How to Make Black Olive Tapenade will be your go-to recipe for any gathering. Use it to spread on your favorite sandwich, as a dip, or a sauce for pasta.

If you’re looking for more recipe ideas for dips and spreads, Cheesy Vidalia Onion Dip and Quick Refrigerator Tomato Jam will make your taste buds happy.

This Olive Tapenade recipe is vegan and is made without the anchovies. There are lots of different versions on how to make olive tapenade. Adjust the ingredients until you find the right combination to fit your family’s tastes.

It’s the perfect recipe to bring to any gathering or add to a charcuterie board. Fresh cut-up vegetables or crostini, in addition to the tapenade recipe, make a happy crowd.

The recipe is super easy and only takes about 10 minutes to make. Having a jar of homemade tapenade in the refrigerator is a simple way to add flavor to any meal.

Have you ever spread black olive tapenade on your sandwiches? It takes them to a whole new level.

“The olive tree is surely the richest gift of Heaven. I can scarcely expect bread.”

Thomas Jefferson

What is Olive Tapenade?  

It’s an amazing spread or dip made of olives, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, capers, and spices.

According to Wikipedia, the name tapenade comes from a Provencal word for capers.

I wish I could give credit to whoever I got this recipe from, but I’ve had it forever, and I have no idea. It’s one of those recipes that stands the test of time!

This is the base recipe I use. I do change it up, depending on what type of flavor I’m craving. One of my favorite ways to spice it up is to add a sprinkling of red pepper flakes to the recipe.

The recipe I’ve featured is a black olive tapenade recipe. I used kalamata olives to make the recipe.

Because I love kalamata olives so much, I buy my olives at Costco because they have those giant jars full of those amazing jewels!  

I always, and I mean ALWAYS have kalamata olives on hand. I totally love them.

If you’re looking for a green olive tapenade recipe, switch out the black olives for green olives, and you’re ready to go.

Interesting Facts about Olives:  

I think finding out more about the food we eat is such an interesting thing to do.  It also makes a fun dinner conversation.

1) Did you know that olive trees can live up to a thousand years and still bear crops?  How amazing is that?

2) The color of the olive depends on the maturity of the fruit.  The olives start out green, but change to a darker color of black or maroon as they ripen.

3) You can’t eat olives directly from the tree because they are too bitter.  They need to be processed with brine before becoming the amazing fruits we love.

4) The olive tree is an evergreen tree.  The leaves remain on the tree year-round.

5) An olive tree named “Plato’s Olive Tree” is located just outside of Athens, Greece.  The tree is thought to be approximately 2,400 years old and be part of the grove where Plato’s Academy was located.

6) Olive trees are not native to the United States.  They were brought to the Americas by Spanish colonists.

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How to Make Olive Tapenade

Simple Ingredients

1 cup pitted black or green olives (or you can mix 1/2 and 1/2 together)

2 tablespoons drained capers

4 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh basil or parsley, or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1 teaspoon crushed garlic (approximately 2 cloves)

Dash black pepper

Directions

Place all the ingredients in a food processor fitted with the S blade.

Process until smooth, occasionally stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

How long does Homemade Tapenade last in the fridge?

It will keep for five days in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Homemade Olive Tapenade uses:

• Add it to the top of a bagel and cream cheese.
• Use it for a spread on sandwiches.
• Spread it on crostini, pita chips, or crackers.
• Add a few spoonfuls to a Greek salad.
• Showcase it on a Charcuterie Board.
• A dip for crudités.
• Add a spoonful to egg salad, tuna salad, potato salad, or chicken salad to jazz it up a bit.
• To make compound butter.
• Pizza garnish. It sounds crazy, but it’s delicious!
• Mix hummus and Kalamata olive tapenade for a yummy change.
• Olive tapenade pasta is so good. Just cook your pasta according to instructions and add the tapenade spread to taste.
• Add it to your avocado toast to add a little zip.
• People in the south of France use it to stuff their chicken.
• Mix it with scrambled eggs.

Printable Recipe Card

Tips for Making Homemade Tapenade Recipe

• If you don’t have a food processor, use can use a mortar and pestle.  You could also use a blender if you do slow pulse and scrape down the blender sides.
• Adjust the recipe to your tastes.
• If you like a creamier olive tapenade, blend the ingredients longer.

Where did Olive Tapenade originate from?

There’s a little debate on this one, a few sources say the south of France and others say Italy. Here’s what Culture Trip has to say about the origins of tapenade.

We’ve reached the end of How to Make Olive Tapenade. I hope you enjoyed it.

Let me know in the comments below how you liked this easy recipe and how you used it in your dishes.

Make sure you join our Creating a Cozy Life – Hygge Style Facebook group. You’re not going to believe how amazing it is.  Join here to be part of the virtual cozy cabin.

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Thanks for stopping by. I’m so happy you found us!

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