A Guide to Olive Varieties: Manzanilla, Queen, Kalamata and Ripe

A quick guide to the most common olive varieties — Manzanilla, Queen, Kalamata and ripe black olives — and how to use each.

A field guide to the jar

Beyond green and black, olives are sold by variety — each with its own size, texture and flavour. Knowing a few names makes it easy to pick the right one for snacking, a salad, or a sauce.

The varieties you'll see most

• Manzanilla: small-to-medium Spanish green olive; crisp and nutty — classic for stuffing and martinis
• Queen (Gordal): large green olive; meaty and mild — a showpiece on an antipasto board
• Kalamata: dark purple Greek olive; rich, fruity and tangy — the salad and tapenade favourite
• Ripe (black) olives: mild and soft with even flavour — the pizza and everyday olive
• Jumbo and Colossal: extra-large ripe olives for snacking and platters

Matching olive to dish

Use manzanilla and queen olives where you want a firm, briny green bite — antipasti, relishes, stuffed appetizers. Use Kalamata where you want depth and fruitiness — Greek salad, pasta puttanesca, tapenade. Use ripe black olives where the olive should blend in — pizza, baked pasta, dips.

Whole, pitted, sliced or stuffed

• Whole: best texture, but you'll deal with the pits
• Pitted: ready to eat or chop; the easiest all-rounder
• Sliced: instant for pizza, salads and garnish
• Stuffed: pimento, jalapeño or garlic for snack-ready flavour

Tips

• Bring olives to room temperature to taste their fullest
• Save the brine to store any leftover olives
• Warm olives with citrus zest, garlic and herbs for an easy appetizer
• Chop a mix into an olive salad for muffuletta-style sandwiches

Olive varieties, made simple

You don't need every olive — a green one for brine, Kalamata for depth and ripe olives for everyday use will cover most cooking. The Unico range carries all of them, whole, pitted, sliced and stuffed.