Green olives are great snacks that you can easily brine at home. Do you know how to brine olives? You just need water and salt to pickle them and then some patience to wait. Homemade brined olives are much tastier and healthier than the store bought ones. Why don’t you try it before fall ends?
How would you like your green olives? We love them as a breakfast food, snack or in an olive salad recipe. We even love them as a topping for kumpir, stuffed baked potatoes.
Green Olives in Turkish Cuisine
Have you ever heard about Turkish breakfast? Olives are staple for us in the morning in addition to lots of other foods like cheeses, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, eggs, pastries, jams, butter and newly brewed black tea.
Although olives are considered as breakfast food in Turkey, I love to snack on them between meals too. Just like the Greek do. Olives make awesome appetizers with a generous amount of olive oil on them. You can even garnish them with some dried or fresh thyme and lemon slices. Even some hot red pepper flakes would add an amazing touch on them.
You know what? We can even make a super tasty light lunch with green olives using mom's easy olive salad recipe.
That’s why I was so excited when I saw the first products of the year at our local market last week. We bought about 10 pounds and started brining them. Can’t wait to taste it once their bitterness goes away! Do you know how to brine olives? It is a fun activity that you can do as a family. Kids love cracking green olives!
Brining olives is not as hard as you think. It is as simple as water and salt. You just need some patience because you need to wait more than 10 days. I promise, it’s worth every single day.
Preserving Olives In Jars
I always prefer making things at home, I feel that I have all the control then. Green olives are one of those homemade things I love. Curing green olives is one of our preparations for winter, just like preserving grape leaves.
I learnt how to cure green olives from mom. Mom picks olives from the tree with her hands every fall and preserves them in large jars. I find it more practical to store them in small jars though. Depending on the amount of olives you have, you can decide on the size of the jar.
Unfortunately, we can’t find fresh green olives in our city, its extremely cold climate is not good for olive trees, so my parents send about 10 kilos of fresh olives from the South of the country during fall, we cure them in small jars and keep until the end of summer, so we never buy it from markets.
How To Choose The Best Green Olives
When buying fresh green olives for brining, keep these in mind:
- They shouldn’t be damaged. It’s perfect if the olives are picked by hand.
- They should look firm enough. Don’t use any mushy olives.
- They shouldn’t be overripe. If you are planning to brine green olives, make sure they are green. The darker colors show that olives are riper. You can find the best green olives in late September and October.
My dad says that it's very important to pick them from the tree with hands so that they are not damaged. If there are any olives which drop on the ground and damaged, these are kept separately and taken to olive oil factories. Producers sell their best crops at open markets and have the rest transformed into olive oil.
How To Brine Olives At Home
It is like pickling the olives. Have you ever pickled vegetables at home? You know it is super easy. This recipe calls for a similar process. Without vinegar though. The recipe calls for water and salt only, with three easy steps.
Related: Gherkin Pickle Recipe
Prepare The Olives
Wash the olives under water very well and then crack the olives. You can use a mallet, the bottom of a jar (just like mom does) or simply a stone to do this. Just smack the mallet once or maybe twice to crack them. It’s enough if the flesh tears. Also, try not to mash them or damage their pits. I saw a device at the local market doing this for you and I tried it but it was a complete frustration. Almost all the olives were mashed, not cracked at all. The best way is to do it yourself one by one.
Another method to prepare the green olives for brining is to slit them with a knife. It is not my favorite method though because I think olives remain firmer when cracked.
Cure The Olives In Water To Remove Bitterness
Put the olives in a big jar or in separate jars. Pour cold water over them and make sure they are all covered. It is a good idea to weigh them down with something like a small plate or grape leaves (that’s what my mom does). Let them sit for 10 days, changing the water at least once a day during this time. To change the water, drain the olives, put them back in the jar and fill it with cold water again. After ten days, taste one of the olives and keep changing the water for another week if it’s still too bitter.
