How to Make Fried Olives

Are you an olive lover? We are. It’s not uncommon to be served a plate of olives as a tapa in Spain. I love the variety of colors, shapes and textures in the fruits. But, we’ve never been served fried olives before. For this month’s Pinterest challenge, I was inspired by a pin from The View from Great Island to make these fun little one bite wonders.

Which Olives Should I Use?

It doesn’t take long to whip up a batch of fried olives. You can use any type you’d like, although I suggest you avoid unpitted olives and choose a larger variety. Ours weren’t stuffed, but I can imagine biting into an olive filled with feta cheese, or maybe a slice of jalapeno.

I don’t know the name of the variety we used. Rick visited the olive stand at the local market and asked the clerk for the largest unpitted olives. They look like Queen olives. He brought home close to two dozen, which was a lot more than the two of us could eat in one sitting. Fortunately, they reheated well in the oven.

Once the olives are drained, it’s just a matter of breading them using a standard breading station of flour, beaten egg and bread crumbs. Since olives are small and round I got better coverage using fine bread crumbs as opposed to the large panko crumbs.

Deep frying is probably the best option, but for those of us without a fryer, use a medium skillet filled with oil deep enough to cover at least half of the olive. Turn them in the hot oil until golden brown on all sides, then drain on some kitchen paper.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. We used the best blue cheese dressing from last month’s pinterest challenge.

Fried Olives

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Course: Appetizer, Snack, Tapas

Cuisine: Spanish

Servings: 0

Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

• Large pitted olives, drained if stored in brine. (Figure 6 to 8 per person, depending on the size)
• flour
• beaten egg
• fine bread crumbs
• oil for frying (I used sunflower oil)

Instructions

• Set up a standard breading station. Then coat the olives in flour, dip in beaten egg and finally coat with bread crumbs. Transfer to a platter when breaded.
• Heat sufficient oil in a medium skillet (it should be deep enough to come halfway up the sides of the olives). Fry the olives in batches, turning until golden brown on all sides.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Serve alone or with a dipping sauce.

Notes

I reheated leftover olives in the oven at 350°F/180°C until warmed through.

I'll bet these would also be good candidates to make in an air fryer, if you have one.

Like this recipe?Be sure to Pin It for later!

Fried olives would be a fun addition to a traditional tapas buffet with jamon, almonds and sliced cheeses.

This post is part of a larger Pinterest challenge sponsored by Erlene of My Pinterventures. I’ve been using this opportunity to highlight vegan and vegetarian recipes I’ve curated in my Pinterest account.

Visit the Pinterest Challenge Archives to see what I’ve made in past months.

In the link up below you’ll find crafts and DIYs as well as recipes. Have fun browsing!

To join next month’s #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ May Pinterest Challenge

Let’s meet this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosts!

Erlene – My Pinterventures • Jenny – Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Lynne – My Family Thyme • Pili – My Sweet Things
T’onna – Sew Crafty Crochet • Julie – Sum of their Stories
Erin – The DIY Nuts • Roseann – This Autoimmune Life
Beverly – Across the Boulevard • Kristie – Love My Little Cottage
Ali – Home Crafts by Ali • Cherryl – Farm Girl Reformed
Leslie – Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After • Terri – Our Good Life
Lauren – Mom Home Guide • Joanne – Our Unschooling Journey
Shirley – Intelligent Domestications • Gail – Purple Hues and Me
Audra – Renewed Projects • Kristie – Teadoddles • Alayna – Alayna’s Creations
Marie – The Inspiration Vault • Susan – Suzerspace
Lydia – Lydia’s Flexitarian Kitchen • Terrie – Decorate and More with Tip
Emily – Domestic Deadline • Marci – Stone Cottage Adeventures

Now, let’s see what the other hosts have created ⇓⇓