🥗 STARTER
Salade Ourite (Mauritian Octopus Salad)
Tender boiled octopus cut into pieces and tossed with sliced onion, tomato, lemon juice and oil, sharpened with green chili and coriander, served warm or cold with bread.
Mauritian · easy · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 45 min
~200 cal · 26g protein · 9g carbs · 6g fat · 1g fiber · 3g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Ourite is the Mauritian Creole word for octopus, and in Mauritius and Rodrigues it is eaten often, especially along the coast, where it has long been found in abundance, though catches have fallen sharply in recent years. It goes into curries and into daube, a spicy tomato stew, and it makes one of the island's simplest and best loved starters, salade ourite.
The octopus is boiled in salted water until tender, then cut into bite-sized pieces and dressed while still warm with lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper, sliced onion and tomato. Many cooks add green chili and fresh coriander. It is Creole cooking at its most direct, relying on good octopus and plenty of lemon.
It is served warm or cold with bread, as a starter or a light lunch, and it turns up among the gajaks, the small plates Mauritians share with a drink.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 1 kg (2 lb) octopus, cleaned, fresh or frozen and thawed
- 1 tbsp salt, for the cooking water, plus more to season
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 2 medium tomatoes, cut into medium pieces
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 to 2 green chili, finely chopped, to taste
- 1 small handful fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 baguette bread, to serve
Instructions
- 1Bring a large pot of water to the boil with the salt. Add the octopus and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, until a knife slides easily into the thickest part of a tentacle.✎ Chef’s noteFrozen octopus is often more tender than fresh, because freezing breaks down its tough fibres.
- 2Drain the octopus and, when it is cool enough to handle, cut it into bite-sized pieces.
- 3In a large bowl, whisk the oil and lemon juice with a pinch of salt and the pepper.
- 4Add the warm octopus, onion, tomatoes, chili and coriander and toss well. Taste for salt and lemon.
- 5Serve warm, or chill it and serve cold, with bread.
Mauritian Creole tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Port Louis. Dholl puri came ashore with the people who made it. Indian indentured labourers were landed from 1834 at the Aapravasi Ghat here in Port Louis, now a World Heritage site, and the flatbread they brought is stuffed with ground split peas, cooked dry without oil, and served in pairs with butter bean curry and rougaille.
🗺️
Mauritius. Mauritian cuisine is a true melting pot, fusing Indian, Creole, Chinese, and French flavors into curries, rougaille tomato stews, and street-food dholl puri. Chili, coriander, and island produce define its vibrant plate.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mauritius
Dholl PuriFeather-soft flatbreads with ground split peas hidden in the dough, folded around bean curry and chutney.
RougailleA Creole tomato stew of Mauritius, simmered with thyme, ginger, and curry leaf around fish or sausage.
Farata with Butter Bean CurryFlaky griddled flatbread (farata) served with a light butter-bean curry, a popular Mauritian breakfast.
Browse all Mauritius recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Whisk.
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
Make it a Mauritius meal
AloudaDrink
NapolitaineDessert
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Salade Ourite (Mauritian Octopus Salad)?
Tender boiled octopus cut into pieces and tossed with sliced onion, tomato, lemon juice and oil, sharpened with green chili and coriander, served warm or cold with bread.
Where does Salade Ourite (Mauritian Octopus Salad) come from?
Salade Ourite (Mauritian Octopus Salad) is a Mauritian dish from Port Louis, Mauritius.
Can Salade Ourite (Mauritian Octopus Salad) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Salade Ourite (Mauritian Octopus Salad) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Salade Ourite (Mauritian Octopus Salad) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Salade Ourite (Mauritian Octopus Salad) take to make?
About 65 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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