Prepare The Brine
It is simply the combination of water and salt. Mom never measures their ratio, she uses the egg method and I love it. Put water in a large pot. Add some salt into it and mix well. Place an unbroken raw egg in that water. If the egg floats, you have the right ratio. If it doesn't float, add more salt and test again.
Put the cured olives in small jars or in a large one. Fill up the jars with the brine so that the olives are completely covered. Place a cheesecloth over them to prevent air from touching the olives. Cover the jars with their lids and let sit for about a week. They’ll be ready to eat after this process.
How Long Can You Keep Olives In Brine?
You can keep them for more than a year in a place away from sunlight. They don't go bad in a short time. Thanks to salt, they can stay fresh and firm for a long time.
How To Prepare Brined Olives To Eat
You can't eat olives straight from the tree. They are not edible unless you cure them. It is not a good idea to eat them straight from the jar after the brining process, either. You will probably find them too salty. The best solution to remove the excessive salt is to soak the olives in water before eating.
So take as many olives as you need from the jar using a slotted spoon. Put them in a bowl and pour cold water over them. Rinse and repeat for a few times. Finally let the olives sit in water for 15 minutes and drain. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over them and serve. My favorite way of eating green olives is dipping a little bread into that olive oil and then eat a few olives at a time. YUM!
Note: The rest of the olives can remain in the jar for a few weeks. You can remove olives from it whenever you need.
Below is an image from the original post that was published in 2012 (sorry for the photography quality). It was made by mom in a large size jar of 11 pounds.
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PrintHow To Brine Olives
Brining olives at home is so easy. It just needs water, salt and some patience.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 jar 1x
- Category: Preserving
- Method: Brining
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 2 pound green olives
- 3 liters water
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt or sea salt
Instructions
- Using a mallet or the bottom of a jar, crack the olives. If you see the pit, it’s fine. Make sure you don't damage the pit.
- Put the cracked olives in jars.
- Fill jars completely with cold water.
- Place a small plate or cheesecloth or grape leaves on the top as a weight to keep the olives submerged. Otherwise, olives on the top change color because of oxidation.
- Change the water in the jars once or twice a day for ten days or until the bitterness of olives is gone.
- Drain the olives for the last time when they are not bitter any more (taste one olive to understand this).
- Put the olives back into jars and prepare the brine.
- Pour cold water in a large bowl. You can decide the amount depending on your jars. You can start with 2 liters for two big jars. Add 1 tablespoon kosher salt and mix well. To understand if it is the right ratio, place an unbroken raw egg into the water. It is the perfect ratio if the egg floats. Add more salt if it doesn't float.
- Pour it in jars. Olives must be completely covered with water.
- Place a cheesecloth on the top to prevent olives from floating on the surface of water.
- Keep the jars in a dark place. Ready to eat after about a week.
Notes
The nutrition facts are assumed for canned olives.
Keywords: how to brine olives, curing olives, how to preserve olives
This post was originally published in 2012 and has been updated with new information and new pictures.
Ajay Kaul says
Sir
Purchased a JAR of Olives
After opening the Jar ........ after a week now ....The BRINE IS TURNING COLUR TO YELLOW .......Why is turning yellow ....IS IT ALRIGHT TO EAT THE OLIVES ...Regards AK
Yusuf says
Hi Ajay,
To be honest, I have no idea why the brine is turning yellow but I guess it is okay to eat the olives after giving them a good rinse.
Carla Sifoni says
Thanks for the recipe! It’s been two weeks since I jarred my olives. I have 10 jars. Opened half of them so far and the brine is fizzing and bubbling like seltzer. Are they still good to eat? What do I do? Do I replace the brine or throw them out? I’m so worried!
Yusuf says
Hi Carla,
So you changed the water in the jar for 10 days with clean water, right? Then you made the brine and put the olives(that are no longer bitter) in it?
Never experienced that bubbling like seltzer. But here is our solution for you: Taste a few of the olives and transfer them in a new brine if they taste good. Hope this helps.
