Lubrication is crucial for managing the cutting zone temperature during machining, especially in grinding. Conventional cutting fluids, often applied in flood cooling systems, effectively manage temperature and extract heat from the machining interface. However, the high volume and toxic nature of conventional lubricants have negative environmental impact and pose health risks for machine operators. A promising alternative is the use of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and nanofluid minimum quantity lubrication (NFMQL) techniques. Although MQL is successful in addressing the environment and machine operator health-related issues, but performance does not yet fully match that of conventional flood cooling. The effectiveness of MQL could be improved by integrating nanoparticles, whereas worker and environmental safety can be improved by using vegetable oils. This study investigates NFMQL with Al₂O₃ nanoparticles in combination with three vegetable oils for surface grinding of AISI52100 alloy steel, using response surface methodology. Flood cooling and pure MQL strategies were used as benchmarks to compare the outcomes of NFMQL. The results demonstrate that NFMQL effectively improves the grinding ratio (G-ratio) and decreases surface roughness while enhancing surface quality in comparison to pure MQL. Compared with flood cooling, NFMQL resulted in reduced surface roughness and improved surface quality, whereas the G-ratio remained comparable to those of the flood cooling system. The results indicate that the proposed lubrication strategy can enhance cutting efficiency by improving machining quality while also delivering environmental and economic benefits to the industry and reducing potential health risks for workers.