One of our food goals this year is to eat more REAL food. Many of you suggested switching to coconut oil for cooking. I have to admit, I’m a coconut newbie! I don’t know much about the stuff and it seems super expensive!
Currently Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is on sale at Amazon for $11.51 (with subscribe and save) for two 15 oz containers. Is this a good or even great deal? I’m not familiar enough with coconut oil to know what price I should be paying so I need your help! I have Amazon Prime, so shipping is free.
Let me know if this is a good deal for coconut oil so I can order it! If you know of a better deal please share it in the comments.
Michele - The Professional Family Manager says
I pay about $7.50 at Wegman’s grocery store. I think you can definitely beat this price.
jessica says
the last time i ordered the same thing (through amazon and everything) i paid $10.06. i thought that was a great deal.
Akehia says
I’d say yes. I pay about $9 per jar (just under a pint) at Whole Foods, and I think it’s about the same at our local grocery stores. I might have to order some of this too.
Sara Anderson says
Great deal – I use that exact kind from Amazon. I love the flavor of it.
Kristin says
Yes! I don’t remember how much I paid at our health food store for it, but it was more than that. Works great as a moisturizer and for diaper rash or prevention, i have never cooked with it and only use i for those purposes actually!
Lisa says
Yes! That is a great deal! With free shipping, you can’t do better than that! Not to mention you have picked THE BEST brand available, IMO. My husband is from the Caribbean, and he says that Nutiva has the best flavor. We buy it by the gallon now!
Oh, and if you search for coconut oil on my blog, I have a post about a really delicious way to eat it.
Happy eating!
Anne says
I buy mine at my local Indian store. I get a large bottle (I don’t remember the size but I know it’s a lot larger than that) for $14. You might want to look around your local stores before you go to the hassle of ordering online.
Sarah says
Like Jessica, I’ve bought it lower…but I’ve also seen it in the $13 range after s&s…11.51 has been a consistently decent price…especially compared to what’s in the stores. I love this stuff and in the past year, I have ordered the 2-pack at least 5 times, four times at the 11.51 price, once at 10.23. (10.23 was back in May.)
Would love to know if there’s a better deal too!
Jennifer says
If you’re new to Coconut Oil, I’d highly recommend that you start with *expeller pressed* coconut oil, rather than extra virgin. The biggest difference between the extra virgin and expeller pressed is the flavor. Expeller pressed is not going to have a strong flavor at all, in fact, you’d be hard pressed to tell it’s coconut oil, rather than vegetable oil. Extra Virgin coconut oil is very strongly coconut-flavored, so it doesn’t work in all cooking. I save the extra virgin for things I WANT a coconut flavor in.
Nutiva kind of falls in between. It is not a RAW extra virgin coconut oil, so it’s not going to have as much of the coconut flavor, but it’s also going to have some nutrient loss.
Not all expeller-pressed coconut oil is the same. Some use heat or chemicals in the process, which destroys the nutrients. Some are fermented, which can enhance the coconut flavor (and for many kids, at least, this enhancement is not a good thing!) Brands like Tropical Traditions or Coconut Oil Supreme (http://www.coconutoil-online.com/PRODUCTS.html) offer GOOD (safe, healthy) expeller pressed coconut oil. The Tropical Traditions website often has good deals; for instance, right now you can get 2 quarts for $33 (plus shipping) of the Organic Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil plus they have a 10% coupon on the site, so it would be less than that. http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/expeller-pressed_coconut_oil.htm
I go back and forth between Coconut Oil Supreme and Tropical Traditions for “non-coconut flavored” cooking. I like the Supreme better, but I use the Tropical Traditions when I can’t afford the Supreme. I use Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin when I want the coconut flavor. Both sites have lots of good information, so I’d suggest reading through those and seeing if it helps you understand the process (of the processing) and choices better.
Good luck! We’ve found numerous health benefits to switching to coconut oil, and you couldn’t PAY me to go back!
TheHappyHousewife says
Thanks for all the information Jennifer! I have so much to learn…
Kristyn says
That is a GREAT deal! We use coconut oil for everything from cooking to lotion to diaper rash since it’s safe for cloth diapers and works like a dream! I usually pay about $11 a jar, so less than $12 for two jars is amazing!
