Cream cheese and Olives is a retro recipe that folks LOVE! Cool cream cheese, mixed with chopped olives makes a savory dip with fresh veggies or a delectable spread for thinly sliced bread. One taste of this classic recipe and you’ll be hooked.
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Growing up in a southern family there was always homemade pimento cheese in the fridge. About every other week or so, this deliciously cool and refreshing dip would show up. The best cream cheese and olives EVER came from My Aunt Geraldine. Her spread was smooth, creamy with the olives chopped to just the perfect size. Sometimes she served it with crunchy celery sticks, other times she slathered it on white, crustless bread cut into little triangles.
This recipe comes together in no time with just a few ingredients. I’m sharing my version of the original cream cheese and olives but there are great ways to give it a modern twist. Starting with the basic recipe, you could add chopped pecans, black olives, blue cheese or fresh herbs. It’s good no matter how you make it, so, get creative then grab some crunchy veggies and you’ve got a great appetizer in minutes. Sometimes, going old school is just what you need…
People Often Ask…
Yes, absolutely! This dip is best served cold or chilled so you can totally make it ahead of time and then store it in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
More Recipes To Try…
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 8 oz block of cream cheese – room temperature
- ½ cup green olives with pimento – chopped
- 2 tablespoons brine/juice from green olive jar
- ¼ teaspoon (or more) Texas Pete or your favorite hot sauce
Instructions
- Drain green olives with pimentos, saving juice then coarsely chop.
- In a food processor or blender, add cream cheese, brine and hot sauce and blend until smooth.
- Fold in chopped olives & pimentos.
- Taste for seasoning.
- Serve with celery sticks or as a sandwich.
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karen vanderlaan
Jeff smith did a variation on this with Green olives and hazel nuts but i cannot find it-can you help?
Tammy
I love cream cheese and olives so this is perfection! I make something similar- cream cheese, minced black olives, green onions and hot sauce blended together. Then I spread it on flour tortilla, roll up and cut into bite size appetizers. They disappear very quickly at parties!
Donya
Hey there Tammy!
Thank you so much for your support and for sharing your twist on this recipe, I definitely need to give that a try! If you enjoyed this recipe, you should check out my Pepper Jelly and Cream Cheese Appetizer, it’s super simple to prepare and great for holiday entertaining. Let me know if you ever have any questions about a recipe, I’d be more than happy to help!
~Donya