Essential oils in cooking: 3 delicious recipes with essential oil flavorings

Many do not realize the true value of essential oils. They think that essential oils serve best only as aromatic substances that can be used in diffusers at home or used along with bath water, as bath salts or in massaging. The uses of essential oils do not end with these. They can be used in the preparation of many delicacies too. Believe it or not, many food manufacturers use essential oils as a unique and cheap way to add flavors to the foods they process. Essential oils also replace the distinct flavor or taste which is lost in processing or refinement of food. You can also use essential oils if there is a lack of ingredients in your kitchen cupboards. For instance, if you there is no ginger in your house, you can add a drop of Ginger oil to get the same flavor. This article will provide you some fun-to-make common recipes wherein you can use essential oils as special ingredients.

Essential oils in food: Essential oils, as you know, are highly concentrated substances. You have to be very careful in using them. This means, you have to measure all the drops that go into your food. Excess use of oils can upset your stomach or spoil your food. If you want to add oils only for the sake of flavor, better to use only a drop or so. Below are a few recipes which use essential oils as flavorings:


1. Appetizers – Russian Eggs: If you plan to make your eggs in this method, you would need the following ingredients: 6 hard boiled eggs, 1 teaspoon of chopped green olives, 3 tablespoons of Mayonnaise, chopped onion, Tabasco, black pepper, chopped parsley, Lemon oil and Grapefruit essential oil. Cut the eggs, remove the yolks and put everything in a bowl except the parsley.  Mix the ingredients to form a paste. When you get the paste consistency, spoon into the white of the egg. Then, add the parsley on a bed of lettuce and serve the dish.

2. Prawns dish: This is a real prawn delicacy. You would need the following to make this: 1 pound uncooked prawns, soy sauce, sherry, vegetable oil, clove garlic, orange (squeezed), 2 drop of Ginger oil, 2 drops of Orange essential oil. Marinade the prawns for sometime before you start cooking. Mix all the marinade ingredients and pour over the uncooked prawns. Leave for about 1-2 hours. Remove the prawns after the time and stir-fry until cooked. Add in the marinade in parts. Once the first part is cooked, add the remaining. Do this for 5 minutes and then serve.

3. Red Meat Marinade: If you look at the recipes, you will notice that essential oils are excellent for any kind of meat or sea food recipes. This Red Meat Marinade recipe is yet another recipe involved with meat. To cook, you need the following: 1 cup of red wine, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 chopped onion, salt, Black Peppercorns etc. You will also need these essential oils: 1 drop of Thyme oil, 1 drop of Marjoram oil, 1 drop of Clove oil and 2 tablespoons of Olive oil. Blend Thyme, Marjoram and Clove into Olive oil. Add red wine to the meat and add garlic, onion, Orange oil. Rub the meat with 1 tbsp of the Olive oil blend and place the meat in red wine. Leave the meat for about eight hours and then, cook it as you please.