This Italian Octopus Salad or Insalata di Polpo is an Italian seafood classics. Tender, juicy and flavorful this octopus salad simply melts in your mouth. Serve it as an antipasto or go extra and turn it into a full meal.
It's the perfect recipe to add to the menu for the Feast Of The Seven Fishes or simply cook for meatless Christmas Eve dinner.
Table Of Contents
Octopus Salad, just like Shrimp Spaghetti also one of the most popular dishes in many Italian restaurants but it’s actually very easy to make at home. The only thing to get right is the octopus itself.
For some reason, it has a reputation of being “difficult to cook” which can’t be further from the truth. With this step by step recipe you’ll cook a perfectly tender octopus with the best flavor.
Of course, you can always resort to a "good enough" shortcut, which is a precooked store-bought octopus.
This octopus salad is a signature dish of my mother-in-law. She always makes it for La Vigilia - Christmas.
She makes it as an appetizer and she makes it “pure”: only octopus marinated in the dressing. It’s absolutely delicious. However personally, I like to take her base and add to it two more extras that turn this appetizer into a dinner worth waiting for.
But that’s the beautify of the Italian octopus salad - it’s incredible versatility.
Serve it as an antipasto, a meal and stuff leftovers in the sandwich with Puccia Bread (Italian bread rolls). The only problem it disappears before your know it.
Recipe In A Nutshell
- Clean and boil octopus.
- While octopus is cooking boil potatoes with skin on.
- Let both potatoes and octopus cool before cutting.
- Prepare the dressing.
- Assemble octopus salad mixing octopus and potatoes cut in cubes, olives and seasoning with the dressing and more extra virgin olive oil to taste.
- Serve with lemon wedges on the side.
Ingredients
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Octopus - frozen uncooked octopus is the best as you can additionally season it in the cooking process and cook as tender or as ‘al dente’ as you like. Alternatively use precooked octopus.
Flavor base for cooking octopus (skip if using precooked)
- Parsley stems- a thin bunch. You’ll need stems for cooking octopus and leaves for the salad.
- Black pepper corns
- Dry white wine
- Pinch of salt - octopus might be salty in and of itself so add a pinch exactly.
For the salad
- Potatoes - boiled with skin on then peeled and cut in cubes.
- Olives - marinated olives olives seasoned with hot pepper, garlic and oregano are the best. Alternatively you can use any quality brine-cured green olives or a mix of green and black olives. In this case you can additionally season octopus salad with the following:
- Peperoncino flakes - hot pepper flakes. Optional but highly recommended.
- Oregano - dried Sicilian oregano on stems if you want the best flavor and aroma.
- Garlic - a small garlic clove finely chopped. You only want a hint of it, never overpowering.
For the dressing
- Extra virgin olive oil
- White wine vinegar
- Parsley leaves - finely chopped
For serving
- Lemon wedges for garnishing and to personal taste
Possible Add-Ons
- Capers - brine-cured or salt-cured (make sure to wash them from salt before use).
- Sun-dried tomatoes - drained from excess oil or washed and dried with paper towel if using salt-cured.
- Celery - adds a nice crunchy contrast to soft octopus and potatoes plus it’s a great way to “stretch” any octopus salad leftovers.
- Carrots - same as celery
- Cherry Tomatoes - cut in half.
- Arugula - roughly chopped.
How To Make - Step By Step With Pictures
Prepare Fresh Octopus For Cooking
If you plan to make octopus salad using fresh octopus purchased from your local fishmonger it’s best to buy it a few days or even weeks in advance and store it in the freezer. Once ready to cook, thaw overnight in the fridge.
Keeping fresh octopus in the freezer for at least 2 days helps to have soft octopus flesh when cooked.
Clean & Boil Octopus
- Pull out everything that’s inside the head and turn it inside out. Rinse thoroughly in cold water.
- Since we’ll be cooking the octopus whole, it’s easier to cut out the beak and the eyes once it’s cooked as cooked octopus is way less slithery compared to raw.
- In a pot large enough to fit the octopus add water and bring it to a boil.
- Add parsley stems, white wine and pepper corns.
- Hold octopus by the head and dip it slowly in boiling water then lift up. Repeat this process 3-4 more times. You’ll notice how the tentacles start to curl. After the last dipping leave octopus it in the water to cook on low heat. Cover with half-closed lid.
PAY ATTENTION: Never cover octopus with the lid completely closed as it will form a foam and overflow the pot.
COOKING TIME: cook octopus until you can easily stick the fork in the thickest part of the tentacle close to the head.
Estimated cooking time: 2 pound octopus will cook in 45-50 minutes. The large ones can take up to 1.5-2 hours to cook. Baby octopus will cook in 25-30 minutes.
Cooking time also depends on how soft you want your octopus. My mother-in-law likes it 'al dente', so there’s a little bite to it. Another friend of mine, almost always over-cooks it until the point the purple skin starts to come off and it literally melts in your mouth. I prefer it somewhere in between, soft but the tentacles still keep their color and shape.
