Cooking Fats Compared: Tallow, Ghee, Lard, Butter and Olive Oil

Every fat-versus-fat comparison on The Foodie Kitchen in one place. Each guide below sets two traditional fats side by side (smoke point, fat profile, flavour and the jobs each one does best), with its sources cited on the page. None of them uses seed oils.

Quick answer: pick the guide for the two fats you're choosing between. For smoke points across every fat at once, use the cooking fat smoke points chart; for how to make, buy and store each fat, see the traditional cooking fats guide.

Beef tallow comparisons

• Tallow vs butter: smoke point, fat profile, flavour, dairy, and when to cook or bake with each (USDA and extension data).
• Tallow vs ghee: smoke point, fat profile, flavour, dairy and when to cook with each (USDA data).
• Lard vs tallow: lard for pastry, tortillas and wok cooking; tallow for roasting, searing and deep frying.
• Tallow vs suet: suet is raw beef fat from around the kidneys, tallow is that fat rendered. How they differ in storage and cooking.
• Tallow vs seed oils at restaurants: what's changing in restaurant fryers in 2026, and what isn't.

Ghee and butter comparisons

• Ghee vs butter: ghee is butter with the water and milk solids removed. How that changes smoke point, shelf life and flavour.
• Ghee vs olive oil: smoke point, fat profile, flavour, dairy and when to cook with each.

Cooking with each fat

Recipes grouped by fat: beef tallow recipes · ghee recipes · lard recipes · butter recipes · olive oil recipes · coconut oil recipes.

New comparisons are added here as they're published.