Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the fruit of the oil palms, primarily the African oil palm and to a lesser extent from the American oil palm. Palm oil is naturally reddish in color because of high beta-carotene content. It is not to be confused with palm kernel oil derived from the kernel of the same fruit or coconut oil derived from the kernel of the coconut palm.

Palm oil is a common cooking ingredient in the tropical belt of Africa, Southeast, Asia and parts of Brazil. Its use in the commercial food industry in other parts of the world is buoyed by its lower cost and by the high oxidative stability (saturation) of the refined product when used for frying.