16 Unexpected Foods That Pair Well With Olive Oil

Olive oil is liquid gold. Seriously, what can prevent food from sticking to a pan, make produce and meat crispy, dress a salad, act as a garnish, prevent cutting boards from drying out, and make your skin glow? Olive oil has is thought to have been used since before 4000 B.C. While the concept is simple, to press olives until oil is released, this oil is anything but — it's the epitome of versatility. While you might keep a bottle on hand for light sautéing and to whip up a salad dressing now and again, there are plenty of unexpected foods that pair well with olive oil that you should consider trying.

First things first: Choose the right oil. When it comes to using olive oil as a garnish or pairing it with desserts and gourmet products, it's important to choose high-quality extra-virgin olive oil. (Luckily, we've taste-tested the best olive oil brands to help you narrow down your selection.) And when it comes to quality, we recommend splurging on an imported, fresh bottle to enhance your dish.

Olive oil and hot beverages may seem like quite the stretch, but in reality, adding a fat to coffee isn't all that far out of left field. Adding some form of fat to coffee is a long-standing practice all around the world, especially in the Himalayas. It's not uncommon to find coffee with ghee in such areas, which is thought to give coffee an extra health boost. On a more relatable level, adding cream to coffee is another way to balance the natural acidity of coffee with fat. Within that context, olive oil blended with coffee deserves its hype and isn't as unusual as it might sound.

Adding olive oil creates a creamy richness that black coffee itself tends to lack. Like coffee, olive oil can carry unique and subtle earthy and floral notes, so it's no wonder the two complement each other so beautifully. Simply stir or blend 1 teaspoon (or less for the wary) of EVOO into your morning cup of joe, and let your taste buds do the talking.

Fruit is fresh, light, sweet, and tangy, so it's no wonder it can be enhanced when combined with a floral, dense, fatty olive oil. In fact, olives themselves are categorized as fruit, and what goes better with fruit than more fruit? Consider making a fresh fruit salad with all of your favorites. Cherries, honeydew, pineapple, grapes, blueberries ... really any combination of fruit will do the trick. Tangy citrus fruits tend to complement EVOO nicely, so consider adding slices of oranges and grapefruit to the mix. Be sure to slice large larger fruits so they are bite-sized, and wait until the very end to add any soft fruits like peaches or bananas that might mush or break up when mixed. Fresh mint or basil can help to enhance a fruit salad as well.

Make your olive oil vinaigrette using extra-virgin olive oil, honey, and lime juice. Whisk the ingredients together until creamy and smooth. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, and gently toss the fruit around until the dressing coats it entirely. This will add incredible flavor to the dish.

While the average home cook might find the addition of olive oil to cake rather off-putting, creative chefs know that it can actually add a layer of depth to baked goods that is worth exploring. In fact, some cake recipes even sport the fresh-pressed oil in their name. Olive oil cake is more common than you might surmise and is actually quite popular because of its moisture content and density. While apple, chocolate, and citrus olive oil cakes are most common because of their flawless ability to blend with the natural flavors of the oil, really any cake can be made with EVOO.

Simply use olive oil in place of canola oil, or seek out an olive oil cake recipe. We recommend Chef Clinton Woods' hot chocolate cake recipe, which loads up on specialty ingredients like coffee, vanilla, whipped cream, buttermilk, and, of course, a full ½ cup of extra-virgin olive oil.

Cheese is our favorite fatty, oily block of salty goodness. Besides melting it, there can't possibly be any way that cheese can get any better, can there? Think again. Drizzle any cheese in high-quality EVOO and see what your taste buds have to say.

Drizzle warm cheese like baked brie or a hot feta dip with extra-virgin olive oil to enhance their oily texture. Pair it with spreadable cheese like manouri, or fry cheese in EVOO and make saganaki. Crumble, shave, or dice hard cheeses like Parmesan and pecorino and arrange them in a dish with olive oil for tasting or dipping fresh bread into. Any way you slice it, olive oil helps to enhance the unique natural flavors of cheese and should be used in cheese-heavy dishes or on charcuterie boards.

Greek yogurt, like olive oil, can be incorporated into both sweet and savory dishes. You might think of Greek yogurt as that tart, thick yogurt used in smoothies, made into ice cream, or enjoyed for breakfast with fruit and granola. But it's special in the sense that it can be served alongside roasted vegetables, proteins, nuts, fruits, grains, and any other category of food you can fathom. A simple way to serve Greek yogurt with olive oil is on fresh toast.

Smear sourdough bread with Greek yogurt like you would with cream cheese. Drizzle with both olive oil and honey and garnish with cracked black pepper or hot pepper flakes. The tartness of the yogurt, mellowed by the sweet honey and floral oil, will deliver an unmatched mouthfeel. The cracked black pepper or hot pepper flakes add just enough heat and texture to the mix, which makes for a refreshing and hearty breakfast or afternoon snack.

Yes, peanut butter goes with jelly, and butter goes on toast. But let's think outside the box for a moment when considering which fats to use while cooking. Butter, lard, mayonnaise, coconut oil, bacon grease, oil, and extra-virgin olive oil all carry incredibly different flavors and act differently when heated or mixed with other ingredients. When it comes to mashed potatoes, almost any of the above fats would do, but people tend to stick with the old reliable: butter.

Switch things up and use extra-virgin olive oil in your mashed potatoes instead, along with an extra pinch of salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Adding EVOO makes the absolute best vegan mashed potatoes on the planet, so it's worth consideration next time you're getting creative with the side dish. The overall texture remains the same, while the flavor differs slightly and skews fresher and more organic. Once it's all mashed up, be sure to garnish with an extra drizzle of oil to help lock in moisture and add to the aesthetic.

During the pandemic, it seemed like everyone was making banana bread. If you can relate, then you probably tried out quite a few recipes before zeroing in on your favorite. But did you ever try baking your banana bread with olive oil? If not, it may be an ingredient to consider in future banana bread-making endeavors. Olive oil can be used in place of any baking oil to create a unique loaf with subtle floral and peppery notes. Don't worry, we know that bananas and olives don't typically taste great together, but baking with olive oil is a whole different beast with a much milder flavor than using straight-up olives.

Because chocolate and olive oil pair so beautifully, try making olive oil chocolate chip banana bread. This dense, flavorful recipe comes out moist every time. Experiment with adding nuts, raisins, and any other additions you may have messed around with in the past. The olive oil is subtle enough not to overpower or entirely change the constitution of the recipe, so there's still room for culinary creativity, which is a reason we love banana bread in the first place. It's versatile and hard to mess up.

Cheesecake lovers already know the beauty of dishes that encompass both sweet and savory elements. Cheese, which is typically savory and is often served with other savory foods like burgers, bread, and eggs, can make quite a transformation when whipped with sugar, eggs, and other cheesecake ingredients. And although we love cheesecake for its dense, moist richness, you can never have too much of a good thing.

Consider using olive oil in your cheesecake recipe, or even drizzling it right on top of the finished product. You can even incorporate it into the graham cracker crust. Like cheese, olive oil can be quite tangy and vary in flavor, and it will certainly add a depth of flavor to your dessert that cheese alone cannot accomplish.