Tapenade substitutes

Pitted olives, capers, anchovy, garlic and olive oil pulsed together in a food processor or chopped by hand.

Best for

crostini, roast fish, chicken, pasta, sandwiches, lamb, eggs

This is the real answer for almost everyone, because the ingredients are pantry staples and the whole thing takes less time than driving to the shop. Use a cup of pitted olives, a tablespoon of drained capers, one anchovy fillet or half a teaspoon of anchovy paste, one small garlic clove and two tablespoons of olive oil, plus a squeeze of lemon. Pulse in short bursts and stop while it is still coarse; blitzed to a puree it becomes pasty and bitter. Kalamata or oil-cured black olives give a rich, winey, slightly sweet version, while green Picholine or Castelvetrano olives give a brighter, firmer, more grassy one.

Pitted olives chopped fine and stirred with olive oil, lemon juice and a little garlic, without capers or anchovy.

Best for

pasta, salads, roast vegetables, sandwiches, grain bowls, fish

Good and what most people end up doing. The difference from proper tapenade is a lack of sharpness and depth: capers add a vinegary tang and anchovy adds savoury weight, and without them the mixture tastes flatter, oilier and more plainly of olive. Close the gap with a splash of the caper brine or pickle juice you have, or a few drops of fish sauce or Worcestershire sauce, both of which do the anchovy's job. Chop by hand rather than in a processor for a better texture.

A jarred paste of sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil and usually garlic and nuts.

Best for

crostini, sandwiches, pasta, baked chicken, pizza, roast fish

The best supermarket swap when olives are simply not an option, because it fills the same role as a concentrated savoury paste with the same spreadable texture. It is noticeably sweeter and more acidic, and it turns the dish red rather than dark green-black, so a tapenade-crusted rack of lamb becomes a distinctly different-looking dish. It is also less salty, so add a good pinch of salt and a few drops of vinegar or lemon to bring it back toward briny.

A stripped-down version that keeps tapenade's savoury and briny core and drops the olives.

Best for

pasta sauces, vinaigrettes, roast lamb, pan sauces for fish, dressings

Choose this when tapenade was going into something rather than onto it. In a pasta sauce or a dressing, what the tapenade was really contributing was salt, umami and a vinegary lift, all of which this delivers directly. As a spread it fails, because there is no bulk and it is far too intense to eat by the spoonful. It is also considerably saltier than tapenade, so remove any other salt from the recipe entirely and taste before adding more.

Jarred Italian-American olive salad or pickled vegetable mix, drained and chopped fine.

Best for

sandwiches, crostini, antipasto plates, pasta salad, pizza

Often sitting in the fridge already and closer than it sounds, since olive salad is essentially chunky tapenade with pickled vegetables added. The differences are more vinegar, more crunch from celery and carrot, and often chilli heat. Drain it thoroughly or it will make bread soggy and thin a sauce. It is much sharper than tapenade, so it works beautifully in a sandwich and less well spread under fish, where the acidity fights a delicate fillet.

Finely chopped mushrooms cooked down in butter with shallot until dark and dry.

Best for

crostini, under roast meat, stuffed chicken, tarts, vegetarian spreads

The olive-free and anchovy-free option, useful for anyone who dislikes olives or is cooking for someone who does. It matches tapenade's dark colour, dense spreadable texture and savoury intensity, and it does the same structural job of adding a concentrated layer of flavour under or inside something. What it does not do is taste briny or acidic at all, so the dish loses tapenade's bright saline snap and becomes earthier and rounder. Add a squeeze of lemon and a little extra salt to compensate.