Cream Cheese Olive Dip is a savory dip that is creamy and easy to make, a perfect appetizer for parties, potlucks, or any holiday gatherings. This can be served with toasted bread or sliced baguette, crackers, and seasonal vegetables for dipping.
Don't miss to check out our popular spinach artichoke dip, hummus dip or roasted eggplant dip.
Why you''ll love this recipe?
Easy to make: Cream cheese olive dip or spread is a quick and easy appetizer. It requires few ingredients and is ready in less than 10 minutes.
Make-ahead: You can make cream cheese olive dip or spread ahead and store it in the fridge until you're ready to serve, making it convenient for parties and gatherings.
Delicious flavor: The combination of cream cheese and salty, briny olives in this cream cheese and olive spread creates a flavor explosion in your mouth. Garlic enhances the tangy and savory flavor of this dip, making it even more delicious.
Versatile: This can be served with crackers, pita bread, toasted bread, sliced crusty baguettes, spring and summer, or any seasonal vegetables. You can also make it a cold or hot dip.
Crowd-pleaser: A total crowd-pleaser and classic dip that everyone is going to love.
Ingredients
Olives: Adds a salty and briny flavor to the dip. Depending on your preference, you can use pitted or unpitted green, black, and kalamata olives, thasos olives, and arbequina olives. I have used Pearls® Specialties Pitted Kalamata.
Olive juice / Brine: The brine contains the same salty, briny flavor of the olives, and adding a small amount to the dip brings out the flavor of the olives even more, plus you don't have to add salt.
Olive oil: This makes your dip or spreads richer and more flavorful.
Chilie: Serrano pepper, green chile, or jalapeno can be used if you like your dip spicy.
Black peppercorns: To enhance the flavor.
Cream cheese: This is the base of the dip, which makes your dip creamy and tangy. Make sure the cream cheese is softened.
Garlic cloves: I have used roasted garlic cloves. You can substitute this with garlic powder or add raw garlic for an intense flavor. Adjust to your liking.
Milk: Milk is sometimes added to make your dip smooth and creamier and mellow down the strong flavor of garlic and cream cheese. Adding milk is optional. If you want a very thick dip, simply skip this, and for a thinner dip, you can even add water or lemon juice.
Herbs: Adds freshness to your dip. Add cilantro, parsley, or basil.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Variations
- Based on the olives used, you can name it green olive dip, black olive dip, or kalamata olive dip.
- You can add 20g of olive tapenade if you love the strong olive flavor.
- Add onion or garlic powder if desired.
- You can sprinkle Italian seasoning, greek seasoning.
- Sour cream can be used, or half sour cream and half cream cheese in the recipe.
- Skip the chile, and you can use red pepper flakes or cayenne powder.
Step-by-step instructions
Step1: In a blender or food processor, add olives, olive juice, olive oil, pepper, peppercorns, cream cheese, roasted garlic cloves, and milk(optional, only to thin down if needed) and blend until everything is mixed well and the dip is smooth and creamy.
Step 2: Transfer this to a bowl and garnish with cilantro and chopped olives. Keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use. This also helps develop good flavors and also tastes good when served cold or chilled.
Step 3: Serve with cut vegetables of your choice, garlic naan bread, toasted bread, crusty baguette, or crackers.
Tips
- To roast the garlic, I just crushed them and sauteed it in olive oil till it became golden brown.
- Use any fresh herb of your choice.
- The salt content in olives and brine was sufficient; hence not added any salt.
- The color of the dip varies depending on the type of olives used.
Serving suggestions
- This cream cheese olive dip can be served with pretzels, crackers, crostini, pita, tortilla, or bagel chips.
- Olive bread dip for toasted bread, sliced baguettes, sourdough bread, pita bread, naan bread, avocado flatbread, or any flatbread you choose.
- You can also use it as an olive spread on bread and buns for making burgers, sandwiches, and wraps.
- Serve it with fresh vegetables like carrots, celery, bell peppers, broccoli, and cucumber.
- Add to a charcuterie board.
Recipe FAQs
This dip can be stored in an airtight conatiner for up to 7 days. But it is so addictive and finger-licking good that it won't last long!
Once you have blended all the ingredients and formed a smooth dip, You have to pour it into a baking tray and bake it in the oven until heated. Note that the taste changes completely.
More dip recipes
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Recipe card
Cream Cheese Olive Dip | Olive Spread Recipe
Equipment
- Blender or Food processor
Ingredients
- ½ cup Olives (I have used pitted kalamata, you ca add black or green or combine your favorite olives)
- 1 tablespoon Olive juice or brine
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 Green chile or Serrano or Jalapeno (optional)
- ½ teaspoon Black peppercorns
- 8 oz Cream cheese softened
- 2 to 3 Roasted garlic cloves
- ¼ cup Milk (optional, to thin down dip if needed)
- 2 tablespoon Cilantro or Parsley, chopped
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, add olives, olive juice, olive oil, pepper, peppercorns, cream cheese, roasted garlic cloves, and milk(optional, only to thin down if needed) and blend until everything is mixed well and the dip is smooth and creamy.½ cup Olives, 1 tablespoon Olive juice or brine, 2 tablespoon Olive oil, 1 Green chile or Serrano or Jalapeno (optional), ½ teaspoon Black peppercorns, 8 oz Cream cheese softened, 2 to 3 Roasted garlic cloves, ¼ cup Milk
- Transfer this to a bowl and garnish with cilantro and chopped olives.2 tablespoon Cilantro or Parsley, chopped
- Keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use. This also helps develop good flavors and also tastes good when served cold or chilled.
- Serve with cut vegetables of your choice, toasted bread, crusty baguette, or crackers.
Notes
- To roast the garlic, I just crushed them and sauteed it in olive oil till it became golden brown.
- Use any fresh herb of your choice.
- The salt content in olives and brine was sufficient; hence not added any salt.
- The color of the dip varies depending on the type of olives used.
- Adding milk is optional. If you want a very thick dip, simply skip this, and for a thinner dip, you can even add water or lemon juice.
Tina
I love olives. I usually snack on them, since they satisfy my cravings for salty & sour but healthy, I snack without the guilt. I'm going to have to try this, it's so pretty:)
Cathleen
This looks awesome! I love that you added olives in the dip. I am obsessed with olives!