Sous Vide Octopus Spanish Tapas is very tender, and simply seasoned with garlic and smoked paprika for the perfect tapas. I’m a bit obsessed with octopus – how to prepare it so it is super tender. I’ve read articles that suggest many different ways to cook octopus until tender. These methods include beating the octopus against rocks until tender, freezing octopus, adding vinegar when cooking, and adding a wine cork to the braising liquid. Some people slow cook octopus, others pressure cook it.
Recently, I tried making sous vide octopus to see whether or not this method of cooking would yield a tender octopus. I’ve used a pressure cooker to make Greek Grilled Octopus with Rosemary and Thyme with great success (it takes just 10 minutes), so I was curious to see how sous vide octopus would compare.
Octopus can be found in the fresh seafood section of some supermarkets as well as in the freezer section. Handling octopus is definitely not for the squeamish, so you have to really love octopus to make it at home.
To simplify the sous vide method, I simply placed the seasoned octopus in a Ziploc bag with rosemary, garlic, and olive oil.
Using the water displacement method, I sealed the bag once the bag was immersed in the sous vide bath. I used a wet kitchen cloth to keep the bag immersed during the cooking process.
The result? The octopus was evenly cooked through (one of the biggest advantages of sous vide cooking) and tender, but still firm. If you’re a curious cook like me, you will want to try this method and compare it to pressure cooking octopus. It does take more time (5 hours versus 10 minutes), but the octopus cooks unattended. Personally, I think the sous vide octopus was firmer than the pressure cooked octopus, but I like the idea of marinating the octopus in the rosemary olive oil mixture for a longer period of time.
Have you tried sous vide? If so, what is your favorite dish to make?
Sous Vide Octopus Spanish Tapas
Ingredients
- 1 baby octopus ~ 2 pounds
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- sea salt
- black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic sliced
- smoked Spanish paprika
- sea salt
- black pepper
- 1 potato peeled, cooked until tender, cut into bite size pieces
Instructions
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Heat sous vide bath to 171 degrees. Season octopus with salt and pepper, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place in Ziploc bag or vacuum seal bag along with rosemary sprigs. Seal bag, squeezing out any excess air.
Cook in sous vide bath for 5 hours.
Remove octopus from bag and pat dry with paper towel. Cut cooked octopus into bite-size pieces.
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Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and garlic in skillet until hot and garlic is lightly browned. Add cooked potato and saute until heated through. Add octopus pieces. Season to taste with smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Toss octopus well.
If you like this sous vide recipe, you might also like these sous vide recipes:
Sous Vide Pork  Loin Bahn Mi Buns
Sous Vide Chinese Drunken Chicken
Sous Vide Herbed Turkey Breast
Looks really great! I love your method with ziploc bag..much easier.
Thanks Angie – the Ziploc bag method is definitely easier.
Hi ladies sorry to bother you but I have a question: it is any kind of zip bag or a specific one? I feel like the plastic will contaminate my octopus. Thanks I’m advance for any clarification.
Regards
I use the Ziploc brand zip bags, which are fine for sous vide.