Easy Olive Dinners: Four Ways to Cook with Olives Tonight
A jar of good olives is one of the most useful things in the cupboard: dinner is rarely more than a pan and a handful of them away. Here are four fast, foolproof routes from jar to plate, and the two rules that keep olives from ever letting you down in the pan.
Cooked into a dish, a handful of olives brings instant salt, savour and a Mediterranean lift — they are one of the great shortcuts to depth. Keep a jar of something decent in the cupboard and you are never far from a real dinner. Here are four routes, all quick and all forgiving, followed by the two small rules that separate olives that make a dish from olives that wreck it. None of these needs a recipe card so much as a bit of confidence.
Four fast routes from the jar
1. Puttanesca — the storecupboard hero. Garlic and chilli in olive oil, a tin of tomatoes, black Kalamata or Gaeta olives, capers and anchovy, simmered and tossed through pasta. The original ‘nothing in the house’ dinner. 2. Chicken with olives and lemon — brown chicken thighs, add garlic, lemon, a splash of white wine and a big handful of green olives, and braise until tender. 3. Fish over olives and tomatoes — a white fish fillet on a bed of cherry tomatoes, olives and oil, roasted hot for fifteen minutes. 4. White beans and olives — warm a tin of cannellini in olive oil with garlic, rosemary and chopped olives, and pile on toast.
The two rules for cooking with olives
Both mistakes people make with olives are easy to avoid. First, add them near the end of cooking. Long boiling turns olives bitter and rubbery and drives off their fragrance; they need only a few minutes to warm through and release their flavour into the dish. In a slow braise, stir them in for the last ten minutes, not the first. Second, always taste before you salt. Olives — and the capers and anchovy that so often keep them company — are salt bombs, and the single most common way to ruin an olive dish is to season it as if the olives weren’t already doing the job.
Choosing olives to cook with
You do not need your finest table olives here — save the beautiful Castelvetrano or Cerignola for the bowl with drinks. For cooking, a robust, punchy olive earns its place: black Kalamata or Gaeta for anything tomato-based, a firm green olive for chicken and fish. Buy them whole and unpitted where you can and stone them yourself; pre-pitted olives are convenient but often mushier and blander, and the pit protects both texture and flavour. And drain off the harshest brine before they go in, so the dish tastes of olive, not of salty vinegar.
Cooking with olives, plainly
- Add olives late — a few minutes to warm through, never a long boil.
- Taste before salting — olives, capers and anchovy have seasoned it already.
- Use a robust olive for cooking; keep the delicate ones for the table.
- Buy whole, unpitted olives and stone them yourself for better texture.
- Lean on a jar of olives as your fastest route to a savoury dinner.
The recipe: chicken with green olives & lemon
Chicken with green olives and lemon
Golden braised chicken thighs with garlic, lemon, white wine and a big handful of green olives — a fast, one-pan Mediterranean dinner from the storecupboard.
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 lemon, half juiced, half sliced
- 150 ml white wine (or stock)
- 150 g green olives, whole
- A few sprigs of thyme
- Black pepper; salt only if needed
Method
- Season the chicken with pepper. Heat the olive oil in a wide pan and brown the thighs skin-side down until golden, then turn.
- Add the garlic and thyme and cook a minute until fragrant.
- Pour in the wine and lemon juice, tuck in the lemon slices, and bring to a simmer.
- Cover and braise gently for about 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
- Stir in the green olives for the last 10 minutes. Taste, add salt only if it needs it, and serve with bread or rice.
Cooking with olives: common questions
When should I add olives to a cooked dish?
Near the end — usually the last five to ten minutes. Long cooking turns olives bitter and rubbery and drives off their aroma; they just need warming through.
Do I still need to add salt?
Taste first. Olives, capers and anchovy are very salty, so many olive dishes need little or no added salt. Season at the end, not the start.
What olives are best for cooking?
Robust ones: black Kalamata or Gaeta for tomato-based dishes, firm green olives for chicken and fish. Save delicate table olives like Castelvetrano for eating raw.
Should I use pitted or unpitted olives?
Whole, unpitted olives stoned by hand usually have better texture and flavour. Pre-pitted are convenient but often softer and blander.
What is the quickest olive dinner?
Puttanesca: garlic, chilli, tinned tomatoes, black olives, capers and anchovy simmered and tossed through pasta — a complete meal from the storecupboard in under twenty minutes.
A jar of olives is dinner insurance. Two rules and you cannot go wrong: add them near the end — a long boil makes olives bitter and rubbery and blows off their scent — and taste before you reach for the salt, because olives, capers and anchovy have already seasoned the pan. Cook with a robust black or green olive and keep your lovely Castelvetrano for the bowl with drinks. Whole and unpitted, stoned by hand, always beats the mushy pre-pitted sort.
House recipes and method for everyday olive cooking.