Cooking octopus in a pressure cooker is a quick and simple method to achieve a tender and flavorful octopus, whether you use fresh or frozen octopus. The pressure cooking process softens the octopus meat fibers, preventing that “rubbery” texture that sometimes characterizes octopus, even when cooked with great care. This is a fairly common risk, as evidenced by the many tips—some valid, others unfounded—passed down through generations to achieve tender and tasty octopus.
I have personally tried various methods of cooking octopus—the classic boiling, the waterless cooking—but when I want to be sure, I boil the octopus in a pressure cooker using little water: this way its natural flavor is preserved, and you save time and gas! Once cooked in the pressure cooker, you can use it to prepare excellent recipes such as seafood salad, the classic octopus and potatoes or grilled octopus.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2 people
- Cooking methods: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 285.49 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 7.11 (g) of which sugars 7.05 (g)
- Proteins 53.01 (g)
- Fat 5.00 (g) of which saturated 2.08 (g)of which unsaturated 2.97 (g)
- Fibers 0.03 (g)
- Sodium 194.58 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Cooking Octopus in a Pressure Cooker
- 2.2 lbs octopus (fresh or frozen)
- 1 clove onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1.7 cups water
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- 1 Pressure Cooker
- 1 Colander
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
How to Boil Octopus in a Pressure Cooker
To boil octopus in a pressure cooker, start by cleaning the vegetables: they are not essential, but they add good flavor to the octopus. Scrape the carrot and celery and cut them in half. Peel the onion and cut a large wedge, about ¼. Put the vegetables in the pressure cooker and add the water. Do not add salt: the octopus should be salted once cooked.
Put the pressure cooker on the stove on high heat and without the lid. As soon as the water starts to boil (1), take the octopus, holding it by the head, and dip only the tentacles in the water three times (2). This will curl the tentacles (3).
This operation has a purely aesthetic purpose, to make the tentacles curl. If you don’t do it, the result in terms of taste and texture will be the same. Once the tentacles are curled, put the entire octopus in the pot, close with the lid, and lower the valve. Wait for the pot to reach pressure.
When it starts to whistle, cook the octopus in the pressure cooker for 18 minutes. These are the ideal times for a 2.2 lbs octopus. For octopuses of different weights, you must increase or decrease the cooking times based on the weight. Here is a table with the main cooking times for octopus; the cooking time is calculated from when the pot starts to whistle, and of course, you need to consider the weight of each individual octopus (e.g., if you bought 2.2 lbs of small octopuses weighing 7 oz each, you should follow the cooking times for 7 oz octopus):
If using frozen octopus, the cooking times do not change as they are always calculated from when the pressure cooker starts to whistle. Once the cooking time has elapsed, turn off the heat and open the valve to release the steam. Let it all out completely until the safety valve lowers, then open the pressure cooker and let the octopus cool in its water for about ten minutes (4).
Then drain and salt it (5). When it is cool enough to handle, cut it into pieces if you want to make a salad (6), or into large pieces if you want to grill or broil it.
Storage
The cooked octopus can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
How to Cook Frozen Octopus in a Pressure Cooker
If you have frozen or deep-frozen octopus, you can cook it in a pressure cooker without any issues. Normally, if I have time, I let it thaw in the refrigerator so that I can dip the tentacles in water to make them curl. However, when I don’t have time, I cook it while still frozen by proceeding as follows: I put cold water, vegetables, and still-frozen octopus in the pot. I close the pot and put it on the heat until it starts to whistle. Then I cook it following the cooking times I mentioned earlier in the table.
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