Artificial Food Coloring Free Basil & Olive Tapenade
Rich, briny, and bursting with fresh herb flavor, this tapenade is the kind of appetizer that disappears fast. Kalamata and green olives are blended with fragrant basil, thyme, lemon, and a touch of turmeric, creating a spread that's deeply savory with a bright citrus lift. Store-bought tapenades and condiments are surprisingly common offenders when it comes to synthetic dyes and artificial additives, but every single ingredient here is a whole, recognizable food — nothing processed, nothing suspicious on the label. The food processor does most of the work, pulsing everything into a coarse, spreadable paste that holds its shape without turning into a smooth, featureless purée. A drizzle of good extra-virgin olive oil at the end pulls it all together and gives it that glossy, restaurant-worthy finish. Serve it on crusty bread, alongside crudités, or spooned over grilled chicken — it's endlessly versatile and genuinely hard to stop eating.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
- ½ cup pitted green olives
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
Instructions
- 1
Drain the Kalamata and green olives and pat them dry with a paper towel — excess brine will make the tapenade watery.
- 2
Combine the olives, basil, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, thyme, and turmeric in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 8–10 times until the mixture is roughly chopped and no large olive pieces remain.
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