This vibrant dip packs a punch in flavour and nutrients and, if you use olives that have already had the stone removed, it is super quick and easy to make! The sharp and salty flavour of this green olive tapenade makes it a good vegan substitute for anchovies or parmesan, and it's also perfect as a dip for crisps or as a base flavour spread onto little canapé bites or even just dolloped on top of a bowl of pasta.

(If you prefer black olives, I also have a delicious sun-dried tomato and black olive tapenade recipe that you might like!)

Dish of Zingy Green Olive Tapenade with ingredients surrounding it.

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Nutrition
Main Ingredients
Basic Instructions
Chef's Tips
Make ahead
Storage
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Comments

I seem to live my life perpetually running late and not as well prepared and organised as I’d like to be. I invite people over and then end up running around the kitchen trying to put something together five minutes before they arrive.

The best way to combat this, I’ve decided, is to prepare to be unprepared! With this in mind, I have set about creating some good canapé worthy recipes that can be made in approximately 5 minutes with ingredients that are usually already in my kitchen. That way, I can always whip something up at the drop of a hat!

This green olive tapenade is zingier than its better-known sister, black olive tapenade. It is perfect as a dip for crisps or as a base flavour spread onto little canape bites or dolloped on top of pasta. The taste is sharp and salty and it makes a good vegan substitute for anchovies or parmesan. I have used a lot of parsley in this version because I love the vibrant green colour that it gives to the tapenade and the boost of vitamins and minerals.

Nutrition

Did you know that parsley is full of antioxidants and nutrients, particularly vitamins A, K and C? That deep green colour shows you just how full of phytonutrients it is. I love using parsley because it is so good for you and gives such a vibrant green colour at the same time. See this medical news article on the many health benefits of parsley.

Olives are also packed with antioxidants (see this article for more information on the health benefits of olives) and garlic too, so this is really a very nutritious dip indeed!

photo of a red prettily decorated bowl full of green olive tapenade set amongst a plate of vegetable crudités and rice crackers, all on a gold lacquer tray.

Main Ingredients

Green Olives - try to use the best green olives you can find as this is the main flavour of the dip. I like to use olives that have already had the stone removed so that you can just throw them straight into the blender.

Garlic - fresh garlic is needed here for that amazing background flavour it imparts!

Capers - People either love capers or hate them. They have a very distinctive flavour. I like to use the little baby capers which are a slightly milder flavour than the big capers.

Parsley - I use flat-leaf parsley for this but really, either flat-leaf (Italian) or curly parsley is fine. The important thing is to ensure you use fresh parsley not dried.

Lemon Juice - freshly squeezed is best. Alternatively, you could substitute with a little apple cider vinegar if you prefer.

Olive Oil - use the best quality extra virgin olive oil for this since you are not cooking it.

Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full list of ingredients and their quantities.

Basic Instructions

All you need to do to make this dip is whizz everything in a blender for a minute or so! That's it! The most fiddly part of making this is taking the stones out of the olives and taking the leaves off the parsley stems.

This is a summary only. Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this page for full instructions.

Chef's Tips

Normally I would always advise to buy the best quality olives you can, and always buy the olives that still have their stones in them because they just taste a lot nicer than the ready de-stoned ones. However, for this tapenade, because there are so many strong flavours combined, I'd recommend sacrificing some olive quality for the speed and convenience of just being able to chuck the olives straight into the blender without any fiddly de-stoning!

Photo of a bowl of green olive tapenade surrounded by some olives, capers, cucumber sticks, chicory leaves, rice crackers and two cocktail glasses in the background and a vase with pink roses, all on a white marble counter top.

Make ahead

This green olive tapenade definitely benefits from sitting to mellow for an hour or so, so if you are more organised than me, try to make it ahead and let it sit in the fridge.

Storage

This dip will keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for a week or more. It mellows over time.

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5 from 2 votes

Zingy Green Olive Tapenade

This tapenade is zingier than its better-known sister using black olives. It is perfect as a dip for crisps or as a base flavour spread onto little canape bites or dolloped on top of a bowl of pasta. The taste is sharp and salty so it makes a good vegan substitute for anchovies or parmesan. With a hefty dose of vitamins and minerals from the parsley and a beautiful vibrant green colour, this is sure to become a household favourite!

Prep Time3

Total Time3

Servings:

Author: Camilla Sanderson

Ingredients

100 g green olives, drained
1-2 small garlic cloves, chopped roughly
10 g capers
25 g parsley, leaves only
1 tablespoon lemon juice
50 g olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Put all the ingredients in a blender and whizz until it forms a soft blended consistency. It doesn’t need to be completely smooth, but it should be only very small bits.
Serve!