Marinated Olives

Oven roasted marinated olives with citrus, garlic and fresh herbs are simple to make and the perfect appetizer for any occasion.

I'm all about easy and delicious appetizers - from sweet potato rounds to Cajun boiled peanuts to pizza pretzels. Sometimes they're so good, you realize you're full before even getting to the main meal.

And that's the problem with these marinated olives. Well you can look at it as a good or bad problem. They're so good, you just can't stop eating them.

My wife and I recently had our first child and decided to name him Oliver. People ask why we named him that and it was really just because we like it. However I knew it meant olive tree in Latin.

So when my mom visited, we figured we should have some olives in celebration and that's where these roasted olives come into play.

The zest of the orange combined with the fresh herbs and fennel seeds packs a bunch of flavor. By roasting the marinated olives, you actually mellow out the olives slightly while also creating a texture where they just melt in your mouth.

These warm olives really are the perfect snack/appetizer and will leave you wanting more!

Jump to:

• Recipe Ingredients
• How to Make Roasted Olives
• How to Make on Stovetop
• What Types of Olives Should I Buy?
• How to Store
• Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
• Other Appetizer Recipes
• Marinated Olives

Recipe Ingredients

• Assorted olives - can use anything from kalamata, black, green, Spanish or any olive you enjoy.
• Oranges - you use the zest to kick up the flavor.
• Garlic - garlic and olives make the perfect marriage.
• Fresh rosemary and thyme - use fresh herbs to really highlight the flavor of the olives.
• Fennel seeds - add a warm fragrance to the olives when heated up.
• Crushed red pepper flakes - gives just the slight kick in certain bites of the warm olives.
• Salt and black pepper - enhances the flavors.
• Olive oil - helps marinated the olives.

How to Make Roasted Olives

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Add the drained olives to a medium bowl. Add the orange zest, garlic, rosemary, thyme, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper. Pour the olive oil over and toss to combine.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and evenly spread the olives over.
3. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and serve warm.

How to Make on Stovetop

If you prefer to warm the olives on the stovetop, heat a medium skillet over medium heat and add the olive mixture. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the olives are warmed through and the garlic is fragrant.

What Types of Olives Should I Buy?

Get an assortment of olives so you have slightly different flavors and colors. If you decided to use pitted olives, make sure there is a bowl for the guests to place the pits in.

How to Store

Olives should be refrigerated in an airtight container. You can keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

• Use fresh herbs, but if you must, dry herbs work in a pinch. Just reduce the amount to 1/3 of the dried herbs so 2/3 tsp each of dried rosemary and dried thyme.
• Use quality olive oil as part of the taste comes from it.
• Leave out bowl for pits of olives to be placed in.

Other Appetizer Recipes

• Corn mango salsa
• Buffalo quinoa bites
• Roasted red pepper hummus
• Pepper jack cheese crackers
• Guacamole

If you’ve tried these marinated olives or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.