Three Olive Tapenade is delicious, full of amazing flavors, and very addicting! It’s a perfect make-ahead appetizer for any occasion!
I LOVE olives! I did not like green olives until I was pregnant with my son and I always craved them with cottage cheese. I know, it sounds very strange and pregnancy cravings sometimes come out of left field, but I loved it and ate it. A LOT. Now I eat every different type of olive by themselves and in various recipes. One of my favorites is this crazy easy Three Olive Tapenade! It’s right up there with deviled eggs for my must-have party bites.
THREE OLIVE TAPENADE
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What is Olive Tapenade?
- Tapenade is a dish made up of finely chopped olives, capers, and olive oil. It’s a popular food in the south of Franch, where it’s usually spread on bread or sometimes used to stuff poultry.
Last year my brother and his family came out for Easter. I knew they loved olives as much as I do so I had to make them my favorite olive tapenade recipe. They said it was the best tapenade they had ever had! Score one for me!! This tapenade was amazing on Club crackers and we polished off a large bowl.
How to Make Olive Tapenade
- Add olives, roasted red peppers, garlic, and capers to a food processor. Pulse until combined and still chunky.
- Add lemon juice olive oil, herbs, and seasoning. Pulse until combined with teeny tiny olive pieces.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and dig in!
Since then, I have made this olive tapenade recipe for practically all our family get-togethers, my girlfriend’s engagement party, and our housewarming party. Everyone raves about how good it is and I can’t count how many times I sent them the recipe. This best part about this recipe is that it’s so easy to change it up to a black olive tapenade, kalamata olive tapenade, or green olive tapenade just by using one type of olive instead of three!
Can’t get enough of olives? Me either!
- Chicken Mirabella
- Citrus Herb Marinated Olives
- Greek Layered Dip
- Cheddar Olive Bites
- Italian Chop Salad
- More appetizer recipes…
Tools used to make this Three Olive Tapenade recipe
Food Processor: Slice, chop, and grate anything you need with this food processor. I’ve had this model for years and use it all the time. It’s a great workhorse in my kitchen and I’d recommend it to anyone!
Rubber Spatula: Rubber spatulas are one of those kitchen tools you don’t realize how much you use until they’re all dirty. This set of three spatulas in various sizes and shapes will make cooking everything from dinner to dessert a breeze.
Dip Bowl: These bowls are great for having on hand when company is coming over! Fill them with your favorite dip, nuts, olives, or any other small bites!
Ingredients
- 7 ounces kalamata olives drained
- 5.75 ounces green olives drained (with or without pimentos)
- 6 ounces black olives drained
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 roasted red bell pepper roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon parsley roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon basil roughly chopped
- 3 teaspoons lemon juice
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Put the olives, capers, garlic, and red pepper into a food processor.
- Pulse in1-second intervals 10 times and then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the herbs, lemon juice, and olive oil and pulse another 10 times or so, stopping in the middle to scrape down the sides of the bowl. You want the pieces to be 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch in size so you want to see all the colors of the olives and peppers.
- Transfer to a dip bowl and serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- All olives should be pitted!!
- Measurements are for about 1 cup of each type of olive.
Nutrition
Schatzie Gibbons says
Thank you for the great recipe! I used to buy this when I lived in San Francisco. I can’t find it in Saint Louis so I’m really looking forward to making this. I add balsamic vinegar ( a tablespoon and an ounce or 2 of wine) and toss the tapenade with cheese tortellini or beef ravioli. Its a great inexpensive pot luck or salad or main course! It’s the best received vegetarian dish I ‘ve ever made.
Aubrey Cota says
Great idea!! What a great way to change up an ordinary tortellini dish, I’ll have to keep this in mind for when I make it.
Michelle says
Thanks for your post. This is the only recipe I found that the finished product doesn’t look pulverized. I’ll be trying it tonight.
Kecia says
Please pass me a spoon! This is making me drool! I printed it off so I can make it!
Aubrey Cota says
Right!! watch and don’t let that paper get soggy.
Jill Schwieger says
You know those beautiful little colored sweet peppers? I cut those into halves or thirds, stuff with cream cheese, and top with tapenade. Can’t wait to try this!
Aubrey Cota says
What a great idea Jill!
Nancy Luck says
Can’t wait to try this, but……..do you really measure your fresh herbs in ounces? LOL! I have no idea how much 1/2 oz. of parsley or basil is – can you convert that to a measurement I can measure? Like teaspoons, etc.? Thanks!
Aubrey says
Sorry about that Nancy. I’m not sure why it was written with oz. but the recipe has been updated to reflect 1 tablespoon. Let us know what you think when you try it. 🙂
Jamie v says
Love it! Look forward to it next Easter as well!!! Might make it Sunday for a get together
Martha@A Family Feast says
This looks so good! I love olives but have never made my own tapenade..can’t wait to try this recipe!
Stacey says
Thanks Martha! Let us know what you think when you try it!
Rachel @{I Love} My Disorganized Life says
Oh.my.gosh! I love olive tapenade! So glad you decided to share it with us at Wicked Good Wednesdays!
Stacey says
Thanks Rachel! I LOVE this olive tapenade!
Carol | a cup of mascarpone says
This tapenade looks absolutely delicious! A local wine restaurant serves this for happy hour on Friday evenings, and I’ve been know to order two servings! Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing!
Kim | a little lunch says
Thanks for this wonderful tapenade recipe! (Saw it on FB when The Slow Roasted Italian shared your post.) Loved the story behind it, too!