- Once octopus is cooked, remove it from the pot and let cool in a plate.
- When octopus is cool enough to handle cut around the beak to remove.
- Also cut underneath the eyes and cut on top of the eyes and remove.
- Cut the ends of the tentacles and leave them for decoration (optional).
- Cut the tentacles into cubes. Cut the head into strips.
Cook potatoes
In a pot with cold water add potatoes with skin on. Bring to a boil and cook until done, about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Let cool until warm, peel and cut in large cubes.
Prepare the dressing
In a small bowl mix extra virgin olive oil, pinch of salt, finely chopped parsley leaves and white wine vinegar (start with a smaller amount, taste and add more if needed).
Put everything together
In a large salad bowl add potatoes, octopus, olives and the dressing. Add oregano, hot pepper flakes and small chopped garlic cloves if using NON-marinated olives.
Add another round of extra virgin olive oil. It’s best to let the octopus salad rest for 30-60 minutes before serving.
FAQs
Octopus salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for maximum 2 days.
Yes, make it one day in advance and keep in the fridge. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving. It should be room temperature. You can boil octopus (and potatoes if you wish) the day before and keep both the fridge. The next day assemble the salad.
Italian Breads To Go With Octopus Salad
- Semolina Bread – made with durum wheat flour and topped with sesame seeds. It pairs perfectly with any salad.
- Homemade Ciabatta Bread – step by step recipe and video on how to make the most delicious ciabatta bread with big holes.
- No Knead Ciabatta Rolls – easy & delicious no knead ciabatta rolls perfect for panini!
- Traditional Focaccia Bread {Focaccia Genovese} – thin, crunchy and soft inside.
- Focaccia Barese – focaccia with tomatoes and olives from Bari, made with real potatoes in the dough. Can be served as an appetizer before octopus salad.
- Puccia Bread - hollow rustic bread rolls from Apuglia. Perfect for stuffing leftover octopus salad.
More Italian Salads You'll Love
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Full Recipe
Italian Octopus Salad
Ingredients
- 2 lb octopus , more or less 1 kg
- 1.5 lb potatoes , about 700 grams
- 1 cup olives , about 200 grams
For cooking octopus:
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 7 peppercorns
- Parsley , use stems only from 1 thin bunch saving the leaves for the dressing
- Pinch of salt
For the dressing:
- 5 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 teaspoon white wine vinegar , start with a smaller amount then add more to taste
- 1 tablespoon parsley leaves , finely chopped
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Prepare Fresh Octopus For Cooking
- If you plan to make octopus salad using fresh octopus purchased from your local fishmonger it’s best to buy it a few days or even weeks in advance and store it in the freezer. Once ready to cook, thaw overnight in the fridge. Alternatively buy raw frozen octopus and thaw the same way.
Clean & Boil Octopus
- Pull out everything that’s inside the head and turn it inside out. Rinse thoroughly in cold water.Since we’ll be cooking the octopus whole, it’s easier to cut out the beak and the eyes once it’s cooked.
- In a pot large enough to fit the octopus add water and bring it to a boil.Add parsley stems, white wine and pepper corns.
- Hold octopus by the head and dip it slowly in the water then lift up. Repeat this process 3-4 more times. You’ll notice how the tentacles start to curl. After the last dipping leave octopus it in the water to cook on low heat. Cover with half-closed lid.PAY ATTENTION: Never cover octopus with the lid completely as it might form foam and overflow the pot.
- Cook octopus until you can easily stick the fork in the thickest part of the tentacle close to the head.Estimated cooking time: 2 pound octopus will cook in 45-50 minutes. The large ones can take up to 1.5-2 hours to cook. Baby octopus will cook in 25-30 minutes.Cooking time also depends on how soft you want your octopus. Some prefer it slightly 'al dente', so there’s a little bite to it. Another over cook it to extra soft.
- Once octopus is cooked, remove it from the pot and let cool in a plate.
- When octopus is cool enough to handle cut around the beak to remove.Also cut underneath the eyes and cut on top of the eyes to remove.Cut the ends of the tentacles and leave the for decoration (optional).Cut the tentacles into cubes. Cut the head into strips.
Cook Potatoes
- In a pot with cold water add potatoes with skin on. Bring to a boil and cook until done, about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes.
- Let cool until warm, peel and cut in large cubes.
Prepare the dressing
- In a small bowl mix extra virgin olive oil, pinch of salt, finely chopped parsley leaves and white wine vinegar (start with a smaller amount, taste and add more if needed).
Put everything together
- In a large salad bowl add potatoes, octopus, olives and the dressing. Add oregano, hot pepper flakes and small chopped garlic cloves if using NON-marinated olives.
- Add another round of extra virgin olive oil. It’s best to let the octopus salad rest for 30-60 minutes before serving,
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Buon Appetito!
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