Swiss Recipes with Olive Oil: 16 Classics from Beetroot Salad to Carrot Cake

Swiss cooking is rich in butter, cream and cheese. Yet many classics become lighter, fresher and more aromatic with a good extra virgin olive oil: beetroot salad, Graubünden barley soup, Merlot risotto, plum tart. The following 16 recipes show both sides – where olive oil replaces butter fully or in part, and where it only does its work at the end, raw over the plate.

All recipes are our editorial team's interpretations and serve 4 unless stated otherwise. How much olive oil Switzerland actually eats is covered in Olive oil consumption in Switzerland, and the small amounts pressed in the country itself in Olive oil made in Switzerland.

Which olive oil for which recipe?

More on mild oils in our profile of the Arbequina variety.

Butter, rapeseed oil or olive oil? What the Swiss guidelines say

Replacing butter with oil in a Swiss recipe does not automatically mean cooking by the book. The Swiss dietary recommendations of the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) and the Swiss Society for Nutrition (SSN) were revised in September 2024. They apply to healthy adults aged 18 to 65 and call for 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil a day, around 20 grams, at least 1 tablespoon of which should be rapeseed oil. Butter and margarine should stay sparing, at most around 10 grams a day, and fat-rich preparations such as cream sauces or fried food are meant to be occasional.

The previous version allowed 2 to 3 tablespoons, at least half of it rapeseed oil: the total has come down slightly and the rapeseed figure has become more precise. The guidelines favour vegetable oils with a balanced fatty-acid profile and a high omega-3 content, and rapeseed oil is one of them. For olive oil this means what it always did: it complements rapeseed oil rather than replacing it, and works best where its flavour shows. What makes an oil top grade is explained in What is extra virgin olive oil?.

The short version of the guidelines also warns against heating oil for too long or too hot: once it smokes, it releases substances that are harmful to health. Where that limit sits for olive oil is covered in Cooking with olive oil: the smoke point.

Salads and cold dishes

Four dishes in which the oil stays raw: here the bottle decides the flavour, not the pan.

1. Beetroot salad with caraway

Ingredients: 500 g cooked beetroot, 1 shallot, 3 tbsp cider vinegar, 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, ½ tsp caraway seeds, salt, pepper, chives.

1. Peel the beetroot and cut into thin slices or sticks. Finely chop the shallot.
2. Whisk vinegar, salt, pepper and caraway, beat in the olive oil and add the shallot.
3. Toss the beetroot with the dressing and leave for at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle with chives.

2. Lamb's lettuce salad with egg and olive oil mustard dressing

Ingredients: 150 g lamb's lettuce, 2 hard-boiled eggs, 80 g diced bacon (optional), 1 slice of bread for croutons, 1 shallot, 1 tsp mustard, 2 tbsp cider vinegar, 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper.

1. Dice the bread and toast in 1 tbsp olive oil until golden. Fry the bacon in the same pan until crisp.
2. Finely chop the shallot. Whisk mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper, beat in 4 tbsp olive oil and add the shallot.
3. Wash the lamb's lettuce and dry it well. Peel and chop the eggs.
4. Toss the salad with the dressing just before serving and scatter over the eggs, bacon and croutons.

3. Swiss sausage salad

Ingredients: 4 cervelat sausages, 150 g Emmental (for cheese and sausage salad, optional), 1 red onion, 6 gherkins, 1 tsp mustard, 4 tbsp white wine vinegar, 2 tbsp gherkin brine, 6 tbsp mild extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, chives.

1. Skin the cervelats, halve lengthwise and slice. Cut the cheese into strips, the onion into thin rings and the gherkins into slices.
2. Whisk mustard, vinegar, brine, salt and pepper and beat in the olive oil.
3. Mix everything, leave for 15 minutes and serve with chives and bread.

4. Jacket potatoes with herb quark and olive oil

Ingredients: 1 kg waxy potatoes, 500 g quark, 3 tbsp milk, 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 garlic clove, chives, parsley, salt, pepper.

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender.
2. Stir the quark smooth with the milk and 3 tbsp olive oil, add crushed garlic and chopped herbs, and season.
3. Drizzle the quark with the remaining olive oil and serve with the hot potatoes, cheese and a salad.

Soups, risotto and polenta

Olive oil plays two roles in these four recipes: a medium oil for sweating at the start, an aromatic one raw at the end – exactly where the original used cream or butter.

5. Graubünden barley soup with olive oil

Ingredients: 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 piece of celeriac, 1 leek, 100 g pearl barley, 1.5 l vegetable stock, 80 g Bündnerfleisch or cured ham in strips (optional), 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil to serve, chives.

1. Dice the vegetables and sweat with the barley in the olive oil for 5 minutes.
2. Add the stock and simmer covered for about 60 minutes until the barley is tender. Add the meat strips in the last 10 minutes if using.
3. Serve in bowls and, instead of cream, drizzle each with 1 tbsp raw olive oil and sprinkle with chives.

6. Ticino minestrone

Ingredients: 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil for sweating, 1 onion, 2 carrots, 1 piece of celeriac, 1 leek, 2 potatoes, 1 courgette, 1 tbsp tomato purée, 1 tin borlotti beans (400 g), 1.2 l vegetable stock, 80 g small pasta, grated hard cheese, 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil to serve.

1. Cut the vegetables and potatoes into small dice. Sweat the onion, carrots, celeriac and leek in the olive oil for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the tomato purée briefly, then add the potatoes, courgette and stock. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add the drained beans and the pasta and cook until the pasta is done.
4. Serve sprinkled with cheese and drizzle 1 tbsp raw olive oil over each plate.

7. Ticino Merlot risotto

Ingredients: 1 shallot, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil for sweating, 320 g risotto rice, 200 ml Merlot, 1 l hot vegetable stock, 60 g grated hard cheese, 2 tbsp aromatic extra virgin olive oil to finish, salt, pepper.

1. Finely chop the shallot and sweat in the olive oil. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes until translucent.
2. Deglaze with Merlot and let it reduce. Add the stock gradually, stirring, until the rice is creamy and al dente after about 18 minutes.
3. Take off the heat, stir in the cheese and, instead of butter, the aromatic olive oil; rest for 2 minutes and season.

8. Polenta with olive oil mushrooms

Ingredients: 1.2 l water, 1 tsp salt, 250 g coarse cornmeal (bramata), 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 50 g alpine cheese; for the mushrooms: 400 g mushrooms (e.g. button mushrooms or porcini), 2 garlic cloves, 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, parsley, salt, pepper.

1. Bring the salted water to the boil, whisk in the cornmeal and simmer over low heat for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring now and then.
2. Slice the mushrooms and fry them hard in the hot olive oil, briefly add garlic and parsley, and season.
3. Stir the olive oil and grated cheese into the polenta and serve with the mushrooms.

Hot from the pan

Three classics fried at medium heat. That is the range extra virgin olive oil is made for: hot enough for a crust, well below the smoke point.

9. Rösti with olive oil

Ingredients: 1 kg waxy potatoes, boiled in their skins the day before, 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, salt.

1. Peel the potatoes, grate them coarsely and season with salt.
2. Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a non-stick frying pan (26 to 28 cm) over medium heat. Add the potatoes, fry for 2 minutes while turning, then shape into a cake and press lightly.
3. Fry over medium heat for about 15 minutes until a golden crust forms, shaking the pan now and then.
4. Turn the rösti using a plate, add the remaining oil to the pan and fry the second side for another 10 to 15 minutes.

10. Perch fillets with lemon and parsley

Ingredients: 600 g perch fillets, 2 tbsp flour, 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil for frying, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil for drizzling, 1 lemon, 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, salt, pepper.

1. Pat the fillets dry, season and dust very lightly with flour.
2. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Fry the fillets skin side down for 1 to 2 minutes, turn and finish for 30 seconds.
3. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and drizzle with lemon juice and raw olive oil.
4. Serve with boiled potatoes or a green salad.

11. Älplermagronen (Alpine macaroni) with olive oil onions

Ingredients: 300 g waxy potatoes, 300 g macaroni, 2 large onions, 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 150 g mountain cheese (e.g. Appenzeller or Gruyère), 100 ml milk or cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg, apple sauce to serve.

1. Slice the onions into rings and fry slowly in the olive oil over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes until golden.
2. Dice the potatoes and cook in salted water for 5 minutes, add the macaroni and cook until done. Drain.
3. Warm the milk or cream, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix with the potatoes, macaroni and cheese.
4. Top with the olive oil onions and serve with apple sauce.

Baking with olive oil

Two Swiss baking classics without butter. How to convert other recipes, and where olive oil has no place in a dough, is covered in Baking with olive oil: replacing butter.

12. Swiss plum tart with olive oil pastry

For a 28 to 30 cm tart tin: 250 g flour, ½ tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar, 80 ml mild extra virgin olive oil, about 100 ml cold water; 2 tbsp ground hazelnuts, 700 g plums; custard: 2 eggs, 150 ml milk, 2 tbsp sugar.

