What Are Capers and How Can I Use Them?

Capers is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store them, what to substitute, and 353 recipes to get you started.

What are capers?

Capers are often used as a garnish in many Mediterranean dishes, typically Italian . They are very frequently used in Sicilian cookery.

Capers have an intense flavour that is developed as mustard oil is released from the caper buds when pickled.

They are commonly used in salads, pastas, tartar sauce and often served with smoked salmon such as lox with cream cheese on bagels.

Popular Italian dishes that feature capers as an integral component include Spaghetti alla puttanesca and Chicken Piccata.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find capers: Capers are usually found in the asian section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Capers are a member of the Spices and Herbs US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

驴蹄草

British (UK) term

Capers

en français

câpres

en español

alcaparra

How much do capers weigh?

Related

Spices and Herbs

Recipes using capers

There are 353 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Scrambled Eggs with Lox & Cream Cheese

A low-carb version of Lox (smoked salmon) and cream cheese that uses scrambled eggs to replace the classic bagel. Rich, creamy, and delicious, it is perfect for celebrating National Cream Cheese and Lox Day or anytime for an impressive Brunch or breakfast offering.

Elevated Tuna-Pasta Salad

This can tuna pasta salad brings canned tuna to life with a burst of fresh and hearty flavors. The combination of green beans, tomatoes, olives, capers, and pasta creates a vibrant and satisfying dish. It's a delicious way to elevate canned tuna into a memorable meal.

Egg & Salmon Sandwich

Skip the drive-thru with this gourmet Egg McMuffin replacement that's topped with smoked salmon and tomatoes.

Beets, Chorizo & Pomegranate Braise with Cilantro Salsa

This delicious and well-balanced one pot meal will for sure satisfy everyone around the dinner table with all the yumminess and goodness.

Fusilli with Smoked Salmon

This creamy and smoky dish will for sure satisfy your appetite.

Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca

Bold, briny spaghetti alla puttanesca with San Marzano tomatoes, capers, black olives, and anchovies tossed in garlicky olive oil. This quick Italian pasta dish hits the table in 40 minutes with layers of salty, savory depth in every forkful.

Penne All'Arrabbiata

Fiery penne all'arrabbiata with pancetta, crushed Roma tomatoes, capers, green olives, anchovies, and hot chili peppers simmered in red wine. A bold, spicy Italian pasta ready in 45 minutes.

Tartar Sauce

Make your delicious tartar sauce with this easy to follow recipe that doesn't take a lot of time to prepare.

Sole with Lemon, Capers & Almonds

Tender sole fillets pan-seared in olive oil, then drizzled with a buttery white wine sauce brightened by fresh lemon juice, briny capers, and toasted slivered almonds. Ready in 20 minutes.

Italian Dressing

Quick and easy home made Italian style salad dressing.

Pasta Alla Puttanesca

Quick, easy and delicious. Using whole wheat pasta makes the dish even more nutritious and filling. An ideal one-pan meal.

Chickpea, Tomato & Olive Salad

This easy and refreshing salad has lots of great textures, and it's quite filling as well. Serve it as a side dish or a tasty and nutritious vegetarian main course.

Pasta Puttanesca

This quick and easy pasta dish tastes delicious. For a vegetarian version, just omit the anchovies, and it is still refreshingly tasty.

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich with Tomato & Olives Tapenade

Instead of mayonnaise, use sun-dried tomato and olives tapenade to spread the sandwich, which gives the sandwich tangy flavor. Grilling adds the nice smokiness into the these juicy and tender summer vegetables. Delicious and light summer sandwiches.

16 Minute Tortilla Pizza

These tortilla mini pizzas are very easy to make, it can be a quick and easy snack or appetizer ready in a flash.

Muffuletta Sandwich

Hard to go wrong with a Muffuletta sandwich. It was easy and simple to assemble, and it was packed with flavour.

Picadillo Con Alcaparras (Picadillo with Capers)

Cuban-style picadillo with capers, pimento-stuffed olives, burgundy wine, and a touch of nutmeg. Ground beef braised in a savory-sweet sofrito. Serve over rice with plantains.

Seafood Burgers with Basil Tartar Sauce

Seafood burgers made from fresh cod, grilled and stacked on English muffins with grilled tomato and a zippy basil-caper tartar sauce. A light, fast fish burger that beats anything from the freezer aisle.

New Potato & Green Bean Salad with Grape Tomatoes & Feta

Make this quick, easy and tasty salad as your side-dish with any of your BBQ main course. Light and refreshing, wonderful in a warm summer day.

Tomato & Olive Tapenade

Using sun-dried or oven-dried tomatoes and olives makes this delicious tapenade that can be spread over the sough dough bread, stuffed into bell peppers or chicken breast, or can be the replacement of mayonnaise when you prepare the sandwiches. Quick, easy and tasty!

Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Escabeche Sauce

Light and tasty. A quick and easy way to prepare a delicious fish dish.

Roasted Broccoli & Tomatoes

Roasted broccoli and tomatoes char at high heat, then get tossed with a Mediterranean mix of lemon, olives, oregano and capers. A bright, low-calorie vegetable side in about 20 minutes.

Aussie: Roseville Tea Sandwiches

Take a trip to the Outback with this scrumptious appetizer. Perfect for a relaxing day in the shade with a cup of tea!

Leftover Mashed Potato Supreme

Here's a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes in a very dressy way. No one will complain about leftovers when this dish is set on the table. It works even better for serving leftovers to guests one or even two days later! :) Serve this as a side dish and it will dress up other leftover mains.

