One of my favorite toppings for pizza is olives! They go on most every pizza I make! But not all olives are created equal – so what are the best olives for pizza? Time to find out!
Pizzas are a canvas for our creative side to present our own personal favorite flavors. And olives provide a wonderful set of colors for you to paint your pizza with!
Whether they are your only topping on lovely pizza dough, or more likely one of several, olives offer a delicious salty and umami flavor profile to enhance your pizza. But since olives each have their own flavor, texture, and even size, you’ll want to take that into account when picking the one(s) you want for your pizza.
Elevate Your Pizza with the Perfect Olives
How to Choose the Best Olives for Pizza
Choosing the best olives for pizza depends on your personal taste preferences and the overall flavor profile you want to achieve in your pizza. An olive pizza can hold up on its own due to their delightful briny and slightly tangy taste, but they can also complement the other toppings. Some really great pizza options include Mediterranean Pizza or my favorite when I grew up, the Canadian Pizza!
Which Olives Should I Pick?
Here are some popular types of olives that work well on pizza:
- Kalamata Olives: Let’s start our olive exploration with the bold and robust Kalamata olives. These dark purple or black olives hail from Greece and are well-known for their rich and slightly fruity flavor. They have a distinct almond shape and a firm texture. They pair very well with Greek toppings, such as feta cheese or red onions. Therefore, they are often used in Mediterranean Pizzas, as they bring a robust and savory element to the overall taste.
- Green Olives: Green olives (or green ripe) come in various varieties, such as Manzanilla and Cerignola (more about these below), but also Castelvetrano (often called Sicilian olives), and Picholine. Each have some flavor differences, but generally, green olives are milder in flavor compared to black olives and often a bit buttery and tangy. They also can differ in size and their firmness.
- Manzanilla: these are often thought of as Spanish olives (although you can of course grow other types of olives in Spain!). These are tangy, nutty, and full bodied – great for many pizza applications!
- Cerignola Olives: These large, meaty olives from Italy come in both green and black varieties. They have a mild and slightly sweet flavor, making them an excellent choice for those who prefer a less intense olive taste on their pizza.
- Black Olives: These are actually green olives (often Manzanilla) that have been picked after ripening. These are readily found pre-pitted and sliced, which makes for quickly decorating your pizza.
- Amphissa Olives: these are another black olive (sometimes called “the other Greek black olive” and are known for being tender, earthy, and somewhat tart.
- Nicoise Olives: Originating from the south of France, Nicoise olives are small, dark olives that have a distinct nutty and slightly salty taste. They’re commonly used in salads and Mediterranean dishes, making them a good option for adding complexity to your pizza.
- Gaeta Olives: These small, wrinkled black olives from Italy have a unique sweet and tangy flavor. Their tender texture and distinctive taste make them a great addition to pizzas that aim to balance both salty and sweet flavors.
- Ligurian Olives: Hailing from the Liguria region of Italy, these olives are often referred to as “Taggiasca” olives. They are small and have a slightly fruity flavor with a hint of bitterness. Their unique taste pairs well with a variety of pizza toppings.
- The Allure of Mixed Olive Medleys: Why limit yourself to just one olive variety? Combining a mix of olives introduces a playful medley of flavors and textures. The brininess of Kalamata olives may intermingle with the mildness of green olives, creating a delightful surprise in every bite. Pair these mixed olive medleys with hearty ingredients like sausage, mushrooms, and mozzarella for a pizza that celebrates diversity.
What Do I Do About the pits?
You’ll save yourself a lot of time by using an olive (or cherry) pitting tool to push the pits out before slicing them for your pizza!
Olive Slices or Pieces
Everyone can have their own preference for how fine to cut up their olives. I find that when doing a medley of olives, slicing them so that the flavors aren’t overlapping makes for the best bite!
What about Pizza with Capers?
Are Capers the Same as Olives?
No – but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a worthy choice for your pizza! Capers are also native to the Mediterranean as well as pickled – so no surprise that they are often confused with olives. However, capers come from the caper bush: Capparis spinosa and are the unripened flower bud picked before it blooms. There can be different varieties, often associated with the size, which is a typically a reflection on when they were picked.
Capers are a pretty strong flavor, so use sparingly if you’re unfamiliar with them in pizza. They are generally jarred in brine water, so you’ll want to make sure they are drained before putting on your pizza. And lastly, because they can roll around pretty easily, you probably want to put these into the sauce under your toppings so they don’t roll off the top!
Olive Oil on Olive Pizza!
