Easy Healthy Grilled Octopus Recipe – Greek Style
This super easy and delicious Greek grilled octopus recipe is keto friendly, gluten free, paleo and whole 30.
Is Octopus Healthy?
Yes, octopus is very healthy!
Octopus is a lean source of seafood that is low in calories and fat but still has a lot of protein and other nutrients. So, it is low calorie with a high nutritional value.
For comparison, since most people’s protein go-to is chicken breast, 100 g serving of octopus only has 160 calories but 30g of protein and 100g of chicken breast has 165 calories with 31g protein.
Because it is so low in fat and high in protein, it’s great for weight loss and people generally trying to manage their weight and energy levels.
A 4-ounce serving of raw octopus only has 93 calories and 1g of fat, yet is loaded with 17 grams of protein. It also only has 2g carbs and 0 grams of sugar- making it great for keto as well.
Octopus is also very high in B12, iron, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids- which all have lots of health benefits.
Cooking Octopus
Cooking octopus is pretty easy, it just takes a long time because you have to get it tender.
You cannot grill octopus if you do not tenderize it first. But that doesn’t require much actual “work” time, most of that time it’s just simmering or boiling in a pot (depending which recipe you are following). So, although the cooking time may seem lengthy, it’s not time you need to be standing over the pot.
You can buy cooked octopus, but I prefer to use fresh octopus because it tastes much better.
Baby octopus is much faster to cook because it does not take as long to tenderize as a whole octopus.
Some people also prefer to tenderize the octopus in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot.
Easy Healthy Grilled Octopus Recipe
Grilled Octopus Ingredients
For the Octopus
- 2 pounds fresh octopus (1 large octopus or 2 small ones)
- 1/2 cup white wine dry
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 peppercorns
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
Greek Marinade
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice from 2-3 lemons
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp dried oregano or greek oregano
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper to taste
Greek Grilled Octopus Recipe Instructions
- Rinse the octopus under cold running water.
- Place onion, garlic, bay leaf, paprika, salt, and 2 tablespoon olive oil into a large pot or large saucepan that will fit all of your octopus. Cook and stir over medium heat until onions start to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add the wine, vinegar and peppercorns to create the braising cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer.
- Transfer octopus into braising liquid, turning to coat with the liquid. Cover; reduce to low heat. Simmer 20 minutes and turn octopus over. Continue cooking until octopus is knife-tender, another 40 minutes.
- Remove octopus from pan and cut the octopus tentacles in to pieces with a sharp knife (whatever size you prefer).
- Whisk the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the octopus to the marinade bowl and gently roll to coat.
- Preheat the grill or stovetop pan.
- Set the grill to medium-high heat and coat the grates with oil. Set the octopus directly onto the grates or pan. Let the outside brown for 2-3 minutes per side. Rotate to develop a char then place onto a platter with extra marinade.
- Optional: garnish with lemon wedges.
- Enjoy!
Printable Healthy Grilled Greek Style Octopus Recipe – Greek Style
Easy Healthy Grilled Greek Style Octopus Recipe
Ingredients
Octopus
- 2 lbs fresh octopus
- 1/2 cup white cooking wine
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 peppercorns
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Greek Octopus Marinade
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions
-
Rinse the octopus under cold running water.
-
Place onion, garlic, bay leaf, paprika, salt, and 2 tablespoon olive oil into a large pot or large saucepan that will fit all of your octopus. Cook and stir over medium heat until onions start to soften, about 5 minutes.
-
Add the wine, vinegar and peppercorns to create the braising cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer.
-
Transfer octopus into braising liquid, turning to coat with the liquid. Cover; reduce to low heat. Simmer 20 minutes and turn octopus over. Continue cooking until octopus is knife-tender, another 40 minutes.
-
Remove octopus from pan and cut the octopus tentacles in to pieces with a sharp knife (whatever size you prefer).
-
Whisk the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the octopus to the marinade bowl and gently roll to coat.
-
Preheat the grill or stovetop pan.
-
Set the grill to medium-high heat and coat the grates with oil. Set the octopus directly onto the grates or pan. Let the outside brown for 2-3 minutes per side. Rotate to develop a char then place onto a platter with extra marinade.
Grilled Octopus Nutrition Facts
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 6 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 283 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 18.4g | 24% |
| Saturated Fat 2.4g | 12% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 18mg | 1% |
| Total Carbohydrate 2.5g | 1% |
| Dietary Fiber 0.6g | 2% |
| Total Sugars 0.9g | |
| Protein 25.7g | |
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
| Calcium 14mg | 1% |
| Iron 0mg | 2% |
| Potassium 51mg | 1% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
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