Gudik Holm Plews says
Hi, thanks for the recipe.. One thing remains ambiguous to me: You both write that the olives can be kept in the salt/water brine for more than a year and that "the rest of the olives can remain in the jar for a few weeks".. So is it important that the salt/water brine is absolutely air tight and once you open it you only have a few weeks to eat the rest?
Yusuf says
That's right. When they are air tight closed, olives can stay longer. So it's better not to make them in too large quantities. Having said that, an opened jar can stay longer than a few weeks as long as you don't touch the olives by hand.
Diana says
Thank you for this recipe! I have made my jar first time before three years and it was discovery! I bought green olives and we go again 😉
Yusuf says
Hi Diana,
So happy to hear that you loved it! Everything homemade is the best. Right? Thank you for the feedback!
Meredith says
Help! I followed the instructions here but some of my jars, after 2 weeks in brine, have mould forming at the top! Do you know why this would have happened and Is there anyway to salvage those jars? Can I change the brine again and get rid of the olives at the top closer to the mould? I feel like it my have something to the do either with slicing vs cracking them (we did a bit of both) and/or the cheese cloth at the top of the jar.... any suggestions! I would hate to throw out everything!
Yusuf says
Hi Meredith! Mould might be caused by air exposure. Please make sure the jars are tightly closed. Another thing is that we should never touch the olives with hands after we put them in brine. Just like pickling. It causes bacteria and thus the mould comes out. So what to do now? You can remove the olives that are on the surface and touching to the mould and the mould. Close the jar tightly. If it happens again, make a new brine in a clean jar and transfer the olives into it. And when you want to eat, take some in a bowl, wash well and then serve with olive oil. Hope these help.
Matteo BATEMAN says
I rinsed the olives off my tree for 10 days then submerged them in salt and water/brine. now is been 10 months. i opened them up they smell delicious. The water had little tiny bubbles coming to the surface. it it supposed to bubble?
Yusuf says
Hi Matteo, tiny bubbles are just normal.
Sonia says
Hi I just got a bag full of both black and green olives from my dad's tree. Some are half and half, ie Green on their way to being black (these, if more green then black, I put as Green and if more black then green, I treat as black). Any how, I had them in water for 3 days to rinse (changing water in between). Now I have seperated them into 2 jars (green & black) and done up a brine solution (1:10 salt and water solution). I have ensured they are fully submerged and today 20/05 is day two. I have put the jars in a dark dry place in the pantry. How long do I keep them here for? and also 1) do I need to agitate the jars daily and 2) do I need to change the brine solution and if so, how often?.
My hope is that once they are softened and not bitter that I can mix them up and put one half in an alternative sort of pickling bring solution with herbs etc and the other half under EVO with same herbs and spices. Is this possible? I am a first timer at this as my father always has done them in the past, but is not here to pass his knowlegde 🙁
Leigh says
Hi Sonia. This is only my personal preference from my experience.
Don't rush the initial curing stage. Cover with a 10% salt water solution, cover and leave somewhere for a long time.
I used to do two weeks, changing the water daily. This was still very bitter so I switched to four weeks, changing the water weekly after the initial two weeks. Still a hint of bitterness in the finished product.
Now I brine for a week then change the water, after which I left for four weeks checking periodically, then change the water and leave for another four weeks checking weekly. Don't do anything to them except when changing the water. Then I tend to wash the salt out of the bucket and stir in the new salt so that it is suspended in the water.
Melly says
Hi There, do you have measurement for how much salt you use in the water? The egg thing never really works for me , I have tried number of times in the past and I end up throwing the lot out after a few months -goes soft
Stienie says
100ml salt on 1 litre water.
Katie says
I've tried this recipe more than once, and the olives stay really crunchy and don't lose enough bitterness, no matter how many times I change the water bath. Is it something I'm doing wrong, or the variety of olives,or something else?
Yusuf says
Hi Katie, sorry to hear that. It is probably the type of olives. Otherwise, the bitterness should be removed after changing the water. Are they too bitter to eat?
Katie says
Pretty close to too bitter to eat. Also really crunchy. My friends and family taste test them, but don't like them.
