Easy Grilled Octopus
Easy Grilled Octopus Recipe – tender, lightly seasoned and charred octopus that tastes amazing! A must try for seafood lovers!
Print Pin RateServings: 2
Equipment
- 1 large pot for boiling
- 1 gas grill
- 1 grilling tongs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs fresh octopus baby, medium or large
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- juice from 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Place octopus in a pot and cover with enough water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 40 minutes.
- Remove octopus from hot water, rinse and place in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and add chopped garlic. Let is cool and rest at room temperature, for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat a gas grill to medium-high heat.
- Slice octopus tentacles. Grill for 3-4 minutes per side, until charred.
- Remove from heat and place in a bowl.
- Drizzle with olive oil and add lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some oregano (optional) and parsley on top. You can also add some chopped garlic, too (optional).
- Serve.
Notes
How to prepare octopus for cooking?
Preparing octopus for cooking, especially when boiling first and then grilling, requires a few key steps to ensure tenderness and flavor.1. Clean the Octopus:
- First – Rinse the octopus under cold running water.
- I suggest that you use gloves here. Remove the beak: The beak is located at the center of the tentacles where they converge. You can push it out from underneath or cut it out with a small knife.
- You may also need to – Remove the eyes: Make a small incision around the eyes and pop them out with a knife.
- I advise getting cleaned octopus from the store, but if this is not the case, follow this step. If your octopus hasn’t been cleaned, remove any innards from the head sac.
2. Tenderize the Octopus (Optional): When using baby to small octopus, this step is totally unnecessary, according to my experience.
- Freezing method: If your octopus is fresh, freezing it overnight helps tenderize the meat. Defrost before cooking.
- Manual tenderizing: You can also pound the octopus with a meat mallet before cooking, though freezing is a simpler method.