Others may prefer chips or dried fruit, but the mighty olive will always be one of my favorite snacks. I find myself popping these little nuggets like candy, one by one until there’s nothing left but brine. Even if you’re not an olive fiend like me, and you’re mostly putting out bowls of warmed olives every once in a while when you entertain, knowing how to store olives to avoid any spoilage is a must.
Wait, what exactly is an olive?
Let’s set the record straight: An olive is a fruit. Specifically, olives belong to a class called drupes, or stone fruits, which also includes peaches, mangoes, and pistachios. There are hundreds of olive cultivars out there: some lean more buttery and mild (perhaps you’ve met the Castelvetrano) while others offer more pungent, smoky, and fruity flavors. The color of the olive indicates the fruit’s ripeness; Green olives are generally picked early in the season, while purple-black olives mature on the tree. The olive curing process offers a second chance to change color: olives darken once exposed to oxygen and a stabilizer called ferrous gluconate.
If you’ve ever wondered what a just-harvested olive tastes like, I’ll spare you the trip. Freshly picked olives are intensely bitter and firm to the touch, a far cry from their final tender form. The curing process that table olives undergo helps soften the skin and reduce the strong bitter flavors created by the compound oleuropein. Olives can be cured in a salt brine or lye-water solution, sun-dried and submerged in olive oil, or simply covered in salt. Then they’re either tossed into jars or cans—with olive oil or extra brine—for a few months.
Most of the world’s olive trees, known as Olea europaea, grow in the Mediterranean region, which provides a hot growing season and cool winters. With a history dating back to at least 6,000 years, this revered tree has stood the test of time (natural disasters and forest fires included) and can be found all over Greece, Turkey, Syria, Italy, and the Middle East. In the US, olive groves especially thrive in California.
How to choose the best olives
At a grocery store, you’ll likely find olives in two places. First, check the condiments aisle for the widest assortment. Olives here are stored in cans or sealed glass jars, and are available whole, pitted, and sliced in every color and cultivar imaginable. Avoid cans that are damaged or dented since these have a higher chance of letting bacteria in. As we mentioned in this article explaining how to pit olives, there is an advantage to buying whole olives rather than those with the pits removed: the brine reaches the inside of the olive if the pits are gone, so the pitted olive will be both saltier and mushier than a whole one. Still, if you’re making a big batch of tapenade, save yourself the effort and buy the pitted type.
Should you consider the self-serve olive counter? As with any open bar that customers without training in food safety are handling, there’s always some risk of contamination. But usually, there’s nothing to worry about; most olive bars are routinely cleaned and checked to ensure that the olives are frequently restocked and submerged in the brine. The briny solution helps to preserve flavor, and without it, olives may dry out or oxidize more quickly. But you can still scoop up olives that are not submerged in the brine if they are fresh and there are no signs of mold.
Do olives ever really expire?
In case you’re saving an olive jar for a rainy day, we have some good news. Unopened, jarred olives will stay fresh for up to two years and don’t require refrigeration. Even once opened, jarred olives will remain fresh for 12 to 18 months, provided they are sealed and stored properly in the fridge. By contrast, olives from the olive bar will only last in the fridge for up to three weeks. Storing olives in brine will help them retain their flavor and prevent quick spoilage. But if you happen to use up all the brine, just replenish it with a solution of one part salt to 10 parts water.
Some packages of olives, due to different processing methods, may warn you about a shorter shelf life. Follow their instructions and eat these promptly!
If you find yourself with olives that you’re just not going to finish quickly, consider freezing them. According to the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, this technique works best for olives with a higher oil content (like Mission, Kalamata, and Picholine), but there’s one step you should take before proceeding. Dry salt-cured olives or drained salt-brined olives can be frozen as is, but to reduce softening during freezing, you should boil any lye-cured olives, such as Spanish-style green olives, in their brine for 10 to 15 minutes, rinse and chill in cold water, then drain and freeze for up to one year.
While you can keep an eye on the expiration date on the jar, knowing when to toss old olives comes down to your senses. The first sign is always visual. If you spot any funky mold, don’t just discard the top few olives—toss the whole jar. Even if you can’t see mold, any changes in appearance, texture, or smell of the brine or the olives are valid reasons to discard.
How to use up a jar of olives
The devoted snackers among us don’t need to dress up olives at all, but it’s worth remembering that you can build more complexity into the olives themselves by concocting a mix of spices, fresh herbs, garlic, and citrus for a fragrant oil base. This recipe from Anna Stockwell uses lemon and fennel seeds; Mina Stone, author of Cooking for Artists, subs in toasted coriander seeds and rosemary. Aromatic orange peels and juice are also great; if you have access to a firepit for warming the concoction, all the better.
Beyond the predinner snack, olives can enhance so much of your cooking. Add those briny morsels into salads, pasta sauces, and braised chicken, and pop them onto homemade pizzas or breads. Take a tip from chef Amanda Cohen and add a few to your vegetable stock to amp up the umami; chop some salt-cured olives and bake them into a seedy, savory granola.
What can you make with olive brine?
When you pull the last olive from the jar, whatever you do, don’t toss the brine. Of course you can pour some into a dirty vodka martini and call it a day. But this salty, savory, sometimes tart liquid can be a powerful secret ingredient in your cooking, amplifying the savory character of any dish, much like MSG or Parmesan does. I love to brine chicken overnight in the salty juice; it penetrates and tenderizes the meat, resulting in fall-off-the-bone cuts. Try adding a teaspoon to soups, vinaigrettes, and pasta sauces, and you might find yourself going through more jars than ever.
