Xanthan Gum Free Herb-Marinated Olives

Total time50 min

Prep time10 min

Cook time10 min

Briny, fragrant, and impossibly easy to pull together, these herb-marinated olives are the kind of appetizer that looks like you put in way more effort than you actually did. A mix of Castelvetrano, Kalamata, and Cerignola olives gets gently warmed in extra-virgin olive oil with sliced garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, and a bright hit of lemon zest — the result is deeply savory with just enough heat to keep things interesting. The slow infusion step is where the magic happens: letting the olives rest in that fragrant oil for at least 30 minutes allows every flavor to meld into something truly special. Many store-bought marinated olives rely on stabilizers and additives that can be hard to track down on ingredient labels, so making your own from scratch means you know exactly what's in the jar. Every single ingredient here is naturally free of thickeners and binders — just real food doing all the work. These are equally at home on a charcuterie board, alongside crusty bread, or set out as a cocktail-hour snack. Make a batch, stash it in the fridge, and rewarm gently whenever the craving hits.

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Ingredients

6 servings

2 cups mixed olives (such as castelvetrano, kalamata, and cerignola), drained
Kvuzat Yavne Mixed Olives, 19 oz Gustare Vita Mixed Olives Sprouts Farmers Market Organic Pitted Mixed Olives
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⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves
1 tsp lemon zest (from about ½ lemon)
½ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

1
Combine the olive oil, garlic, rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, oregano, red pepper flakes, and black pepper in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Warm until the garlic is fragrant and just beginning to turn golden at the edges, about 4–5 minutes. Watch closely — the garlic can brown quickly at this stage.
2
Add the drained olives and lemon zest to the saucepan. Stir to coat and continue warming over medium-low heat until the olives are heated through and the oil is bubbling gently around them, about 3–4 minutes.

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