Olive Salad
Most famously made for the popular New Orleans muffaletta sandwich, this olive salad is made with numerous ingredients and is packed with flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Castelvetrano olives
- 1 cup Italian giardiniera
- ½ cup Kalamata olives
- ½ cup pepperoncini, stems removed, optional
- ½ cup roasted red peppers, jarred version, optional
- 1 tablespoon capers, optional
- 1 tablespoon pimiento, optional
- 3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
- 1 small shallot, finely diced, about 2-3 tablespoons
- ¾ teaspoon granulated garlic, or 3-4 cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tablespoon fresh
- ½ teaspoon dried basil, or 1 ½ teaspoons fresh, optional
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, or ¾ teaspoon fresh
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
- Despite the many ingredients, this olive salad comes together rather quickly. All jarred ingredients are listed in drained volumes.
- Start by finely dicing 1 small shallot, mincing 3-4 garlic cloves (if using) or ¾ teaspoon granulated garlic, and finely chopping any fresh herbs you’re using (1 tablespoon oregano, 1 ½ teaspoons basil, and ¾ teaspoon thyme). Use 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, but can use 1 teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon dried basil, and ¼ dried thyme instead of fresh. Set these aside for now.
- In a food processor, add 1 cup Castelvetrano olives, 1 cup Italian giardiniera, ½ cup Kalamata olives, ½ cup pepperoncini (stems removed), ½ cup roasted red peppers, 1 tablespoon capers, 1 tablespoon pimientos, and 3 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar. Pulse everything a few times, then scrape the bowl and pulse a few more. It should be the consistency of a finely chopped mix, but don’t pulse until it becomes a paste.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can still make this by hand. You’ll need to add a few ingredients at a time on a cutting board and chop into pieces. Then go back over it to finely chop everything as best you can.
- Dump everything out of the stand mixer into a large non-reactive bowl. Now add the reserved shallot, garlic, herbs, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Mix everything thoroughly and finally add ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil and mix again.
- Store in an airtight container or some canning jars in the refrigerator. Let everything chill overnight, or for at least 4-6 hours. This allows the olive salad to marinate and give an even better flavor and taste.
Equipment Used
Notes
1) Optional Ingredients – Most giardiniera mixes include red pepper, and pepperoncini but I like the flavor, so I like to add more to my olive salad. Capers aren’t required either, but I like to add some for their slightly different flavor from the olives used here.
Pimentos I add because the Italian olives used here typically come pitted but not stuffed with pimiento like Spanish queen olives people are familiar with. Add those if you feel you’d miss their flavor. Dried or fresh basil is also optional. Finally, I like the mild but punchy flavor from shallots here, but feel free to use any regular onion instead.
2) Olive Oil – Use a good quality extra-virgin olive oil here, something you’d drizzle onto your salad. When ready to store the olive salad, I recommend adding some, if needed, to just cover the ingredients to maximize storage life.
3) Olives – I prefer the mix of Castelvetrano and Kalamata olives here. If you’d like, you can use any mix of green and black olives that you like though. Spanish queen olives stuffed with pimento are a popular choice as well.
4) Chill First – Adding to a canning jar and refrigerating overnight allows the flavors to meld. While you can use it immediately after making it, I highly suggest making it a day ahead of time and refrigerating overnight for the best flavor or at least refrigerating 4-6 hours first.
5) Nutrition – The nutritional information listed above is for a ¼ cup of olive salad. Use this only as a guide, as different brands may change nutritional values.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.25 cupCalories: 177kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 2gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 798mgPotassium: 43mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.4gCalcium: 16mgIron: 0.4mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
