Easy Green Olive Tapenade will be the life of your party! Green olives are the star of the show in this easy appetizer. For a no fuss olive spread recipe that you will use with everything, whip up a batch today!
Entertaining is made simple with recipes like our Grazing Platter, Baked Brie with garlic and our Spinach Cob Loaf.
Make this recipe in advance and simply pop on the table when guests arrive!
Recipes like our Coconut Prawns, vegetarian spinach dip and cranberry brie are ideas that you may like to explore!
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This olive tapenade is sophisticated and stylish, but ridiculously easy to make. You can literally throw the ingredients together! Try serving it with our easy crostini for a fuss free appetizer!
Serve with toast points or crackers both are easy and delicious ideas
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What is Green Olive Tapenade?
Green Olive Tapenade is an easy recipe made from a combination of olives and other ingredients. Traditionally this recipe uses 'green olives' not black or kalamata.
Commonly found as an appetizer or spread, it often has anchovies, capers, garlic and parsley in it.
With different recipes and ingredient combinations, olive recipes like this tapenade are a popular choice when entertaining guests.
Other variations include recipes such as Sun-dried tomato tapenade, Artichoke olive tapenade or simple Olive tapenade with kalamata olives.
Green Olive Tapenade Uses
The best thing about this recipe is how versatile it is!
You can literally use it with almost anything. How about:
- on fish
- stirring through pasta
- as an appetizer
- part of a grazing platter
- as a dip
- spread for toast
- dressing for a salad
Here is an Easy Crostini recipe using this recipe and some simple little toasts!
Green Olive Tapenade ingredients
The photo below shows you exactly what we need for this recipe.
As you can see, we have:
- pitted green olives
- stuffed green olives
- garlic cloves
- capers
- anchovies
- parsley
- lemon juice
- olive oil
The olives will be easy to find at Woolies or Coles in a jar or fresh!
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Easy method to make Green Olive Tapenade
The photos below show you the steps we take to make this recipe, it is all done in the food processor.
You can put the ingredients in 1 by 1 and then we blitz in a single end step.
- Add green olives, stuffed green olives, capers and anchovies to the food processor bowl (Photos 1-4)
To make an olive tapenade without anchovies, follow the steps above but omit no. 4
- Add garlic, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice (shown in photos 5-8)
To get the tapenade to be chunky and textured as seen in the photos, the trick is to blitz only for seconds! I use the pulse button, but only for about 5 seconds, then turn it off.
Easy Green Olive Tapenade quick info:
About the recipe:
- we use 2 types of green olives
- don't check each for a pit, throw them in
- drain the capers before adding (discard liquid)
- bottled lemon juice works well!
- the garlic is essential for depth of flavour
FAQs about Easy Olive Tapenade
- the pimento stuffed olives brings the red flecks of colour
- Remove the skin and end of each garlic clove
- This can be prepared ahead of time and kept refrigerated
- For serving suggestions think crackers and toast points
Your quick questions answered:
- This recipe is quick and very easy!
- The olive tapenade is served cold
- We don't want mushy over blitzed tapenade
- This recipe is FREEZER FRIENDLY
- This is an EASY recipe
Expert tips:
This is what I have learnt:
- have all of your ingredients on hand and ready to go
- omit the anchovies for a vegan option
- only blitz till olives are diced but you can still work out individual ingredients (about 5 secs)
- make and freeze this recipe for easy entertaining!
Appetizer recipes (it's party started!)
These ideas are to inspire you and give you options that work and are not overly complex.
- Chicken Liver Pate
- Coconut Prawns (with 2 different dipping sauces)
- Grazing Platter (to feed a crowd)
- Mini Quiches (12 different ways)
- Baked Brie with garlic
Toast points are crunchy and delicious! They are made by removing the 4 crusts from a regular loaf of bread, cutting each slice diagonally in ½ and spraying with cooking oil before baking for approx 5 mins.
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Easy Green Olive Tapenade
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
Easy Green Olive Tapenade
- 350 grams pitted green olives Note 1
- 1 cup stuffed green olives Note 2
- 3 garlic cloves skins peeled
- ⅓ cup capers drained
- 4 anchovies drained, oil blotted
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice Note 3
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup flat leaf parsley
- Toast points to serve
Instructions
Easy Green Olive Tapenade
- Add whole green olives, stuffed olives, garlic, capers, anchovies, lemon juice, olive oil and parsley to the bowl of a food processor
- Pulse to combine for less than 10 seconds Note 4
- Transfer to a bowl and serve with toast points Note 5
Video
Notes
- Note 1 These are whole green olives with the pits removed. They will come in a tall jar. We drain them and discard the liquid.
- Note 2 These are stuffed green olives that have the red centre. They will also come in jars of all sizes. We need slightly less of these than the whole green olives. We also drain these and discard the liquid.
- Note 3 An Australian tablespoon measures 20ml which is just a little bit bigger than an American one. Bottled lemon juice is fine!
- Note 4 We want the texture of our tapenade to be chunky. Pulsing for just seconds achieves this, using low or high will obliterate the ingredients and leave them a mushy mess. We WANT the texture which also allows us to still SEE what is in our food.
- Note 5 Toast points are super easy to make! Simply cut the 4 crusts off a slice of bread. Cut the bread in half and place on a lined baking tray. Spray with cooking oil. Cook in a moderate oven oven for 10 mins until the toast browns and becomes crunchy!
Appetizer recipes
It is party time and the entertaining has begun, you will love how easy this recipe is and the crispy bread and salty garlicky tapenade pair so well together!!
You have flavour, texture and a recipe that delivers with this one. Make it in advance and freeze if you like so you are well prepared. I've got you, its all good.
Let me know if you have any questions, I would love to hear your feedback in the comments below.
Adrianne xx
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Artichoke Olive Tapenade Olive Tapenade recipe Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade
Appetizers Christmas recipes Popular recipes Quick and Easy recipes
Aimee Mars says
This green olive tapenade is perfect to have on hand! It sounds like a delicious addition to all kinds of recipes like you suggested, but I think my favorite would be to just enjoy it with some pita bread or chips.
Adrianne says
Thanks Aimee!! Yes, with pita bread or chips is perfect! Thanks for your feedback.
Dannii says
This is one of my favourite dips. So great with homemade flatbread.
Adrianne says
Thanks Dannii, yes the flatbreads are a perfect way to serve I agree!
Mark Murphy says
I can’t wait to try this recipe. It looks most like my favorite tapenade from a restaurant in California. It doesn’t seem over-done like so many other recipes I have seen. Thank you!
Adrianne says
You are welcome Mark! That is great to hear. I appreciate your feedback!