This savory Olive Bread is an easy baked quick bread, perfectly delicious on its own or great served with tuna salad or tomato soup!
Easy Olive Bread
This olive bread is an easy and tasty quick bread made with buttermilk, Parmesan cheese, and Spanish olives. It bakes up moist and tender with a golden crust.
A slice of this bread is delicious on its own, but even better with a little swipe of butter! We also love it as bread for tuna sandwiches or dipped in tomato soup when it’s chilly outside, or even in place of dinner rolls to complete a meal.
Ingredients Needed
Here is what’s included in this olive bread recipe:
(Scroll below for the printable recipe card and measurements)
- Spanish queen pimiento stuffed olives – The star of this bread! These are large in size, with a tangy, nutty taste and smooth texture. They should be finely chopped.
- Onion – Olives and onion love one another, so they’re a great addition to this bread. They are finely diced and get sautéed in butter before being added to the batter.
- Buttermilk – Provides richness, a little tang, and ensures a tender crumb.
- Butter – Used to sauté the onion and also part of the batter for richness and necessary moisture.
- Eggs – These provide the batter with structure.
- Flour – All purpose flour, spooned and leveled for accurate measuring.
- Baking powder and baking soda – Leavening agents that give the bread lift and provide a soft texture.
- Seasonings – Salt and dried Italian herbs season the bread.
- Parmesan cheese – Freshly grated off the block, if possible, for best flavor.
How to Make Olive Bread
This is a quick bread recipe, so there’s no kneading or rising. It comes together easily and fast.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Prepare a loaf pan. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang on two sides.
- Cook the onions. Sauté the onions in a bit of butter until soft and translucent.
- Make the batter. Whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, cooked onions, and chopped olives. Then stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, Italian herbs, and Parmesan until incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Fill the loaf pan. Add the batter evenly to the prepared pan.
- Bake. Bake at 350F for 40 to 45 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Cool, Slice, and Serve. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan. Slice and serve on its own, or with a slab of butter!
Serving Suggestions
This bread is great on its own or with a slab of butter. It’s also great used as bread for a tuna melt or dipped in tomato soup, or even instead of dinner rolls to complete a meal.
Proper Storage
Like most bread, this olive bread is best served fresh, but can be stored. Wrap in foil and then transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Will keep on the countertop for up to 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to 7 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. (Thaw in the fridge overnight and bring to room temperature, if preferred, before serving.) You can also heat individual slices in the microwave for a few seconds or in the toaster.
More Olive Recipes:
- Olive Cheese Bread
- Olive Tapenade
- Marinated Olives
- Olive Salad
- Olive Spread (just 2 ingredients)
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Olive Bread
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 medium sweet onion , diced
- 2 cups all-purpose flour , spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
- 2 large eggs
- 11 large Queens Spanish pimiento stuffed Olives , diced (about 1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang on two sides.
- Heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high in a nonstick skillet. Sauté onions until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, Italian herbs, and Parmesan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, onions, and olives until combined. Add wet mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until moist and incorporated. (Do not over mix.)
- Transfer batter to the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden and a tooth pick (or long skewer) inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board. Slice warm or at room temperature and enjoy!
Love these recipes!!
What would I need to do to make this in a Dutch oven?
Hi John – I’ve never tested this recipe other than baking it in a loaf pan, so I can’t say, sorry!
Just made this, and it’s delicious!!! Thanks for sharing!
Made this tonight and we all loved it!
This was wonderful. I served it with scrambled eggs for breakfast!
I love quick bread and your version with olives sounds really flavorful! I could go for a couple slices right now.
I find myself strangely obsessed with savory baked goods these days….maybe it’s a new year’s thing? Anyway, this quickbread must be made. Perfect for some soup dunking!
Sounds SO good, can’t wait to try this!
This recipe ROCKS with me. It’s a lot cheaper than bakery too. I added a touch of fresh chopped rosemary.
This looks wonderful. I love green olives
I absolutely love this recipe! I’ve made it THREE times. My mouth is waetring just thinking about it!
I love anything with olives! This looks awesome and I’m so hungry right now that I can practically taste it. Send me a slice!
I love olive bread!!! We always look for the ones with kalamatas but now I”m craving Spanish olives! And God bless you for not using yeast.. lol.
My husband is a huge olive lover so I made this for him… he went crazy for it!
My whole family loves olives. This bread lasted 5.67 seconds in my house. I barely even got a slice! Guess I’ll need to make another loaf. GREAT recipe!
SAME.
OMG – I am addicted to olives, as in I have a jar open at all times. They are my favorite snack, along with bread and cheese, so this bread is going to be my new years diet downfall for sure
This was awesome!!
This was my first time making a savory quick bread and it was fabulous! My family loves olives, so I knew they’d love this.