Marinated Cheese & Olive Antipasto

Cubes of cheese, green & black olives, crunchy red bell pepper, and pepperoncini peppers all marinated in a flavorful, herbaceous dressing make Marinated Cheese & Olive Antipasto the perfect addition to your parties, potlucks, and holiday get togethers.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

If you like cheese, briny things like olives, or capers, and pickled veggies, you’re going to love this Marinated Cheese & Olive Antipasto recipe! 

This delicious appetizer brings all the good things together into one scrumptious bowl of goodies! 

It’s kind of like all the best things in a pasta salad, but without the pasta! Plus, everything’s more fun to eat on a toothpick!

Ingredients needed for this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):

• Olives – green olives & black olives
• Pepperoncini peppers
• Red bell pepper
• Cubed cheese – cheddar, pepper jack, Swiss all work great
• Olive oil
• Red wine vinegar
• Seasonings (garlic powder, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, dried basil, pepper)

I made this antipasto with extra sharp cheddar cheese, but you could use any kind that you like.  Swiss, Colby, mozzarella, pepper jack, and white cheddar are also great options. 

Using both black olives and pimiento-stuffed green olives make an excellent duo because the green olives are salty and briny, where the black ones are more mild flavored.  Plus, the contrast is pretty!  

The homemade herbed vinaigrette is what brings this all together! 

The combination of everything creamy, salty, and tangy all marinated together in the tangy dressing creates a wonderful symphony of flavors.

How to serve Marinated Cheese & Olive Antipasto:

• You could serve it in a big bowl with a slotted spoon and let people serve themselves.
• It’s gorgeous spread out over a platter.  Serve it with toothpicks nearby.
• Use bamboo skewers to make little antipasto kabobs.  They make a beautiful and colorful presentation!
• You could portion everything out into little grab-and-go cups.

Looking for more appetizer recipes?  Here are some favorites:

• Cheesy Baked Spicy Italian Dip 
• Sausage Stuffed Sweet Mini Peppers (shown below)
• Jalapeno Bacon Swiss Cheese Ball
• Harissa Garlic Hummus with Toasted Za’atar Pita Chips
• Goat Cheese Crostini with Balsamic Grape Tomatoes
• Cheddar Jalapeno Taco Cheese Ball

This antipasto recipe would be a fantastic addition to your holiday parties, football games, baby showers, or potlucks! 

Feel free to make this recipe your own by customizing it with your own additions. Salami, artichoke hearts, etc. would be great!

Marinated Cheese & Olive Antipasto

Kaylen

Cubes of cheese, green & black olives, crunchy red bell pepper, and pepperoncini peppers all marinated in a flavorful, herbaceous dressing make Marinated Cheese & Olive Antipasto the perfect addition to your parties, potlucks, and holiday get togethers.

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 0 minutes mins

Marinate 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine Italian

Servings 10

Equipment

• small bowl or Mason jar
• large bowl

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• pinch black pepper
• 6 ounce can medium whole black olives drained
• 7 ounce jar medium piminto-stuffed green olives drained
• 12 ounce jar whole pepperoncini peppers drained
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 8 ounce block of cheddar cubed

Instructions

 

• First, make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl or mason jar, add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, oregano, red pepper flakes, basil, and pepper. Stir in a bowl or shake mason jar until combined and set aside.
• To a large bowl, add the black olives, green olives, pepperoncini, red bell pepper, and cheese. Pour the vinaigrette over everything in the bowl and stir until everything is coated. Marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours, stirring every now and then to make sure everything is well-coated. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

• Feel free to use your favorite cheese.  I like cheddar because its sharpness complements the tangy olives and peppers, but pepper jack, Swiss, and Monterey jack would be great too.
• If desired, you could add salami, artichoke hearts, or mini mozzarella balls, but you may need to make more dressing to coat the extra ingredients.
• Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge and use within 2-3 days.

Keyword Cheese, Olives, Vegetarian

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!