Whether you're making martinis or a Greek salad, you want the very best olives. Our testers tried 11 brands to find some top-notch picks.
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Olives are one of those polarizing ingredients. But there’s no doubt about how essential they are to the folks who love them when it comes to recipes like olive tapenade, a muffuletta or even the perfect martini.
So with these olive fanatics in mind, our pros put a handful of olive brands to the test. In the end, our expert snackers sampled 11 brands—including black, green and kalamata options—to find the best olives.
For many families, a celebration isn’t complete without a relish tray. On that tray, you’ll always find a heap of black olives—and our top pick is Pearls Large Ripe Olives.
These olives are large and uniform. Testers found them to be plump and firm with just the right amount of briny saltiness. “I would eat 75% of these off the relish plate,” says editor Caroline Stanko.
But snacking (and popping them on fingertips) isn’t the only use for these black olives. Our team also suggests slicing them up to top taco dip or fill tortilla pinwheel appetizers.
We learned in this olive taste test that bigger isn’t always better. Out of the handful of green olive brands we tried, these teeny pimiento-stuffed olives from Mario were our pros’ favorite.
So how tiny are these green olives? Think peanut M&M’s candy-sized. But the puny package doesn’t detract from the flavor at all. These pimiento-stuffed gems are wonderfully salty with a hint of verdant, green flavor. These are just the olives you want adorning your martini—though they’d also be great in this olive focaccia bread.
If kalamata olives are your go-to for Mediterranean-style recipes, you’ll definitely want to pick up a jar of Divina Pitted Kalamata Olives.
These pitted olives are stored in a vivid red wine vinegar brine. The result is an olive with a vibrant jewel color and a wonderful balance of flavors. Divina’s kalamata olives are fruity, salty and a touch acidic—just the right blend for including in a Greek salad, Mediterranean chicken dinner or a marinated olive appetizer.
“I’d snack on these all day,” says content director Ellie Martin Cliffe. “They might be my favorite of the bunch!”
Putting together an antipasto platter or charcuterie board? Our pros recommend Free Style Snacks Kalamata Olives.
These pitted olives are unique because they’re sold brine-free in an envelope-style package rather than in a jar or can. This means you get the perfect portion for your snack spread and the setup is mess-free (no fishing in the jar required!).
These olives got high marks in our testing first and foremost for their lovely deep plum hue. These pitted kalamatas also have a perfectly salted flavor with a firm texture that’s right for snacking.
And if you want to expand your horizons, Free Style Snacks has a few other flavors as well, including hot and spicy green olives.
We cast a wide net for this taste test. Our tasters sampled three types of olives: black olives, pimiento-stuffed green olives and pitted kalamatas. In total, we sampled 11 brands. Every option was judged according to these three categories:
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