Sometimes you need to work with what you have instead of what you want. Sometimes all you have is tinned bland olives but, you want nicely marinated delicious olives. We can easily make that happen.
Jump to:
To make a short story even shorter, the point is that you can easily marinate tasteless olives at home using only a touch of love and a few cheap ingredients.
You might not end up with the best olives you ever tasted but you surely will get a delicious quick and cheap alternative.
Perfect with a glass of wine and other nibbles and snacks like parmesan biscuits or pea and feta dip or Thai roasted cashews when enjoying the sunset. If that's what you're into.
Otherwise.
Delicious by themselves, easy to make and takes all but 5 minutes.
Ingredients needed
Most of the ingredients needed to marinate olives quickly are probably lying around in your fridge and pantry already.
- Tinned Olives - Pitted green, black or mixed. When they're pitted they take more flavour from the marinade.
- Herbs - Any dried herbs will do. Like parsley, oregano and bay leaf.
- Oil - Extra virgin olive oil or any other good quality cold-pressed oil.
- Seasoning - Salt and pepper.
- Citrus - lemon is the go-to but you can use orange and lime too.
- Garlic (optional) - Minced or paper thinly sliced.
How to make it
This is beyond easy to make and perfect if you are in a rush or have zero cooking skills but have to serve something at a party or as a snack before a meal.
- Drain 1 tin(135g drained weight) of each black and green pitted olives. Put into a bowl along with 26 grams or 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
- Peel some lemon rind from 1 lemon and bruise it by rolling between your thumb and forefinger. This releases the flavourful citrus oil from the skin. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze out ¼th of the juice(15g) onto the olives.
- Peel and mince 1 small clove or 4g of garlic and add to the bowl.
- Add about 6 to 8 bay leaves and a teaspoon or 2 grams of dried oregano or parsley
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Mix it all together well and ideally let it sit overnight but you can have it straight away if you have to serve it NOW.
Variations
Easily Make the following changes by adding substituting:
- Add in in some anchovies for an extra umami salty, funky kick.
- Use oranges instead of lemon for a sweeter version.
- Add in freshly chopped parsley, oregano or chervil instead of dried herbs.
- Add in chopped chillies for a little heat.
Serving suggestions
Best served with the following:
As a little snack at a BBQ when making crispy pork belly or grilled fish.
Also, as part of an antipasti Italian feast alongside roasted Romano peppers, Sea Bass crudo and homemade sourdough bread.
Add to salads like this easy salmon salad or this authentic greek salad.
It's also perfect as a light appetizer before meaty dishes like roasted lamb, chimichurri steak, or Iranian lamb koftas.
Don't forget.
It's vegan! so perfect with dishes like whole roasted cauliflower, roasted broccoli, pan-fried bok choy, roasted carrots and chanterelle mushrooms as well as Moroccan couscous.
For those following a Keto diet. Have it with sirloin or ribeye steak, salmon fillet or home-cured salmon gravlax.
Other recipes you might like
If you are always in a hurry and quickly need to whip up something to eat try the following easy recipes.
- Smashed Chinese cucumbers
- Thai spiced beef koftas
- Duck breast and kale stir fry
- Tahini and lime coleslaw
Useful equipment for this recipe
Lemon squeezer - Buy Now
THIS PAGE CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS - I MIGHT EARN A TINY % OF THE SALE THROUGH THESE LINKS AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU. PROBABLY NOT EVEN ENOUGH TO BUY A BEER).
If you found this recipe helpful or have learned something, comment, subscribe and follow me on social platforms for more delicious recipes.
Quick Marinated Olives | A Cheap Little Snack
Ingredients
- 1 tin pitted black olives
- 1 tin pitted green olives
- 1 lemon
- 26g (2 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
- 2g (6 leaves) dried bay leaf
- 1g (½ teaspoon) dried oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Drain 1 tin(135g drained weight) of each black and green pitted olives. Put into a bowl along with 26 grams or 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
- Peel some lemon rind from 1 lemon and bruise it by rolling between your thumb and forefinger. This releases the flavourful citrus oil from the skin. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze out ¼th of the juice(15g) onto the olives.
- Peel and mince 1 small clove or 4g of garlic and add to the bowl.
- Add about 6 to 8 bay leaves and ½ a teaspoon or 1 gram of dried oregano or parsley
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Mix it all together well and ideally let it sit overnight but you can have it straight away if you have to serve it NOW.
Notes
This recipe is even better when you make it at least 12 hours in advance and can be stored in the fridge for weeks.
Nutrition Facts
Quick Marinated Olives | A Cheap Little Snack
Serves: 4 portions
|
Amount Per Serving: 80g
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 218.97 kcal | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 21.96 g | 33.8% | |
| Saturated Fat 2.96 g | 14.8% | |
| Trans Fat 0.0 g | ||
| Cholesterol 0.0 mg | 0 | |
| Sodium 1338.98 mg | 55.8% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 8.27 g | 2.8% | |
| Dietary Fiber 4.62 g | 18.5% | |
| Sugars 0.68 g | ||
| Protein 1.37 g | ||
| Vitamin A 2.87 % | Vitamin C 9.43 % | |
| Calcium 9.86 % | Iron 15.7 % | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
PantsDownApronsOn
Have your say