Grilled Octopus Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

Name: Grilled Octopus Salad
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 105 min
Total time: 165 min
Ingredients: fresh octopus; 1 large pot of water; 1 orange (juiced); 1 lemon (juiced); 1 lime (juiced); 1 1/2 tsp salt; 1 tbsp whole peppercorns; 1/2 cup white wine; 1 wine cork; 1 orange (juiced and zested); 1 lemon (juiced); 1 lime (juiced); 1/2 cup olive oil; 2 tbsp honey; 2 tbsp white wine vinegar; 1 clove garlic (minced); 1/2 tsp salt; pinch red pepper flakes; 1 fennel bulb; 2 tbsp fennel fronds

This step-by-step recipe will show you how to make grilled octopus at home. Plus, it includes a fresh salad with citrus vinaigrette.

4.63 from 29 votes

Recipe Subscribe

By Christie Vanover | Published September 20, 2015 | Last Updated February 16, 2023

Home | Recipes | Grilled Octopus Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

A lot of restaurant chefs are featuring grilled octopus salad nowadays. The octopus is meaty and tender and develops a nice crispy char when it’s cooked on the grill. It’s not fishy at all. It’s a very subtle meat, kind of like squid, and it will take on the flavors mixed with it.

PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Ingredients for Grilled Octopus
Equipment Needed
Before Grilling Octopus, It’s Important to Steam It
Citrus Vinaigrette Dressing and Marinade
How to Grill Octopus
Make Grilled Octopus Salad
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Unique Foods You Can Grill or Smoke

Ingredients for Grilled Octopus

There are two ways to make this recipe: the adventurous way with a whole fresh octopus, or the easy way with pre-steamed octopus tentacles.

Octopus: You can use either a whole fresh octopus or cooked octopus tentacles.
Steaming Liquid: If you steam a fresh octopus, you’ll add citrus, salt, peppercorns and wine to a pot.
Wine Cork: Seams odd, but it supposedly helps make the meat more tender.
Fennel: This fresh vegetable with a slight licorice flavor is the base for the optional salad.
Citrus Vinaigrette: The salad dressing includes citrus juice, olive oil, honey, white wine vinegar, garlic, salt and red pepper flakes.

Equipment Needed

Large Pot: If you’re steaming the octopus yourself, you will need a very large pot with a lid.
Tongs
Cutting Board and Knife
Small Bowl
Whisk

Before Grilling Octopus, It’s Important to Steam It

If you were to throw raw octopus on the grill, it would be very chewy, so it’s very important that you steam it first.

When shopping for octopus, you might be lucky enough to find it already steamed. If that’s the case, you can skip that step in the recipe and go straight to the marinade and the grill.

If you’re looking for a little more adventure, check your local Asian market for whole fresh octopus and follow the full recipe.

whole octopus in pot of water with citrus and a cork.

To steam it, you’ll need to fill a very large pot with water and heat it to a simmer.

To get the pretty, magical curls, hold the obstacle by its head. Then, dip the tentacles in the water and then lift it out and re-dip it a few times. As the meat reacts to the heat, the tentacles will curl right before your eyes.

Once you’re happy with the curls, you can place the whole octopus in the water and flavor the water. I like adding fresh juice from an orange, lemon and lime along with salt, whole peppercorns and some white wine.

I also add wine cork to the water. This, for some magical reason, helps make it nice and tender.

Cover the pot, reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 1 1/2 hours. You’ll know it’s ready when the octopus is tender when pierced with a fork or knife.

Citrus Vinaigrette Dressing and Marinade

While the octopus is steaming, make the citrus vinaigrette. This will be used to marinate the octopus and to dress the salad.

Be sure to reserve about two tablespoons of the vinaigrette in a separate bowl. It will be used later to dress the salad.

After you have steamed the octopus, it’s time to remove the head. We’re only going to eat the tentacles. So use a knife and slice those off.

Then, place the steamed tentacles in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for as little as 30 minutes or up to 24 hours, depending on how rich you would like the flavor to be.

If you purchased pre-steamed octopus tentacles, you can jump straight to this marinade step.

How to Grill Octopus

Great news! Grilling octopus is super easy. Once you’ve reached this point, the octopus is already thoroughly cooked and safe to eat.

The grilling process is done to add texture and to create those crispy succulent bits. The oil in the vinaigrette will assist with that charring, as well.

You can cook this recipe on a charcoal or gas grill. You can also use a pellet grill set to about 400F degrees. Heat it to high with a direct heat setting. Then, cook it flipping occasionally, until it’s charred to your liking.

Make Grilled Octopus Salad

Once you remove your octopus from the grill, you can serve it in a variety of ways. My favorite is atop a fresh fennel salad.

You’ll find fennel in the vegetable section of the grocery store. It’s usually near the celery or parsnips. It has a funny bulb shape with thin dark green fronds on top.

Slice off those fronds and set them aside for your garnish.

Then, slice the fennel into thin strips. Be sure to rinse them well, because sometimes sand and soil residue will be left inside (just like you find with leeks).

Toss the fennel in the reserved vinaigrette and add them to a plate.

For final assembly, place the charred grilled octopus right on top. Pour any remaining vinaigrette on top and sprinkle with the fennel fronds.

GCG Pro Pitmaster Tips

You must used pre-cooked, steamed octopus
Allow the octopus to marinate for richer flavor
Grill on high to create charred bits
Serve on a fennel salad

Frequently Asked Questions

What does grilled octopus taste like?

Grilled octopus has a texture similar to squid (calamari). It’s chewy, but is very bland. Even though octopus live in the ocean, the meat does not have a fishy flavor. By steaming the octopus before grilling it, the octopus will become more tender and less chewy.

Do I have to cook a whole octopus?

Absolutely not. This grilled octopus recipe includes steps in case you do want to cook the whole octopus, but you can also purchase pre-steamed tentacles and grill them.

Where can I buy octopus?

I have only found whole octopus at local Asian markets, like Seafood City. Tentacles are becoming more common. I’ve seen them at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. There are several seafood purveyors online that now sell cooked tentacles, as well.

Other Unique Foods You Can Grill or Smoke

Want even more great grilling recipes? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for my latest grilling adventures. If you make this recipe, I’d love for your to leave a comment and rating below. Thanks.

One Comment

Blanca giuta December 23, 2021 at 9:40 pm - Reply

Made this for appitizer ,not a fan of fennel so put a schemer of lemon hummus on plate,then bit of arugula ,sliver of red pickled onion, 1 tentacle each, & drizzled the vinegret over.. got rave reviews! The vinegret is what makes this dish.
Used an electric outdoor grill , worked fine for mild char..