Seafood salad is a light and refreshing dish made with a mix of tender seafood like octopus, shrimp, baby clams, mussels, and calamari.
It's a versatile recipe that can be served as an appetizer, side, or even a main dish with a slice of toasted slice of an Italian baguette.
This dish is often served along side other feast of the seven fish dishes on Christmas Eve like Baccala alla Livornese (Cod in Tomato Sauce Ragu), Crispy Fried Shrimp, and Crispy Fried Calamari.
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Here's Why You'll Love this Dish
You'll love this seafood and want to make it because:
- it's the perfect side dish to make ahead and store away in a jar
- versatile that you can use any shellfish and preferred ingredients
- adjust the dressing as needed to your flavor taste
- when properly stored lasts for at least one month in the fridge
- you can store unused seafood salad for extended periods of time for use later
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Jarring Seafood Salad for Later Use
I usually make a large batch of seafood salad and store it in the refrigerator.
Here's a couple of things to keep in mind when you are making a batch to serve immediately or use over a period of time.
Always cook octopus separate because it will turn the water purple. Also it will take long to cook than other seafood and you want all of your seafood to be equally tender not chewy and gummy.
If you are serving the seafood salad immediately use extra virgin olive oil as your oil base.
If you have any leftover or have a large batch, store your shrimp salad in vegetable oil.
Vegetable oil won't get cloudy, thick or solidify when refrigerated like olive oil.
You can then scoop the shrimp salad out of your container, draining the vegetable oil and dress it with your best olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice.
Refrigerated seafood salad should last refrigerated for at least one month.
Always remember to push the seafood down under the vegetable oil or add more oil so that the seafood is submerged in the oil.
Ingredients
To make this seafood salad you'll need: vinegar, lemon and lemon juice, parsley, celery, olive oil, shrimp, octopus, clams, mussels, bell pepper, celery, carrot, salt, pepper, oregano, bay leaves and garlic.
For exact measurement details and directions see recipe card...
How to Make Seafood Salad at Home
If you are using frozen seafood, thaw it out in the refrigerator overnight. Prepare it by removing shells from shrimp, deveining shrimp, cleaning and cutting squid. Clean octopus and remove any organs in the head. Remove beak if still intact. I used baby octopus for this salad but you can use a regular octopus or just the leg of an octopus.
The best thing is to ask your fishmonger to clean it for you then freeze it until you are ready to prepare your seafood salad.
In a medium pot, place 2 cups of vinegar and 4 cups water and bring to boil. Place cleaned and shelled shrimp, calamari, clams, mussels and squid in the pot and cook for 2 minutes. Scoop out using a slotted spoon or a spider spoon.
In a separate smaller pot, cook octopus (remember to remove any organs and the beak if still left intact) in a mixture of 1 cup white vinegar and 2 cups water and the bay leaves for about 30 to 40 minutes until the leg is tender when poked by a fork.
Place the seafood mix in a large bowl. For the octopus, carefully remove the purple skin by rubbing and peeling it away. A paper towel will help if needed. Cut in to bite sized pieces and add to seafood mixture.
Add remaining ingredients. Toss and serve. (Best if chilled for an hour to develop the flavors)
Storage:
Place unused seafood salad in a 32 oz mason jar. Using a spoon, push the seafood down as much as possible, then fill the jar with vegetable oil until the seafood is covered. Place the lid on and refrigerate for up to a month. Check occasionally to make sure that the oil level is above the seafood to avoid mold.
Freezing not recommended. Best served fresh or refrigerated.
Top Tips
Cook seafood until tender to avoid toughness.
Shrimp, mussels, clams about 2 minutes. Octopus about 40 minutes. Baby Octopus about 20 minutes.
When cooking octopus, cook it seperate so that it does not turn your other seafood purple. Cook until a fork inserted in to the leg or head easily.
Cool seafood completely before mixing or dressing.
Use fresh lemon juice for best flavor.
Let the salad marinate for a few hours before serving.
Keep the dressing light to avoid overpowering the seafood.
Substitutions and Variations
Get creative with substitutions and variations in this recipe by using:
- Shrimp - instead of using a variation of seafood, use only shrimp to make a shrimp salad. You can even turn it into a shrimp salad sandwich by add mayonnaise and eliminating the oil.
- Herbs - add other herbs like dill, fennel or chili flakes
- Vegetables - add other vegetables like red onion or hot peppers.
The perfect recipe isn't that far away. I'd love to know how you substituted ingredients to fit your dietary needs. Drop a comment below and let me know!
Answers to Commonly Asked Questions
Yes, it's best made a few hours in advance or the day before. The longer it chills the better the flavors meld in with the seafood.
Seafood salad is typically served chilled or at room temperature.
Other Seafood Dishes to Try
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe Details
Italian Seafood Salad
https://easyhomemaderecipes.caAffiliate Disclosure
This page contains affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Equipment
Ingredients
Poaching Ingredients
- 2 lb seafood mix mussels, squid, shrimp, clams shelled and cleaned
- ½ lb octopus cleaned
- 3 cups white vinegar for poaching seafood 1:2 Ratio - vinegar/water
- 6 cups water for poaching seafood
- 2 whole bay leaves
Seafood Salad Dressing for Serving
- ½ small red pepper cleaned and chopped in to cubes
- 2 celery sticks cleaned and sliced
- 1 small carrot
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- ¼ tsp salt
- pepper to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 lemon freshly squeezed
Seafood Salad Storage
- 3 cups vegetable oil or more
Instructions
Poaching Seafood
- In a medium pot, place 2 cups of vinegar and 4 cups water and bring to boil. Place cleaned and shelled shrimp, calamari, clams, mussels and squid in the pot and cook for 2 minutes. Scoop out using a slotted spoon or a spider spoon.DO NOT COOK OCTOPUS with seafood mix because it will turn your other fish purple.2 lb seafood mix, 2 cups white vinegar, 4 cups water
- In a separate smaller pot, cook octopus (remember to remove any organs and the beak if still left intact) in a mixture of 1 cup white vinegar and 2 cups water and the bay leaves for about 30 to 40 minutes until the leg is tender when poked by a fork.IF YOU ARE USING BABY OCTOPUS, COOK FOR 15 - 20 MINUTES. AND REMOVE WHEN LEGS ARE TENDER.½ lb octopus, 1.01 cups white vinegar, 2 cups water, 2 whole bay leaves
- Place the seafood mix in a bowl. For the octopus, carefully remove the purple skin by rubbing and peeling it away. A paper towel will help if needed. Cut in to bite sized pieces and add to seafood mixture.
- Add remaining ingredients. Toss and serve. (Best if chilled for an hour to develop the flavors)½ small red pepper, 2 celery sticks, 1 small carrot, 3 tbsp fresh parsley, ¼ tsp dried oregano, 2 garlic cloves, ¼ tsp salt, pepper to taste, ¼ cup olive oil, 1 lemon
Seafood Salad Storage
- Place unused seafood salad in a 32 oz mason jar. Using a spoon, push the seafood down as much as possible, then fill the jar with vegetable oil until the seafood is covered. Place the lid on and refrigerate for up to a month. Check occasionally to make sure that the oil level is above the seafood to avoid mold.3 cups vegetable oil
Notes
Shrimp, mussels, clams about 2 minutes. Octopus about 40 minutes. Baby Octopus about 20 minutes. When cooking octopus, cook it seperate so that it does not turn your other seafood purple. Cook until a fork inserted in to the leg or head easily. Cool seafood completely before mixing or dressing. Use fresh lemon juice for best flavor. Let the salad marinate for a few hours before serving. Keep the dressing light to avoid overpowering the seafood.
Nutrition
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Food Safety
Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.
Remember to:
- Not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
For Canadian Guidelines check the Government of Canada Food Safety Guidelines or see more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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