This tapenade recipe is quick to make and so salty and delicious. It’s made with kalamatas, lots of garlic, capers, parsley, and lemon.
Tapenade is a salty, briny, robustly flavored dip or spread from the Provence region of France. This tapenade recipe uses my favorite kind of olives, kalamatas, pureed together with garlic, capers, parsley, and lemon. Scroll down to learn more about making this condiment, or click here to jump down to the recipe.
What Is Tapenade?
Tapenade is like the salty, briny French cousin of pesto. It’s made from a purée of olives, with some other delicious ingredients, often capers and anchovies, garlic, herbs, and lemon. It originates from the Provencal region of France, which is in the south of the country. That’s why it has such bright, big flavors.
It’s used as a spread and as a dip, and as an ingredient in other recipes. It’s easiest to think of it as a condiment in that way. Or think of it the way you think of pesto. You can toss it with hot pasta and a bit of pasta cooking water for a wonderful side dish, stir it into soups, spoon it onto tomatoes, or dip a piece of bread in there.
Tapenade keeps in the fridge for awhile, which makes it a great thing to whip up and then have on hand for when you need a burst of flavor in a dish, or a quick little snack. Since it’s a puree of ingredients, it tends to come together really quickly. This recipe is ready in 5 minutes.
What Kind Of Olives To Use In Tapenade
I love olives so much. I even buy plain olives and then marinate them in extra flavors to make them extra-special. Learn how to marinate olives here. For this recipe though, just plain olives will work great. You can use any kind of olives, really, but my favorite are kalamatas so I go with those.
Often people will use a mixture of different kinds. Whatever you usually buy – those olives that you love – those ones will work! Just make sure that they’re pitted olives, or else you’ll have to pit them yourself.
How to Pit Olives Easily and Quickly
It’s easiest to buy olives that are already pitted. If yours have pits though, don’t worry. There’s a really easy way to pit them.
Put a layer of paper towel on a cutting board. Get your olives out of the jar, shaking off any excess brine, and lay them on the paper towel. You want them in a single layer. Top them with another layer or two of paper towels. The paper towels will keep everything contained and dry, so it doesn’t get messy everywhere.
Then, get a second cutting board and lay it on top. Push down evenly all over it. The pressure will cause the hard pits inside the olives to break the flesh. Then, remove the top board and paper, and pick up the olives, pulling the pits out and discarding them as you go. Note that this works for cherries too!
11 Uses For Tapenade
Here are my favorite 11 ways to use this kalamata tapenade, or any tapenade:
- Serve it in a bowl with some crusty bread or crackers on the side. It’s also wonderful on a charcuterie board. Learn how to make a perfect charcuterie board here.
- Stir it into hummus. Here’s a tasty recipe for a hummus made without chickpeas (using white cannellini beans instead) that is particularly delicious with tapenade on it!
- Spoon some onto a Whipped Feta Dip, like this one. Top it all with homemade marinated artichokes to make it even more delicious!
- Add it to the top of your morning avocado toast.
- Stir it into hot pasta, adding a bit of hot pasta cooking water and butter to turn it into a sauce. This works really great with this delicious Tomato Tapenade recipe too. I even have a recipe for Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta that uses the tomato tapenade but is also amazing with the kalamata tapenade.
- Spread it onto pizza. Right after adding the tomato sauce, add some dollops of tapenade and then spread it out. Try it on this Air Fryer Pizza recipe.
- Use it as a spread on a sandwich instead of mustard or mayonnaise. This Air Fryer Panini is a great sandwich to try it on!
- Serve a rich braised dish, like Osso Buco, with the tapenade as a condiment on the side. It would add some of that salty, garlicky contrast in the way that gremolata does.
- Spoon it onto chicken breasts before or after baking them. I love it added to these Italian Chicken Breasts for the last 5 minutes of baking time.
- When a soup needs some extra oomph of flavor, spoon in some tapenade for that salty, deep note. It’s really great in this Pizza Soup.
- Use it to make canapes, either on crackers, or use raw zucchini or cucumber slices like below.
Podcast Episode: Making Tapenade Appetizers
Listen to me explain about what tapenade is and give instructions about how to make these tasty Zucchini, Feta, Basil, and Tapenade appetizers.
For more episodes of my Recipe of the Day Podcast, head over here.
However you decide to use your kalamata tapenade, I just know you’re going to love it. I seriously can’t wait for you to try this recipe! And, if you’re looking for more delicious dips, make sure to check out my Hamburger Dip Recipe, my Beer Cheese Dip, my Nacho Dip, and also check out all of my easy, tasty appetizer recipes over here (there are over 75 of them!). Enjoy! -Christine xo
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Kalamata Tapenade Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: French
DESCRIPTION
This tapenade recipe is quick to make and so salty and delicious. It’s made with kalamatas, lots of garlic, capers, parsley, and lemon. Note that I use 2 cloves of garlic but you can try it with just 1 clove and taste it, then add in another minced clove if you want that extra garlic heat.
Yield: 1 and 1/4 cups
Ingredients
- 7 oz. jar of pitted Kalamata olives, drained
- 1–2 cloves of garlic
- 2 Tbsp. drained capers
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Put all ingredients into a food processor.
- Puree until everything is in tiny bits.
- Transfer to a bowl. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Thank you for this recipe! I bought a case of kalamata olives online because they were onsale and wanted to know if I could use them to make tapenade. I found your recipe and tried it. Now I’m so happy that I bought that case. Thank you!
Yum! Enjoy, Marcy!
This is my favorite tapenade recipe. I’ve made it like 20 times now. I use the two cloves of garlic, and the kalamatas are exactly right mmmmm
Sonya, I’m so happy to hear that! I like it with the full two cloves of garlic too!!!
So great and simple! A quick, easy, delicious starter.
I love making my own dips and spreads. I’ve never made kalamata tapenade, this is the perfect recipe to try – it sounds soo good.
This would be awesome to put out at a party, especially a wine tasting party. I would love to try it on some chicken.
I love tapenade! Great choice to make it with Kalamata olives.
I love Kalamata olives and I am sure this tapenade would go perfectly with fried pitas!
We’re snack twins, Christine! ;) I reach for the very same things. This looks like such a perfect little snack or appetizer to throw together quickly for last minute company or just for yourself!
This sounds amazing. I am a huge olive fan; never met an olive I didn’t love!
Love easy recipes like this Christine – perfect for last minute guests or a quick snack!
Do you know the Canadian restaurant “Moxies?” They have the BEST sandwich that has olive tapenade on it..and I never knew how to recreate it…until now! YAY! Pinned :)