If you think you can pick up a jar at random and just luck upon the best olives, you’re kidding yourself. There are a lot of mealy, flavorless jarred olives out there. We know. We’ve tasted a lot of them. But amongst those disgraceful jars, we’ve also found some of the best tasting olives in our many olive taste tests. Read on to find a curated list of the very best olive brands we’ve found, including green olives, sliced black olives, stuffed olives, and more.
- 365 Organic Green Olives
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Though we tend to prefer big, giant, huge olives (we love olives, what can we say?), there’s still room for small olives in our fridge—especially these small green olives from Whole Foods. They’re a bit milder than some of the other olives on this list, but that makes them some of the best olives for folks who are, perhaps, a little tentative when it comes to pickled, briney flavors. Use these petite pitted green olives in macaroni salad, on pizza, or in a not-too-pungent tapenade.
Read the full ranking of the best green olives
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- Lindsay Organic Sliced Black Olives
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Taco night, here you come, because these sliced black olives are the best olives to pair with crunchy taco shells, seasoned ground beef, and shredded cheese. So many sliced black olives are mushy and bland, but Lindsay’s are so flavorful. They’re nutty and salty and rich. These were far and away the best sliced black olives we tried when we did our black olive taste test.
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- Jeff’s Garden Whole Castelvetrano
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Castelvetrano are some of the best snacking olives, and if your local grocery store doesn’t have an olive bar, then a jar of Jeff’s Garden castelvetrano olives is the way to go. They are firm and crunchy, buttery and nutty. Aside from being great party snacks, they’re also the best olives for cooking. You’ll see them crop up in recipes for roast chicken or pasta, and now you know the best brand to buy.
Read the full ranking of the best green olives
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- Pearls Specialties Blue Cheese Hand Stuffed Queen Olives
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Is your mouth bored? Just try one of these blue cheese stuffed olives. They are pungent and packed with tangy, creamy blue cheese. If you’re super into super Dirty Martinis, then these are the best olives for you, for sure. But they are also some of the best olives for snacking—they’re like a one-bite cheese board.
Read the full ranking of the best Martini olives
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- DeLallo Large Ripe Pitted Black Olives
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These black olives are some of the best tasting olives you can buy. They’re firm and buttery and nutty and just a little bit funky (like all of the best black olives are). They come across as fancy, even though they come from a can. Out of all the black olives we tasted in our black olive taste test, these were the best olives, hands down.
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- Mezzetta Super Colossal Spanish Queen Olives
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Out of all the best olive brands specializing in olives for Martinis, these massive beauties from Mezzetta took the top spot in our Martini olives ranking. These are two-bite olives—they’re that big. They’re stuffed with sweet pimientos, and are both tangy and buttery. That final, gin-soaked olive bite is the best part of any Martini, and these are the best olives for the job.
Read the full ranking of the best Martini olives
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- Mezzetta Garlic Stuffed Olives
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These extremely meaty green olives are some of the best olives for snacking (if you’re partial to garlic, of course, which we are). They’re firm (we hate a soft olive), super briny, salty, and wonderfully garlicky, thanks to that hunk of garlic stuffed where the pit used to be. Throw these onto a charcuterie board, use them to garnish a Bloody Mary, or just eat them straight out of the jar.
Read the full ranking of the best green olives
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
Best Basic Green Olives
Best Sliced Black Olives
Best Castelvetrano
Best Blue Cheese Olives
Best Black Olives
Best Martini Olives
Best Garlic Stuffed
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!