Easy Olive Tapenade Recipe
This salty, briny olive tapenade recipe comes together in about 5 minutes and is the perfect party appetizer, sandwich topper, or hummus enhancer. If you love olives, you are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe!
Table of Contents
show
You Will Love This
- It’s quick and easy! We’re talking less than 5 minutes of prep time and only a handful of ingredients. This means when your friends drop in last minute, you’ll have no problem throwing together a tasty appetizer on the fly! Bake up my easy crostini recipe to serve along with this olive tapenade for a tasty homemade treat.
- It’s briny and delicious! The combination of fresh herbs, dried herbs, garlic and olive oil really take the edge off the olives so that you’re left with a briny appetizer that is salty but not TOO salty. Try it on these Brie Grilled Cheese with Turkey sandwiches! Just spread tapenade on the bread instead of mustard for a scrumptious lunch.
- It’s the perfect “make ahead” party appetizer! You can make this olive tapenade ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to a week. The flavors only get better with time, but be sure to season with salt and pepper before serving just to amp up the flavors. In fact, when you bring this Olive Tapenade, along with my Easy Spinach Artichoke Dip, and crispy crostini, you’ll not only have the most delicious food at the party, it might also take you less time than if you had just “picked something up from the store!”
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Manzanilla Olives – These add a nice briny taste to the tapenade! If you don’t care for the taste of these green olives you can use black olives in their place. It will still be delicious! You can also use pitted castelvetrano olives as well.
- Kalamata Olives – Kalamata olives have a milder taste than green olives and help balance out the flavors. But if you don’t have any hand on hand just replace them with more green olives or ripe black olives.
- Fresh Parsley – Freshy parsley will give you the best flavor, but you can use dried parsley in a pinch. 1 teaspoon of dried parsley flakes is equal to 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley. (Pro tip: This ratio of dried-to-fresh applies to all herbs, including oregano, thyme, rosemary, and basil.)
- Garlic – Fresh garlic will give you the best flavor for this olive tapenade, but if you don’t have any on hand, try using garlic powder or garlic salt in its place. Use 1/8 of a teaspoon of garlic powder in place of each clove of fresh garlic, or 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt in place of each clove. If your subing garlic salt (which is different than garlic powder) it adds an extra 3/8 teaspoon of sodium, so decrease the salt in your recipe accordingly especially since olives are quite salty to begin with.
- Olive Oil – Opt for an olive oil that is cold-pressed and organic for best flavor.
- White Wine Vinegar – You can use red wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar in place of the white wine vinegar. Or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice! The splash of acid is going to pair nicely with the briny flavor of the olives.
- Dijon Mustard – Feel free to skip the Dijon if you don’t have any on hand. You won’t actually taste the mustard itself in the olive spread, but it adds a delicious layer of flavor.
- Dried Oregano – If you don’t have dried oregano in your cupboard, consider using dried thyme or Italian seasoning instead.
Variations
For a different flavor try adding:
- a couple tablespoons capers
- fresh squeezed lemon juice
- a teaspoon or so fresh thyme
- 1-2 tablespoons anchovies
Instructions
Add all ingredients to a food processor.
Pulse until everything is well minced and combined.
Season to taste with Kosher salt and black pepper. Serve with crostini or sliced French baguette and enjoy!
Serve Tapenade With
- Grazing Board! This olive salad is one of my favorites to serve on my grazing board along with slices of pita bread. It’s a fun substitute for a bowl of plain olives.
- Pasta! Combined with a splash of heavy cream, this olive tapenade makes a FANTASTIC pasta sauce when you’re short on time!
- Pizza! This olive tapenade is the perfect way to spice up your boring pizza routine. Try my quick and easy pizza dough and top it with tapenade, mozzarella and sun dried tomatoes for a quick and easy vegetarian dinner!
- Sandwiches! This tapenade is the perfect sandwich spread! Have you heard of muffuletta? Well it’s an AMAZING sandwich topped with lots of meat and cheese – but the thing that really makes the sandwich? The olive tapenade!!
- Crostini! My easy crostini recipe takes literally minutes to throw together! Drizzle baguette slices with olive oil, broil on each side for a minute or so until crispy. Add a schmear of goat cheese and top with olive tapenade for a super easy appetizer!
- Veggies! This olive spread makes the perfect snack when paired with sliced cucmbers, carrot sticks, or celery!
Tips
- Pulse the ingredients a few times, then scrape the sides of the food processor and pulse a bit more until the olive spread reaches your desired consistency. I like to pulse it until everything is pretty well minced. This will ensure that you won’t end up with any big chunks of olive or garlic.
- Use your favorite olives. It’s funny, but it seems that olive lovers tend to have one color that they prefer over the other. While I am a green olive lover to the max, I only tolerate black olives in small amounts, but I love Kalamatas! If you have a serious aversion to one type of olive, just replace them with your fave. You could do all green olives or all Kalamata olives in this recipe and it’s going to taste great!
- You can use canned or jarred olives for this recipe. This is not a pretentious olive tapenade recipe that requires fancy olives imported from Italy or 7 varieties of olives you can only find in the cold bar at a high end grocery store. You can use a jar of green olives and a jar of Kalamata olives canned for this recipe and it’s going to taste amazing – and be super inexpensive!
