A little something salty always adds to the cocktail hour and nearly everyone loves olives. I keep these in my fridge just about all the time so they are ready when an unexpected guest drops in. Look for good quality olives on the pickle aisle or choose your own blend at the olive bar. You can’t go wrong. They need to be made days in advance, making them the perfect appetizer for parties of any kind.

Print Recipe

Herb and Orange Marinated Olives

Makes: 5 cups

Ingredients

2 (6-ounce) jars pitted green Greek olives, drained (3 cups)
2 (6-ounce) jars pitted kalamata olives, drained (2 cups)
1 lemon
1 orange
¾ cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 TBSP fresh thyme leaves
2 TBSP chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp TBSP

Instructions

Combine the olives in a large ziplock plastic bag.
Zest both the lemon and orange with a strip zester to make little ribbons of peel. After zesting, juice both the lemon and orange. You will have about 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1/4 cup orange juice. Add the zest, juice, and the next 5 ingredients to the olives. Seal the bag, and shake to mix.
Refrigerate for 3 days, turning the bag once a day. Allow the olives to come to room temperature to liquefy the olive oil before serving with a slotted spoon.