This vibrant green Kale Tapenade is a plant-based twist on a French classic spread. Made with capers, green olives, pine nuts, olive oil, and garlic, this is a rich, salty, and bold savory spread. Serve on a toasted baguette or crostini for a flavor-packed appetizer.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Plant-Based Twist: A vegan version of the classic French tapenade, using nutrient-rich kale.
- Quick and Easy: Ready in just 15 minutes, perfect for a quick appetizer.
- Bold and Flavorful: Packed with rich, salty, and savory flavors from capers, green olives, and pine nuts.
- Versatile: Serve on toasted baguette, crostini, or use as a spread for sandwiches and wraps.
Ingredients
You’ll only need seven ingredients to make this tapenade. Here’s a shopping list of what you’ll need:
- Kale leaves
- Green olives
- Pine nuts
- Garlic
- Capers
- Olive oil
- Lemon
Specific quantities can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
How to Make This Recipe
Step One: Prep the kale leaves by removing the stems and roughly chopping the leaves.
Step Two: Toast the pine nuts – this brings out their rich, nutty flavor. Combine all ingredients in a high-powered blender.
Step Three: Pulse until the tapenade is chopped and well combined. Adjust texture to your preference by pulsing more or less. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
Step Four: Serve on toasted baguette or crostini.
For detailed measurements and instructions, check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Equipment
To make this kale tapenade, I recommend using a high-powered blender like a NutriBullet or Vitamix. I own both and think they are great. The Nutribullet is my everyday blender – it’s compact, easy to clean, and very powerful for such an affordable price point. The only downside of the Nutribullet is that it can only be used to blend cold or room temperature ingredients. You can’t blend hot ingredients as there is nowhere for the steam to escape, it can explode. The Vitamix is an investment appliance with a much higher price tag. However it’s ideal for larger quantities, offers more control with adjustable speed settings and can be used for both hot and cold ingredients.
As an alternative, you can also use a food processor. The tapenade will be chunkier in texture, but that can also be very tasty. If you’re looking to buy a food processor, I highly recommend the Breville Sous Chef Pro. It’s powerful, large and has every attachment you could need. I’ve been using mine for over 10 years and it is still working perfectly.
Substitutions and Variations
- Kale: Spinach or arugula can be used for a different green base.
- Pine Nuts: Substitute with walnuts, almonds, or cashews.
- Green Olives: You can use any kind of olive you prefer, however a non-green variety will give the tapenade a mottled green-brown look. It still tastes delicious though, the team at CERES Fair Food recreated my recipe with Kalamata olives with great success.
- Garlic: If you’re sensitive to garlic, you can omit it entirely or use a drizzle of garlic infused oil.
Expert Tip
To prevent the tapenade from oxidizing and turning brown, press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the tapenade before sealing it in an airtight container. This will help keep the color more vibrant.
Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. I don’t recommend freezing as tapenade is best fresh – the texture and flavor will be gluggy and unappealing after thawing. Don’t do it!
FAQs
Yes, spinach or arugula can be used as alternatives to kale.
Walnuts, almonds, or sunflower seeds are great substitutes.
You can use any olive you’d like, however the color of the tapenade will be less vibrant will have a mottled black or brown appearance look. It will still be tasty though!
A food processor works well too. You might need to pulse a bit longer to reach the desired texture.
It can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. I don’t recommend freezing.
Serving Suggestions
- Garnish: Top with a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts or chopped fresh herbs.
- Bread: Serve on toasted baguette, crostini, or use as a dip for crackers. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, try making your own from scratch – I’ve got a detailed beginner’s sourdough guide to make it as simple as possible.
- Sandwich Spread: Use as a spread in sandwiches and wraps for an extra flavor punch.
- Veggies: Serve alongside fresh vegetable sticks for a healthy appetizer.
More Appetizer Recipes
- Basil Pesto: My vegan version of the classic Italian dip only takes 5 minutes to make and is fresh, rich and delicious. I guarantee you won’t miss the parmesan.
- Mushroom Pate: Even if you’re not vegetarian, there are very few folks that are up for making their own meat-based pate from scratch. This mushroom version is seriously savory and creamy, but simple to make and no animal products required.
- Hummus Potatoes: These are my lazy-girl version of patatas bravas. Crispy potatoes cooked in the air fryer are topped with a smoky-spicy hummus dip.
- Italian Olive Oil Bread Dip: The easiest way to turn a loaf of bread into something special. It’s garlicky, herby, and perfect for dipping – just mix everything together and serve with warm crusty bread.
Video – Watch Me Make This Recipe
Kale Tapenade is such a delicious but easy appetizer that feels very fancy and looks so colorful served on crostini. It’s also great as a flavor booster for sandwiches and salads. I’d love to know what you think of this recipe – please feel free to leave a star rating and review below 🙂 you can also post on Instagram and tag me there – I am @glowdiaries___
Kale Tapenade
Equipment
- High powered blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups kale leaves packed; stems removed; approx. 85g
- ½ cup green olives pitted; approx. 71g
- ¼ cup pine nuts toasted; approx. 36g
- 2 cloves garlic peeled; approx. 6g total
- 2 tbsp capers drained; approx. 18g
- ¼ cup olive oil extra virgin; approx. 50g
- 1 medium lemon juiced; approx. 2–3 tbsp or 30–45ml juice
- ⅛ tsp salt or to taste
- ⅛ tsp black pepper or to taste; freshly ground if possible
Instructions
- Add the kale, olives, pine nuts, garlic, capers, olive oil, and lemon juice to a high-powered blender or food processor.
- Pulse until combined. You can keep it chunky or blend longer for a smoother spread—up to you!
- Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
- Serve on toasted baguette slices or crostini.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Liz Douglas says
An easy, rich and salty appetiser that can double as a condiment for pasta, a stir-through for hummus or soup to seriously dial up the flavour.
Umair says
Absolutely delicious, hit the mark perfectly.
sarah says
Savory delight, absolutely loved it!
Hong Nguyen says
One of the yummiest things I’ve made. Thanks for all the recipes and inspiration.
Sharon says
Yes! This was absolutely delicious. I’ve made basil/kale pesto a thousand times, but never thought of adding olives or capers. Great discovery 👍🏽❤️