Olives 101— Pick an olive to explore
Nocellara del Belice
Nocellara Del Belice olives are grown in and around Sicily, Italy. We source ours from small family farms, who we've worked with for decades.
These olives are picked between late September and October while they are young, ripe, and vibrant in color. After harvest, they are washed in lye for several hours to lose their bitter taste.
Then, they are rinsed repeatedly to remove the lye. This process to cure the olives, called Castelvetrano-style, was developed in the town of the same name. Today, people often call the olives themselves Castelvetranos, but originally that referred to the curing process only.
COLOR
Straw green
FLAVOR & TEXTURE
Mild and buttery flavor with a firm, meaty texture
USAGE
Snacking, salads, pizza, charcuterie
Profile
Boasting a distinct green hue and a meaty, buttery flesh, these olives are ideal for elevating any number of recipes, or for snacking straight from the jar.
Halkidiki
Halkidiki olives are large, green Greek olives with an oval shape that are most often harvested in October, before they're fully mature.
They grow exclusively in the Halkidiki region, near Mount Athos, in Northern Greece. We source our Halkidiki olives from small family farms, who we have worked with for decades.
COLOR
Vibrant green hue
FLAVOR & TEXTURE
Mild and nutty flavor
USAGE
Snacking, salads, pizza, charcuterie
Profile
Mild and nutty, these versatile olives are ideally suited for stuffing with Bleu cheese, garlic cloves or jalapeños.
Kalamata
Like with many olives, Kalamatas are named after their place of origin - Kalamata, Greece. Unlike other producers looking for cheaper alternatives in Turkey and Egypt, Mezzetta has sourced succulently rich, tender and meaty olives from the same small family farms in the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece for the past 30 years.
Kalamata olives distinguish themselves from other varieties with their almond shape and dark aubergine color. Once harvested, Kalamatas are naturally cured in a salt brine. Once cured, they are stored in a brine containing red wine vinegar to achieve optimal flavor.
COLOR
Dark aubergine color
FLAVOR & TEXTURE
Bright, fruity flavor with notes of wine, with meaty texture
USAGE
Cooking (e.g., baked into bread or pizza); snacking, charcuterie
Profile
Kalamata olives are ideal for cooking.
Queen “Gordal”
The Queen "Gordal" olive ('the fat one' in Spanish) gets its name from its extraordinary size relative to other olives.
Hailing from the Spanish Mediterranean coast, where we've worked with small family farms for over 30 years, these olives are first treated with lye before naturally curing in a salt brine.
COLOR
Straw green
FLAVOR & TEXTURE
Briny flavor with notes of almond and a meaty texture
USAGE
Martinis, snacking, salads, charcuterie
Profile
Our Queen 'Gordal' olives are stuffed with bright red Spanish Pimientos and perfect for martinis.
Manzanilla
Manzanilla olives are imported directly from the Seville area in Southern Spain. They are the most widely grown variety in the world and are harvested between September and November each year.
COLOR
Straw green
FLAVOR & TEXTURE
Mild and buttery flavor with a firm, meaty texture
USAGE
Cocktails, charcuterie, salads, snacking
Profile
The mild, fruity taste of the Manzanilla olive makes them a great vehicle for other flavors, the most popular being pimiento.
Shop this olive
Explore recipes with this olive
Easy Mediterranean Fish Tacos with Castelvetrano Salsa Verde
Cal-Italian Chopped Salad
The Sparkling Aperontini
Garlic Stuffed Olive Knots
Mezzetta® Bloody Mary
Olive and Feta Stuffed Party Meatballs
Orzo Pasta Salad
Mediterranean Grilled Cheese with Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Sheet Pan Chicken with Potatoes and Olives
Tuscan Farmhouse Chicken
The Perfect Dirty Martini
Antipasti Sheet Pan Pizza
Every jar has a journey
It starts in the farms
We travel all across the globe in search of the finest possible ingredients, developing long-term relationships with local farmers. The result? The best possible products for our customers.
Next step - perfecting the product
Once our ingredients enter our factory, the real work begins. In both our test kitchens and production lines, we work tirelessly to ensure Mezzetta products are of the highest possible quality.
The seal of approval
The name Mezzetta on the jar is a promise that you're taking home the best ingredients on the planet. We check our products for quality before, during and after they've left the factory floor.
At last, a seat at the table
Ultimately, the key ingredient to a joy-filled meal is family & friends. Our products should be enjoyed the same way we've always made them - with love.
