In a Nutshell
Caper leaves, a briny Mediterranean pantry ingredient, deserve a spot next to your jar of capers. Preserved in brine or olive oil, they have a softer, more delicate flavor than capers themselves and can instantly brighten salads, seafood, pasta, sandwiches, and snack plates. Here’s where to find them, how to use them, and why they’re worth keeping in your refrigerator.
Capers may be one of the most underrated flavor powerhouses in the pantry aisle. The tiny brined flower buds pack salty, tangy, vegetal intensity into everything they touch. They instantly punch up pasta sauces, fish dishes, vinaigrettes, sandwich spreads, and more. Fried until crisp, chopped into sauces, or eaten straight from the jar, capers quietly make countless dishes taste more vibrant and complete. But there’s another part of the caper plant worth seeking out: caper leaves.
Credit: Serious Eats / Sharon Brenner
What Are Caper Leaves?
Popular throughout parts of the Mediterranean but still lesser known in the U.S., caper leaves deliver the same briny, savory flavor as capers in a gentler, more versatile form. Preserved in brine or olive oil, the leaves become tender and pliable, with a salty, herbaceous flavor that’s subtler and less concentrated than the buds themselves. Their soft texture and broad shape make them especially useful as garnishes and finishing ingredients, adding brightness to salads, seafood, sandwiches, pasta, and snack plates without overwhelming a dish.
Most capers found in American grocery stores come from the unopened flower bud of the caper bush, a sprawling plant that thrives throughout warm Mediterranean regions. The buds are harvested and preserved using regional methods that include salt-packing and vinegar brining, with sizes ranging from tiny nonpareils to larger pea-sized capers with a meatier texture.
Credit: Serious Eats / Sharon Brenner
While the buds are the plant’s most famous feature, they make up only a small portion of it. The vines themselves can stretch several feet long and are covered in small, rounded leaves, which are also harvested and preserved. Brining softens the leaves’ naturally fibrous texture, transforming them into thin yet sturdy leaves with a pleasantly supple bite and a more delicate flavor than capers.
Where to Find Them
Throughout the Mediterranean, the caper plant is widely used in places like southern Italy—particularly Sicily and the island of Pantelleria—as well as in Greece, Cyprus, parts of Spain, and North African countries, including Morocco and Tunisia. Caper leaves are commonly sold in jars packed in brine or olive oil, ranging from homemade preparations to commercial versions. Like capers, the preserved leaves keep well in the refrigerator, making them an easy ingredient to keep on hand for adding quick bursts of Mediterranean flavor.
While caper leaves still haven’t fully broken into the American mainstream, they can often be found at European import shops, especially Italian specialty stores, as well as through online retailers.
Credit: Serious Eats / Sharon Brenner
5 Ways to Use Caper Leaves
Caper leaves work best as a garnish or finishing ingredient, where their salty, briny, herby flavor can brighten a dish without overpowering it. Their soft, flexible texture also makes them easier to layer onto foods than capers themselves, which can sometimes dominate a bite.
1. Add Them to Salads: In Greece, caper leaves are commonly added to salads, including classic Greek salads layered with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta. They’re also especially good in salads with peppery arugula, soft cheeses, figs, walnuts, and aged balsamic, where their brininess balances richer or sweeter ingredients. Caper leaves are also a natural fit for dakos, the Cretan salad of rusks (barley biscuits) topped with tomatoes, feta, oregano, and olive oil, where they add another layer of salty Mediterranean flavor.
2. Use Them to Finish Proteins: Anywhere capers make sense, caper leaves probably do too. They pair especially well with fish, chicken, and pork dishes that already feature bright, acidic sauces or briny elements. Scatter them over pan-seared fish, tuck them onto roasted chicken, or use them to finish a pan sauce or reduction that already includes capers for layered flavor and texture.
Credit: Serious Eats / Sharon Brenner
3. Layer Them Onto Sandwiches: Capers are already a classic match for smoked salmon, tuna salad, and egg salad sandwiches, and caper leaves fit naturally into those same combinations. Their broad, delicate shape makes them especially good for layering onto open-faced sandwiches and bagels, where they add a subtle, salty, sea-like flavor to every bite without the sharp pop of whole capers.
4. Toss Them Into Pasta: Capers and pasta are already a classic Italian pairing, so it’s no surprise that caper leaves work beautifully in pasta dishes as well. Thinly sliced caper leaves can be stirred directly into sauces alongside capers or scattered over finished pasta as a garnish. Their soft texture folds easily into many pasta preparations, adding briny flavor throughout the dish rather than in isolated bursts.
5. Use Them for Easy Appetizers and Snack Plates: Caper leaves shine on appetizer platters and snack boards, especially alongside smoked fish, cheeses, olives, tomatoes, and charcuterie. They’re also easier to garnish with than capers themselves: Unlike round caper buds that can roll off crostini or deviled eggs, the flat leaves stay neatly in place while adding visual appeal and savory flavor. For a simple Mediterranean-inspired snack plate, try topping wedges of ripe summer tomatoes with caper leaves and serving them with olives, cheese, and crackers.
Why They’re Worth Seeking Out
Caper leaves may not yet be as easy to find as capers, but they’re well worth tracking down. They bring the same salty, savory Mediterranean character as capers in a softer, more versatile form, making them an easy way to add brightness and complexity to everything from salads to seafood to sandwiches. Once I started keeping caper leaves in my refrigerator, it became hard to imagine cooking without them.
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