TV Green says
I have 4 regular mason type jars with olives that are in a salt brine. These olives were not split, they are whole. It has been 4 months. They are soft, but still somewhat bitter and salty to taste. Should I replace the brine? Can I just use water? Thanks
Yusuf says
Did you wait them in water before putting them in the brine solution? That's how we remove their bitterness.
You can replace the brine if you like but with a new brine solution, not just water. On the other hand, if their bitterness is not too much, I wouldn't bother changing the brine. Whenever you want to use, take some in a bowl using a slotted spoon, pour water in that bowl and wait for 15-20 minutes or more. This will remove the salty flavor.
Hope this helps.
Steve Greenfield says
Help! I picked olives from my neighbor's tree. I washed them, slit them and placed them in a brine solution. That was in November, 2019. I changed the brine in December. Today, April 1st, 2020, I opened my jar and there was some strange gooey stuff floating on top? Grayish, fungus looking? Are my olives OK?
Yusuf says
Hi Steve! How are the olives? Are they still firm enough? If they are, then just remove that floating thing and transfer the olives in a new brine solution.
Andrew says
Thanks for your recipe. I have harvested about 10kg of mostly green olives with some semi semi-ripe and fully ripe olives. I cracked the green olives and slit the rest. They are now in a large black plastic container with a lid outisude, water changed the first time today. My question is where to keep the container? The weather in Cape Town is between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius for the next 2 weeks. Can the container remain outside? It may get hot due to it being black so interested to know where best to keep it. Thanks x
Yusuf says
Hi Andrew! My parents brine green olives in large amounts and the temperature where they live gets even higher than 30 degrees. I think there is nothing to worry about it. But still make sure you don't keep it under direct sunlight.
Esther says
Hi thanks for your recipe,I’ve just had my olives underwater with a weight and cheesecloth on for ten days and daily changed the water but I didn’t put a lid on them, because I missed that step. Do you think they will be ok to continue with. I now have them with the lid on in the salt brine, covered with weight and cheese cloth.
Yusuf says
Hi Esther,
They will be ok, don't worry. It's important to keep them covered when salt brining. Taste them after a few days and they are done if they are no longer bitter. This duration may be different for different types of olives.
Jorge Amorena says
if you have patient enough you can do green olives without cracking nor sliting them. Just do the same and hope for a year. you can see a proven recipe in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxkN1bwJse4
Dimity Martin says
Hi, I'm in Australia and I've just picked some lovely green olives from a tree that was meant to be removed from the garden! I wanted to check if you're meant to put a lid on the jar for the first 10 days or leave the lid off and just use the weight? Hopefully My olives turn out well! Thanks, Dimity
Zerrin says
Hi Dimity! Put the lid on the jar. The olives in the photo you sent on Instagram are gorgeous! Would love to hear your feedback!
Chris says
Thank you so much!
Does it matter that my olives float to the top of the jar and as a result the top layer are exposed to the air?
I even added some olive oil at the top but the olives just keep rising!
Should I worry?
Zerrin says
Hi Chris, you can cover the top with a piece of cheese cloth or fresh grape leaves (that's what mom does) so that you prevent air. If the olives on the top are still exposed to air and they go bad after the brining process, you can just throw them away. I mean just the ones on the top. The rest will remain fine.
Ari says
Hi there! This looks great! If i wanted to add chilli/garlic etc, can i do this while they're resting in the brine, or wait until after theyve been brined and then add other flavours??
Zerrin says
Thank you Ari! Wow! Never thought of adding flavors into the brine. Great idea! Never tried it before, but I think it's okay to add those flavors to the brine. Will try it next time I make this recipe.
MEAl5 says
The recipe looks great!
Adina says
Wow, it never occured to me that one could brine olives at home. They look great, I wish I could do it, but I have never even seen fresh olives... 🙁
Zerrin says
Hi Adina! I'm sure you would love it if you could find fresh olives. Have you checked the online stores? Maybe you can find them there.
T, Rahuma says
thank you very much indeed.
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