A few years ago, beef tallow was something your grandmother might have mentioned. Today it’s being poured into fryers at national chains, jarred by chefs, and debated across social media. Search interest in swapping seed oils for tallow keeps climbing, and so do the questions: Does it actually taste better? Is it harder to cook with? Is it expensive? And is it genuinely healthier, or just a trend?
We’re a tallow and honey skincare brand, so we spend a lot of time around this ingredient. But rather than give you our opinion alone, we dug into what real chefs, restaurant owners and everyday people have said after making the switch, and we looked at what nutrition experts say too, including the parts that don’t flatter tallow. You deserve the full picture before changing what’s in your pan.
Why Are People Switching From Seed Oils to Beef Tallow?
“Seed oils” is the popular shorthand for oils extracted from seeds such as canola, sunflower, soybean and corn. For most of the last century they replaced traditional cooking fats like tallow, lard and butter in home kitchens and restaurants. Over the past few years, a growing wave of people has pushed back, and the reasons they give tend to fall into four groups:
- Processing concerns. Seed oils are heavily refined, and many people simply prefer fats that are minimally processed and closer to their natural state.
- Flavour. Tallow has a rich, savoury depth that neutral oils don’t.
- High-heat stability. Tallow is mostly saturated and monounsaturated fat, and it holds up well at frying temperatures.
- A return to traditional cooking. Many people want to cook the way previous generations did, with fewer industrial ingredients.
Whether or not you agree with every claim made online, these are the motivations real people keep citing. Here’s what happened when they acted on them.
Real Experiences: What Happened When They Made the Switch
The restaurant that noticed the difference within four weeks
Cast Iron Grill, a locally owned restaurant in Lubbock, Texas, moved from canola oil to beef tallow for frying after working closely with its suppliers. Four weeks in, the restaurant reported that the change had exceeded its expectations. The local news writer who covered the story was blunt about the flavour verdict, calling it a clear win on taste while still noting the nutrition debate around saturated fat.
The customer who could finally taste the potato
At Rolling Hills Restaurant in Mandan, North Dakota, the team researched cost and health claims before moving to tallow. According to local reporting, one customer said he could taste the potato and the fry itself rather than the flavour of fryer oil, and the restaurant’s manager said the flavour of everything from potatoes to chicken improved. That is the most common thing people report: food tastes more like itself.
The chef who couldn’t find clean tallow, so he made his own
Franz Brendle, a trained chef and restaurateur in New York’s Hudson Valley, wanted to switch his kitchens to tallow. He ran into two practical problems: tallow was pricier than seed oil, and much of the commercially available product contained chemical stabilizers. His solution was to find a local source of beef fat and render it himself. The result was good enough that he began jarring and selling it as The Beef Tallow Company. His takeaway: sourcing matters, and what’s in the jar matters.
The restaurant group whose customers bring their own
Blue Collar Restaurant Group phased seed oils out of its restaurants in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Bozeman, Montana. According to the Jackson Hole News&Guide, some health-conscious customers are now so committed to avoiding seed oils that they carry their own tallow when they eat out. Whatever you think of that, it shows how personal this choice has become for some people.
The packaged-food brand that switched for taste and price
When Real Good Foods announced it would transition its frozen meals away from seed oils, the company said the move answered years of consumer requests and that tallow was chosen for its taste and its lower price compared with olive oil, according to Food Dive. It’s a reminder that for businesses, and often for households, cost is part of the story too.
The home cook who grew up on vegetable oil
Sarah Fischer of Nature’s Pantry, a grass-fed meat supplier, wrote about growing up in a household where vegetable shortening and canola oil were the pantry staples she assumed were healthy. She now cooks with beef tallow and encourages others to do the same, describing it as part of getting back to simple, traditional food, including homemade fries.
[EDITOR NOTE: Add 2-3 real Teestallow customer quotes here. Ask customers who cook with tallow, or who use the balm, to share why they switched and what they noticed. Real, attributed quotes will make this post far more compelling and are worth more than anything we could write for them.]
The Common Threads in These Stories
Reading across these experiences, a few patterns stand out:
- Flavour is the headline benefit. Almost everyone mentions taste first, especially for fried foods and roasted vegetables.
- Sourcing is the make-or-break detail. The chef who struggled to find clean tallow is not alone. Grass-fed, single-ingredient tallow without stabilizers is what most switchers look for.
- Cost is a real factor. Tallow can cost more than commodity seed oil, though some find the price difference worth it, and others render their own.
- It’s often about a bigger lifestyle shift. Most people who swap fats are also cutting back on ultra-processed food, which matters for the next section.
What Do Nutrition Experts Say? (The Honest Part)
This is where it’s worth slowing down, because the story is more complicated than social media suggests, and we’d rather you hear it from us.
