The best olive oil for salads is the extra virgin olive oil. It is the olive oil with most flavored and fruity of all of them.
But of course, there are many varieties of extra virgin olive oils, each of which have their own characteristics. So, we propose one or several varieties of extra virgin oil for each type of salad.
For fresh salads, with many greens and vegetables, like the typical summer salad with lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, carrots, etc… we recommend an extra virgin olive oil like Picual or Manzanillo, whose fresh and herbaceous notes fit perfectly and enhances the flavors of these ingredients, improving any that may be lacking in taste, as sadly happens frequently. (There are no good tomatoes like in past time)
For salads with fruits like apples, avocado, raisins, oranges, dried fruits and similar, or pasta salads or with broccoli and cheeses, we recommend hojiblanca olive oil, whose features match very well with these ingredients. In tasting panels the hojiblanca extra virgin olive oil offer notes as apple, almond and dried fruits notes, and it is not usually as herbaceous and bitter as picual.
For salads exclusively made of fruits, with pears, bananas, strawberries, fruits of the forest, kiwi, etc. we recommend arbequina extra virgin olive oil, whose sweets notes, without any bitterness, make it ideal.
These are our recommendations based on our tastes and experiences. You can try them and make your own opinion
Bon Appetit!