Herb & Garlic Marinated Olives
Skip the fancy olive bar this year and make your own HERB & GARLIC MARINATED OLIVES! They’re nice & juicy and bursting with flavor!
As someone who loves to entertain, I love to serve up homemade things that are easy yes impressive. These DIY marinated olives fit that bill perfectly! These olives take just minutes to prepare and they taste even better when you make them a few days ahead (a party host’s dream!). Oh, and did I mention that your guests will be super impressed that you made your own olives that taste like those ones you get from the fancy olive bar at the store? Yep. These are going to be your new go-to party appetizer – whether you’re adding them to an antipasto platter or serving them chilled with some wine.
In addition to being an easy and effortless holiday appetizer, these marinated olives make a really wonderful homemade gift. I like to give things like this as hostess gifts to friends and family who host parties and dinners. It’s the kind of gift that gets you invited back next year.
I recommend using a mix of olives here – I used some black and some green, but you could also use smaller or larger olives, even a couple different varieties to give them some texture. Since we are adding other flavors, you can pick up a couple of cans of simple (cheap!) pitted olives from the store. For the herbs, I chose to go with some simple herbs that would compliment an Italian style dinner I was having, but your possibilities are endless! You can add in some citrus zest, use more robust flavored herbs like rosemary and even add in some spices like black peppercorns. It would be very simple to make up a couple of different batches to have a variety of flavors for guests to enjoy.
Herb & Garlic Marinated Olives
Ingredients
- 12 oz pitted olives mix of colors and varieties
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 1- inch pieces of fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 1- inch pieces of fresh oregano sprigs
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Drain olives and rinse thoroughly in a colander. Place rinsed olives in a large bowl. Add olive oil, garlic, thyme, oregano and red pepper flakes to the bowl. Stir to combine and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate olive mixture for 1 to 3 days before eating.
