4 of the Best Recipes for Cooking Octopus

A plentiful seafood long regarded as a gastronomic staple across the world, octopus – it’s a cephalopod like its cousins squid and cuttlefish – has a delicate flavour often compared to slightly sweet chicken.

When cooked correctly, octopus should be moist and tender enough to absorb the flavour of its fellow ingredients, from citrus fruits and rich sauces to garlic, herbs and spices. This versatility sees it presented as Spanish tapas and Japanese sushi, charred on barbecues, grilled or served in warming stews and even Indian dals. And of course, the best news about eating octopus is that it’s a hero in nutritional terms, a superfood packed with vitamin B12 and minerals to promote physical wellbeing, and a superb source of omega-3 fatty acids beneficial to heart health.

Convinced to try an octopus recipe? Then let’s get started! Read on for simple instructions on preparing your octopus for cooking, and then let your culinary skills loose on tangy, herb-infused Mediterranean recipes.

We’ve established that octopus is tasty and eating it contributes to our physical wellness – but how do you clean and prep this marine delicacy for cooking? You can ask the fishmonger to trim it for you, or buy pre-cooked octopus from the freezer section of larger supermarkets, but if you’re happy to have a go yourself, follow these simple steps.

• Rinse the whole octopus under cold water and clean the tentacles thoroughly.
• Cut it in half just below the eyes with a sharp paring knife .  
• Pinch the area around the eyes and remove them with the knife. 
• Turn the head inside out and pull out the internal organs, removing any stubborn membranes with the knife. 
• Find the beak – a hard, hinged structure through which the octopus eats its diet of crabs and clams – in the middle of the eight tentacles. Pinch and push it out of the body. 
• Flip the head the right way out. 
• Rinse the octopus again, inside and out.
• Make a small cut on the outer skin and peel it off. Rinse again.

Your octopus is now ready for tenderising and cooking!

There are several ways to tenderise octopus meat. Some chefs place it in a plastic bag and flatten it with a rolling pin at the preparation stage. It can be hammered with a meat mallet, frozen to break down its fibrous membranes or brined in a weak salt solution for two hours.

Octopus will soften after being simmered for about 20 minutes in a large pan; you can pop bay leaves, sliced lemon or thyme into the water to marinate and add flavour. Adding acidity (often red wine vinegar) to the cooking liquid will also do the trick, as will blanching the tentacles in boiling water for a few seconds. If you’re short on time, you could blast it for 20 minutes in a pressure cooker, while some professional chefs slow cook their octopus in a water bath for up to five hours. Whatever method you use, you’ll know it’s ready for eating when a sharp knife slips cleanly through the meat.

Just as there are countless ways of readying octopus for the pot, there are many enticing octopus recipes to try out showcasing this nutrition-packed, health-giving meat, from ceviches to carpaccios, risottos to tacos. Here are four of the best.

Showcasing only the grilled tentacles, this recipe is very simple to put together, making it the perfect introduction to the heady art of cooking octopus.

• 4 octopus tentacles
• 4 potatoes
• Top-quality olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Sweet paprika

• Boil the tentacles for about 45 minutes until tender and then grill them for 3–4 minutes on either side.
• Cut them into bite-sized slices and keep warm.
• Peel the potatoes and place them in salted cold water. Boil for 20-25 minutes until tender to the fork.
• Strain off the water and leave to cool.
• When cool, slice the potatoes and arrange on a plate. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with a drizzle of olive oil.
• Top them with octopus and a little more olive oil
• Season again, add the paprika and serve.

If you have fond memories of sunny days island-hopping in Greece, a flavoursome plateful of xtapodi octopus will transport you back to a waterside taverna in seconds. The acidity of the red wine vinegar will tenderise the octopus, and as its flavour is light, use good-quality olive oil and season the dish well before serving. 

• 1 entire octopus
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 120 ml of white wine 
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sliced onions
• 3 chopped tomatoes
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Ground black pepper 
• Fresh parsley for garnish

• Prepare the octopus by removing the innards and beak.
• Remove the tentacles and cut the body into rings.
• Add the tentacles, vinegar, wine and bay leaves.
• Boil in a large pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.
• When the octopus is still slightly crunchy, drain the liquid and set it aside.
• Fry the tentacles until crisp (this normally takes about a minute).
• Add the onions, tomatoes, olive oil and garlic to the frying pan and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions caramelise.
• Add the balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan contents.
• Add the octopus liquid previously set aside.
• Stir in the honey and season to taste with black pepper.
• Cook over a low heat for 3 minutes and serve with parsley as a garnish.

This classic Neapolitan dish has its roots in the vibrant waterfront Santa Lucia quartiere, where fishermen once cooked freshly caught octopus on the dockside and today home of copious seafood restaurants. The recipe is easy to follow and produces intense Mediterranean-inspired flavours and aromas. The trick is to stop simmering the octopus when just tender to avoid overcooking, so cooking times are approximate. 

• 2 cloves of peeled, crushed garlic
• 1-2 dried red peppers
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh chopped parsley
• Olive oil
• 500g octopus, cleaned and cut into strips
• 250g halved cherry tomatoes
• A handful of black olives 
• A handful of capers
• Salt and pepper

• Using a large pot (terracotta is traditional), quickly sauté the garlic, red pepper and parsley stalks in olive oil over moderate heat until the garlic gives off its aroma.
• Add the octopus, cover the pot and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
• Uncover the pot and pour in the tomatoes, olives and capers and re-cover.
• Simmer the octopus for 30-45 minutes until tender. 
• Mix in the chopped parsley leaves and let the pot sit for 5 minutes.
• Flavour with salt and pepper to taste and serve the succulent Polpo alla Luciana warm, with a chunk of crusty artisan bread to soak up the delicious juices.

Hot from the recipe book of talented chef Luís Pais, this dish is showcased at on-trend A Bicicleta restaurant in Porto.

• 1 fresh octopus
• 1 large tomato (whole and with skin on)
• 1 white onion (whole and with skin on)
• Chopped garlic
• Fresh parsley
• Coriander leaves
• 150 g peeled sweet potatoes 
• Red wine vinegar
• Squid ink

• Rinse the octopus under running water and clean it well, tentacle by tentacle, to remove any residue.
• Roast the octopus for 2 hours at 180°C/350°F with the tomato, onion, garlic, fresh parsley and coriander.
• Roast the sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper at 175°C/340°F for 40 minutes.
• Remove octopus from the broth and set aside.
• Mash the potatoes, add the vinegar and squid ink to deglaze the octopus pan, combine everything on a plate and serve.

Have you enjoyed trying out these octopus recipes?