The Cooking Oil That Powers Texas Roadhouse's Legendary Dishes

As one of the fastest growing steak-house chains, Texas Roadhouse has earned a reputation for fresh hot rolls, steaks cut by hand on site, and a menu that's all prepared from scratch each day. With that level of detail, you can be sure they've put a lot of thought into choosing each ingredient used on their legendary menu, all the way down to the cooking oil. It should be no great surprise that the restaurant has tapped one of the most versatile oils available to use in each of their kitchens: highly refined soybean oil.

Refined oils may have fallen out of favor with many cooks who love the full flavors of virgin olive oils and butter, but it's hard to find a more practical and well-priced choice for a busy restaurant operation than soybean oil. If the term refined gives you pause, you should know nearly every type of vegetable oil must be refined to make it safe to eat. Refined soybean oil is flavorless and has a high smoke point — really important considerations for a commercial kitchen like Texas Roadhouse.

Many other restaurant groups, both large and small, are also on the highly refined soybean oil bandwagon for either cooking or frying. As well as being less expensive than other oil choices, refined soybean oil is allergen-friendly. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn't require a soy allergen label on foods cooked with refined soybean oils since the allergic soy protein is removed as a part of the refining process. That's a huge advantage for a busy restaurant like Texas Roadhouse and others that serve a population where allergy rates continue to rise.

Of course, like all good businesses, Texas Roadhouse wants to serve excellent food at the most affordable price point and make sure customers have the same great experience at all of their restaurants across the country. Highly refined soybean oil is a reliable choice for corporate menu design. Across a large number of restaurant outlets, the company can be sure the oil will yield a consistent cooking result to deliver all those steak dinners we love, no matter the location.