Carrageenan Free Pomegranate & Mint Olive Tapenade
This tapenade is a showstopper — briny, bright, and just a little unexpected, with jewel-like pomegranate arils folded through a chunky olive and caper base. The combination of Kalamata and green olives gives you depth and a slight buttery bitterness, while fresh mint and lemon zest keep everything tasting alive and vibrant. Because every ingredient here is whole and unprocessed, you sidestep the thickeners and stabilizers that sneak into so many store-bought spreads and dips — carrageenan included. The technique matters too: pulsing rather than blending keeps the texture rustic and satisfying, and folding in the pomegranate by hand means those little bursts of sweetness stay intact rather than disappearing into a paste. A short rest in the fridge lets the cumin, garlic, and lemon meld into something that tastes like it took far more effort than it did. Serve it with warm flatbread, spoon it over grilled fish, or pile it onto a cheese board — it earns its place in any setting.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
- 1 ½ cups pitted kalamata olives
- ½ cup pitted green olives
- ½ cup pomegranate arils
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp capers, drained
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the Kalamata olives, green olives, capers, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, black pepper, and cumin in a food processor. Pulse 8–10 times until the mixture is coarsely chopped and no whole olives remain, but the texture is still chunky — not a smooth paste.
- 2
Add the extra virgin olive oil and pulse 3–4 more times until the oil is incorporated and the tapenade holds together loosely.
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