Ridiculously Good Olive Oil Dip
This easy and group-friendly olive oil dip comes together quickly and it never fails. I mean, who doesn’t want to dip bread into an herby, garlicky, parmesan cheese infused olive oil? Jump to the Ridiculously Good Olive Oil Dip Recipe or watch our video showing how we make it.
Watch us make the recipe
I’d like to say that we’re good at entertaining, but it doesn’t feel that way. Even though we have a whole bunch of appetizer recipes right here on this very blog, when we’ve got friends coming over, we find ourselves stuck on what to serve. That’s where this extra easy olive oil dip comes in. It’s a life saver. It comes together in 5 minutes and everyone loves it.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: How to roast garlic in the oven — swapping raw garlic for mashed roasted garlic in this olive oil dip would be amazing.
How to Make a Dipping Oil Everyone Will Love
One of my favorite things about this is that I can swap ingredients based on what I have in the kitchen or based on who’s coming.
My go-to combination of flavors is something salty like capers and parmesan cheese, herbs like rosemary and lots of garlic.
I’ve also been known to make it spicy with some crushed red chili flakes and if I have it in the fridge a mashed up anchovy or a small squeeze of anchovy paste is delicious. If you want to add a little sweetness to the dip, add a small splash of high-quality balsamic vinegar.
Think of it as a total flavor bomb that when mixed with olive oil and bread is just the right amount of flavor to make you keep coming back for more. On that note, you might want to make a double batch. This stuff goes fast.
Chop everything into tiny bits then use a spoon to smoosh them together into a loose paste. Spoon it onto a plate then pour extra-virgin olive oil on top. Easy!
For more easy appetizer ideas, check out our Creamy Tzatziki Sauce with Feta, our Ridiculously Easy Roasted Shrimp Cocktail and our popular Homemade Hummus Recipe.
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, review it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #inspiredtaste on Instagram. Happy cooking!
Ridiculously Good Olive Oil Dip
- PREP
This garlic and herb mixture is a flavor bomb. When topped with olive oil, it turns into a delicious dip for bread. Keep extra olive oil close by, you can always top up the plate with more.
Makes about 1/2 cup, Serves 4 to 6
You Will Need
2 garlic cloves, or more depending on how garlicky you want it
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
3 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
Pinch sea salt, if you have it try truffle salt
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes, optional to make it spicy
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
Crusty bread, cubed
Directions
Finely mince the garlic and capers. Add to a bowl along with the oregano, rosemary, thyme and cheese. Season with a small pinch of salt and pepper. Use the back of a spoon to smoosh the herbs into the garlic and capers.
Make one or two mounds of the garlic-herb mixture on a rimmed plate. Drizzle the olive oil on top. Serve with cubes of bread.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Make-ahead: Prepare the garlic-herb mixture a day or two in advance and store, covered tightly, in the refrigerator. The fresh herbs may loose some color. When ready to serve, add the mixture to a plate and top with olive oil.
- Capers: We love the saltiness capers add to the dip, but if you do not have them in your kitchen, leave them out. The dip still tastes great without them.
- Dried herbs vs. fresh: We do prefer fresh rosemary and thyme for this, but you can use dried rosemary and thyme instead of fresh. Crush the dried herbs a little in the palm of your hand before adding them into the mix. You will also want to use a little less — about 1/2 teaspoon.
- Use high-quality olive oil — we really love Partanna olive oil in the red can. It tastes great and isn’t as expensive as some of the other high-quality olive oils.
- Adding a small splash of balsamic vinegar is never a bad idea.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values. We did not include bread in the calculations.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutrition Per Serving: Serving Size: About 1 1/2 tablespoons / Calories 172 / Protein 1 g / Carbohydrate 1 g / Dietary Fiber 0 g / Total Sugars 0 g / Total Fat 19 g / Saturated Fat 3 g / Cholesterol 2 mg / Sodium 104 mg
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Made this for Thanksgiving to go with a cheesy garlic monkey bread. It was such a big hit. OMG, I kept hearing This is ridiculously good!.I’m the type of cook that throws everything in a recipe. I added roasted almond slivers, sesame seeds and few drops of sesame oil. This recipe is killer. Dip the bread? Heck no we were all adding a teaspoon on top of our bread. Thanks so much for sharing.
Forgot to give it 5 stars!
Love, love, love this. I need more bread! Yum!
Hi! This looks delicious! I’m planning to bottle this as wedding favours but wanted to check if I can add in the olive oil the night before?
Hi Joyce, That is a cute idea but we are unsure of the food safety precautions for this.
this sounds amazing! found this while looking for a hummus recipe, which led me to your site, and it is being saved to my “to make” list. going to try this without the Parmesan cheese because i’m lactose intolerant. still think it will be delicious!!
So easy… So good! Great with a glass of wine.
I love your recipes
Wow what a fantastic find ??thank you for your sharing love it
OMG is this ever good! Made a small batch to check it out and could not stop the taste test until it was completely gone! I had never tried capers before. They are a perfect addition to oil dip. Would love to show a pic, but it’s ALL GONE.
i made this last night and forgot to put the Oregano in it but OMG! I couldn’t stop eating it! So delicious! Although we love garlic, i’ll put one clove instead of two.
This recipe was so good! I found that romano cheese also works well, and the dip tastes delicious on toast too! I’m definitely going to be making this often!
Only have dried herbs but still so good! Also help relieves my migraine so I start my morning with this 🙂
I made this at Thanksgiving. It turned out wonderful and I was asked several times to share the recipe-of course I did!
Simple, yet delicious! I made it on a whim and only had dried herbs… will definitely be making this on the regular! Thank you!
Just plain delish ! Thanks for the recipe my friends all loved it.
Can you freeze this? If so, what method would you use?
Hi Tonya, You can freeze the olive oil dip (although, I’d leave out the cheese). Adding it to freezer-safe baggies or ice cube trays are a good idea.
Would this be good with olive tapenade instead of capers (since I don’t have them)?
That would be a great sub 🙂