Olive Tapenade with Feta

This salty spread uses two types of olives and crumbled feta cheese, but no anchovies. Serve on crackers, toasted sliced baguette or pita chips.

Mirabelle Tartar Sauce

Marco Pierre White's tartare sauce from the Mirabelle restaurant. This was served with grilled dover sole but work well with any white fish dish.

Shredded Mediterranean Chicken a la Crock Pot

One day I ran out of the ingredients, and so I got creative. What I came up with, I looooove. I call it Mediterranean Chicken a la Crock-Pot.

Mediterranean Rapini Pasta

Looking for delicious rapini recipes? This one should be on your to-do list. The sun-dried tomatoes, capers, black olives, and feta cheese bring the Mediterranean flavour right onto your plate.

New Potatoes With Caper Sauce

New potatoes in a tangy cheesy butter caper sauce.

Asparagi Di Campo (Cold Marinated Asparagus)

Italian asparagus. How to cook asparagus Italian-style. Classic flavor-packed cold marinated asparagus with an onion, caper, lemon and mint dressing. Perfect to make ahead and serve anytime with simple ingredients. It's even vegan and vegetarian.

Broccoli Pesto Pasta

This turned out great. The pesto is absolutely perfect and it sticks to the pasta much better than traditional pesto. The bow ties are a great match but I'm sure any pasta would work too. Spirals I think would really hold the pesto. It was fairly quick and easy to make, and only used one pot plus the food processor.

Roasted Broccoli & Cherry Tomatoes with Feta, Roasted Pepper & Olives

Roasted broccoli is tender-crisp, roasted cherry tomatoes are warm and juicy, tossed with fresh lemon juice, zest, olives, roasted pepper and feta cheese. A quick, easy and tasty side dish!

Fried Tomatoes with Mint Couscous

A lively fresh appetizer perfect for the summer. Mint and oregano brightness the couscous toped with fried tomatoes, almonds and a bit of salty feta.

Cherry Tomato Feta Pasta Salad

We make this pasta salad all the time. It's loaded with the delicious flavors. Sometimes we add some steamed broccoli florets or asparagus, or a few freshly sliced mushrooms.

Green Olive Tapenade

Quick, easy and tasty, we spread it over our sandwich bread when we make sandwiches, and it never lets us disappointed.

Grilled Tuna Steak with Lemon-Caper Butter

Add some fish to your summer diet with this savory dish that will have you and your family licking your lips.

Mexican Deviled Eggs

Mexican deviled eggs spiced with cumin, jalapeno, capers, and ground red chiles, topped with fresh cilantro. A Southwestern twist on classic deviled eggs ready in 15 minutes.

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta, Pine Nuts & Raisins

An easy yet tasty way to prepare brussels sprouts. Pancetta, pine nuts and raisins all compliment the flavor of brussels sprouts. Oven-roasting develops great flavor and texture. A delicious side dish that goes well with any main course.

15 Minute Perfect Shallow Poached Salmon

Incredibly quick and easy and packed with flavor. Shallow poaching keeps the flavor from leeching into the poaching liquid and then reducing the liquid to make a sauce captures every last drop of delicate flavor.

Eggplant Pomodoro Pasta

A simply delicious meal for busy week-days or a cozy dish on the weekends. Layers of yummy flavor and can be served with any pasta.

Scallop & Smoked Salmon Pasta

We liked it very much. The flavour is strong so make sure you serve it to those who like fish or cut down on the smoked salmon.

Delicious Spaghetti with Shrimp in Sicilian Sauce

This dish is a hearty meal itself. The puttanesca and fra diavolo in the sauce produce a memorable accompaniment to shrimp as well as mussels, clams or even canned or frozen lobster meat.

Crispy Smashed Mini Potatoes

Smashed potatoes are always welcomed at any time of the year, this crispy smashed mini potatoes will completely satisfy every member of your family, you can serve it with any main dish.

Baked Red Snapper

Wow, this recipe turned out great. Cooking down the wine and tomatoes really built up a huge amount of tangy flavor.

Grilled Potato & Parsley Pesto Salad

Grilled potatoes tossed with freshly-made parsley pesto, an easy recipe that tastes delicious. Clean, fresh and vibrant flavors perk up plain grilled potatoes. A great side dish perfect for a summer BBQ.

Beer Battered Deep Fried Fish With Tarter Sauce

"This delicious fish is great to serve for lunch or for dinner. The beer batter is just the best!"

Ultimate Grilled Stuffed Flank Steak

Flank steak stuffed and rolled into a pinwheel with ham, cheese and a flavor packed mix of ingredients. Guaranteed to wow your BBQ guests that are lucky enough to partake.

Chicken Piccata with Pasta & Mushrooms

A delicious meal. Succulent chicken and browned mushroom sauce are served over a bed of angel hair pasta that's also tossed with mushroom sauce.

Baked Cod Provençal

Meaty cod baked in a flavorful combination of tomatoes, olives, garlic, herbs reminiscent of French Provence. This dish reflects the Provençal style through its use of tomatoes, olives, garlic, and herbs—hallmarks of the region’s rustic, flavorful fare.

Antipasto Di Mare

Italian seafood antipasto with canned tuna, crisp raw vegetables, briny capers, and olives for a light no-cook lunch or appetizer ready in 10 minutes.

All 353 recipes