Where Does Sesame Oil Come From?

From a Pharaoh's Tomb to Urartu's Oil Presses

Around 1350 BCE, one of the baskets placed in Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt was filled with sesame seeds. The plant already had a history spanning thousands of years by then.

Archaeobotanical evidence places sesame's domestication in the Indian subcontinent, with charred remains dated to at least 5,500 years ago — making it one of the oldest oilseed crops known. Trade in sesame between Mesopotamia and the Indian subcontinent is documented from around 2000 BCE.

Some of the earliest evidence of sesame being pressed specifically for oil comes from the Urartu Empire, where sesame was cultivated and pressed as early as 750 BCE.

Two Ways From Seed to Oil

Sesame oil is made in two main ways. In the first, raw, untoasted seeds are cold-pressed — the seed is never heated, and oil is separated by mechanical pressure alone.

In the second, seeds are toasted before pressing. Toasting changes the seed's oil cells, producing a darker oil with a much stronger, roasted aroma. Some producers further refine oil through solvent extraction, neutralization, and bleaching, though good-quality seed rarely needs it — the best flavor comes from gentle pressing.

Light and Dark Sesame Oil: Two Different Products

Untoasted seeds yield a pale yellow oil with a mild, grain-like aroma. Toasted seeds yield an amber, strongly aromatic oil. They come from the same plant, but they are not interchangeable in the kitchen: light oil behaves like a neutral cooking oil, while dark oil is itself a concentrated flavoring agent.

A bottle simply labeled "sesame oil" doesn't tell you which one you're holding — look for "toasted" or "pure/light" on the label.

Why Toasted Sesame Oil Is a Finishing Oil, Not a Cooking Oil

Light sesame oil has a high smoke point and holds up to high-heat cooking, including frying. Toasted sesame oil does not: at high heat it turns bitter and tastes burnt.

That's why it's used as a finishing oil — a few drops stirred or drizzled in right after the pan comes off the heat, so its aroma survives instead of breaking down.

Sesame Oil Across Asia and the Middle East

In Korean cooking, toasted sesame oil (chamgireum) is a core finishing ingredient — blanched vegetable namul is dressed with it alongside soy sauce and garlic, and it appears in a light hand in cold soups too. It's a recognized kitchen staple across East Asia, particularly in Chinese and Korean cooking, while in Japan toasted sesame seeds themselves — rather than the oil — show up in dishes like gomashio and goma-ae.

In South India's Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, sesame oil (gingelly) was historically an everyday cooking oil for curries before refined oils became widespread, and it's still stirred into the spice powders served alongside idli and dosa. In the Middle East, sesame's signature forms are tahini and halva, plus a role in za'atar — sesame oil itself is not the dominant cooking or finishing oil there the way it is further east.

Storage and Rancidity

Sesame oil's natural antioxidant, sesamol, makes it more resistant to rancidity than many vegetable oils — but light, heat, and prolonged air exposure will still degrade it. Keep an opened bottle in a cool, dark spot, ideally in dark or opaque glass, away from direct sun or the stove.

A sharp, sour, or paint-like smell means the oil has turned and should be discarded.

Reading the Label: Pure or Blended

Not every bottle marked "sesame oil" is the same product. Some are pure; others are a neutral base oil with a small amount of toasted sesame oil blended in for aroma. A single ingredient listing — "sesame oil" or "100% sesame oil" — signals purity; multiple oils listed means a blend, which is cheaper but less aromatic than the pure toasted version.

Sesame Allergy: Worth Knowing Before You Cook With It

Sesame is a potent allergen and can trigger anaphylaxis. In the United States it became a labeled major allergen under the FASTER Act starting in 2023; Canada and the EU require it to be identified as well. Cross-reactivity with tree nuts, peanuts, and almonds has been documented, so anyone with those allergies should treat sesame oil with the same caution as the seed itself.