This olive tapenade recipe features toasted walnuts for texture and flavor along with a bit of orange zest to brighten the olives. The result is a tapenade big on bold Mediterranean flavor you’ll want to serve on every appetizer spread.
After years of cooking as a personal chef, and living in France for a few years, I’ve eaten (and made) a lot of olive tapenades! And while most are wonderful (how can you go wrong really), my favorite versions go a step beyond a boring olive purée.
This easy olive tapenade recipe has some ingredients and techniques that make this version a standout tapenade. Perfect for smearing on crostini or adding to cheese boards.
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Why You'll Love This Olive Tapenade
- Great texture: Toasted walnuts add a subtle crunch and richness that most tapenade recipes don’t include.
- Quick to make: After toasting the walnuts, this comes together in the food processor in about 2 minutes!
- Perfect for make-ahead entertaining: Tapenade keeps well in the fridge, and goes with all kinds of appetizers.
🥗 Ingredients
- Olives: A combination of high-quality green and black olives gives you great briny flavor. I like to use Kalamata olives, Nicoise olives, and green Castelvetrano olives.
- Walnuts: These add great texture, but are soft enough to blend into the tapenade. Try toasted pecans as a substitute.
- Orange Zest: Adds a citrusy flavor note that pairs so well with the briny olives. Fresh lemon zest makes a good substitute.
- Garlic: Feel free to leave out if you are not a fresh garlic fan. (Or double it if you are!)
- Parsley: Just a bit of fresh herbs add freshness to the tapenade. You can play around with other flavors as well. Try fresh thyme, fresh chives, or fresh basil as alternatives.
- Olive Oil: Adds richness and silkiness to the tapenade. Use an extra-virgin olive oil if possible, though no need to use anything super pricey.
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Add ½ cup walnuts to a sheet pan, and toast in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
2. Add walnuts to the bowl of food processor and pulse until finely chopped, but not dusty. Transfer to a medium bowl.
3. Wipe out food processor bowl.
4. Put 1 cup of mixed black and green olives, 1 peeled garlic clove, 2 teaspoons orange zest, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil into food processor. Process until smooth.
5. If the tapenade looks dry, add another tablespoon of olive oil. Transfer to bowl with walnuts and mix together. Taste and add ¼ teaspoon kosher salt if necessary.
Storage Tips
Store olive tapenade in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. When ready to serve, remove from refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. You may want to drizzle a little more olive oil on top if it looks dry.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Olive Tapenade
Tapenade is a traditional Provençal spread made primarily from olives, olive oil, and seasonings. It’s typically served as an appetizer with bread or crackers.
Yes. Finely chop all the ingredients by hand and mix together in a bowl. The texture will be slightly chunkier but still delicious.
Yes. Tapenade actually tastes even better after a few hours in the refrigerator as the flavors meld together. As noted above, remove from the refrigerator an hour or so before you want to serve it, so that it can come to room temperature. And feel free to add a little more olive oil. The tapenade can dry out in the refrigerator.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
Be careful not to over-process the walnuts. They should be finely chopped, but not ground into a powder or paste.
Try to make the tapenade 15-30 minutes before serving to give the flavors time to meld together.
Toasting really makes a difference in the flavor of this tapenade, so I highly recommend not skipping that step!
Use more black than green olives if you want a darker color for the tapenade. With lots of green olives, the color of this tapenade can turn a little less appealing. You can also make a green olive tapenade by using mostly green olives.
How to Serve Olive Tapenade
Tapenade is delicious in so many different ways, and this version is so much better than what you can buy at the grocery store. Here are a few of my favorite ways to serve it:
- Spread it on crostini, baguette slices, or crusty bread
- Serve it like a dip, with crackers or pita chips
- Add to a cheese board, so people can combine it with their favorite cheese (it’s particularly delicious with goat cheese!)
- Spoon it onto grilled chicken or fish
- Use it as a sandwich spread
- Create a French apéro spread by serving with Herbed Goat Cheese, nuts, and a glass of wine.
Other Olive Recipes
Calling all olive lovers! If you love olives as much as I do, you might want to check out some of my other favorite recipes that feature olives:
If you try this olive tapenade recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Green and Black Olive Tapenade
Ingredients
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 cup mixed black and green olives pitted
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 tablespoon parsley plus more for garnish
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Add walnuts to a sheet pan, and toast in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Add walnuts to bowl of food processor and pulse until finely chopped, but not dusty. Transfer to a medium bowl.
- Wipe out food processor bowl.
- Put the olives, garlic, orange zest, parsley, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil into food processor. Process until smooth.
- If dry, add another tablespoon of olive oil. Transfer to bowl with walnuts and mix together. Taste and add ¼ teaspoon kosher salt if necessary.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- When ready to serve, remove from refrigerator. You may want to drizzle a little more olive oil on top if it looks dry.
Notes
- Be careful not to over-process the walnuts. They should be finely chopped, but not ground into a powder or paste.
- Try to make the tapenade 15-30 minutes before serving to give the flavors time to meld together.
- Toasting really makes a difference in the flavor of this tapenade, so I highly recommend not skipping that step!
- Use more black than green olives if you want a darker color for the tapenade. With lots of green olives, the color of this tapenade can turn a little less appealing. You can also make a green olive tapenade by using mostly green olives.
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this black olive tapenade recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Deb says
This sounds so fancy, but I had no idea it is so easy to make. This will be perfect for an Easter appetizer. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Molly Pisula says
Thanks Deb! It's one of my favorites!