Cream Cheese and Olive Spread is a great one to tide everyone over with sandwiches on a long car ride. It’s creamy, salty, and very addictive for those olive lovers out there. It’s also super-simple to make with only 3 ingredients (plus some of your olive brine). You can also use it as a veggie dip or with crackers, so it’s versatile, too!
This is a recipe I got from my grandma. The first time I tasted a cream cheese and olive sandwich, it was from a cooler in my grandma’s back seat during a road trip to visit family in Mississippi. It was weird-looking to kid-me, but once she told me what was in it, I dug in…and was hooked.
(Yes, I was one of those kids that would eat up all of my mom’s olives and drink pickle juice from the jar!)
It’s not common where I’m from in the south. I have no idea where this recipe was born, so if any of you have this spread as a family recipe, where are you from?
It makes a kick-butt sandwich, but is also great on a thick, hearty cracker, or as a dip for any veggie that would go well with creamy cheese and salty olive flavors.
You can use already sliced “salad olives” but I find that the jar is always more pimiento than olives. I like to slice pimiento-stuffed manzanilla olives, but it would also be delish with purple calamatas or black olives. They don’t have to include pimiento peppers but they MUST be salted in a brine.
INGREDIENTS
- 16 oz. of cream cheese (can use American Neufchatel)
- 1 cup sliced green olives with pimiento
- 3 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
- 3 Tbsp. olive brine
INSTRUCTIONS
- Beat together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and olive brine with a hand mixer until totally incorporated. The mixture should become a spreadable consistency.
- Fold in the sliced olives. That’s it!
NOTES:
For sandwiches: spread a thin layer over your favorite sliced bread.
If you want a saltier spread you can add in more brine. You can loosen up the consistency by adding a little more mayo, or you can add in less or more olives as you desire. You can make it a little spicy by adding in a pinch of cayenne or red pepper flakes. Make it your own family tradition!
Calories139.36
Fat (grams)14.04
Sat. Fat (grams)6.34
Carbs (grams)2.26
Fiber (grams)0.53
Net carbs1.73
Sugar (grams)1.18
Protein (grams)1.94
Sodium (milligrams)337.69
Cholesterol (grams)29.72
