This Portuguese Octopus Salad is the perfect dish for a light summer meal! It comprises of pieces of tender octopus, onions, tomatoes, and peppers, coated in a tangy dressing that contrasts beautifully with the sweetness of the octopus meat. It’s perhaps one of the best recipes if you want to try an octopus at its simplest.
Since I learned that coking an octopus is much simpler than I thought, I’ve been a little obsessed with trying new recipes and different ways of preparing it. To my surprise there are a lot of Portuguese octopus recipes, hearty stews, creamy rice dishes, roasts, and so on. From the several recipes I came across, octopus salad was one of my favourites.
A Few Notes on Salada de Polvo
This is one of the easiest Portuguese octopus recipes, the only step that’s a little more laborious is that of cooking the octopus. While there are plenty of techniques that can be used, my favourite is to roast it with some vegetables and herbs. The trick is to cover it with foil so you trap all the moisture inside, creating a delicious octopus stock that can be used as a base for fish soups, stews, and the classic Octopus Rice.
This salad is simply delicious and quite customizable, you can add other vegetables of your choice, legumes, and even prawns.
How to Make Portuguese Octopus Salad
Salada de Polvo – Portuguese Octopus Salad
6
servings10
minutes1
hour255
kcalThis Portuguese Octopus Salad is the perfect dish for a light summer meal! It comprises of pieces of tender octopus, onions, tomatoes, and peppers, coated in a tangy dressing that contrasts beautifully with the sweetness of the octopus meat.
Ingredients
1 1 Small Frozen Octopus
2 2 Medium Onions
3 3 Medium Tomatoes
1 1 Small Yellow Pepper
2 2 Garlic Cloves
1 1 Bay Leaf
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Rosemary
Black Pepper
1/3 Cup 1/3 Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbsp 2 White Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp 1/2 Sweet Paprika Powder
1/2 tsp 1/2 Chili Powder
Directions
- Take the thawed octopus out of the fridge and place it in room temperature at least 30 minutes in advance. In the meantime pre-heat the oven to 190°C, slice 1 onion and 1 tomato, and remove the peel of the garlic cloves, slightly crushing it with the back of a knife.
- Place your onion, tomato and garlic on a large baking tray. Accommodate the octopus on top. Add in a couple of sprigs of rosemary and thyme, and the bay leaf. Season with black pepper.
- Once the oven has heated up, tightly seal the tray with foil and roast for approximately 1h. The time may vary depending on the size of the octopus.
- Once the octopus finishes cooking, remove the foil, then carefully strain the stock. You can store the stock in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to two months. This octopus stock can be used to make Portuguese Octopus Rice.
- Cut off the tentacles where they converge on the body and discard the beak and eyes. Slice the tentacles and set them aside to cool. You can also use the remaining parts of the head.
- Meanwhile, dice the pepper and remaining onion. Remove the seeds from the remaining tomato, dice it too.
- Once the chopped octopus has cooled down completely, combine it with your diced onion, tomatoes and pepper. Roughly chop your fresh coriander, toss it in. Dress with the olive oil and vinegar, season with the piri piri. paprika and freshly ground black pepper.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. Octopus is naturally salty, so I recommend trying the salad before adding any extra.
Notes
- If buying a frozen octopus, you’ll need to thaw it first. The simplest way is to thaw it in a fridge overnight!
If you give this recipe a try, please let me know in the comments!