Trader Joe’s Fried Olive Bites Review – I love olives. I think it’s my Mediterranean heritage (Croatia and Italy) that has genetically pre-disposed me to love them. I love the briny tang of olives in food.
I think we go through at least a gallon of Trader Joe’s Spanish Olive Oil every month. We eat a ton of Kalamata olives. Needless to say, we eat a lot of olive products and Trader Joe’s has been delivering on that promise since the day they opened.
I had heard of breaded deep-fried olives stuffed with cheese before. I might have even had some in the distant past at a restaurant but I don’t remember them specifically.
Nevertheless, these really intrigued me when I saw them get a lot of attention on Reddit (BTW, I have set up my own subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/ClubTraderJoes/ to talk about my reviews and any other Trader Joe’s products). So, I grabbed a box as soon as I could on my next visit.
It looks like you get twelve of these “bites” in a box. It looks like they are real olives that are breaded and then stuffed with cheese. Unfortunately, it’s just cream cheese and not anything really fancy. The actual “olive” is just ground up olives and formed into a large olive shape and then filled with cream cheese and a breading applied to the outside.
Do not try to microwave these, they will probably just turn to mush. These are dead simple to make in the oven, 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Pull them out and serve with toothpicks to your guests or just share as an appetizer.
I really loved these things. They have a good olive flavor that is cut by the cream cheese when you bite into them. The breading on the outside isn’t all that crunchy or anything, maybe if I left them in for a couple more minutes, it would’ve crisped up a little more.
That was the only downside. The other minor quibble is the use of cream cheese instead of some nice sharp Italian cheese. Other than that, I really have no complaints. If you love olives and cheese then you will love these things as much as we did. Not sure if this is a seasonal item or not but with Trader Joe’s, you never know when this might disappear!
I am going to rate it 8 Bells!
INGREDIENTS:
CASTELVETRANO OLIVES (OLIVES, WATER, SALT, LACTIC ACID), BREADCRUMBS (WHEAT FLOUR, SUGAR, YEAST, SALT), CREAM CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK AND CREAM, SALT, CHEESE CULTURES, CAROB GUM), WATER, UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID, BARLEY MALT), BATTER (YELLOW CORN FLOUR, RICE FLOUR, CORNSTARCH, SEA SALT, CREAM OF TARTAR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, GARLIC POWDER, ONION POWDER, CANOLA OIL, XANTHAN GUM), KALAMATA OLIVES (OLIVES, WATER, SALT, RED WINE VINEGAR, LACTIC ACID), EXPELLER PRESSED CANOLA OIL, BLUE CHEESE (CULTURED PASTEURIZED MILK, SALT, MICROBIAL ENZYME, PENICILLIUM ROQUEFORT), MASCARPONE CHEESE (PASTEURIZED CREAM, MILK, NON FAT MILK POWDER, CITRIC ACID [TO PRESERVE]), EGG, CORNSTARCH, XANTHAN GUM.
CONTAINS MILK, EGG, WHEAT.
NUTRITION FACTS:
3 servings per container | Serving size 4 pieces (77g) | Amount per serving: Calories 210
Total Fat 14g (18% DV), Saturated Fat 3.5g (18% DV), Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 10mg (3% DV), Sodium 900mg (39% DV), Total Carbohydrate 20g (7% DV), Dietary Fiber 4g (14% DV), Total Sugars 3g—Includes 0g Added Sugars (0% DV), Protein 3g, Vitamin D (0% DV), Calcium (4% DV), Iron (4% DV), Potassium (2% DV).
The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
They were tasty enough, but several of them had chunks of pit in the olive mix. Oww!
Wow I didn’t get that. I would return the box to Trader’s, they will give you your money back.
The ingredient lists indicates that mascarpone is used, and I’ve read that blue cheese is also in there. If they would have gotten crisp if you had heated them longer, why didn’t you do it?
Do you make your reviews by preparing them only as the directions specify? One other thing is that if you have an oven thermometer you might check to see if your oven temp is running low.
I’m about to try my box of them, in a little while.
I always follow the directions on the box the first time unless something is not going according to plan. These were dead simple and my oven is calibrated properly. I am not sure why these took way longer then the time specified on the box. Sometimes I can’t tell how something is going to turn out by appearance when I pull it from the oven or microwave or whatever and make it according to the directions. I am not absolutely sure they would crisp up more or not in hindsight. Let me know if yours get a crispy outside or not, my had a mildly crispy exterior but I am not sure how much more it could go crispier or not.
Oh noooo this is a fake Fried Olives! The real Fried Stuffed Ascolana Olives in US are at Cremini’s Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY… OMG nooooo
I’m sure the trader joe’s ones are a pale imitation to a good fried olive