Published on: February 8, 2023

Last Updated on: February 25, 2025

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!

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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!

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

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.

How to make Slow Cooker Marinated Olives:

Simply add the olives, dried herbs, lemon peel, garlic, spices, and olive oil to the slow cooker.
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.
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.

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.

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