are described as ‘early harvest’ are extracted from young, green olives, as opposed to riper ones. They tend to contain more antioxidants than regular olive oil and usually have an astringent, peppery flavour, so they could be worth trying if you enjoy strong, punchy olive oils.

How to store extra virgin olive oil to keep it fresh for longer

Don't let your olive oil hang around for years. Unlike wine, it doesn't get better with age. Our experts shared their top tips for keeping your olive oil at its best for longer. 

• Store in a cool, dark place. Storing olive oil in a cupboard away from light, heat and oxygen will help to prolong its life and prevent it from going off too quickly.
• Don't let it linger Once the bottle is opened, it's exposed to oxygen, which causes the oil to deteriorate. For maximum taste and health benefits, use within a couple of months.
• Pay attention to packaging Our experts recommend avoiding oil sold in clear plastic bottles, as this can negatively impact the oil's flavour. Ideally, opt for a tin or a dark-coloured glass bottle rather than a clear one. This helps to block out light and prevent the oil from deteriorating, both on the shop shelves and when you get it home. 
• Don't store it in the fridge You might have heard that keeping your olive oil in the fridge will help it last longer, but our experts don't recommend this. Keeping it in a cool, dark cupboard is best.

The impact of harvest

We regularly retest olive oil with an expert panel and find that the results vary from year to year. This is because olive oil can be impacted by factors such as weather, harvest, and cost pressures. Our lead expert, Issy Carey, explains more:

'Each harvest, the flavour profile of an olive oil from a particular farm will be dependent on the weather. In years of particularly low yield, some producers may choose to leave the olives on the tree for longer to produce a larger quantity of oil – this often results in a softer flavour profile.

Some producers also aim to produce an oil with a similar taste year on year, and in order to achieve this, they may have to blend their olives in different ratios. Others are more price-conscious and, to hit their target costs, may need to leave the olives for longer or buy in olives from other regions. It's not unheard of for European-based companies to buy in olives from Tunisia or South America.’

How to recycle olive oil bottles

Glass and plastic bottles can usually go in your household recycling bin. If your council doesn’t accept them, you can take them to a local bottle bank.

The recycling process can vary depending on where you live, so check with your local council to see whether bottles need to be rinsed first and whether metal screw caps should be replaced or recycled separately.