Photo: Amarant at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Dish · From Bladwijzer

Black olive tapenade

Updated on 9 October 2026

• Makes: ± 1 jar of 200 ml
• Time: 20 min
• From: Olive tree

Ingredients

• 250 g black olives from brine (already debittered), with stones
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 1 clove of garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Use only olives that have already been debittered, for instance from the recipe Olives in brine. Fresh olives are inedibly bitter.
2. Drain the olives well and stone them: press the olive with the flat of a knife and take out the stone. Check that no bits of stone are left behind.
3. Peel and finely chop the garlic and roughly chop the capers.
4. Blend the olives, capers, garlic, thyme and lemon juice in a food processor with short pulses to a coarse paste.
5. Stir in the oil and finish with pepper. Taste first: olives and capers are already salty, so you do not need to add salt.
6. Spoon the tapenade into a clean jar and cover with a thin layer of oil.

Storing: In the fridge for 2 weeks, always covered with oil. Good on toast, with grilled fish or stirred through pasta.