Are you a big fan of olives? This muffaletta olive salad is coarsely chopped, marinated olive spread with a briny, herby flavor that will have you coming back for seconds. I promise it won't last long! Plus, it's the key ingredient in an epic muffaletta sandwich.
If you love Mardi Gras food, you'll want to try our muffaletta bread recipe and our king cake recipe. Don't miss our 13 Mardi Gras recipes, too!
Quick Look: Muffaletta Olive Salad Recipe
- ⏲️ Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- ⏲️ Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes (not including 8 hours chilling)
- 🍽️ Yield: 3 cups
- 🥕 Dietary Info: Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free
- ⚡ Calories: 414 calories per serving (based on nutrition facts in recipe card)
- 🌶️ 15 Ingredients: Castelvetrano olives, Kalamata olives, giardiniers, peperoncini, roasted red peppers, capers, shallots, extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, parsley, oregano, thyme, black pepper, and salt.
- 🥣 Method: Stirred (no cooking needed)
- ⌛ Time-Saving Hack: Chop the olives and giardiniera finely in a food processor for an even texture.
- 🔪 Equipment: whisk, mixing bowl.
- ⭐ Expert Tip: Have twice as many green olives as black olives.
- 🫒 Flavor & Texture: This muffaletta olive salad has a tang from the dressing, lots of Italian herbs, and a colorful combo of pickled veggies that's perfect in a sandwich.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Colorful & Flavorful: This recipe is bursting with olives, tangy pickled veggies, and a tasty Italian dressing.
- Versatile: Use this in a muffaletta sandwich, any other type of sandwich, or even enjoy it on its own.
- Easy to Make Ahead: This salad can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to 1 month.
Featured Comment
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Love the rich yummy flavors & how they all come together. This recipe is fantastic & packs a tasty punch of full flavors from all the olives, veggies, oil herbs & spices. Lovely on my muffaletta."
- Boo
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Ingredients
All of these ingredients are easy to find at larger grocery stores, with most of them being shelf stable ingredients, so you can stock up for when you want to make your next muffaletta sandwich.
- Canned Vegetables: castelvetrano and kalamata olives, giardiniera, peperoncini, roasted red peppers, and capers
- Aromatics: garlic, onion, or shallot
- Vinegar: red wine vinegar
- Fat: olive oil
- Fresh Spices: parsley, oregano, and thyme
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Muffaletta Olive Salad
- Cut the salad ingredients small enough to be used as a spread. Get a mixing bowl and place all the ingredients in it. (image 1)
- Mix it well with a large spoon. (image 2)
- In a smaller mixing bowl, pour in the dressing ingredients. (image 3)
- Whisk until well combined. (image 4)
- Pour the dressing over the olive mixture. (image 5)
- Stir, cover, and refrigerate this for 8 hours or overnight to give it time to marinate. There you have it! A super tasty recipe that will knock your next muffaletta sandwich out of the ball park. Trust me, it's that good. (image 6)
Muffaletta Olive Salad FAQs
The main difference is muffaletta olive salad has olives in it along with giardiniera. Giardiniera's main ingredients are cauliflower, carrots, and celery, and it doesn't contain olives.
Our personal favorite is in a muffaletta sandwich, but it can also be mixed with lettuce, provolone, and salami for a salad. Use it as a pizza topping, or mix it with cream cheese and Parmesan cheese for a savory palmier filling. It can also be used as a crostini with goat cheese and prosciutto. You can also use it as a dip with a piece of warm, soft fresh bread.
Central Grocery is famous for their muffaletta sandwich, so their olive salad is in high demand with tourists. Central Grocery's olive salad has two kinds of olives: green pimento-stuffed olives and kalamata. It also has cauliflower, carrots, celery, red bell peppers, capers, and peperonici. A blend of soybean and olive oil along with water, vinegar, salt, garlic, and other spices makes up their dressing. To give it a long shelf life, it also has preservatives and food dye.
