• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Nourished Kitchen

  • Philosophy
  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • Shop
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Start Here
  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Start Here
    • Recipes
    • Cookbooks
    • Shop
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    » Home » Recipes » Fermented Vegetables » Home-cured Olives

    Home-cured Olives

    Posted: Nov 9, 2009 · Updated: Oct 5, 2020 by Jenny McGruther · This site earns income from ads, affiliate links, and sponsorships.

    Home-cured olives - seasoned with chilies, lemon and North African spices - have finally made their way into our kitchen, and happily so.   Not too long ago, we received a beautiful box of freshly harvested, green-ripe barouni olives from Chaffin Family Orchards out of California.     Since then we've patiently waited and waited for our olives to lose their soapy bitterness and gain a saltiness spiked by hot peppers, lemon and garlic.

    Olives are among our favorite foods.   They enjoy a rich heritage having been cultivated across the middle east and Mediterranean region for thousands of years.   Though olive oil has always been prized both for grooming and culinary uses, my love rests with the well-spiced and wonderfully salty fruit.   Olives are rich in mono-unsaturated fat, vitamin E and polyphenols which account for the fruit's strong, bitter flavor.   A good soaking in brine and spices tempers the olive's natural bitterness.

    In preparing my batch of olives at home, I chose to water cure them - as it's a relatively faster approach to olive curing and, as you can imagine, I was eager to see the results of my first adventures in olive curing.   Other methods of curing olives at home include treating the fruit with lye, brining them whole and curing them in salt.   I imagine, next season, we'll try a different method of curing olives.   Water curing is simple and remarkably easy; just clean the olives, discarding any marred fruit, and pound them with a mallet or rolling pin until the fruit is slightly bruised.   Over a period of days or even weeks, depending on how much bitterness you prefer, soak them in clean water, changing it frequently.   You'll notice that the olives will release some of their oils and that oil will rise to the top of the water every day.   Follow this by a heavily spiced brine, and you have home-cured olives.

    We're looking forward to serving our olives at the Thanksgiving table and throughout the year as appetizers or in lovely, rustic tapenades.   Some we seasoned with provincial herbs, others with Greek oregano and garlic, but these olives we seasoned with a savory array of North African spices.   I can't wait to pair them with a Moroccan-spiced Roast Chicken or on fresh bread smeared with authentic labneh and a slice of preserved lemon. 

    Rate this Recipe

    Home-Cured Olives (Moroccan Style)

    Fresh olives are sold in bulk at very affordable prices. While this recipe only makes use of a ½ gallon of olives, take advantage of larger quantities and spice them differently in order to vary the flavors in your kitchen. Incidentally, the water-curing method for preparing olives results in more oleuropein – an antioxidant thought to boost the immune system – in the end product which is, in part, why we chose this method.
    Prep Time10 mins
    Total Time10 mins
    Servings: 32 servings
    Print Save Recipe Saved!

    Ingredients

    • ½ gallon fresh green-ripe olives
    • 6 tablespoon finely ground real salt
    • ¼ cup raw apple cider vinegar
    • 4 cups water
    • 1 preserved lemon
    • 10 cloves garlic
    • 3 red jalapeños
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
    • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
    • ½ teaspoon coriander seed

    Instructions

    • Rinse clean and pick over the fresh olives, discarding any obviously marred fruit. Discard any leaves or stems. Gently slice each olive on one side to the pit.
    • Dump the cracked olives into a large, food-safe container fill it with filtered water. Drain, rinse and fill the olive container with water again twice a day every day for two weeks or until they lose their bitterness.
    • Prepare a brine by whisking the salt, vinegar and 4 cups water.
    • Drain the olives and rinse them, and then place them into a ½-gallon mason jar with spices, lemon and chilies.
    • Pour the brine over the olives, and allow them to ferment at least 6 weeks or until pleasantly sour.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @nourishedkitchen or tag #nourishedkitchen!
    « Tips for a Better, Healthier Halloween
    Molasses & Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Angela says

      August 02, 2018 at 1:24 pm

      This sounds delicious! When fermentation is complete, should the olive mixture be refrigerated?

      Reply
    2. Cindy Murillo says

      January 04, 2017 at 7:33 pm

      I have a question about fermenting lemons. When using mason jars, would you prcess the in a hot water bath to seal the jars? Also, can the same be done with Valencia Oranges?

      Reply
      • Jenny says

        January 04, 2017 at 8:09 pm

        Hi Cindy,

        No, I don't recommend that you run them in a hot water bath as you will 1) prevent them from fermenting, or 2) kill off all the beneficial microbes that are present if you have fermented them. If you're using mason jars, I'd recommend you purchase glass weights and an airlock.

    3. Dale Siar says

      August 20, 2016 at 5:50 pm

      It is that time of year where the Chaffin Farms have the olives. But you are changing the water twice a day for a week, is that due to the raw lemons? As the spices would not seem to ferment that much? The University of California, puts the olives in the same brine for two months, then a final change for 2-4 months. Due to foaming and evaporation, the solution is checked every 6-7 days.

      Why so different?

      Reply
    4. Diane says

      October 21, 2014 at 7:11 pm

      In the recipe you say to place a 1/2 gallon of olives into a 1/2 gallon container with spices than mix a 1/2 gallon of brine and pour it over the olives. Did you mean 2 half-gallon containers? I have a feeling I'm being dense and missing something? Thanks for this recipe! I am through the soaking and my taste buds are watering for the final delights!

      Reply
    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Young woman in glasses smilint, Black and White Headshot

    Hi, I'm Jenny! I'm a nutritional therapist, herbalist and the author of three natural foods cookbooks. You'll find nourishing bone broths, simple herbal remedies, and loads of fermented goodness on this site.

    More about me →

    Trending Recipes

    • Rose Water
    • How to Make CBD Oil
    • Easy Sourdough Starter
    • Bone Broth
    • Easy Fermented Hot Sauce
    • Sour Pickles

    Recent Posts

    • Caraway Pots and Pans
    • Marinated Chickpeas
    • Bachelor's Jam
    • Dandelion Salad
    • Rhubarb Shrub
    • Cucumber Dill Salad

    In Season Now

    • Strawberry Wine
    • Fruit Kvass
    • Bell Pepper Salad
    • Cucumber Kimchi

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Explore

    • Nourishing Recipes
    • Broth Recipes
    • Fermented Vegetables
    • Fermented Drinks
    • Cultured Dairy
    • Herbal Remedies
    • Sourdough

    Seasonal Cooking

    • Soup Recipes
    • Stew Recipes
    • Summer Fruit Recipes
    • Summer Vegetable Recipes

    Connect

    • About
    • Subscribe
    • Workshops
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram

    Privacy Policy + Affiliate Disclosure + Copyright Notice + Accessibility

    Copyright © 2021 Nourished Media LLC. All rights reserved.