The biggest question everyone keeps asking but never gets a straight answer to is this:

How much oil does my family really need?

How do you calculate it, and how do you actually apply it in everyday cooking for your whole family— because no one’s cooking for just one person at home, right?

Today, I’m going to teach you once and for all, so you never have to ask again. And yes, I’ll show you exactly how to calculate it yourself.

Grab a book and pen. Yes, right now. Let’s go!

Step-1 Understand the Science Behind It and do it with me

As I explained in how to calculate your daily calorie intake, the first thing you need to do is figure out how many calories you personally need.

If you haven’t done that yet, here’s the link — go check it out and come back. It’s really simple and necessary!

🍃Now that you know your calories, understand this:
20–30% of your daily calories should come from healthy fats in your diet.

Family example & averaging calories :

One thing we need to understand is that technically, each person in a family will have different calorie needs → different fat allowances → different oil needs.

A teenage boy, a 50-year-old woman, and a sedentary dad won’t all fall neatly into “3–4 tablespoons.”

In Indian homes, we don’t measure oil per plate. We cook one curry, one dal, one sambar for everyone. So oil goes into the pot, not into each person’s plate separately.

So here’s what you do:
just sit and calculate all your family’s caloric needs one by one, and draw an average amount of calories in the same method you did above.

That’s your family average calorie need.

Use this average number to do all the calculations for oil intake.

Don’t worry — it balances out naturally. Even if one person needs more and another less:

• The grandma might eat smaller portions.
• The teenager might eat bigger portions.

So the oil distribution sort of “self-adjusts” in real family meals.

Step – 2 Calculate fat calories

Now 20–30% of that should come from fat

For 1750 kcal → that’s 350 to 525 kcal from fat.

(Don’t panic about percentages. Just type in Google: 25% of 1750 — it’ll spit out 437 in one second. Same for 20% or 30%. Done!)

For weight loss or safe health management, let’s use 25% as a middle ground → ~437 kcal from fat.

Step – 3 Convert fat calories into oil

Now, how do we convert these numbers into our oil in the kitchen?

Formula reminder:
Fat grams = Fat calories ÷ 9
1 g of fat = 9 kcal

• For 437 kcal → 437 ÷ 9 = ~49 g of oil

Now I know what you’re going to say — who’s going to use these grams and stuff in the kitchen?

• One tablespoon of fat in our kitchen is approximately 13.5 grams
• So, 49 ÷ 13.5 ≈ 3.5 tablespoons per person
• Multiply 3.5 tablespoons by 4 members in the family → 14 tablespoons of oil per day for the whole family
• Phew! That’s it. So it ends up at ~200 ml per day for whole-family cooking.

Step – 4 Adjust for hidden fats

Wait, one more minute — you need to understand this last step.

The fats we eat daily come in two forms:

1. Visible fats – like the oil you add while cooking.
2. Invisible fats – the ones already present in foods. Nuts, seeds, dals, even grains — all contribute more fat than you might realize.

So, if you only count visible oil, you’ll easily overconsume.

On average, about 20–30% of your fat isn’t from added oil at all — it sneaks in naturally from your meals.
👉 Which means: from the 14 tbsp/day we calculated, you reduce around 25–30%.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking… ’Uhh, how do I even do 25% less off 14 tablespoons?’ Honestly, me too. I panicked the first time I tried it.

Here’s the simple solution: just type into Google, cause that’s what i did
‘25% of 14’ → it will tell you 3.5.
Then subtract it from 14 → 14 – 3.5 = 10.5 tablespoons. Done.
Google’s got your back.

That leaves you with ~10–11 tbsp/day (≈130–140 ml).

This step is very important.

But don’t panic about perfection. Some days you’ll hit 14, some days you’ll land closer to 10. Over the week, it evens out beautifully. The goal isn’t rigid math — it’s balance.

Step – 5 Planning Your Monthly Oil allowance: How Much to Buy

Now that we know your family needs ~10–11 tablespoons per day (≈130–140 ml), let’s see what that means for the whole month.

To plan ahead for grocery shopping, just multiply your daily allowance (~130 ml/day) by 30 days:

130 ml × 30 ≈ 3900 ml (~3.9 liters)

So, for a family of 4, you’ll need roughly 3.5–4 liters per month.

💡 Pro tip for weight loss or strict fat control: stick closer to 3.5 liters per month. This keeps your intake in check while still covering your family’s cooking needs.

Conclusion: Trust the Process

Look, I understand — after doing all these calculations, you’re probably thinking:

“Who the hell is going to use just 10 tablespoons of oil for a whole day of cooking? It’s impossible… and it’s all waste!”

Hold on a second. Think about how much extra oil you were using all these days.

And where does all that extra fat end up in your body? In your arteries, around your visceral organs — liver, pancreas, intestines. That’s the root cause of diabetes and chronic inflammation.

🍃I know it feels difficult, but this is something you can get used to. And trust me — in the long run, your health will thank you far more than those chronic issues ever will.

Whether you can actually stick to this low oil usage depends on two main things:

1. Cookware – This affects how much oil you need. If your food sticks or doesn’t cook well, you end up using more oil. So, cookware is a big factor in total consumption.
2. Type of oil – The refined oils many of us have been using all our lives aren’t actually great for our health.

These are the exact topics we’ll cover in the next two blogs:

• Which cookware helps reduce oil consumption?
• Which oils are best for Indian cooking and long-term health?

So stay tuned, subscribe below, and be the first to know. Feel free to explore the blog — there you’ll find root causes of chronic health issues, honest product reviews, and practical tips.

Thank you so much for reading — it means a lot, truly. ❤️

This post is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individual medical advice. Every body is unique—please consult with your doctor before making any significant changes to your diet or lifestyle. You’ve got this, and we’re here to guide you with heart, not hype.