The traditional Greek octopus stifado recipe! We all know and love the classic Greek rabbit or beef stifado, but this very easy and simple to prepare octopus stew is the perfect dish for the Lenten period!
Octopus is a lean seafood, low in calorie and very high in protein, making it a good way to substitute meat and get protein in your diet during Lent.
To prepare a traditional Greek octopus stifado, the octopus is braised with wine, shallot onions, tomato, aromatic herbs and spices creating a delightful stew. Let it simmer to allow its flavours to mingle into something much much more!
Serve this delicious Greek octopus stifado with fried potatoes or traditional Greek fava, some lovely crusty Greek bread and enjoy over a nice glass of wine or Retsina!
A traditional Greek octopus stifado recipe! This simple octopus stew is the perfect dish for the Lenten period! The octopus is braised with wine, shallot onions, tomato, aromatic herbs and spices creating a delightful stew.
To prepare this delicious Greek octopus stifado recipe, place the octopus in a large pot, pour in 1 cup of water and the vinegar. Boil the octopus for about 20 minutes. Remove the octopus from the pan, chop into pieces and place in a bowl along with 1 cup of the broth (the water where the octopus just boiled in).
In the meantime peel the shallots and carve them crosswise. A little trick to peel them more easily is to place the shallots in a bowl full of water and leave them in the fridge overnight.
In a saucepan add the oil and shallots (whole) and sauté (medium heat) for about 10 minutes or until softened. Turn the heat up, add the octopus and sauté. Add the tomato paste, grated onion and garlic and sauté for 1 more minute.
Pour in the red wine, 1 cup of the hot broth, the bay leaves, allspice berries and season. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and let the octopus stifado simmer for about 30-40 minutes, or until the octopus is tender and the sauce has thickened. If the sauce needs some more thickening, then let it cook for a while uncovered.
This recipe is faultless my family loved it
I omitted the red wine vinegar as i didnt have any handy so used brown vinegar instead
Worked out very delicious
Thank you for your recipes
I love the sound of this recipe, but in the instructions it mentions broth? There is no mention of broth in the ingredients, what broth do you suggest please?
I had this dish at “Dimitri’s on the water” in Tarpon Springs Florida. I’m still not able to get my octopus to be as soft as it is at that restaurant. let me know if you have any trick for that. I’m planning to do this recipe the way you suggested and see how it goes. It sounds delicious.
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(518 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5)
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This recipe is faultless my family loved it
I omitted the red wine vinegar as i didnt have any handy so used brown vinegar instead
Worked out very delicious
Thank you for your recipes
your welcome Dora, so happy it worked out well for you and hope you find many dishes that you love 🙂
Love
Eli
I’m going to try this tonight but I could only get a frozen octopus. Is the cooking time the same?
Sandra
I would probably add an extra 10 minutes and make sure the water is really hot as the frozen octopus would cool it down rapidly…
have done this 3 times having again for Sunday lunch is delicious
I love the sound of this recipe, but in the instructions it mentions broth? There is no mention of broth in the ingredients, what broth do you suggest please?
Hi Jane
Its the water that the octopus has just boiled in, the first step 🙂
Can this be eaten cold?
Looking forward to making this recipe but what is best to serve with it?
I had this dish at “Dimitri’s on the water” in Tarpon Springs Florida. I’m still not able to get my octopus to be as soft as it is at that restaurant. let me know if you have any trick for that. I’m planning to do this recipe the way you suggested and see how it goes. It sounds delicious.