Omnivore loving vegan, gluten-free & beverage recipes
Life’s Little Sweets celebrates seasonal cooking and local food pathways. Find inspiration from farms, CSAs, and home gardens with recipes that highlight fresh ingredients, community, and the joy of cooking through the seasons. Continue Reading
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas are a great addition as a side to any meal, they are perfect on top of salads for added nutrition and are easy to make in your Instant Pot Pressure Cooker for weekly meal planning.
This Sand Tart Cookie Recipe is our family recipe perfect for the Christmas & Holiday season making a big batch of cookies. These cookies are easy to customize to your tastes with various toppings and make a fun activity for everyone involved.
This sweet, Homemade Coffee Creamer recipe can be used in coffee or tea. It is made with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and water or for a creamier option, you can use milk or half and half. It is infused with pure vanilla extract but can be customized with other extracts or even Baileys or rum for a boozy option. This creamer is so fast and easy to make for yourself or as an edible gift!
Maple Cinnamon Butter is a sweet and delicious butter recipe that is perfect for having on muffins, toast, popovers, bread, or just about anything you imagine. It only takes a few minutes and 4 simple ingredients to make this maple-cinnamon scented butter.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy
Autumn Olive Guide + Recipes - Here is an informational guide on Autumn Olives, a list of recipe ideas & inspiration, and links to Autumn Olive recipes.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Hi Everyone, Are you familiar with Autumn Olives? They are unique, sweet and tart, small, reddish berry that grows wild here in Central New Jersey (and can also be found in NY and PA).
Enjoy this guide, list of recipe ideas & inspiration, and links to blog recipes on this unique, foraged berry!
I link to the foraging guide that I use, Northeast Foraging, in the recipe link card below at the end of the post.
(All the photos in this post are photos of Autumn Olives on our property, taken September 2020)
According to Wikipedia, Autumn Olives are:
"Elaeagnus umbellata is known as Japanese silverberry, umbellata oleaster, autumn olive, autumn elaeagnus, or spreading oleaster. The species is indigenous to eastern Asia and ranges from the Himalayas eastwards to Japan."
The back of the leaves are silvery in color as compared to the green front side of the leaf.
They have a olive-shaped, pointed pit in the center.
They are an invasive species and spread easily and are feasted on by birds and other wild animals. The plant thrives in disturbed soil areas.
Therefore, don't feel bad about harvesting them!
I suggest throwing the pits in the trash or where they can be composted (and will not grow into plants), instead of throwing them back in the woods where they can continue to spread.
No, they are fruit/berries, not olives. The berries are olive-shaped.
They are considered shrubs and can turn into small trees when they get large.
According to Specialtyproduce.com:
"Autumn olives are high in vitamins A, E, and C and are known for their high content of the antioxidant, lycopene."
Autumn Olives taste sweet, tart and slightly astringent.
In Central New Jersey, Autumn Olives begin ripening at the end of August and are ripe at the end of the Summer, in September and through October and into Late Fall, November.
Here is a list of several recipe ideas for Autumn Olives:
With any foraged food, I HIGHLY recommend using a field guide (I link to my favorite one below, Amazon Affiliate Link) and making sure you have a foraging expert verify the plant.
If you have any doubt, wait until you know for sure. There are a lot of wild berries out there and many are poisonous!
I also currently use an app to help with plant identification on our property and beyond; the one I currently use is the "Picture This" app which I use on the iPhone. I always use multiple verifications before consuming any wild/foraged food.
Have you made any recipes with Autumn Olive berries?
Please let me know in the comments at the end of the post.
Thank you for reading and following along!
Here are some Autumn Olive Recipes from other blogs, enjoy the list!
This is the foraging guide that I have, follow and use right now.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Lois says
I’ve made Autumn Olive Berry Jam. It’s fantastic ..
Sara Maniez says
That's wonderful to hear Lois!