Make Ahead: This recipe is best if you make it ahead, as the ingredients need to marinate in the dressing for at least 8 hours.
Leftovers: Store any leftovers in a tightly sealed jar. This can keep for up to one month in the fridge.
Freeze: Freezing is not recommended, as it won't taste the same once it's thawed.
Serving Suggestions
This olive salad is traditionally used in a New Orleans muffaletta sandwich. This amazing sandwich is made from layers of Italian deli meats and cheeses with this colorful olive salad on the top and bottom--all sandwiched in homemade muffaletta bread. It's definitely the best way to enjoy this olive salad!
Expert Tips
- Use the best olive oil you can find.
- Have a 2:1 ratio of green to black olives for the best balance of flavor and color.
- Ensure that the veggies are all chopped around the same size. This helps it spread evenly and have a good balance of flavor and texture.
- In a hurry? Use a food processor to chop the veggies. You'll need them fairly finely chopped, so this speeds it up a lot.
- Chill for 8 hours or overnight to allow the flavors to meld. Don't skip this; it really helps the salad taste better.
Other Mardi Gras Recipes
Recipe
Muffaletta Olive Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1 cup Castelvetrano olives, chopped
- ½ cup Kalamata olives, chopped
- 1 cup giardiniera, pickled cauliflower, carrots, celery, finely chopped
- ½ cup peperoncini, sliced
- ½ cup roasted red peppers, chopped
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 2 tablespoons shallots
For the Dressing
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
- 1 pinch fresh thyme leaves
- 1½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Whisk the oil, vinegar, garlic, and spices together until they are well blended.
- Chop the olives, capers, and peppers so they're similar in size.
- Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss until well blended.
- Pour the dressing over the other ingredients and mix well, then refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
- Stir to coat the veggies in the dressing before serving or using in a muffaletta sandwich. Serve cold.
Video
Notes
- Use good quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Have twice as many green olives to black.
- Use the cauliflower, carrots, and celery from a jar of homemade giardiniera.
- Use a food processor to chop the veggies to speed things up.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Boo
Love the rich yummy flavors & how they all come together. This recipe is fantastic & packs a tasty punch of full flavors from all the olives, veggies, oil herbs & spices. Lovely on my muffaletta.
Was thinking, 2:1 ratio of green to black olives. is there any other olive combinations I can use ? Would love to experiment, as we love Large Jalapeno Stuffed Spanish Olives, also, will use the jar giardiniera.for the cauliflower, carrots, and celery
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Emma Fajcz
Boo, We're so glad you enjoyed our recipe. Please feel free to experiment with other olive combinations and ratios and let us know what is your favorite.
Rose
How long does this last in the fridge?
Emma
Rose, It can last up to one month in a tightly sealed jar, but we always use it all in a Muffaletta sandwich that is eaten in a couple of days.
Pamela Madden
This may be a silly question but when the ingredient list for example, half cup kalamata olives chopped, does that mean to measure a half cup of whole olives and then chop them or did it mean to chip enough olives to make a half a cup? Thanks
Emma
Pamela, Thanks for asking! It means chopped not whole. Hope this helps!
Janice
I believe in most recipes, if it states “1/2 cup chopped olives,” you chop the olives and then measure. If it states
“1/2 cup olives, chopped,” you would measure the whole olives, then chop them. But since the author specifically told you to measure the CHOPPED olives for this recipe, do it the way she advised.
Alex
You have got all these delicious flavors coming on at once in this olive salad. You’ve got the salty olives, and the peppers and onions. This is so yummy!
Emma
Thank you, Alex! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Joyce
What is the red things that look like tomatoes?
Emma
They are roasted red peppers.
Beth
I love the different colors and flavors in this scrumptious olive salad. This is by far my favorite olive salad that I have ever had.
Emma
I agree! Olive salad for muffaletta is so tasty.