It’s probably no surprise that one of the best compliments for the olives on your pizza would be olive oil! While we all love tomato sauce on pizza, a really lovely olive oil will be a great showcase those delicious olives.
You can find just as wide a variety of olive oils as there are olives with many differences based on the region where they come from.
We discuss this in detail in another post.
Final Considerations for Pizza Olives (and Caper Pizza)
- Pairing matters – Think of olives as partners in a culinary dance. Match their flavor profile with complementary ingredients like cheese, cured meats, fresh herbs, and even sweet elements like caramelized onions or figs.
- Remember that olives are naturally salty, so be mindful of the salt content in your overall pizza composition.
- To make eating the pizza easier and less messy, you’ll want to pit and cut the olives before placing them on the pizza to ensure a smooth eating experience (and to keep them from rolling off). It also allows easier distribution.
- For pizza with capers, you’ll want to make sure they can’t roll off by putting them on under the cheese. Or alternatively, after the pizza is cooked.
- In a very complex pizza or for when feeding a bunch of ravenous friends or family members, you may not want to spend the time or money buying and preparing the fanciest olives. There’s nothing wrong with using pre-sliced, packaged olives when the occasion calls!
Ultimately, the best olives for your pizza are the ones that align with your taste preferences and enhance the overall enjoyment of your culinary creation. So when you’re in the store contemplating your olive choices, take an extra minute to consider which olives are going to be best for tonight’s pizza!
Best Olive Pizza Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Olive pitter (Or cherry pitter) Optional, but worth it
- 1 Outdoor pizza oven Optional
- 1 Pizza Peel Optional
- 1 Basting Brush
- 1 Pizza pan or cookie sheet (if cooking in regular oven)
- 1 Pizza Cutter
Ingredients
- 1 dough ball (such as our Easy Peasy Dough) This recipe assumes a 8-9 ounce dough ball making a pizza between 10-12 inches in diameter.
- 2 tablespoons flour for work area
- 2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- 1 teaspoon Spice House's Greektown Seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano)
- 1 ounce Kalamata olives pitted and sliced
- 1 ounce Green olive of your choice (e.g. mix of Castelvetrano and Cerignola) pitted and sliced
- 1 ounce Black olive of your choice (e.g. Manzanilla) pitted and sliced
- 1.5 ounces mozzarella cheese fresh preferred
Optional Additional Toppings that pair well with olives!
- 2 ounces artichoke hearts chopped
- 1 ounce feta cheese crumbled
- ½ cup spinach (about 12 full leaves)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven
Prepare Your Dough
- Stretch/roll out the pizza dough to make a pizza ~12 inches in diameter
- If you use a pizza pan, add thin coat of olive oil.
- If using a pizza peel, flour the peel so the dough won't stick.
Prepare the Ingredients
- Have all of your toppings ready to apply. Drain, pit, and slice your olives and combine in a bowl.
Prepare the pizza
- Place the dough on the peel or pan. You may need to straighten the edges with your fingers.
- Distribute your Greektown seasoning evenly over the pizza leaving about 1" of the outside edge without.
- Pour the olive oil onto the center of your pizza dough.
- Use a brush to spread the olive oil evenly across the entire pizza and evenly distributing both the oil and the seasoning.
- Sprinkle the olive mix and any other toppings you've chosen (such as artichoke hearts, anchovy bits, and/or feta cheese) evenly over the dough. If you are adding a leafy green (like spinach or basil), put that aside until the pizza is cooked.
Cooking Time: Pizza in an Indoor Oven
- Cook at 450°F on a pizza pan or cookie sheet
- 7 minutes, then rotate
- 7 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer the pizza to the pizza stone
- The top of the pizza should already be browning, in which case turn the oven off.
- Leave in oven for 5 extra minutes (on a pizza stone if you have one)
- Remove and rest for 5 minutes before cutting and eat immediately.
Cooking Time: Outdoor Pizza Oven
- Cook at >650°F (unless the crust is very thin, in which case ~900ºF)
- 6-8 minutes
- Rotate a quarter turn 4 times.
- Remove and rest for 3 minutes.
- If you are going to add leafy greens (like spinach or basil) add that to the top now. You can use whole leaves or cut into smaller sections.
- Cut then serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Todd’s cooking skills have revolved around the grill since about age 12, when he developed a love for grilling and took over for Mom at the BBQ. He worked at Wendy’s and at Earl’s Tin Palace (a restaurant chain in Canada) but never really did any sort of baking…until he and Heather started making pizza together! Now he’s often making dough in the mornings and pizza in the evenings.