Green Olives vs. Black Olives: Uses for Green and Black Olives

Green olives are the unripe fruit of olive trees. They get their characteristic flavor from soaking a lye solution before brining. This process is necessary for removing the naturally bitter taste of raw olives. Green olives are packed with antioxidants and healthy fats. They contain high levels of vitamin A and E. There are several varieties of green olive that you can easily find in a grocery store. Green olives are usually pitted but can also be stuffed with pimentos, cheese, jalapenos, capers, onions, anchovies, or nuts. Common green olive varieties include Manzanilla, Picholine, and Cerignola.

Green olives have a high sodium content, which means they have a salty, savory flavor that has numerous culinary uses. You can enjoy green olives on their own, toss them in a salad or pasta, make them into a tapenade, or use them as a garnish for martinis.

Black olives are the ripe fruits of olive trees. Ripe olives turn from green to a dark color ranging anywhere from light brown to a deep black color. After they're harvested, the ripe olives undergo a curing process that can turn them even darker. Just like their green counterparts, black olives are high in monounsaturated fats, calcium, and potassium. They also contain high levels of vitamin E and A.

There are several common types of black olives. Kalamata olives (named after the city of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese, Greece) are Greek olives that have a mild flavor and purple-brown hue. Another popular variety is the Italian Gaeta olive. Gaetas are easily confused for Kalamatas as they look similar in both color and shape; however, they tend to have an even milder flavor.

You can enjoy black olives on their own as a snack or appetizer. They also make an excellent addition to charcuterie boards and cheese plates. They're a common pizza topping and lend a salty, tangy flavor to salads and pasta recipes.

There are several key factors that make black and green olives unique.

• Color: Just as their names imply, green olives are green and black olives are black. However, these monikers fail to capture the diversity of color that exists among different types of green and black olives. Some green olives can appear more yellow than green, and some black olives have more of a purple or brown hue.
• Flavor: Green olives tend to have more sodium and are therefore saltier than black olives. Green olives also tend to have a tangier, more bitter flavor than black olives.
• Ripeness: Green olives are harvested before they're fully ripe. Black olives ripen before they're harvested.
• Processing: Green olives undergo a fermentation process that involves soaking in a lye solution before being cured in a salt brine. Ripe olives skip the fermentation step and are cured right away.
• Nutritional value: Both green olives and black olives are nutritious, but if you're looking for the healthiest olive option, green wins by a narrow margin. The reason is that green olives tend to be higher in polyphenols (antioxidants with anti-inflammatory benefits) than black olives.

The flavor differences between green olives and black olives make it difficult to use them interchangeably. If serving olives fresh as a snack or appetizer, you can substitute green olives for black olives. However, if a recipe calls for a specific kind of olive, it's likely factoring in the specific flavor profile of that olive. If you must substitute black olives for green olives, try to cook them for less time so they retain more of their flavor. Green olives can be cooked down to reduce some of their bitterness, but be sure to adjust the salt in your dish to account for the saltiness of green olives.

Become a better chef with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Yotam Ottolenghi, Gabriela Cámara, Chef Thomas Keller, Dominique Ansel, Gordon Ramsay, Alice Waters, and more.