- This seems a bit obvious, but be sure and use pitted olives for this recipe. There have been a few times where I SWEAR I bought pitted olives only to get home and find that they are all filled with pits. And it really was the pits (pun intended)! Double check that the olives you’re buying are in fact pitted, or this 5 minute appetizer could turn into a 35 minute appetizer as you tediously remove the pit from each olive.
- Add a few anchovy fillets for an extra hit of flavor! Their salty flavor will add some delicious depth and protein to this olive spread!
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
- Make-Ahead: This olive tapenade is the perfect make ahead appetizer because it will stay fresh in the fridge for up to a week and it can go right from the fridge to your snack table! If you do make it ahead of time, just be sure to season it to taste with salt and pepper before serving.
- Storage: Store olive tapenade in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
FAQ
Is olive tapenade bad for you?
I prefer not to refer to foods as healthy or unhealthy but the best part about making your own olive tapenade at home is that you know exactly what’s in it! This olive tapenade is loaded with fresh, wholesome ingredients that you can feel good about feeding to your family!
What is a tapenade made of?
Olive tapenade uses Manzanilla olives and Kalamata olives along with a combination of fresh herbs and a moderate pour of olive oil. They are all pulsed together in the food processor to make a spread or dip you can use on crackers, crostini, sandwiches, or pizza!
What does olive tapenade taste like?
It tastes like heaven! But honestly, it tastes like olives, but better! The fresh garlic, parsley, oregano, and Dijon come together to boost the flavors of the Manzanilla and Kalamata olives, taking them to another level!
More Easy Party Appetizers
Did you love this recipe?
Please leave a 5-star rating and review below!
Vegan Olive Tapenade
This salty, briny olive tapenade recipe comes together in just a few minutes and is the perfect party appetizer, sandwich topper, hummus enhancer or pizza sauce base. If you love olives, you are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 6 oz. jar manzanilla olives, drained
- 6 oz. jar pitted Kalamata olives, drained
- 1/4 cup fresh roughly chopped parsley
- 2–3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor.
- Pulse until everything is well minced and combined, scraping sides as needed.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
- Serve with crostini or regular sliced French baguette and enjoy!
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- Pulse the ingredients a few times, then scrape the sides of the food processor and pulse a bit more until the olive spread reaches your desired consistency. I like to pulse it until everything is pretty well minced. This will ensure that you won’t end up with any big chunks of olive or garlic.
- Use your favorite olives. It’s funny, but it seems that olive lovers tend to have one color that they prefer over the other. While I am a green olive lover to the max, I only tolerate black olives in small amounts, but I love Kalamatas! If you have a serious aversion to one type of olive, just replace them with your fave. You could do all green olives or all Kalamata olives in this recipe and it’s going to taste great!
- You can use canned or jarred olives for this recipe. This is not a pretentious olive tapenade recipe that requires fancy olives imported from Italy or 7 varieties of olives you can only find in the cold bar at a high end grocery store. You can use a jar of green olives and a jar of Kalamata olives canned for this recipe and it’s going to taste amazing – and be super inexpensive!
- This seems a bit obvious, but be sure and use pitted olives for this recipe. There have been a few times where I SWEAR I bought pitted olives only to get home and find that they are all filled with pits. And it really was the pits (pun intended)! Double check that the olives you’re buying are in fact pitted, or this 5 minute appetizer could turn into a 35 minute appetizer as you tediously remove the pit from each olive.
- Add a few anchovy fillets for an extra hit of flavor! Their salty flavor will add some delicious depth and protein to this olive spread!
Loved this dip! So easy. Made it for a party and it was a hit. Thanks!
Woohoo! Love to hear that, Sarah! Thanks for leaving a review!!
Loved this recipe! I changed out the oregano and used about 5 leaves of fresh basil, no extra salt, red wine vinegar as I had no white! It is absolutely addictive!!! Yum!!!!thank you!!!
Ohhhh I bet fresh basil was delicious in this tapenade recipe! Thanks so much for leaving a review, Michelle – I really appreciate it 🙂
My most used recipe! Thanks for sharing!
I only have an immersion blender, do you think they would be okay to use or do you think it would become too blended?
Hmmm…good question, Katie! I think that it would work but I’d keep a close eye on it and make sure that you stir it up a bit every few seconds so that it doesn’t get too blended into a paste. I’d love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
Instantly addictive to all that taste it ! Cannot rate it highly enough. And so easy! Thank you for this marvellous recipe!
Omg I could not agree more! This is one of my very favorites. Thanks for leaving a review – I really appreciate it 🙂
Delish!
I have taken this recipe to 3 completely different events and it has been the main attraction of every one of them. It is SO easy and SO tasty. Thank you for your recipe.
Want to make it for hubs. How long do you think it will keep in the fridge? Sounds great.
I think this would stay good in the fridge for up to 7 days. Great question, Linda!
This was truly amazing! Thank you for posting this! I also love your ideas of adding it to hummus when serving, or using as a spread for sandwiches. This is such an easy and quick recipe, I could see myself making it quite often! Thanks again!
I am SO glad to hear that you enjoyed this tapenade recipe, Karen!! This is one of my favorites. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review – I really appreciate it 🙂
Silly question…. do you drain the olives before mixing? Thank you!
Yes!
So glad your friends enjoyed this one!! 🙂