This delicious olive pizza features green and black olives with gooey mozzarella and red onion on a crispy artisan crust. It’s a surprisingly satisfying pizza that converts even olive skeptics!
True story: I used to be one of those people who ordered “no olives” on every pizza. But after this olive pizza, I’ve actually changed my tune! The simpler the better with Italian cuisine, and I’ve found that with pizza, a few curated ingredients can make magic.
The combination of mild green Castelvetrano olives (my favorite) and rich black olives works perfectly with salty capers, slivers of red onion, and my favorite homemade pizza sauce and pizza dough. It’s a dream pie if you’re an olive lover, and it even might convince a few skeptics, too! (Count me as proof.)
Key Ingredients for This Olive Pizza
This olive pizza stars ripe olives, which have a burst of salty and savory flavor. As a previous olive skeptic myself, I found I like ripe olives because they’re less briny than other olives and specifically not as strong as Kalamata olives. My favorite type is a green olive called Castelvetrano olives, which have a milder flavor and buttery texture. Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:
- Castelvetrano olives: These Sicilian green olives have a buttery, almost nutty flavor with none of the aggressive brininess you might associate with olives. I’ve served this pizza to olive-haters who found themselves reaching for seconds specifically because of these olives! (I first figured out people loved them with this marinated olives recipe.)
- Black olives add depth and a slightly earthier note. I use ripe black olives rather than Kalamatas because Kalamatas can be overpowering.
- Red onions bring a touch of sweetness and crunch.
- Capers add little bursts of salty, tangy flavor that tie everything together.
- Whole milk mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese: I find that whole milk mozzarella melts much better than part skim. I like to add a hint of Parmesan for flavor complexity.
- Pizza sauce: This homemade pizza sauce recipe is easy to make in 5 minutes and has bold, garlicky flavor.
The Foundation: A Great Pizza Dough
Great pizza demands great dough, and I never skip making my own. The difference between homemade and store-bought is night and day. I have three tried-and-true recipes depending on what I’m making:
- Best Pizza Dough: My standard recipe! It works perfectly in a regular home oven with a pizza stone and gives you a deliciously chewy artisan-style crust.
- Thin Crust Pizza Dough: Perfect if you I want something crispier and lighter. This one’s easier to work with if you’re still getting comfortable with dough stretching since you can roll it out.
- Pizza Oven Dough: If you have an pizza oven, this high-hydration dough handles the extreme heat.
You can also make this olive pizza as a Pan Pizza in a cast iron skillet, which makes a thick crust and doesn’t require stretching the dough. Or, make my favorite Sheet Pan Pizza, which makes the equivalent of two pizzas in a sheet pan.
Ingredient Spotlight: Castelvetrano Olives
Castelvetrano olives are a green olive variety grown in Sicily with a signature rich, buttery flavor and crisp texture. They have a mild and fruity flavor, making them suitable for people who shy away from robust and briny varieties. Unlike other olives, they’re not cured: they’re washed in lye and water for a few weeks until the bitter flavor is removed.
There’s something about the buttery, mild flavor of Castelvetranos that’s unlike any other type. I’ve served these to people who claim not to like olives, only to have them park themselves in front of the bowl! They’re the perfect addition to this olive pizza.
Required Tools
Great pizza requires a few tools. You’ll need a stone and a peel if you choose the standard or thin-crust pizza recipes above. But keep in mind, the pan pizza and sheet pan pizza dough recipes require no extra tools. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Pizza stone: Baking on a pizza stone makes the crust crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Here’s the pizza stone I use.
- Pizza peel: A peel is a paddle used to slide a pie onto the hot stone in the oven. I recommend this standard pizza peel or this conveyor pizza peel, which makes transferring to the oven a breeze. (Pizza ovens typically come with their own pizza peel that can withstand the high temperatures.)
- Pizza oven (optional): An outdoor pizza oven makes next level pizza! I own this ROCCBOX pizza oven and used my pizza oven to get the charred crust you see in the photos.
Topping Variations to Try
There are lots more ways to make an olive pizza! Here are a few pizza topping ideas you might also enjoy that go well with the flavor profile:
- Kalamata olives instead of green and black olives (use less since they have a stronger, saltier flavor)
- Feta cheese (but keep it light to balance the salty olives)
- Goat cheese or ricotta cheese, in dollops
- Sausage crumbles
- Prosciutto
- Hot honey
- Spinach, frozen and thawed (see this Spinach Pizza)
- Jarred roasted red pepper, cut into strips
- Fresh herbs like chives, oregano, thyme, or basil
Dietary Notes
This olive pizza recipe is vegetarian. For gluten-free, use my Gluten-Free Pizza Dough.
Double Olive Pizza
This olive pizza stars green and black olives with gooey mozzarella and a zingy pizza sauce. A simply stunning topping combo!
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 7 minutes
- Yield: 1 medium pizza
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Pizza
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Best Pizza Dough (or Thin Crust Dough or Pizza Oven Dough)
- ½ cup Homemade Pizza Sauce
- 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (whole milk if possible)
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 7 ripe green olives (I used Castelvetrano olives), sliced in half
- 8 ripe black olives, sliced in half
- 1 handful sliced red onion
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Make the pizza dough: Follow the Best Pizza Dough, Thin Crust Pizza Dough or Pizza Oven Dough recipes to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)
- Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven I use).
- Make the pizza sauce: Make the Homemade Pizza Sauce. (You’ll use about ½ cup for the pizza; reserve the remaining sauce and refrigerate for up to 1 week.)
- Bake the pizza: When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.
- Spread a thin layer of the pizza sauce over the dough. Add the mozzarella cheese, then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Top with the sliced olives, red onion, and capers, then sprinkle with dried oregano.
- Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 to 2 minutes in a pizza oven).
- Allow the pizza to cool for a minute or two before slicing into pieces. Serve immediately.
More Pizza Recipes To Try
- Margherita Pizza
- Cheese Pizza
- Taco Pizza
- Pickle Pizza
- Seafood Pizza
- Broccoli Pizza
- White Pizza
- Gluten Free Pizza
- Breakfast Pizza
