Crispy Cheddar Rosemary Beer Battered Olives
Posted on: September 7, 2022. Updated on: July 12, 2023.
by Carolina Gelen
This recipe was inspired by one of my most recent thrift finds: an olive bowl! A small bowl, painted to look like an olive. The moment I put it in my cart, I knew exactly what recipe I’ll be including it in.
These crispy fried olives are stuffed with sharp cheddar, and covered in a light, airy beer batter. Serve them fresh with cayenne on top for a nice kick, and some salty fried rosemary leaves.
Don’t have any beer in the house? No problem, sparkling water is a great substitute for beer in this scenario.
Crispy Cheddar Rosemary Beer Battered Olives
Servings: 2
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 8 minutes
Ingredients
Olives
- 226 g (8 oz) green olives, pitted
- 50 g (1.7 oz) sharp cheddar cheese
- 20 g (1/8 cup) all-purpose flour
Batter
- 74 g (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
- 32 g (1/4 cup) cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped (about 1 sprig), plus more sprigs for frying
- 105 g (1/2 cup) light beer or sparkling water, plus more as needed
- A pinch of salt
- Neutral oil for frying
- Cayenne, for dusting
Dipping Sauce
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives, or scallions
- 59 g (1/4 cup) Greek yogurt
- 57 g (1/4 cup) mayonnaise
- The juice of 1/2 small lime, about 1 tablespoon
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
- Crumble or slice the cheese into smaller pieces. Take a piece of cheese and gently push it in inside the olive to stuff it. Add 1/8 cup of flour over the olives, and toss to coat.
- For the batter, add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, black pepper, and chopped rosemary to a mixing bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients, then pour in the beer. Whisk until combined, but don’t overmix, a few lumps are fine. The mixture should have the consistency of pancake batter. If it’s too thick, don’t hesitate to add more water or beer.
- Add the neutral oil to a medium pot or saucepan over medium heat. Add enough oil to the pot to create a 2-inch or 5-cm deep oil bath. Heat until the oil temperature reaches 375°F or 190°C.
- Dip each olive in the batter, then gently place it in the hot oil. Repeat with remaining olives. Don’t overcrowd the pot, fry the olives in a couple of batches. Fry for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden, flipping halfway through. Lower the heat as needed. Remove the olives from the oil, and place them over a cooling rack, lined with paper towels to drain the excess oil.
- Optionally, fry some rosemary sprigs for a nice herby, crunchy topping. Remove the leaves from the main stem and gently lower them in oil. Careful, they will start sizzling right away. Fry for 15 to 30 seconds and set aside.
- For the dipping sauce, mix all dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl.
- Top the fried olives with a dusting of cayenne, a sprinkle of salt, and fried rosemary leaves. Serve right away.
What type of olives do you prefer for this?
I used castelvetrano olives for this recipe, but any meaty, green olive will do the job 🙂
You are genius. I’m so doing this.
Yayyy, keep me posted, let me know how they turn out!
Very nice.
I appreciate that!
Any tips for making ahead? And if so, how far ahead before serving to guests?
For reference, they’ll stay crispy for 10 to 15 minutes after frying, but I highly encourage you serving them fresh. I would prepare the dipping sauce, stuff the olives with cheese, toss them in flour, prepare the batter and heat the oil bath as I’m waiting for the guests to arrive. Once the guests get there, get straight to frying them and serve them right away 🙂
OOOOh mY I can’t wait to try these!
Yayyyy
Wow! These are amazing! We couldn’t stop eating them. Thank you so much for sharing!
That makes me so happy! Thank you for the feedback, Nikki 🙂
I made this last night and OMG I am in love. Thanks for this one.
Hi Carolina! Found you on TikTok and these look to die for! I’m not able to see the recipe on your website, can it be found anywhere else?
Hi Holland,
I’m so happy you found me. My website crashed and I lost a lot of recipes so I am uploaded them again. I emailed you a link to it.
Best,
Carolina
Hi there. Can you recommend gluten free flour substitutes for this olive recipe?
glute free all-purpose flour should do the job!