Jackie says
There are so many variables…I only use the expeller pressed which I know isn’t AS good for you, but is still way better for you than your standard vegetable oils and the expeller pressed doesn’t have the coconut flavor. The virgin coconut oil will have the coconut flavor.
With either the expeller pressed OR virgin oil buying in larger quantities (gallon +) is definitely the way to go.
I know you said you get free shipping through amazon, but these others might be worth looking into even with the shipping cost, as you can buy in larger quantities, and with a larger family, it would probably be worth it. 😉
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/
http://www.azurestandard.com/ (I get my expellar pressed through them–a gallon for around $38.00).
dgsandbjsmom says
5 gallons at store.nutiva.com is only 38 cents per ounce. Of course this is an up front $245 outlay but depending on how much you use and storage life that is good deal or get several families to go in and buy it together.
Serenity Summers says
We use coconut oil from Tropical Traditions and LOVE it!!!!! Not only is it yummy to cook with, coconut oil is great for dry skin. We have some serious dry skin issues so I add a teaspoon full to their bath water and it soothes and conditions their dry skin!!! Just make sure you use fresh water to wash their hair or they will look like teenagers who haven’t shampooed in a week!
Sara says
The Commissary has 14 oz jars for around $5. It is the Spectrum brand. The price can fluctuate, as commissary prices do, but I just bought 3 last week for about $4.75 a jar. It’s virgin coconut oil and expeller pressed, and definitely tastes like coconut. I use it mostly for baking.
I was also reading some articles about health at http://www.aboverubies.org (a ministry to wives and moms). In addition to highly recommending coconut oil, they also recommended red palm oil. I still have some research to do on it, but it sounds like a good alternative when you don’t want coconut flavored chicken! I don’t think you will find red palm oil in the store, but they gave information about how to order some.
Sue P says
Hey, I just want to give you a heads up that Red Palm Oil is very nourishing and has great stuff in it for you but it has a very distinctive flavor. I bought some in hopes of adding it to our diet but ended up not caring for it. It is definitely not a neutral flavored oil. I would much rather use an expeller pressed coconut oil (which really doesn’t taste like coconut and makes “fried” foods taste great) over it. I did use it to cook plantain chips in it which were quite yummy.
Sara says
Thank you! Can you describe the flavor at all? I’m thinking about buying some, but maybe I should get a small quantity to start. Also, could you tell me where you purchased it?
Staci Bishop says
I’d say that’s a pretty good price and that’s my favorite brand. We use coconut oil around here for EVERYTHING! It’s becoming a running joke, really. Have a boo boo? Put coconut oil on it. Need some moisturizer? Grab the coconut oil. Have some sort of ailment? Take some coconut oil. You can Google coconut oil for almost any illness and it will be shown to have positive results. I LOVE this stuff! 🙂
Sara says
This is all new to me, what are the health benefits of coconut oil vs. canola or EVOO? Thanks to all of the commenters too for the info, might have to get some from Amazon too. 🙂
Natalie says
I don’t know much about coconut oil either. Can someone tell me how it compares to extra virgin olive oil and if/why it’s better? Thanks!
Mary Kathryn says
I buy Nutiva from The Vitamin Shoppe. Right now they have basically the same price on special for this size coconut oil. Then you have to pay shipping. Your Amazon Prime will save you some pennies over TVS.
Angela says
Hi Happy!
I am a coconut oil lover.
I saw Jennifer wrote some great stuff above. I love Tropical Traditions for their strict standards, i trust what i’m getting from them. I just wanted to add that if you like the coconut oil and want to change over, the best deals i have found at Tropical Traditions (since you have a bigger family) is to wait for their ‘free shipping’ days and order by the gallon. I’ve gotten virgin coconut oil for $50/gallon (128fl.oz.) And $30/gallon for the expeller pressed. Sometimes you have to order 2 gallons at a time to get that price but it doesn’t go bad quickly so i always use it in plenty of time.
