Varieties

Green and black olives side by side show the spectrum from unripe to fully mature fruit.

Showing both color stages in one scene teaches readers that color signals ripeness, not variety alone.

Condiments

Olives

Briny, meaty fruit for snacking, tapenade, and braises

Salty and meaty, olives anchor a tapenade, dot a pizza, and lend their brine to braises and martinis. Green or black, they're a Mediterranean staple. Keep them in brine, cool.

Olives are the cured fruit of the olive tree — inedibly bitter raw, then transformed by brine, salt, water, or lye into the briny, meaty, savory staples of Mediterranean cooking. Color signals ripeness: green olives are picked unripe and stay firm and sharp; black olives are picked ripe and turn soft and mellow. From a tapenade to a tagine to a martini, olives bring salt, fat, and umami in one bite.

Measured in: g
Storage: Room Temperature

Find it in

Canned GoodsCondiments

Types & varieties

Kalamata

Purple-black Greek olives, rich and fruity; for salads and braises.

Castelvetrano

Bright green, buttery, mild Sicilian; a snacking favorite.

Niçoise

Small, dark, nutty French olives for salad and tapenade.

Manzanilla / Spanish green

Firm, briny, often pitted and stuffed.

Oil-cured (dry-cured)

Wrinkled, intense, and salty; for tapenade and pizza.

How to choose

Buy olives with pits for the best flavor and texture (pitting yourself is easy). Choose buttery Castelvetrano for snacking, Kalamata for cooking and salads, and oil-cured for intense, concentrated dishes. Canned 'black ripe' olives are mild and soft — fine for pizza, not for a board.

How to use

Eat them straight, blitz them into tapenade, or simmer them into braises and tomato sauces where they melt into briny depth (puttanesca, chicken with olives, tagines).

Snacking and charcuterie boards
Tapenade and pasta sauces (puttanesca)
Braises and tagines
Greek salad and pizza

How to store

Keep them submerged in their brine and refrigerated. If you discard the brine, cover them in olive oil or salted water so they don't dry out.

Common uses

Snacking and antipasti boardsTapenade and spreadsPasta puttanesca and tomato saucesChicken and lamb braises, taginesGreek and Mediterranean saladsPizza and flatbread toppingMartinis and cocktails