<p>Six mortadella treatments were prepared for studying the effect of olive leaf extract (OLE) at a level of 240 mg OLE/100 g meat as nitrite alternative on the color and sensory characteristics. These treatments were: control with the addition of 120 ppm sodium nitrite only, and the second one with the addition of 240 mg OLE/100 g meat but without the addition of sodium nitrite as a negative control, the other four treatments were combination of 240 mg OLE/100 g meat with 80, 60, 40 and 20 ppm sodium nitrite, respectively. All samples were stored at 5 °C for 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks.<strong></strong></p><p>There were no significance differences (P &gt; 0.05) between all mortadella treatments regarding their proximate parameters.<strong> </strong>Hunter lightness (<em>L</em>), redness (<em>a</em>), and yellowness (<em>b</em>) color, and sensory attributes including the appearance, color, tenderness, juiciness, flavor, and overall acceptability showed that 80 and 60 ppm nitrite in combination with OLE at 240 mg/100 g meat had the best results in comparison with the other four treatments indicating an additive combined effect of the OLE with nitrite that enhanced mortadella characteristics.</p><p>These results revealed the ability to substitute 50% of the used nitrite in mortadella stored at 5 °C when using combinations of 60 ppm nitrite with 240 mg OLE/100 g meat.</p>