Slow Cooker Marinated Olives

Made with fresh garlic, herbs, lemon peel, and a variety of olives, this Slow Cooker Marinated Olives recipe is sure to be a hit with your guests!  Simply toss everything in the slow cooker and you’ll have an easy and delicious appetizer that’s perfect for entertaining! 

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

White bowl with Slow Cooker Marinated Olives ready for serving.

If just thinking about Slow Cooker Marinated Olives made with briny olives combined with garlic, lemon, and dried herbs makes your taste buds sing, welcome, you’re in the right place. 

We love pickles, olives, and other vinegary/brined stuff so much, it takes up the entire top shelf of my fridge!    

Some backstory on the origination of these olives – I used to buy marinated olives at Trader Joe’s. 

They tasted good, but the texture of the olives were a little mushy.  Also, those pouches of olives get pricey for how little you get. 

Solution?  I started making them myself and now there’s no turning back! 

These flavorful olives are not only SUPER easy to make, they are better than the Trader Joe’s version!  

The marinated olives are full of flavor from garlic, lemon peel, crushed red pepper flakes, and dried herbs.

If you love olives, check out Slow Cooker Chicken Provencal!  It’s for olive lovers!

A slow cooker full of three types of olives to make Slow Cooker Marinated Olives.

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

  • Olives – I like to use a variety (Castelvetrano, Kalamata, Manzanilla)
  • Lemons
  • Olive oil
  • Garlic
  • Crushed red pepper flakes
  • Herbs – dried thyme, dried oregano, bay leaf

All of the ingredients to make Slow Cooker Marinated Olives in the slow cooker, before they've cooked.

What kind of olives should I use?

I used a combination of olives because they each have their own flavor, texture, and uniqueness. 

  • Kalamata olives are more on the salty/briny side. 
  • Pimento-stuffed manzanilla olives are great all-purpose, small green olives.
  • Castelvetrano olives are large with a mild, buttery flavor and a more firm texture.
  • Olives with pits in them provide a better textured olive.  Olives without their pits tend to be softer and sometimes, mushy.

Slow Cooker full of Marinated Olives

How to make Slow Cooker Marinated Olives:

  1. Simply add the olives, dried herbs, lemon peel, garlic, spices, and olive oil to the slow cooker. 
  2. Stir everything and put the lid on.  That’s it!  After a couple hours, your house will smell delicious and your olives will be so full of flavor.
  3. If you want to serve them warm (my favorite), turn your slow cooker to the warm setting and your guests can serve themselves.

📍This is just a summary.  The full recipe with exact ingredient amounts and instructions is on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Pretty oval bowl filled with Slow Cooker Marinated Olives, ready for serving.

How to serve marinated olives?

You can serve these flavorful olives warm, cold, or at room temperature, but my favorite way to eat them is warm right out of the slow cooker! 

Some great ways to serve these irresistible olives:

  • On cheese boards, antipasto platters, or mezze.
  • Alongside your favorite Mediterranean meals.
  • In a bloody Mary!
  • Great for holidays or parties where guests can serve themselves from the slow cooker.
  • Healthy snack that can be portioned for meal prepping.
  • Perfect addition to a picnic!

A similar, but cold appetizer, Marinated Cheese & Olive Antipasto, is another fan favorite for parties and holidays! 

How long are marinated olives good for?

Keep leftover olives in an air-tight container in the fridge and use within a week.

Up close photo of Slow Cooker Marinated Olives.

Flavorful Eats is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

White bowl with Slow Cooker Marinated Olives

Slow Cooker Marinated Olives

Flavorful Eats
Made with fresh garlic, herbs, lemon peel, and a variety of olives, this Slow Cooker Marinated Olives recipe is sure to be a hit with your guests!  Simply toss everything in the slow cooker and you'll have an easy and delicious appetizer that's perfect for entertaining! 
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
0 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 10

Equipment

  • 4-5 quart slow cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup pimento-stuffed manzanilla olives
  • 1 cup kalamata olives
  • 1 cup Castelvetrano olives
  • 5 whole garlic cloves
  • 1 peel of 1 lemon
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 1 tsp. dried thyme rolled in hands to "wake it up"
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Place all ingredients in the slow cooker and stir to combine. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 2 hours.
  • Feel free to turn slow cooker to the "warm" setting with lid on or off so guests can serve themselves. Can also be served cold or room temperature. Enjoy!

Notes

NOTES:
  • I used kalamata, manzanilla, and Castelvetrano olives, but feel free to use your favorite olives in this recipe. 
  • If you don't like spicy foods, feel free to omit the crushed red pepper flakes.
  • Store in fridge and use within a week.
Keyword Garlic, Lemon, Olives, Vegan, Vegetarian
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Did you make this recipe?  Rate it and let me know in the comments below!  

I also have a fun Facebook group for us foodies to share recipes and talk about food.  I’d love to have you!  Request to join HERE.  Cheers!



1 thought on “Slow Cooker Marinated Olives”

  • 5 stars
    I have made these a couple of times for Thanksgiving and Christmas and they were gone by the end of the day…they are delicious!!

5 from 3 votes (2 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating