I have the perfect party food for you. If you’re looking for an easy, tasty and unique appetizer, these haloumi cheese olive poppers are the answer.
Hi guys. This will be a quickie today. My mom is in the hospital and as we’re working on getting her back to health I wanted to show you these fun and delicious haloumi cheese olive poppers I made the other day.
I used the canned black olives. They’re milder and less salty which means you can season up the breadcrumb coating to your liking. Plus they’re easier to stuff with that tiny piece of haloumi cheese.
Don’t know what haloumi cheese is? It’s a semi-hard goat milk cheese (sometimes cow milk, depending on who makes it). It has a nice bite to it which is perfect for stuffing olives.
It’s ok if the cheese is sticking out just like the photo at the top. Because it’s a semi-hard cheese it will stay in tact and won’t melt out of the olives while it’s being oven fried.
Yes, they’re oven fried. No deep frying in sight. Bonus!
That means you can pop 17 or 25 of these babies without guilt. The coating? Just dip them in egg, then roll them around in seasoned breadcrumbs.
Drizzle on some olive oil. Into the oven for about 25 minutes.
And pop away.
Fingers only. 
Haloumi Cheese Olive Poppers
Ingredients
1 15 oz. can medium sized black olives
4 oz. haloumi cheese
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 egg
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Oil an oven safe skillet large enough to hold the olives. If you don’t have a large enough skillet you can cook them in 2 batches.
- Drain the liquid from the olives.
- Slice the haloumi cheese into 1/4 inch pieces or small enough to fit into the cavity of each olive. It’s okay if the cheese sticks out a little.
- Stuff the olives with the sliced cheese.
- Pour breadcrumbs into a bowl that makes it easy for you to roll the olives in to coat them. Stir in the spices until combined. Taste the mixture and adjust seasonings to your preference.
- Add an egg to a bowl and wisk until slightly frothy.
- Coat the olives with the egg. You can do 4 or 5 at a time. It worked fine for me to do that.
- Then place them in the breadcrumbs and roll around with a spoon or fork until coated.
- Transfer them to the skillet. Drizzle some oil on top and oven fry for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes flip them over and oven fry for 10 more minutes.
- Enjoy!
