This Greek Grilled Octopus is marinated in olive oil infused with garlic, rosemary and thyme. Pressure cooked octopus yields a tender octopus in just ten minutes. Grilling adds smokiness and a little crunchy texture to this delicious appetizer and reminds me of one of my favorite octopus dishes at Mediterranean restaurants.
I love grilled octopus. I also love squid tentacles. I had the best Greek Grilled Octopus a few years ago at a little restaurant in Florida, and have been trying to recreate it at home. The trick is to make sure the octopus is cooked until nice and tender. I’ve read that the Greeks tenderize octopus by throwing it against rocks. After doing a little more research, I found that pressure cooking octopus is an easy and fast way to cook octopus until it is fork tender. It takes just ten minutes.
There are three steps to making this Greek Grilled Octopus. First, the octopus is cooked in seasoned liquid. Then, the cooked octopus is marinated in an herb garlic marinade scented with rosemary and thyme. Finally, the marinated cooked octopus is charred on the grill. If you cook the octopus in a pressure cooker, it really doesn’t take as long as you’d think.
When I picked up this octopus from the supermarket, the lady next to me asked what it was. I have to admit raw whole octopus is not the prettiest thing. But, if you venture to try making this Greek Grilled Octopus, it will be transformed into a dish that will impress your family and guests.
Greek Grilled Octopus Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 octopus ~ 2 pounds, cleaned
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1/2 onion
- 1/2 lemon
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Marinade
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
- salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Place octopus in pressure cooker. Add oregano, rosemary, thyme, onion, lemon, olive oil, peppercorns, salt and water to cover; bring pressure to high; then reduce heat to low and cook 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let pressure release naturally. Remove to a cutting board and cut tentacles from body and cut body into several pieces.
-
In a large bowl, mix together Marinade ingredients; add cooked octopus pieces; let marinate until ready to grill, at least one hour. Remove octopus from marinade; reserve marinade.
-
Heat grill to high; lightly oil grill; grill octopus pieces until lightly charred, about 3 minutes per side.
-
Cut up grilled octopus and drizzle with reserved marinade.
I’m in love with grilled or braised octopus. It has such a wonderful depth of flavor that one doesn’t always get in seafood dishes. Beautifully crafted!
Brian – I haven’t had braised octopus but I’ll have to be on the look out for it. I agree – octopus has some great depth of flavor – lots of umami!
When marinating any sort of raw or semi cooked meat don’t do what a lot of recipes suggest and drizzle some of the used marinade over the meat once it has been grilled, it’s the quickest way to get food poisoning.
Yes I agree. In this recipe, the octopus is fully cooked before marinating it.
It has been a couple of decades since I last tasted some octopus. This looks amazing!
Angie – you must try this then – it’s really quite easy to make.
The three steps involved in bringing this to the table are well worth it! This octopus looks so immensely good! Love the marinated char-grilled bits!
Shashi – the extra marinating makes such a difference – and I agree, the char-grilled bits are the best!
I love seafood and wish I could get octopus here in Madison (and any fresh seafood for that matter) easily! it’s so expensive!! everything is flown in from Chicago . . this grilled octopus looks amazing!
Alice – I think the octopus I buy is actually defrosted, so you might be able to find it in the freezer at your local seafood market.
Your Greek Grilled Octopus recipe does not say how much water to add to the pressure cooker with the rest of the ingredients. How much should be added?
Thank you!
I put just enough water in the pot to cover the octopus.
I never liked octopus, but this looks so delicious!
Thanks Cecil!
What sides do you serve with this?
You could serve this as an appetizer, or with rice and a simple salad for dinner.
Why not Greek Roasted whole potatoes and a Greek salad. LOL of course I would have my Ouzo with it.
I used an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. My octopus weighed 3#. I cooked in at high pressure, manual setting for 10 min., then slow release for 10 min., followed by quick release. I cut the base of one tentacle and it was perfect! I am also letting it cool in the cooking liquid before cutting and marinading.
Hi Elizabeth – so glad you tried this in your Instant Pot and found it worked well – thanks so much for sharing!
Just made this in my new instant pot. Mind blown! Such depth of flavor. Will be on my favorite list for sure! Thank you!
Hi Denise – so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe – I used to think octopus was so hard to make, but now I know it is actually very easy.
The outer skin and suction cups came off. I only had three legs so maybe I should have reduced the pressure time?
It may be that the size of your octopus was smaller than what I used. If that was the case, then a shorter cooking time would probably work better.
Hi, I really want to cook this for a Greek dinner party we are having next weekend but I don’t have an instant, pressure cooker, etc. Could I braise the octopus in a Dutch oven instead? If so, how long would you braise it for?
Much thanks, the recipe looks fantastic!
You should be able to cook this on low heat on the stove. Cooking time will depend on how big/thick the octopus is, but it will probably take 45-90 minutes (reference: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/08/italian-easy-grilled-octopus-recipe.html)
Thank for getting back to me Jeanette. I will be making this along with several other Greek dishes (my Greek mother in law is helping me learn some of her recjpes!
If the weight is around 8 lbs
How long should I cook it.
Hi Jack – I’ve never cooked such a large octopus before. I would guess it might take a little more time, perhaps 15 minutes? Here’s another octopus recipe I found online for up to 6 pounds of octopus: http://adultkitchen.com/pressure-cooked-octopus-recipe/
Hi do I have to grill after?
Grilling adds some flavor and texture to the outside of the octopus. If you don’t want to grill it, you can also pan sear it on the stove. Or, you could just enjoy it as is without doing either. It will just have a softer texture on the outside.