Tapenade substitute

Substitutes for Tapenade with ratios

1. 2Chopped Olives with Olive Oil and Lemon

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

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

   What changes

   Best for

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

   Perfectly 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.

2. 3Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto or Tomato Tapenade

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

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

   What changes

   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.

3. 4Anchovy Paste plus Chopped Capers

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 teaspoon anchovy paste plus 1 tablespoon chopped capers for every 2 tablespoons tapenade

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

   What changes

   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.

4. 5Muffuletta Olive Salad or Giardiniera, Drained and Chopped

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by volume, drained well

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

   What changes

   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.

5. 6Mushroom Duxelles or Mushroom Pate

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

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

   What changes

   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.