Raise your hand if you’re olive obsessed! 🙋🏻♀️ Then this green olive tapenade is for you. It’s a restaurant-worthy appetizer that’s deceptively simple to make, has a great texture, incredible depth of flavor, and — best of all — it takes just 5 minutes to prepare! Which is why I’ve now lost track of how many times I’ve made it for dinner parties.
We’re mixing salty, briny green olives with capers and anchovies (don’t worry, it’s not too much!), then brightening the dip up by adding fresh herbs like basil and parsley, as well as fresh lemon zest. Garlic adds a subtle kick, while pine nuts give the tapenade a butteriness that we just love!
Homemade olive tapenade is fantastic slathered on toasted baguette or served with crackers and crudité. And if you’re hosting a party and really want to impress your guests, setup a whole dip station. Dishes like Italian eggplant caponata and creamy herbed whipped feta dip can also be made ahead of time and intensify the longer they sit.
Made Entirely In A Food Processor 🙌🏻
Once you’ve grabbed all ingredients, you simply pulse it in a food processor until finely chopped, then stream in extra virgin olive oil. Doesn’t get easier than that!
It’s a super forgiving recipe, whether you’re switching out fresh herbs or using a different type of nut. I’ve even made this without anchovies for my vegetarian friends, and while I love the flavor they add, you can easily omit them.
For Best Flavor, Make It In Advance
Tapenade truly benefits from sitting out at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. When ready to enjoy, grab your favorite high-quality extra-virgin olive oil, then drizzle a little on top. Sometimes I add a few extra pine nuts too.
Olive tapenade can be made 1 week in advance. Store in an airtight container in a refrigerator, then allow to come to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. (Trust me, the flavors become more pronounced when it’s not super chilled.) You can also freeze leftovers in Souper Cubes!
Best Olives For Tapenade
While you can absolutely make tapenade from any variety of olive (black olive tapenade is also a favorite around here because I always have leftover kalamata olives in the fridge!), we’re sticking with green olives in this recipe. Here’s what I recommend:
Castelvetrano olives: from Sicily, these olives are bright green, sweet, and have a mild, buttery flavor. Side note, they pair beautifully with white wine!
Cerignola olives: from Puglia, these olives are buttery, large (great for making stuffed olives!), and work particularly well with capers and anchovies.
Mazanilla olives: from Spain, these olives pair well with almonds and garlic.
I’m just going to say it: this is the best olive tapenade you will make, hands down, and I wouldn’t change one thing about it!
For more of my favorite crowd-pleasing appetizers, try my fried goat cheese balls, Italian antipasto skewers, or sheet pan cheese and olive bourekas next.
If you give this easy homemade tapenade recipe a try, be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review and rating below. I just know you’re going to love it!
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5-Minute Green Olive Tapenade (In A Food Processor)
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups green olives pitted, such as Castelvetrano, Cerignola, or Manzanilla
- 5-6 anchovy fillets
- ½ cup pine nuts
- ½ cup fresh basil plus more for serving
- ½ cup fresh parsley
- ¼ cup capers drained
- 1 medium clove of garlic
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Flaky sea salt for serving
Instructions
- Pulse ingredients. Combine 2 cups green olives, 5-6 anchovies, ½ cup pine nuts, ½ cup basil, ½ cup parsley, ¼ cup capers, 1 clove garlic, and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor fitted with blade attachment. Pulse until coarsely chopped.
- Blend with olive oil. Add ½ cup olive oil and 1 tsp Kosher salt, then blend until a smooth paste-like consistency forms.
- Adjust seasoning. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt as needed.
- Serve immediately. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in a refrigerator until needed, allowing to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and pine nuts, if desired.
Notes
- Nutrition facts include only the olive tapenade, not baguette or crackers.
- Storage: Can be made 1 week in advance. Store in an airtight container in a refrigerator, then allow to come to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Let me tell y’all…I LOVE green tapenade, and this is one of the best I’ve ever had! Awesome recipe, thank you Ari.
Juliane, I am SO GLAD you agree! I am majorly obsessed with this recipe and can’t wait to make more later today! xo, Ari
This is the best tapenade recipe I’ve ever made. It was easy and paired so well with my glass (**cough** bottle) of white wine. Ten out of ten and I’ll definitely be making again. Thanks for the AH-mazing recipe!!
Hah! It is the perfect accompaniment for a glass *wink*wink* of vino! We adore this tapenade — one of my fav ways to enjoy is on crusty baguette with burrata and mortadella, ugh it is divine!! xo, Ari
Are pine nuts essential or can they be substituted with another nut? I have cashews and almonds on hand.
You can absolutely substitute them!! I think cashews will break down more easily than the almonds, so that’d be my vote. If you ever have other nuts lying around, this would be great with walnuts, pecans, or even pistachios! Enjoy and let me know what you think. xo, Ari
Great recipe, so tasty. Thank you!
