What Happens When You Add Olive Pits Into Your Olive Oil

Olive oil is one of those items that seems to just keep going up in price, and if you are one the people who simply can't imagine replacing it with a more affordable oil, chances are you've been rationing. Gone are the days of dousing everything in this Mediterranean liquid gold, as many of us monitor our grocery budgets and move towards more of a drizzle. So what are some ways to make your bottle of olive oil last longer? Some save it for only pasta and salads, while using something else for cooking, while others have downgraded from a cold-pressed olive oil to one with a better price tag. 

For the hardcore olive fans among us, however, there's a way to enhance the flavor of your olive oil, making it so that a little goes a long way. It involves using the discarded pits from olives you have eaten. Infusing oils is one of the simplest ways to bring more flavor to a meal, with some popular ingredients including garlic, lemon, rosemary, and chilis. But olive pits? That's meta. When you add them to your bottle, you get supercharged olive oil, which is perfect for enhanced flavor and better mileage. 

Adding olive pits to your olive oil is a genius trick to make your $15 bottle of oil start tasting like it cost $30 instead. It's also a great way to reduce food waste if you are someone who gets satisfaction from striving for a zero-waste lifestyle in the kitchen. (Who doesn't these days?)

To use olive oil pits in your olive oil, it's best to first separate some oil from your big bottle to a smaller one. This is because with the pits added, the lifespan of the oil can be compromised. It's best to try and use your infused oil within a week. The smaller bottle can be set aside with olive pits infusing it for a powerful fruity flavor. This can then be used like a finishing oil in dishes where you really want to flavor to shine: think with fresh baguette, drizzled on soup or salad, or baked in an olive oil cake.