Many mainstream nutrition experts disagree with the claim that seed oils are harmful in normal amounts. The Cleveland Clinic has said that modest seed oil intake probably isn’t a concern for most people, though it can nudge your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, as reported by local coverage of the debate. Food Dive reports that nutritionists and health experts have largely pushed back on the idea that seed oils are less healthy, pointing to decades of research linking unsaturated fats to lower heart disease risk. Some nutrition scientists also argue the real issue is the ultra-processed foods that often contain seed oils, such as sugary and salty packaged snacks, rather than the oils themselves.
On the tallow side, one tablespoon contains around 115 calories and roughly 6.4 grams of saturated fat, according to a Food Network nutrition breakdown. That article’s experts caution that swapping tallow in for unsaturated fats raises saturated fat intake, which can be detrimental to heart health, and they recommend against replacing seed oils entirely with tallow.
So what’s a reasonable takeaway? Tallow is a flavorful, heat-stable traditional fat that many people enjoy. It’s also high in saturated fat. Using it as one of several fats in a varied, whole-food diet is a very different thing from treating it as a health cure. If you have heart disease, high cholesterol, or other health conditions, speak to your doctor before making a major change to the fats you eat.
How to Switch From Seed Oils to Beef Tallow (Practical Guide)
If you’ve weighed the pros and cons and want to try it, here’s how to do it without the common mistakes.
1. Start with one or two uses, not your whole pantry
Begin by swapping tallow in for the oil you’d normally use for roasting potatoes, pan-frying, or searing meat. You’ll quickly learn whether you like the flavor before changing everything.
2. Choose quality tallow
Look for grass-fed, single-ingredient tallow with no stabilizers or additives. Rendered beef fat from a trusted local butcher or farm is a good option, and the experience of the chef above shows why the ingredient list matters.
3. Use it where it shines
Tallow has a smoke point around 400°F, which makes it well suited to frying, roasting and searing. Chef Franz Brendle points out that it’s more stable than many seed oils at high heat. It’s less suited to cold uses like salad dressings, where olive oil does the job better.
4. Store it properly
Keep tallow in a sealed jar in a cool, dark place or the fridge. Properly rendered and stored tallow lasts a long time, and strain it between uses if you’re frying.
5. Keep variety in your diet
Mix tallow with olive oil, avocado oil or butter depending on the dish. Variety is the simplest hedge against the “one fat fixes everything” thinking that experts warn about.
6. Watch for hidden seed oils elsewhere
Many people find that the bigger change comes from checking labels on packaged foods, dressings and sauces, where seed oils hide in long ingredient lists. Cooking more from scratch is what most switchers say made the biggest difference overall.
Beyond the Kitchen: Tallow on Your Skin
Once people get used to tallow in the kitchen, many get curious about it for skincare too. Tallow has a long history as a traditional moisturizer, and it’s popular today because it’s rich in the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and is often described as being similar to the skin’s own natural oils. To be upfront, that comparison is widely repeated but large clinical trials on tallow skincare are limited, so we’d encourage anyone with sensitive skin to patch test first.
That’s the thinking behind our Teestallow tallow and honey balm. We pair rich, nourishing tallow with raw honey, known for its moisture-binding and soothing qualities, plus sweet almond oil and Omani frankincense, for a balm designed to be simple and nourishing without a long list of synthetic ingredients. If you’re already rethinking what goes in your pantry, it’s a natural next step to rethink what goes on your skin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is beef tallow better than seed oil?
It depends on what you mean by “better.” Tallow tastes richer and is stable at high heat, which many cooks love. Mainstream nutrition guidance, however, still favors unsaturated fats for heart health, and tallow is high in saturated fat. Many people use a mix.
Why are restaurants switching to beef tallow?
Reasons given by restaurants include flavor, a preference for less processed ingredients, and customer demand. Chains and local restaurants alike have made the move, and some say it also improves the taste of fried food.
Is cooking with beef tallow expensive?
It can cost more than commodity seed oils, though prices vary. Some people lower the cost by buying rendered fat from a local butcher or rendering their own.
What is the smoke point of beef tallow?
Around 400°F according to chefs who cook with it, making it suitable for frying, roasting and searing.
Can I use beef tallow if I’m trying to eat healthier?
In moderation, as part of a varied whole-food diet, many people do. If you have heart disease, high cholesterol or another health condition, check with your doctor first.
How do I start switching from seed oils to beef tallow?
Start small: use tallow for roasting or pan-frying, choose grass-fed tallow with no additives, and keep olive oil or other fats on hand for lower-heat and cold uses.
The Bottom Line
The real-life experiences we found share a consistent theme: people who switch to tallow love the flavour, care about where their fat comes from, and often use the change as a way to cook more from scratch. At the same time, nutrition experts urge caution about treating tallow as a health fix or dropping unsaturated fats completely. The most balanced path is also the simplest: use quality tallow where it tastes best, keep other fats in your kitchen, and eat mostly whole foods.
If you’re curious about tallow beyond the frying pan, explore the Teestallow tallow and honey balm at teestallow.com.