So happy you enjoyed this, Jodi! It’s my favorite! xo, Ari
Recipe sounds great. But I want to save it and there is no way to do that without a lot of irrelevant ads, etc.
Alright, I take back my comment. I finally found a print tab, hidden in very fine print.
Hi Barbara — Glad you were able to figure it out! As a note, there are also ‘JUMP TO RECIPE’ and ‘PRINT RECIPE’ buttons at the very top of every single recipe post. So if you’d rather not scroll through and read the tips + tricks, you can always quickly get to the recipe card or print without having to do so. Best, Ari
Easy and sooo tasty. Yum yum. Ive made it twice in a week. Definitely a recipe to keep. In my Love it file now.
I feel the same way! I could eat the whole bowl myself, it’s so good. Thanks, Carol! xo, Ari
I made this with Cerignola olives (I pitted myself lol) but had to leave out the anchovies as I keep kosher and would be serving this dip with a meat meal and we don’t mix fish and meat. A different discussion! Anyway for me maybe because of that, it lacks a certain something. I will drizzle it with my Graza olive oil and the flaky salt you suggested and won’t leave out the wine everyone is referring to! I would totally make it again with the anchovies for a meal I know will be strictly fish and dairy. Bring on the sourdough!
Thanks for the feedback, Ruthy! Please report back when you try it with anchovies (and if you can find them, Castelvetrano olives)! xo, Ari
This really was the best green olive tapenade I ever had. It came together quickly, and I love that it can be enjoyed right away or prepared in advance, a plus when preparing for a gathering!
Thank you, Lisa! It’s my favorite too! xo, Ari
Do you have a vegetarian version? How do I substitute the anchovies?
You can omit the anchovies, no problem! xo, Ari
I have made this so many times! It’s my husband’s favorite. Such an easy recipe that looks fancy when company comes over!
Truly the easiest and most flavorful appetizer! xo, Ari
Amazing!!! I used 1/2 pine nuts & 1/2 cashews. We all loved it!
That’s a great suggestion to use two nuts together. So glad you enjoyed! xo, Ari
Love your ingredients, My question is What could I sub for pine nuts?
Also to make a smaller amt I could just 1/2 the ingredients , Correct?
Hi Eileen! You can substitute with any type of nut you love (it adds a bit of texture and a nutty flavor). If you can’t or don’t want to add nuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds would add a similar texture. Enjoy and please report back to let me know what you think! xo, Ari
I feel like this unlocked tapenade in a way where it finally clicked as being delicious for me — the basil and pine nuts really make this!
I also made a variation of this using your recipe as the base where I used marinated orange peel, a little orange juice, one hot chili and some pepper flakes and it was so tasty. It makes it lean a little bit sweet, sour, salty with a little kick and it’s my favorite thing right now! If you ever had the Divina tangerine chili olives, I shamelessly based it off that, haha!
I agree, Connie — the fresh basil really makes this dish! Also, your version sounds totally delicious. Thanks for sharing! xo, Ari
Question: how long can one keep this once blended?
Hi Kar! It’ll keep for about a week in the fridge if sealed properly (and by the way, the leftovers are fantastic on sandwiches!!). Just give it a stir before serving. I find it has the best texture and flavor when enjoyed at room temperature. Enjoy and report back! Cheers, Ari
Hi there! I would like to try this recipe but if I have to omit the pine nuts, do I need to substitute another nut or seed in or can they be left out without having to make changes to the measurements or ruining the recipe? Appreciate your help!
Hi Alyssa! I’m all for adapting recipes to make them work for you. While I adore pine nuts, you can absolutely leave them out. They add a lovely nutty (and buttery!) flavor, and of course a much-needed crunch. If you want to swap them with another nut, you could easily use slivered almonds. Enjoy! Ari
Getting ready to make this for the first time and bring to a party tonight, looks and sounds so yummy! My question is if I can sub anchovy paste for the fillets, and if so how much would you recommend? Thanks so much, and BTW I have been loving all your recipes!
Hi Sherri! Yes, absolutely — I would use a heaping teaspoon of anchovy paste. Report back and let me know what you think (so glad you’ve been loving other recipes on Well Seasoned!). Cheers, Ari
Wow, thank you so much for the quickest reply ever, and for letting me know how much paste to use. I will report back to let you know how it came out and how everyone liked it!
Ha, you’re welcome! You caught me as I was right in front of my computer. Enjoy!
Made this last Friday for a family gathering, big hit with everyone and even had a bit leftover to take on our boat the next day. The anchovy paste worked just fine, delicious!
Delicious! Easy! Loved using herbs from my garden. What a treat
Yes, what a treat to use home grown herbs! So glad you enjoyed this one. Cheers, Ari