Enjoy the bold flavors of this quick and easy Olive Cheese Bread recipe, perfect for a brunch menu, lunch, or anytime snack.
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Why I Love This Recipe
- With quick prep time and a brief 15-minute total cook time, this cheesy olive bread is an easy-to-whip-up snack, finger food, or picnic sandwich.
- Versatile ingredients – you can make this sandwich vegetarian or with your choice of deli meats.
- Instead of a typical olive tapenade, this sandwich uses an easy-to-make olive paste with cream cheese for a softer, creamier olive flavor.
Ingredients
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements and notes.
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Olive Paste: Try different varieties of olives, such as Kalamata, green olives, or a mix for varied flavors.
- Cheese: Substitute mozzarella with provolone, cheddar, emmental, gruyère, or your favorite melting cheese. Feta is also a good cheese for this recipe, especially if you want to serve it cold – crostini style.
- Bread: Try different types of bread like ciabatta, sourdough, or whole-grain baguettes for different textures and tastes. Use smaller crostini for a bruschetta-style olive bread. This is a great picnic finger food recipe served hot or cold.
- Meat Swap: Swap turkey fillet with bacon strips, ham, or grilled chicken slices.
- Vegetarian Version: For a vegetarian version, omit the meat and have straight cheese and olive paste.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Clean the pits from the olives –If using pitted olives, skip this step.
Place the pitted olives in the bowl of the food processor. Add garlic and cream cheese.
Step 2: Blend until the mixture has a smooth consistency. Add chopped parsley and stir well. Set aside.
Step 3: Cut the baguettes in half.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half or slice them if they are large and cut the green pepper into small pieces
Step 4: Spread each baguette half with a good layer of olive paste.
Step 5: *Optional: Layer with thin slices of turkey meat (or other deli meat). If you want vegetarian olive cheese bread, skip this step.
Step 6: Place the baguettes in a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover each baguette half with shredded mozzarella and top with cherry tomatoes and diced peppers.
Step 7: Bake in the oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Finish the cheese under the broiler for a minute or two to ensure the cheese is well melted. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Preparing the olive paste in advance can enhance the flavors as it allows time for the ingredients to meld. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
While a food processor makes the process quicker, you can finely chop the olives and garlic and mix them with softened cream cheese for a similar result.
It’s not recommended to freeze the assembled bread, as the texture of the vegetables and cheese will change when thawed. However, you can freeze the olive paste separately and assemble fresh sandwiches when the olive paste has thawed.
Expert Tips
- Perfectly Melted Cheese: To ensure the mozzarella is perfectly melted, finish under the broiler briefly at the end of baking.
- Serve as a side dish: This bread is a great side dish for salads and especially for soups—a great alternative to straight bread for a picnic soup menu.
- Use Excess Olive Paste: If you have any leftover olive paste, store it in an airtight container in the fridge and use it as a dip with crackers. It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Serve it hot or cold: This bread can be served hot or cold, although I prefer it warm. You can see my tips for keeping food warm for the best results if serving it at a picnic.
Food Safety Tip: Be mindful of food safety if transporting this dish for consumption later at a party or picnic. Melted cheese can spoil faster due to increased exposure, high temperatures during melting, and moisture retention, creating favorable conditions for bacterial growth.
Related Recipes & Picnic Ideas
Did you try this Olive Cheese Bread?
Please leave me a ⭐ rating below and let me know in the comments how you enjoyed it.
Olive Cheese Bread with (or without) Turkey
Ingredients
- 2 Mini French Baguettes - Or bread of your choice.
- 1½ cup Olives - You can use pitted olives
- ¾ cup Cream cheese
- 1 Garlic clove
- Salt to taste
- 2 sprigs Fresh parsley - For olive paste and garnish.
- 12 slices Turkey fillet - Optional – You can use any deli meat or omit for vegetarian version.
- ½ cup Mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup Cherry tomatoes - cut in half
- 1 Green pepper - cut into small pieces
Instructions
- Clean the pits from the olives –If using pitted olives, skip this step.
- Place the pitted olives in the bowl of the food processor. Add garlic and cream cheese.
- Blend until the mixture has a smooth consistency. Add parsley and stir well. Set aside.
- Cut the baguettes in half.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half or slice them if they are large and cut the green pepper into small pieces.
- Spread each baguette part with a good layer of olive paste.
- *Optional: Layer with thin slices of turkey meat (or other deli meat). If you want vegetarian olive cheese bread, skip this step.
- Place the baguettes in a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover each baguette half with shredded mozzarella and top with cheery tomatoes and diced peppers.
- Bake in the oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Finish the cheese under the broiler for a further minute to ensure the cheese is well melted. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Notes
- Olive Paste: Try different varieties of olives, such as Kalamata, green olives, or a mix for varied flavors.
- Cheese: Substitute mozzarella with provolone, cheddar, emmental, gruyère, or your favorite melting cheese. Feta is also a good cheese for this recipe, especially if you want to serve it cold – crostini style.
- Bread: Try different types of bread like ciabatta, sourdough, or whole-grain baguettes for unique textures and tastes. Use smaller crostini for a bruschetta-style olive bread. This is a great picnic finger food recipe served hot or cold.
- Meat Swap: Swap turkey fillet with bacon strips, ham, or grilled chicken slices.
- Vegetarian Version: For a vegetarian version, omit the meat and have straight cheese and olive paste.
- Perfectly Melted Cheese: To ensure the mozzarella is perfectly melted, finish under the broiler briefly at the end of baking.
- Serve as a side dish: This bread is a great side dish for salads and especially for soups—a great alternative to straight bread for a picnic soup menu.
- Use Excess Olive Paste: If you have any leftover olive paste, store it in an airtight container in the fridge and use it as a dip with crackers. It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Serve it hot or cold: This bread can be served hot or cold, although I prefer it warm. You can see my tips for keeping food warm for the best results if serving it at a picnic.
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