Citrus Marinated Olives with Aniseeds

What’s better than olives? Citrus marinated olives. As an olive lover, I’m always happy to explore new varieties and find ways to include them in my diet. Infusing olives with flavors and spices will elevate them to a gourmet appetizer.

I was inspired to create this recipe after trying something similar in a restaurant in Dallas. We would always order them as an appetizer. One day, when I had too many olive jars in the fridge, I decided to try to make them at home.

Not all olives are created equal

When buying olives from a supermarket, especially from an olive bar, you don’t always know what they’ve been mixed with or how they’ve been processed. Many olives are preserved with seed oils, like canola or sunflower oil.

Buy olives from a trusted source, where you can ask about how they are preserved. Finding them in cans or jars is also an option, but carefully read the ingredients before your buy.

If you don’t like olives, the chances are you never had the good ones.

For this recipe, you can use any type of good-quality olives. I like to use a mix of green and kalamata olives.

Ingredients to make citrus marinated olives

• 1 heaping cup of mixed pitted olives, drained, rinsed, and pat dried (I use kalamata and green olives)
• 3 tablespoons of quality extra virgin olive oil
• zest of 2 organic lemons (lemon peel)
• zest of 1 organic orange (orange peel)
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon aniseeds

NOTE: You can also use whole olives, but they won’t be able to absorb all the flavors like the pitted ones. They’ll still be good.

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Instructions

• Add the olive oil to a small saucepan and warm it on the lowest heat. There must be no frying involved in this process, so the setting should always be on the lowest heat.
• Combine the olives and spices and add them to the saucepan. Keep it on low heat for about 15 minutes. Stir regularly.
• Serve them immediately, or store them in a jar in the refrigerator.
• Best to serve them warm, or at room temperature. Take them out of the refrigerator about an hour before serving. You can also re-warm them on low heat if you prefer to serve them warm.

Serve them as a simple appetizer, as part of a tapas meal, or on a charcuterie board.

There is another yummy byproduct of this citrus marinated olive recipe. Use the infused oil (if there is any left) as a seasoning for other meals like salads, sandwiches, chicken, or roasted vegetables.

This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.

Print Recipe

Citrus and Aniseeds Infused Olives

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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By Claudia Curici, Health Coach – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 15 minutes

What's better than olives? Citrus marinated olives. As an olive lover, I'm always happy to explore new varieties and find ways to include them in my diet. Infusing olives with flavors and spices will elevate them to a gourmet appetizer.

Ingredients

• 1 cup mixed pitted olives, drained, rinsed and pat dried (I use kalamata and green olives)
• 3 tablespoons quality extra virgin olive oil
• zest of 2 organic lemons
• zest of 1 organic orange
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon aniseeds

Instructions

1

Add the olive oil to a small saucepan and warm it on the lowest heat. It's important there is no frying involved in this process, so the heat should always be on the lowest setting.

2

Add the spices and olives to the oil and keep it on low heat for about 15 minutes. Stir regularly.

3

Store them in a jar in the refrigerator, but serve at room temperature. You can also reheat them on low heat for a couple of minutes.

4

Serve as a simple appetizer, as a part of a tapas meal or on a charcuterie board.