What Are Kalamata olives and How Can I Use Them?

Kalamata olives is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store them, what to substitute, and 115 recipes to get you started.

What are kalamata olives?

Kalamata olives are normally brined, packed in olive oil or pickled in wine vinaigrette.

Unlike most green and black olives, Kalamata olives are a deep, rich aubergine in color. When they are soaked in vinegar or brined, they may appear almost dark brown or black. On the tree, these purple almond-shaped fruits are hard to miss because of their beautiful color. They also tend to pack more meat than the average black variety.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 tbsp (8g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 9Calories from Fat 7

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 0.9g 1%

Saturated Fat 0.1g 1%

Trans Fat ~

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 69mg 3%

Total Carbohydrate 0.5g 0%

Dietary Fiber 0g 1%

Sugars 0.0

Protein 0.1g

Vitamin A 1% Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 1% • Iron 1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find kalamata olives: Kalamata olives are usually found in the condiments section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Kalamata olives are a member of the Fruits and Fruit Juices US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 卡拉马塔橄榄
British (UK) term: Kalamata olives
en français: olives Kalamata
en español: aceitunas Kalamata

How much do kalamata olives weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 tbsp	8 grams
1 large	4 grams
1 small	3 grams

Fruits and Fruit Juices

Apples 1607 Apples, granny smith 280 Apple juice concentrate 68 Apricots 237 Apricots, dried 146 Mixed dried fruit 62 Avocados 441 Bananas 1034 Blackberries 70 Blueberries 462

Recipes using kalamata olives

There are 115 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Best Rosemary-Olive Focaccia

Rosemary olive focaccia with kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and Parmesan. Made fast with frozen bread dough for Italian-bakery results in 60 minutes.

Veggie & Plum Flatbread

Onions, bell peppers and plums are arranged over the bread dough or pizza dough that's brushed with garlic olive oil. It's a cheese free flatbread but still so yummy.

Watermelon, Arugula & Feta Salad

Sweet-juicy watermelon cubes, peppery arugula leaves, salty and creamy feta cheese are tossed with a light balsamic-olive oil vinaigrette. A great summer salad that adds some refresh-ness to your BBQ.

Two Onions, Pineapple & Olive Flatbread

Quick-easy to make, and it tastes delicious. This is a dairy-free flatbread, garlic-infused olive oil is brushed over the bread dough and topped with onions, bell peppers, olives and pineapples that are being seasoned.

Thyme & Olives French Baguette

Thyme and olives make this French bread full of the delicious flavor, great to serve with any kind of stew or soup!

Easy Greek Salad

Takes no time to make, and it comes out tasty and refreshing.

Greek Pasta Salad

A quick, easy and tasty greek style salad that can be made with or without the pasta!

Roasted New Potato Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

Roasted new potatoes are soft on the inside, and crispy on the outside, tossed with a flavorful basil vinaigrette. Serve it with any your favorite main courses. If it's too hot to cook indoor, grill the potatoes over your barbeque instead.

Chopped Mediterranean Salad

A refreshingly delicious chopped Mediterranean salad is also very quick and easy to put together. A great spring or summer salad with your BBQ.

Fresh Fig, Olive Tapenade Pizza with Goat Cheese

Give your pizza a new twist by using fresh figs, olive tapenade and goat cheese. It's delicious, serve it as a main dish or an appetizer.

Summer Greek Salad

A quick, easy and tasty greek style salad that can be made within 20 minutes!

Pineapple, Olives & Artichoke Heart Pizza

Freshly baked pizza makes the entire house full of great smell, that's why we like making pizza at home. This pizza is topped with fresh pineapple cubes, olives, marinated artichoke hearts, and a few fresh veggies. Homemade pizza sauce makes it taste even better.

Greek Brown Rice Salad

A hearty Greek brown rice salad tossing nutty whole-grain rice with tomato, cucumber, feta, kalamata olives, and creamy avocado in a lemony, minty dressing. A fresh Mediterranean grain bowl.

Roasted Root Vegetable Galette with Black Olives

Black olives are mixed into the whole wheat galette dough, different kinds of fresh, seasonal and roasted root vegetables, it is delicious!

Triple Cheese & Zucchini Galette

Too many zucchinis? Try this galette that's made with ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan cheese and zucchini; cheesy and tasty filling is held by a flaky and tasty crust.

Muffelatta Sandwich

This sandwich absolutely deserves 5 star! It was so quick and easy to put together, and it was packed with flavour. We omitted the anchovies, used Swiss cheese, otherwise followed the recipe. If you are looking for a crowd-pleasing sandwich, this is the one!

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.

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

This colorful low fat salad can be enjoyed warm or cold.

Oven-roasted Potatoes with Garlic, Olives, Feta and, Oregano

Crispy golden-brown on the outside, velvety and fluffy on the inside. This technique speeds up cooking and the olives, feta and garlic deliver bursts of flavour.