I felt that any sales they offered were good but then the shipping killed me. I liked to just wait for the free shipping day instead. Good luck and enjoy! My favorite way to use the virgin oil is in my smoothies which i know you do, i love the taste of the coconut in my smoothie. I also love to cook my breakfast potatoes in coconut oil! Try it! Yum!
Angie
Micki says
I love this discusssion! I am a big fan of Nutiva as well and have always bought mine at http://www.vitacost.com along with TONS of other products I use (like Dr. Bronners products, Kids vitamins, Elderberry syrup, essential oils, Bob’s Red Mill products as well as Arrowhead, Traditional Medicinals herbal teas, Xylitol sweetner, Agave Nectar, etc.) I have always found the products to be a good price and sometime significantly cheaper than the grocery stores. Their shipping is only $4.99 no matter how large your order.
As a side note I also buy from them the NSI Extra Virgin Certified Organic Coconut Oil which is a little bit cheaper and tastes the same as Nutiva.
You can also get points if you shop through MyPoints (I’m not sure about Swagbucks).
Erica Miller says
I usually buy mine on vitacost.com and its around 20 for a 54 ounce container of Nutica. I have gotten it on amazon before too and they have some pretty good deals.
Anna says
From my experience, the coconut oil price on Amazon is a good deal. Thirty ounces for $11.51 works out to about 38.4 cents per ounce. The lowest price I’ve ever gotten is about 31 cents per ounce.
When we first switched to coconut oil, I was buying it at our local grocery store for $8-9 per 14 ounce jar (ouch!). I’ve started buying from Tropical Traditions, and have had a really good experience with them. If you do decide to try Tropical Traditions, watch for really good coupons that come out every once in a while, such as 15% off, BOGO, or free shipping. I wait to buy from them until there is a coupon or sale. Watching for a great sale at different websites might be the best way to get your coconut oil for less.
Laura says
I personally wouldn’t buy this because it is in plastic. There are lots of brands, even on Amazon, that carry their oil in glass. I know this is picky…but we try to avoid plastics of any kind.
charity says
It also depends on what you are using it for. If you are going to be cooking with heat, it destroys a lot of the vitamins and minerals, so go with the RBD kind. That is deodorized, so it doesn’t have the smell or taste of coconut oil. If you are using it as a moisturizer, in place of butter or oil in bread recipes (the internal temperature doesn’t get high enough to denature the oil at all), or anywhere else without heat, buy the Virgin or Extra Virgin oils. Then you are going to benefit from the extra price.
The Virgin oils have the most delicious coconut smell (think tropical) and a slight flavor. Tropical Traditions is a great place to buy it and if you are buying bulk, you are going to save money. I can get RBD for $16 a gallon… a gallon of virgin is usually around 30-40. Just some things to think about.
Jaynelle says
I second the Commissary! Much cheaper than anywhere else I’ve seen it. My kids really love air popped popcorn with a drizzle of coconut oil and sugar. Yum!
Stacy says
When you’re buying Coconut Oil make sure it’s expeller pressed. This process is much healthier although more expensive. http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=32
Stacy says
oops, i put the wrong link. This one is better: http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2010/12/08/what-is-expeller-pressed-oil-and-why-does-it-matter/
Susie says
We have moved several times in the past couple years and have had a hard time finding our favorite foods in our new locales, so I have come to depend on iherb.com for most of our healthy and natural foods and health products. They have free shipping options and the best prices on almost everything we like to buy. Things are packed well, arrive quickly and seem to be very fresh because their stock moves through so quickly. (Unlike natural food stores where items sit and go rancid in bins and on shelves – yuck!)
We buy Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil from iHerb and love it for cooking, skin care, etc. http://www.iherb.com/Nutiva-Organic-Extra-Virgin-Coconut-Oil-54-fl-oz-1-6-L/7311?at=0
If you have never ordered from them before, enter this code at check out and get $5 off: ILE067 . With the free shipping and amazing prices, I have been buying more and more stuff from them. It beats dragging my 4 kids through overpriced rows of stale foods at the closest health food store, which is now over an hour away!
I know this thread is older, but thought this might help someone. 🙂