Green Olive Tapenade Dip

We have an obsession with green olives and we often enjoy them at breakfast and as a snack. Give us a piece of bread and green olives drizzled with a generous amount of olive oil and we are the happiest people. That's why we love brining green olives in jars when the season comes. 

When we are not eating them right from the jar, we make either a bowl of green olives salad or green olive spread like this one. Both are so refreshing and packed with Mediterranean flavors and our go-to easy appetizers for gatherings.

What Is Tapenade?

Tapenade is basically an olive spread or dip that is very popular in Southern France. And the word tapenade comes from the Provençal word, tapenas, which means capers. So capers and olives are the main ingredients in a classic tapenade recipe.

Originally it was made with black olives, but today you can see recipes with green olives or a combination of green and black olives. 

Olives are blended together with capers and other ingredients like parsley, garlic, lemon juice and anchovies until you get a chunky paste. 

Green or black olive tapenade has a robust flavor and is often served on crusty bread slices or crostini as an appetizer. 

About The Ingredients

• Green olives: We use two types of green olives in this tapenade recipe.

First one is Castelvetrano Olives, also known as Nocellara del Belice. We love their bright green color and buttery taste. Also, these are not too salty. You can use Mazanilla or Cerignola olives too. These are all plump and meaty. And they are often sold whole, with the pit inside. So you need to pit them first. We show how to pit olives easily with the help of a knife below. So please read on.

The second is pitted green olives, which are briny and not as green. Still they give a nice richness when combined with the other olives mentioned above. 

So which green olives are the best for a good tapenade? It really depends on your preference. If you want a brighter green color, we recommend only Castelvetrano, Mazanilla or Cerignola. Alternatively, you can combine these with regular pitted green olives as we do in this recipe. 

• Capers: Make sure to drain them before using. If you don't like the flavor of them, you can leave them out. But we use only 2 tablespoons and they go really well with green olives, so we highly recommend them in a tapenade. 
• Olive oil: You will use lots of it; both in the tapenade and as a topping when serving.
• Lemon juice: The tangy flavor matches wonderfully with green olives. 
• Parsley: It adds a nice refreshing touch. You can use fresh basil too, but our choice is always parsley. 
• Garlic: We use just one clove fresh garlic. And it deepens the flavor well. If you are a big fan of garlic, you can add more but then the flavor might be overpowering. We don't recommend garlic powder for this recipe.
• Anchovy: We use just one fillet to give this olive paste a subtle seafood taste. You can use more if you want or you can make your tapenade without anchovies. It still tastes so good! Our favorite anchovy recipe is hands down fried fresh anchovies, but we do love using preserved anchovies in sauces like this.

Alternative Add-Ins

Here we share a classic tapenade recipe with green olives. But you can always get creative when you are making a dip. 

• Onions: You can add a small onion, shallot or even green onions. 
• Mustard: If you like the tangy taste of it, use just a touch of dijon mustard. It matches with capers and olives perfectly.
• Spices: If you want your tapenade to be spicy, sprinkle a little chili flakes and thyme in it.

How To Make

This green olive tapenade recipe couldn't be any easier. A food processor will do everything for you.

1. Remove the pits of the green olives if they are whole. You can use a pitter for this. If you don't have a pitter, you can easily pit olives with a knife. Put a large knife on an olive, press it down with your palm until you hear the crushing sound. Then remove the pit with your hand. You don't need this step if you are using already pitted green olives.

2. Put green olives, capers, parsley, garlic, anchovy fillet, olive oil, lemon juice and salt into a food processor and pulse until chopped. 

3. Taste and add more salt and olive oil if you want and pulse one more time if needed. Transfer into a bowl.

4. Optionally, you can top it with pine nuts (roasted or unroasted), chopped parsley, black pepper, lemon zest and extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately. 
5. You can store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Can I Make It Ahead?

Yes you can make this easy green olive tapenade ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for a week. Bring it to room temperature before serving. And drizzle with extra olive oil when serving.

Expert Tips

• You can use any green olives you like. The level of their saltiness might be different, so be careful with the amount of salt you add at the beginning. You can always taste and add more if needed after pulsing everything. So it's better to start with little salt.
• Chop the garlic (and maybe anchovy fillet) before adding them into the food processor if you want an evenly chopped green olive paste as a result. We sometimes chop them and sometimes just throw them whole in the processor. 
• You can decide on the texture of your green olive dip. If you want it coarse, just pulse them for 5 seconds and longer if you want it to have a fine texture like a puree. 
• Make sure you bring it to room temperature if you make it ahead. 
• Topping is totally optional and you can get as creative as you like. We use roasted pine nuts, but you can use almonds or walnuts too. Also, you can use some fresh lemon zest and a little black pepper. 
• Always add extra olive oil when serving. 

What Is It Used For?

The most common way of eating green olive tapenade is as a spread on crusty French bread (baguette) slices, crostini or bruschetta. You can serve it with chips or crackers too. And it would be great when served with some grilled halloumi cheese, tomatoes, green or red peppers on the side too.

You can enrich your salad dressing with a spoon of tapenade  or add some directly on your salads. It is great in cold pasta dishes too. You can use it just as you would use pesto. 

It is such an amazing condiment that can enrich any dish. Serve it on baked seabass fish, salmon or chicken breast and see how they go up to the next level! 

And it makes a wonderful gift for your friends. Prepare some, put them in jars and give them away. 

FAQs

 More Spread Recipes

• Red Lentil Dip
• Fava Bean Dip
• Sun Dried Tomato Dip

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