Meditteranean Chickpea Salad

This is one of my absolute favorite things to make at this time of year. It takes almost no time to prepare, so I’ll whip up a big batch on my day off and then all I have to do when I get home is put it in a bowl or mash it up and put it on toasted bread drizzled with some olive oil. It also makes a great appetizer along with some homemade or store-bought pita chips. Honestly, when serving this as a dip or a spread, I don’t even bother taking out my food processor, I just use the bottom of a glass and mash it a bit.

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.

Delicious Broccoli Flatbread

Spread with a thin layer of tomato sauce or pizza sauce, topped with broccoli florets, olives, mushrooms and a few other veggies. Feel free to add cheddar cheese on top of the sauce before you add the toppings. The cheese-free version tastes delicious as well, without cheese we call it a flatbread.

Cherry Tomato, Mushroom & Olive Pizza

Spread with homemade marinara sauce, sprinkled with mozzarella cheese, and topped with sweet cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, kalamata olives, red bell pepper and onions. This easy pizza will for sure satisfy everyone's appetite, be sure to make enough :-)

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.

Italian Lentil Tortellini Soup

Easy, vegetarian, tortellini soup that's filling and darned tasty. Italian cheese tortellini in a tomato based stock with mushrooms and lentils.

Mediterranean Chard, Feta & Olive Tart

A delicious savory tart, chunks of feta, black olives and herbal crust are delicious together. It can be served as an appetizer or a main dish!

Roasted Asparagus, Cherry Tomatoes with Arugula, Penne & Goat Cheese Salad

Asparagus is one of our favorite spring vegetables. In this recipe, roasting develops tons of deliciousness from both asparagus and cherry tomatoes, then tossed with penne, peppery arugula and creamy goat cheese with a light vinaigrette. Yum!

Cheesy Roasted Vegetable Tart

Fresh fall vegetables: broccoli, fennel and leeks. Or you can use cauliflower, cheesy flavor in the delicate crust with a nice tang from the olive tapenade.

Mediterranean Roasted Cauliflower, Tomato Sauce & Olives with Pasta

I roasted cauliflower with 1 each sliced yellow and red onions, which came out delicious with the nice caramelization. The tomato sauce was so flavorful, olives added some depth. I used parmesan cheese, and it enhanced the overall flavor.

Easy Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Too lazy to cook, but still want something tasty, this Mediterranean pasta salad will fit your need. Pasta is tossed with olive oil, roasted bell peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese and olives.

Black Olive Savory Crust

A savory pie crust studded with chopped kalamata olives, made with whole wheat pastry flour, olive oil, and no butter. Vegan-friendly, flaky, and built for quiches, tarts, and savory galettes.

Roasted Asparagus with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives & Feta

This Mediterranean inspired roasted asparagus dish is packed with great flavour ad textures. Sweet-juicy cherry tomatoes, salty olives, and creamy-salty feta cheese go deliciously well with roasted asparagus.

Broccoli, Olives & Feta Pasta Salad

An Italian style pasta salad with well seasoned pasta and perfectly cooked broccoli.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad With Feta Vinaigrette

A super tasty pasta salad with loads of flavor from the feta cheese, olives, roasted bell peppers and marinated artichoke hearts. A great make-ahead salad that makes leftovers to fight over!

Mediterranean Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad

Mediterranean broccoli and cauliflower salad tosses quickly steamed florets with a lemon-oregano dressing, Kalamata olives, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. A bright, make-ahead side that holds in the fridge for days.

Cherry Tomato, Cucumber, Black Olives & Feta Salad

This Greek stye salad uses quartered cherry tomato, after sitting for half an hour, spin most of the juice out, which makes a not watery salad, then reduce the juice with other spices to create a tangy dressing, and the black olives, cucumbers and feta cheese together create this flavorful, succulent, and refreshing salad.

Artichoke & Baby Arugula Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Marinated artichoke hearts, fresh baby arugula and sweet cherry tomatoes are a delicious combination in a salad, tossed with a light and tasty balsamic vinaigrette, perfectly balanced sweetness and freshness!

Grilled New Potato & Green Bean Salad with Feta & Olives

Grilled new potato, crunchy green beans, feta and olives are tossed with red wine vinaigrette, sprinkling some fresh oregano on top. A light and tasty salad for summer.

Sun-Dried Tomato, Olive & Basil Pesto Flatbread

The other day while we were watching Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen, chefs were making flatbread, basically like pizza, just different shape, which really made my craving for pizza come back to life. Then start making this sun-dried tomato, olive and basil pesto flatbread, and it was so good...

Greek Pizza Mini Muffins

These mini pizza muffins are quick-easy to make, and very tasty. They won't last long, kids and adults gobble them up in record breaking time. Great for a snack and they freeze very well (that is if you can get them into the freezer before someone eats them all!)

Mediterranean Asparagus Shrimp with Pasta

This dish not only pleases your eyes, but also satisfies your palates. It's packed with heart-healthy ingredients, and it tastes refreshingly delicious.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Broccoli & Cherry Tomato

Love this mediterranean style pasta salad! Marinated artichoke hearts, olives, and feta cheese were a delicious combination. The cherry tomatoes and broccoli add the fresh taste, sometimes we add several strips of roasted bell pepper, or freshly sliced mushrooms, or a few coarsely chopped sun-dried tomatoes.