Recipes

Classic Tapenade

Tapenade is a classic Greek dip that makes a great appetizer you can whip up in a flash!

Tapenade is a classic Greek dish, perfect as an appetizer dip or spread for a salad! | Teaspoon of Nose

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This is great on pita, crackers or veggies. It’s already got a decent amount of salt in it, so stone ground wheat thins or simple (not too salty) crackers are great picks here. I recently served in along with a yogurt dip and summer sausage as an appetizer combo and it was a hit!

Let’s be real: it’s kind of an ugly delicious dish. I love the purple color of the dip, but it doesn’t photograph well.

Tapenade is a classic Greek dish, perfect as an appetizer dip or spread for a salad! | Teaspoon of Nose

Tapenade is a classic Greek dish, perfect as an appetizer dip or spread for a salad! | Teaspoon of Nose


Tapenade is so much more than a dip or spread! It works right alongside a gyro, or add a scoop to a Greek chicken bowl. You can also use it as a topping for chicken or meat for a Greek grill out!

One piece of advice: use nice olives, not just the canned generic ones. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some of those canned black olives. They’re just not right for this recipe. Go with Kalamata or something in that category.

Classic Tapenade

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb black olives, drained
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 tbsp capers, drained
  • 6 anchovies and a just a dash of their oil
  • 1/4 tsp dried thyme or 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried parsley
  • 1/2 – 2/3 cup olive oil

Steps:

  1. Combine olive, garlic, capers, anchovies, spices and just a bit of olive oil in a food processor.
  2. Pulse a couple times, then add the rest of the olive oil. The oil smooths it out – you want a chunky texture, but it comes together with the olive oil.
  3. Chill and serve! It stays good in the fridge for a couple weeks, so this is a great thing to have on hand to add some zing to your salad or spread on a sandwich.

Tapenade is a classic Greek dish, perfect as an appetizer dip or spread for a salad! | Teaspoon of Nose

Tapenade is a classic Greek dish, perfect as an appetizer dip or spread for a salad! | Teaspoon of Nose

It’s such a quick and effortless dip to set out! The saltiness also contrasts well with a bowl of great hummus if you’re going for a Mediterranean feel.

11 thoughts on “Classic Tapenade

  1. These look and sound so good, I am already imagining the taste of them with hummus. I would love to try these out.

  2. I’ve never heard of this before, but I’m always down for something that tastes yummy on crackers! I have the feeling I would eat this in one sitting.

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