This olive salad muffaletta spread is made with the distinctive flavours of both black and green olives. It’s perfect for making muffuletta sandwiches and is a real New Orleans favourite in the French Quarter of New Orleans. You can make your own version of this olive tapenade using items you’d find at any grocery store. Try it as a pizza topping with deli meats or Italian meats, or have it with grilled chicken. It’s the best olive salad I’ve made.
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A great olive salad recipe is well worth knowing if you are looking for the best sandwich topping for a classic New Orleans sandwich. This olive sandwich spread boasts a combo of piquant flavours for that classic Mardi Gras food taste.
Why You’ll Love This
Authentic: Italian olive salad, or muffuletta olive salad, is a traditional recipe which pairs with all kinds of tasty recipes from pizza to the most epic sandwich you ever tried.
Delicious: If you love green olives and black olives, you are definitely going to be wowed by this recipe, as they’re the key ingredient in the mixture.
Simple to make: Once you’ve finely chopped and combined all the ingredients, your olive spread just needs to sit so the flavours can meld, and then it’s ready to enjoy.
Olive Salad Muffaletta Spread Ingredients
The main ingredients are green and black olives. You also need giardiniera (pickled vegetables), pepperoncini with some juice from jar, garlic, oregano, pickled onions, lemon juice, salt and pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, and white wine vinegar.
How to Make a Muffaletta Olive Salad Recipe
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
You are going to love how simple this Italian olive tapenade is to prepare:
Prepare the ingredients: Chop or mince all the ingredients and combine them in a mason jar, starting with the finely chopped, dry ingredients.
Add the liquids: Add the liquid ingredients to the mason jar, then cover and refrigerate overnight before using.
Substitutions and Variations
It’s up to you what kind of olives you prefer to use, and you can choose from kalamata olives, Sicilian olives, Greek olives, or whichever type you prefer. Make sure they’re pitted, else you’ll need to remove the pits yourself. You might also like to add a pinch of celery seed, roasted red peppers or minced artichoke hearts, although they’re completely optional. Some people use red wine vinegar in place of the white.
What to Serve with Olive Sandwich Spread
The number one recipe this tasty spread features in is a muffaletta sandwich. A muffaletta sandwich, similar to a pressed Italian sandwich, is a wonderful combination of deli meats and cheese served between bread. You could also try it as a pizza sauce, on chicken or spread over crackers and topped with cheese.
Storage Directions
Store: Keep the olive spread refrigerated and in a covered container, and use it within a week.
Freeze: Freeze it in a covered container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before use.
Muffuletta Olive Salad Recipe FAQs
A food processor certainly saves time, especially if you’re adding optional ingredients like Greek peppers, red peppers, artichoke hearts and so on. Otherwise, you will have to chop them finely by hand. If you want to use a food processor, I recommend you pulse the ingredients a few times because it’s nice to have a little texture in the olive spread.
While olive salad is a tangy spread made primarily with olives, giardiniera is pickled vegetables. The best muffaletta is made using both!
Olive Salad Spread Recipe
Olive Salad Muffaletta Spread
Ingredients
- ½ Cup green olives pitted
- ¼ Cup black olives
- ¼ Cup giardiniera
- 3 pepperoncini
- 3 Cloves garlic
- 2 Teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 pickled onions
- ½ Teaspoon black pepper
- ½ lemon juiced
- 1 Tablespoon pepperoncini juice from jar
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Finely chop ingredients and add to mason jar.
- Add the lemon juice, pepperoncini juice, olive oil, and white wine vinegar.
- Seal and refrigerate overnight.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
The best olive salad muffaletta spread is a mouth-watering combination of different kinds of olives, peppers, garlic, and seasonings. It’s perfect served on a sandwich but can also work as a pizza sauce, dip for chips or topping for crackers.
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a storyteller, food lover, dog mom and adventure seeker living on the Pacific coast. She shares her passion for food, dogs, fitness, adventures, travel and philanthropy, in hopes of encouraging followers to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places and stand for a cause. Bella lives with Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease.
Always love this recipe! Perfect on chicken, too.
Hi there! I just wanted to leave a comment here to say how amazing this Olive Salad Muffaletta Spread recipe is! I love how unique the flavors are and how easy it is to make. I must admit, I made double the recipe so I could have leftovers to add to my charcuterie board for entertaining.
The combination of olives, pickled vegetables, and fresh herbs creates a delicious and tangy spread that pairs perfectly with cured meats and cheeses. I also appreciate how versatile this spread is – it can be used as a dip, spread on sandwiches, or even tossed with pasta.
We are olive lovers over here and this recipe hit all the marks! What perfect amount of seasoning! 🙂
Oh boy!! This was quite delicious! I may have gone Bridget jones on it and eaten it straight from the jar with a spoon!!!
I couldn’t get enough.
I made some pressed sandwiches with the rest, which were okay but could have done with more of this olive salad but I had already scarfed too much of it 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
So delicious and I’ll be making it again for sure….maybe in double batches….. 😊😊😊
We are olive lovers in this house and this spread was super yummy! It will be made on repeat in my kitchen. Thanks!
Very unique salad idea! Loved all the different textures and flavors.