Spicy Olive Tapenade is a quick and easy appetizer recipe! Using chilli, garlic green olives which pack a punch this tapenade is full of flavour. Serve with crackers, as a dip or stir through pasta! 
Every party needs recipes like our Grazing Platter, Caprese Bites, Easy Crab Cakes, Baked Brie with Garlic and our Spinach Cob Loaf.
Make your tapenade the day before so you can simply serve on the day!
Our Coconut Prawns, vegetarian spinach dip and cranberry brie are recipes that work all year round.
Looking for appetizer recipes for entertaining
This olive tapenade recipe works well with our easy crostini for a fuss free appetizer!
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Appetizer recipes Popular recipes Quick and Easy recipes
Spicy Green Olive Tapenade
This spicy green olive tapenade is made from a combination of flavoured olives, anchovies, capers, garlic and parsley.
Whilst there are a number of green olive tapenade recipes, this one is different due to the use of chilli garlic olives (they are seriously delicious!)
Tapenade is a quick go to for entertaining, grazing platter boards and also freezes very well!
Similar recipes to this using a different combination of olives and delivering difference flavours are my Sun-dried tomato tapenade, Artichoke olive tapenade or simple Olive tapenade with kalamata olives.
What to use tapenade for:
Tapenade is versatile and has many ways of being served.
Some ideas that you might enjoying trying out are tapenade with:
- fish recipes
- as a pasta sauce
- as an appetizer
- part of a grazing platter board
- use as a dip
- spread for toast
- dressing for a salad
Or simply pop the tapenade in a serving bowl alongside the Easy Crostini recipe and you are all sorted!
Spicy Olive Tapenade ingredients
The photo below shows you exactly what we need for this recipe.
As you can see, we have:
- chilli garlic green olives
- pitted green olives
- olive oil
- capers
- parsley
- garlic
- lemon juice
- anchovies
You can find the olives at Woolworths, Coles or your local deli! The spicier the better!
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How to make Spicy Olive Tapenade
The photos below show you the steps we take to make this recipe. We simply pop in the food processor and blitz! 
- Add spicy garlic chilli olives to the food processor (Photo 1)
- Then add putten green olives (Photo 2)
- Followed by the capers (Photo 3)
- Next add the garlic cloves (Photo 4)
This recipe can also be done using a mortar and pestle. It will take longer, but is an option if you don't have a food processor!
- Add anchovies (Photo 5)
- Olive oil (Photo 6)
- Parsley (Photo 7)
- And lemon juice (Photo 8)
I have made this recipe with both curly and flat leaf parsley. Both work well. If you have some growing in your garden, use that to save buying another ingredient!
As with all of my tapenade recipes, I love to show you guys before and after pics, so you can see just how easy these recipes are!
On the left, everything (All of our ingredients are in the food processor) and on the right, that is what they look like after we have blitzed them all together.
Spicy Olive Tapenade quick info:
About the recipe:
- we use 2 varieties of green olives (one has chilli and garlic flavours)
- purchase pitted olives (or stuffed)
- drain the olives before using
- as well as the capers (discard liquid)
- bottled lemon juice is totally fine to use!
- add more or less garlic if you are a fan or not a garlic lover!
FAQs about Easy Spicy Green Olive Tapenade
- if you cannot find spicy olives add 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes and an additional clove of garlic
- peel and discard garlic skins (also cut the end off)
- you can make your tapenade the day or 2 before and store in an air tight container in the fridge
- to serve, try crackers, toast points or chips!
Your quick questions answered:
- This recipe is quick and SUPER easy!
- The spicy tapenade is served cold
- Omit anchovies to make VEGAN tapenade
- This recipe is FREEZER FRIENDLY
- This is an EASY recipe
Expert tips:
This is what I have learnt:
- it is all about the texture!
- keep it chunky by only blitzing for seconds
- use pre marinated or flavoured olives
- make this recipe ahead of time and freeze to use as needed
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)
- Baked Chicken Meatballs (with homemade satay sauce)
- Mini Quiches (12 different ways)
- Baked Brie with garlic
Homemade Pita Chips are an easy and delicious way to serve your tapenade! They also make for a great healthy chip option too (then you can have a wine or 2!).
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Spicy Olive Tapenade
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
Spicy Olive Tapenade
- 260 grams chilli garlic green olives Note 1
- 350 grams pitted green olives Note 2
- 4 anchovies drained, oil blotted
- 4 garlic cloves skins peeled
- ⅓ cup capers drained
- 1 tbs lemon juice Note 3
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup flat leaf parsley
- toast points to serve
Instructions
Spicy Olive Tapenade
- Add spicy olives, pitted green olives, capers, garlic, anchovies, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice into the food processor.
- Blitz for 5 -10 seconds
- Transfer to serving bowl and serve with toast points or crackers.
Video
Notes
- Note 1 I purchase my spicy olives from the deli at the local grocery store. They are pre-marinated and you can literally throw them into the mix without any extra fuss!
- Note 2 These will be in a jar at the grocery store. We drain and discard the brine. For tapenade we always use pitted olives as we throw them into the food processor as is and it blitzes them up!
- Note 3 Bottled or fresh lemon juice is fine, whatever works best for you!
Nutrition
Olive Tapenade recipes
You will love how easy it is to make this recipe as well as the spicy olives!
I told the story once before in a post, but if you are a new reader, I once ate a spicy olive off the floor at a friend's party, they are SO good, I couldn't let it go to waste (5 second rule of course).
Go get your tapenade on my friends and whip this one up, spicy - yup, chilli, yup, yup, garlic, yup of course, delicious -would I give you anything less, haha never!
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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Appetizers Christmas recipes Popular recipes Quick and Easy recipes
Dannii says
This looks delicious, and so easy too. It will be perfect for serving to guests - when we are finally out of lockdown.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh I love olive tapenade on bruschetta. I am going to try this but skip the anchovies.
Dorene says
I gotta tell ya...Please don't skip the anchovies completely. They really add a great flavor...I would suggest you try it with maybe only half of them at first, but I think you will be surprised. (I don't usually like anchovies much either, but in this recipe- they were awesome!!)
Adrianne says
Thanks Dorene! I enjoyed reading your comment and feedback.
Anonymous says
I gotta tell ya...Please don't skip the anchovies completely. They really add a great flavor...I would suggest you try it with maybe only half of them at first, but I think you will be surprised. (I don't usually like anchovies much either, but in this recipe- they were awesome!!)
Dorene says
OMG another great recipe! Although, I gotta say... 4 of us demolished the whole bowl...can't really say if it could have served more than the 4 of us-it was that good!...LOL