Oh hi hello! Happy Monday, friends!
Do I have a recipe for YOU today.
Rewind a couple of weeks. I was at the beach with my family. There’s a whole giant gaggle of us that go – 12 in total -, most of whom enjoy being in the kitchen.
Hectic? You bet’cha.
Anyways, I have this uncle who really likes to go all out with everything. He’s hysterical and he always has so many stories to share. Late into our vacation, he started talking about this trip he went on where they ate fried olives.
Oh yes, olives.
I literally couldn’t think of a more delicious piece of food to enter my mouth, so we quickly ran to the store, gathered the ingredients, and got cooking.
A mere hour later, I was standing at the stove deep-frying olives. I don’t eat deep fried foods much, but when on vacation I’m totally willing to splurge. Especially if olives are involved.
But because they were so addictive, I knew I’d be making them again very very soon. And in pursuit of making things a bit healthier, I wanted to try and bake them.
So Crispy Baked Olives are happening today, and I could not be more excited. And the process is super duper simple:
- The Olives. You can totally chose whichever kind of olive you want here, but I just chose some Spanish pimento-stuffed green olives. I do recommend that you choose an olive without a pit. These olives are so “poppable” – the last thing you want is someone choking on a pit as they’re enjoying their crispy olive.
- The Dredge. Yep, we’re coating these olives in breadcrumbs – that’s what gives these olives their crunch! The olives stay super tender after they’re baked, but the outside coating is nice and crispy. In order for the breadcrumbs to stick to our delicious olives, we need to do the Dredge Dance – coat the olives in flour, then in homemade buttermilk, then in your seasoned breadcrumbs. Badaboom, so simple.
- The Baking. I was so tickled that baking these olives worked just as well as deep frying them. The secret is in the olive oil spray that you use to coat your breaded olives. I found mine at Trader Joe’s (it was one ingredient – olive oil), and it worked perfectly. The oil helps the breading crisp up and brown.
I know crispy breaded olives might sound weird. And they might be.
But please please please know that they are insanely delicious too. The whole Fooduzzi crew went absolutely bonkers for them, and I know you will too!
Crispy Baked Olives
https://www.fooduzzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/crispy-oven-baked-olives-4.jpg
| Prep: | Cook: | Yield: serves 4-5 people | Total: |
An addictive crunchy snack or appetizer! Naturally vegan, and easily made gluten free!
You'll Need...
- :For the olives:
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (gluten free if necessary)
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. granulated garlic
- salt + pepper
- 1 cup flour (gluten free, AP, whole wheat, etc.)
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 10 oz. pitted olives (~14.5 oz. in brine)*
- olive oil spray
- :For the dipping sauce**:
- 1/4 cup plain hummus
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp. granulated garlic
- a couple dashes hot sauce
- a pinch of granulated sugar
- salt + pepper
Directions
- OLIVES:Grab three medium bowls. Add breadcrumbs, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper to one bowl. Mix to combine. In another bowl, add your flour. In another bowl, add almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix to combine.
- Drain your olives well. Add them to your flour bowl, and toss to coat. Knock off all excess flour and add your olives to the almond milk / apple cider bowl. Toss to coat. Finally, add your olives to the breadcrumb bowl. Toss to coat well, then place in a bowl. Place your olives in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Place your olives on a baking sheet, and then spray liberally with your olive oil spray, tossing to coat and making sure that the breading doesn't come off.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until your olives are golden brown all around. Toss your olives a few times during the cooking process.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly (olives are HOT when cooked) while you're making your dipping sauce.
- SAUCE: Combine hummus, lemon juice, granulated garlic, hot sauce, and sugar in a small bowl. Mix to combine, then taste and season with salt and pepper.
Additional Notes
*I used Spanish olives from Trader Joe's. They are pitted and have a pimento in them.
**A few other dip ideas: warmed up marinara! pesto! literally anything :)
My husband would go CRAZY over these! I like olives, but he LOVES olives. Definitely going to have to try these soon!
Olive freaks unite! ;) They’re one of my favorite foods!
The olives are so yummy. I can’t wait to try the baked version.
SO good!
I really had never thought of this. I bet a nice, crisp breading is very nice against a savory olive. YUM
Using an air fryer worked extremely well! They are delicious.
May I suggest buying an olive oil mister that you can refill over and over again? I strongly recommend the plastic ones that are billed as clog-free. They cost 3 times what the brushed aluminum ones do, but don’t collapse in on themselves after the thin aluminum stresses itself out. My The Fine Life Ideal Olive Oil Mister Air Pressure Only Clog-Free Sprayer is still goring strong in the same amount of time I wore out 2 of the brushed aluminum ones. The plastic ones also hold the pressure way, way longer. BTW, I have no affiliation with any company or product whatsoever.
I LOVE this idea! Yep, we had them growing up, but I never got one for myself once I moved out. I’ll be on the lookout for a sprayer – thanks :)
These baked olives are EVERYTHING. I totally wanted to try them deep-fried after reading this post, but holy moly they’re so amazing baked! I used green olives this time but can’t wait to try it with other types. This recipe has launched me on a mission to bake ALL the olives lol! I used them on the Mediterranean Falafel Salad recipe which was killer – can’t wait to try them with this dip!
This makes me so happy. I’m SO thrilled you guys liked them, Brittany! They were pretty life-changing for me, not gonna lie! haha
Can you bake these without the bread crumbs?