1. Mix flour, salt and sugar. Add olive oil and water and quickly bring together into a smooth dough. Chill for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (conventional). Roll out the pastry, line the tin, prick the base with a fork and sprinkle with hazelnuts.
3. Halve and stone the plums and arrange them tightly on the pastry.
4. Whisk eggs, milk and sugar and pour over. Bake in the lower half of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

13. Aargau carrot cake with olive oil

Ingredients for a 24 cm springform tin: 4 eggs, 200 g sugar, zest and juice of 1 lemon, 100 ml mild extra virgin olive oil, 300 g finely grated carrots, 250 g ground almonds, 60 g flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp cinnamon, a pinch of salt; icing: 150 g icing sugar, 2 tbsp lemon juice.

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and line the tin with baking paper.
2. Beat the egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest until pale, slowly stir in the olive oil, then fold in lemon juice, carrots, almonds, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
3. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold in gently. Pour into the tin and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
4. Let cool, spread with the lemon icing and decorate with marzipan carrots if you like.

Three Mediterranean classics to round it off

The three recipes that follow are not Swiss, but they belong in any kitchen with a good bottle of olive oil: two cold dishes in which the oil stays raw, and a cake that shows olive oil replaces butter in baking too.

14. Pan con tomate – the Spanish classic

Ingredients: 4 slices of crusty rustic bread, 2 ripe tomatoes, 1 garlic clove, 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, sea salt to taste.

1. Toast the bread slices until crisp.
2. Halve the garlic clove and rub it over the warm bread.
3. Halve the tomatoes and rub the cut side firmly over the bread until the flesh is absorbed.
4. Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

15. Mediterranean chickpea salad

Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas (400 g, drained), 1 red bell pepper, diced, ½ red onion, finely chopped, juice of half a lemon, 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, fresh parsley, salt, pepper.

1. Combine chickpeas, bell pepper and onion in a bowl.
2. Whisk lemon juice and olive oil into a dressing, season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss well and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
4. Let it rest for 15 minutes before serving so the flavors combine.

16. Olive oil and lemon cake

For a loaf tin: 200 g flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 150 g sugar, 3 eggs, 120 ml extra virgin olive oil, zest and juice of one lemon, a pinch of salt.

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (355 °F) and grease the loaf tin.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy, then slowly whisk in the olive oil.
3. Add the lemon zest and juice.
4. Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt, then pour into the tin.
5. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

Tips for cooking with olive oil

• Use two oils: a more affordable extra virgin olive oil for sweating, a particularly aromatic one for drizzling.
• Raw at the end: oil drizzled on fresh gives more fragrance than oil that cooks for a long time.
• Keep it mild for baking: robust, bitter oils can dominate a cake.
• Check the harvest year: olive oil does not improve with age. Fresh oils taste fruity, green and often slightly bitter.
• Store it properly: dark and cool, not next to the stove, and use within six to eight weeks of opening. More in How to store olive oil.
• Compare the price per litre: for olive oil, the price per litre says more than the bottle price. We track the current prices per litre at Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner and Manor.

Frequently asked questions

Can you replace butter with olive oil in Swiss recipes?

In many recipes, yes: for sweating, soups, risotto, polenta or sponge-type cakes. As a rule of thumb, 75 to 80 millilitres of olive oil replace about 100 grams of butter. It is not suitable for puff pastry or buttercream.

How much olive oil a day makes sense?

The Swiss dietary recommendations do not name an olive oil amount but 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil a day, around 20 grams, at least 1 tablespoon of which should be rapeseed oil. The second tablespoon is where olive oil belongs.

Should I use rapeseed oil or olive oil?

Both. Rapeseed oil covers the omega-3 requirement and is grown in Switzerland; extra virgin olive oil is the aromatic addition for salads, vegetables, fish and frying at medium heat.

Can you fry rösti in olive oil?

Yes. Extra virgin olive oil is well suited to frying at medium heat, which is ideal for rösti. It gives the crust a subtle, fruity note.

Does carrot cake made with olive oil taste of olives?

Hardly, with a mild oil. It keeps the cake moist and goes well with lemon and almonds. A robust, bitter oil, however, can come through.

Which olive oil is best for salad dressings?

For robust salads such as beetroot salad, a fruity, slightly pungent oil; for mild salads such as sausage salad or lamb's lettuce, a gentler oil.

Sources

• FSVO: Swiss Dietary Recommendations (September 2024 version)
• SSN/FSVO: Swiss dietary recommendations, short version (PDF, 2024)
• North American Olive Oil Association: Butter to Olive Oil Conversion Chart (trade association, no source given)
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 on marketing standards for olive oil