Grilled Skewered Olives

Prepare these flavourful Grilled Skewered Olives at your next gathering or barbecue and dazzle the olive lovers!

Grilled Skewered Olives

Warmed olives are popular and for good reason, the heating of olives tends to enhance their flavour rendering them even more buttery and delicious than if they were just taken out of your refrigerator.

Look for Colossal or Queen sized olives (large size), once grilled eat them right off the stick or put in a bowl to share, we won’t judge.

The Inspiration

If you are a fan of olives but have never had them warmed before, you really need to try this recipe. I’d only ever had them out of a jar out kept in the fridge until the last couple years I’ve been fortunate to try warmed olives at media events.

I was initially going to warm them in the oven as I’ve had before then, while we were grilling one night I decided to toss a few on the grill. It was then I knew.

How should I serve grilled olives

If you are having friends over for dinner, going to a potluck, family dinner, a barbecue or picnic in the park, these olives are quick and easy to prepare and have ready to go.

You can also make them in advance, just ensure they do not get refrigerated before serving.

Other ideas include serving with an antipasto platter, as tapas or mezze.

A few ways we like to serve them are grilled with baby potatoes and Chimichurri sauce, eating the grilled skewered olives right off the stick, or seasoned with lemon rind, pink peppercorns, fresh ground black pepper, Himalayan salt and fresh parsley.

Our simple preparation includes picking up some large, pitted olives, drizzling on a little extra virgin olive oil since they come packed in brine, not oil, some fresh black pepper and sea salt, skewering and grilling just until grill marks appear.

What kind of olives do I buy

We’ve made this recipe a few times. First time was Sicilian olives and grilled baby potatoes on sticks. This recipe coming soon.

You can also use olives that are stuffed. We tried olives stuffed with jalapenos, blue cheese, pimento and provolone. They all offered up unique and tasty flavours.

These olive can also be chopped up after being grilled and used in dips, even a tapenade. Grilled olives are a total game changer.

Here’s some things to remember when grilling olives.

PRO TIPS and FUN FACTS:

• Grill only until heated through and grill marks appear.
• Olives are a fruit, not a vegetable!
• Olives are an antioxidant!
• Do not buy canned olives (sorry yucky tin taste), jarred is fine.
• Ensure you buy pitted olives for skewering.
• Large olives are also known as Queen or Colossal olives.
• If using wooden skewers, make sure you soak them before hand.

Recipes to enjoy with grilled olives

Like these recipes?! Check out other uses for olives.

• How to Make Labneh (serve olives chopped on top)
• Ras el Hanout Hummus (olives good on top of hummus)
• How to Assemble a Charcuterie Board (add them to the board)

If you made this recipe tag Wanda Baker on Instagram and hashtag it #bakersbeans or #wandabaker