Marinated Olives are a flavorful appetizer made by soaking olives in a blend of herbs, garlic, citrus, and spices, enhancing their natural briny taste. Make your favorite olives in just 5 minutes!!
This simple recipe goes perfectly with Harissa Hummus! Another super quick appetizer with simple ingredients.
I know olives can be a bit of a tricky item to serve. People either love or hate them! Maybe they like black olives but not green, or the other way around.
Marinating them in familiar flavors is a great way to introduce them! Olives are perfect to serve on their own, or as part of a basic relish tray.
They also fit right in on your Thanksgiving Charcuterie board to keep hungry tummies at bay while the turkey cooks. Another strong flavor to introduce is a lovely block of Smoked Cream Cheese.
Jump to:
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easily customize the type of olives you use to fit your favorites.
- Marinated Olives are so easy, just combine and enjoy!
- This looks and feels like a really fancy appetizer, but it uses really basic ingredients. They're the perfect olives for a charcuterie board or Chicken Shawarma on a pita!
Recipe Ingredients
- Olives: Select your favorites, but I usually stick with strong flavors, such as Castelvetrano, Spanish olives or kalamata olives. Find the best crackers to serve with marinated olives!
- Garlic: Always fresh! Never the jar because you really want that flavor.
- Orange: Again, fresh zest and juice is the way to go.
- Cheese: Another strong flavor to pair with the olives; I went with feta crumbles as olives and feta cheese are a classic combo.
- Herbs: A combination of both fresh rosemary and dried oregano works well here.
- Oil: Olive oil is my favorite. Extra virgin olive oil or regular.
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: I buy traditional crushed chile flakes but you can also use crushed Aleppo Pepper or a blend of crushed chiles.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Feel free to use stuffed olives, regular black olives, niçoise olives, pimento stuffed olives, really whatever strikes your fancy at the store.
- Any strong cheese will work, but definitely my favorites are blue cheese and feta cheese.
- Turn leftovers into a tasty olive tapenade by blending in the food processor with a bit of olive oil.
- Serve this marinated olive recipe over the top of whipped goat cheese!
- Lemon zest and juice can be used in place or orange if you like. Any kind of citrus marinated olive is good with me!
- Try warm marinated olives. Heat olives in the oven in a baking dish for 15 minutes at 350°F
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How To Make Marinated Olives
Step 1: Add all ingredients to a large bowl and gently combine.
Step 2: Refrigerate marinated olives or serve immediately.
Expert Cooking Tips
- You can mince or smash the fresh garlic cloves. A microplane zester will also help you get a small "cut" so the flavor blends.
- Drain the olives well before using, but there's no need to rinse them.
- Extra virgin olive oil or a milder regular olive oil works well with this marinated olives recipe.
- Add these olives to your favorite snack board or classic charcuterie board! I also love serving them with falafel or hummus and pita.
Recipe FAQs
Marinated Olives can actually be served immediately! The flavors are all strong and you will get a taste of it all if you just mix and enjoy. However, they will stand for up to five days in the fridge and the flavors meld nicely during that time. Ideally I make these 24 hours ahead of time, but I often serve them just after making them.
Store the final product in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days after mixing. I prefer to serve them at room temperature as the flavors come out more. Feel free to bring them out about an hour before serving to allow them to warm up from the fridge.
Castelvetrano have a meaty texture and buttery taste, so they really hold up well to a marinade. Kalamata can be described as fruity, so I like to bring that out with the orange juice. Regular green olives are nice and large as well. I prefer not to use black olives for marinated olives as they are so small and they don't have a great texture. But you can stick with what you like!
Have you tried this recipe? Share it with me! Tag @inkristaskitchen on Instagram & Facebook and leave a star⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐review below! Sign up for our Newsletter to follow along with new recipes & news!
📖Recipe
Marinated Olives
Equipment
- 1 peeler
Ingredients
- 6 oz kalamata olives drained
- 6 oz castelvetrano olives drained
- 6 oz large green olives drained
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2½ teaspoon fresh rosemary
- 2½ teaspoon oregano dried
- 1½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 orange peels fresh
- zest of ½ orange
- juice of 1 orange
- ¼ cup olive oil extra virgin
- 4 oz feta cheese optional
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir to coat. Serve olives immediately or keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days
Mike
These olives are amazing! Great for a charcuterie board or while enjoying a beer!
Krista
I could eat these olives with just about anything!!