Can You Freeze Olive Tapenade?: A garlicky, salty snack, spread, or appetizer– olive tapenade is loved for its multipurpose usage. It’s a good idea to have frozen olive tapenade stored at home so it’s available anytime you crave a quick snack.
Have you ever wondered if you can freeze olive tapenade? While olive tapenade may keep well in the fridge for some days, there may come a point where freezing it is the better storage option for preventing spoilage. Keep reading to find out about the shelf life, storage, defrosting process, and much more about olive tapenades.
- Can You Freeze Olive Tapenade?
- How to Freeze Olive Tapenade?
- How Long Can You Freeze Olive Tapenade?
- How Do You Defrost Olive Tapenade?
- Can You Refreeze Olive Tapenade?
- Olive Tapenade Recipes
- Does Olive Tapenade Freeze Well?
- How healthy is olive tapenade?
- Does tapenade always have olives?
- Can You Freeze Olives?
Can You Freeze Olive Tapenade?
Yes, you can freeze olive tapenade. As tapenade is a spread made from finely chopped or pureed olives, it can be frozen in different ways. Tapenade can be frozen as a whole, or you could freeze chopped olives to make tapenade once they have been defrosted.
You can freeze olive tapenade for up to 3 months and if you keep it in the refrigerator then it’ll last for a few weeks. It’s recommended to freeze it in small portions so that none goes to waste and to pull out a portion whenever you need to add some delicious olive flavor to your meal. This article will walk you through all the details related to properly freezing olive tapenades. Let’s dive right in!
How to Freeze Olive Tapenade?
It’s best to freeze olive tapenade in small portion-sized cubes in an ice cube or cupcake tray. Let’s take a look at some important steps to be followed for freezing olive tapenade:
Step 1: Divide the tapenade into the required portions.
First, you need to decide on the amount of tapenade you want to consume in one sitting. If you prefer large portions that are suitable for the whole family, you can freeze them in freezer-safe containers with a tight lid. However, if you need small portions of tapenade, you can either choose small ice cube-size portions or slightly larger cupcakes or muffin portions. You can use either an ice cube tray or a cupcake tray.
Step 2: Fill the freezer tray
Pour portions of olive tapenade into your ice cube or cupcake tray. You need to leave about a third of the tray empty to provide some room for the olive tapenade to expand as it freezes. Be cautious; if you overfill each section, it may burst out of the tray and make a mess.
Step 3: Flash Freeze
Put the trays of olive tapenade into the freezer on a flat surface so that it doesn’t spill. Then let the olive tapenade freeze fully. This could take about two to four hours, depending on the size of the portions you have chosen.
Step 4: Bag up
When your tapenade cubes are frozen, take the tray out of the freezer. Then transfer the frozen cubes from the trays into a freezer bag.
Step 5: Label the freezer bag
Label the freezer bag with the date and the contents and seal it tightly. Squeeze out as much air as you can before sealing to help the tapenade freeze properly.
Step 6: Freeze the olive tapenade!
Put the olive tapenade bag in the freezer. And voila, your tapenade is ready to freeze. Whenever you crave some olive tapenade, open the freezer bag, grab out the amount you need, and then reseal the bag for the next time you need some delicious tapenade.
Follow the link over here to decide if you Can Freeze Olives or not and learn the tips & tricks to extend their shelf life.
How Long Can You Freeze Olive Tapenade?
You can keep olive tapenade stored in a covered container in the fridge, and it will stay fresh for up to 2 weeks. Unopened jars of olive tapenade will keep for at least six months. Once a jar is opened, it will still keep well in the refrigerator for several weeks.
The great news is that the shelf life of olive tapenade leftovers can be significantly increased by freezing them. Frozen olive tapenade tastes good and stays safe for up to 3 months. But after this amount of time, you may find deterioration in the taste and quality of frozen olive tapenade.
| Olive Tapenade | Shelf Life |
| In the refrigerator | Around 2 weeks |
| In the Freezer | 2 months approximately |
How Do You Defrost Olive Tapenade?
Defrosting tapenade is pretty easy. Olive tapenade is generally served cold, so we wouldn’t recommend you try and use a microwave to defrost, as this can end up with the tapenade’s taste getting spoiled.
The best way to defrost is to transfer the frozen olive tapenade container into the fridge to slowly defrost. If you need it a little quicker, then you can put the container on the kitchen side to thaw out instead. Or, you can tightly seal the tapenade bag or container and put it in a bowl of water to thaw quickly.
Can You Refreeze Olive Tapenade?
No, you should not refreeze the olive tapenade. Although olive tapenade does freeze well, repeated freezing is likely to change the texture too much. Instead, divide your olive tapenade into smaller portions before freezing and defrost only a little bit at a time. This way, you can leave the rest of the frozen olive tapenade untouched, and it can be easily used at a later date.
Read More:
Olive Tapenade Recipes
Here are some popular ways to finish up your leftover olive tapenade:
- Spread olive tapenade on crackers, pita chips, crackers, or bread.
- Stuff portobello mushrooms with olive tapenade.
- Mix the tapenade with some sauce and serve with pasta, polenta, or gnocchi.
- Mix the olive tapenade with hummus and place on a pita bread topped with some arugula.
- Enjoy the olive tapenade with some fresh veggies like carrots, celery, etc.
- Prepare a mixed plate of hummus, pita bread, falafel, and olive tapenade.
- Add the tapenade to a pizza in place of sauce.
- Use the olive tapenade as a sandwich spread. Top with a little non-dairy/eggless mayo to make it more creamy.
- Mix some olive tapenade with baked spaghetti squash.
- Make a cold pasta salad with veggies and use the olive tapenade as the dressing with lemon juice. Or scoop a little on top of a Greek salad.
- Cook a Mediterranean veggie burger with tapenade, red onion, tomato, and parsley.
- You can also mix olive tapenade with “tuna” salad sandwiches.
- Spread olive tapenade on a bagel for breakfast or add it to your avocado toast.
FAQs on Freezing Olive Tapenade
1. Does Olive Tapenade Freeze Well?
Yes, olive tapenade does freeze well. If there are any changes in the flavor and texture of the olive tapenade, they will be too subtle to notice.
2. How healthy is olive tapenade?
The olive tapenade is a good source of fiber, iron, iodine, and antioxidants. Olive tapenade also has great amounts of vitamins B and E, phosphorus and magnesium. These vitamins and minerals have positive effects on your bones, energy, muscles, immune system, and blood pressure.
3. Does tapenade always have olives?
Mostly, classic French tapenade is made of either pureed or finely chopped olives (green or black), capers, and oftentimes anchovies, that get mixed with olive oil until a paste is formed. Various additions can also include garlic, different herbs, lemon juice, and, depending on the region, even brandy!
Yes, olives can be frozen for approximately 6 months.
Wrapping Up
There are so many ways to use delicious olive tapenade. You can even serve this as a fancy party appetizer or eat it on small slices of toasted French bread. So good! So follow our guidelines and freeze that leftover olive tapenade and use it whenever you wish. Check out our other articles for some stunning articles on olives like Can You Freeze Olive Oil and others.