This is the ULTIMATE guide for those who want to make an Italian Seafood Salad at home for Christmas Eve or your next get-together with friends. Italian Seafood Salad, or Insalata di Mare, can look intimidating, but when you break it down, it's easy, fresh, and so flavorful.

Looking for another delicious seafood salad? Try our Cold Shrimp Salad!

A Quick Look at The Recipe

✅Recipe Name: Italian Seafood Salad
⏲️Ready in: Active 2 hours, Resting 1 day
👪Makes: 10 servings
📋Main ingredients: Calamari, octopus, scungili, shrimp, and mussels.
⭐Why You'll Love This Recipe: This is a classic Italian-American seafood salad recipe that is perfect for serving on Christmas Eve for the Feast of Seven Fishes!

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

Why this Recipe

Italian-American traditions all revolve around one thing: food. Coming together as a family around food. Sitting around the table on a Sunday afternoon, making Homemade Sausage in the winter, or jarring tomatoes at the end of the summer.

Italian Seafood Salad is a classic Christmas Eve tradition that I love having with our family. My son loves it when I pull out a whole octopus and cook it up. Will he eat it? Of course not, but it's all about being in the kitchen together.

Italian Seafood Salad can seem so intimidating, but if you just take it one step at a time, it's a simple salad that only takes about 1 hour of active cooking time. This recipe is perfect for families looking for an easy way to keep tradition but be able to use seafood that works for their family!

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Mussels. Mussels are a great seafood to add to the salad. They're easy to find in the 'ber' months, plus you typically want to get farm-raised mussels, which you can easily find at a local grocery store. Plus, you can buy extra and make Mussels Fra DiavoloorSteamed Mussels in White Wine.
Scungilli. Canned scungilli, or sliced conch, is getting more and more expensive, but it's an easy seafood to add to the salad that requires minimal work.
Octopus. I like to think this is a non-negotiable piece of the salad because it's so much fun to pull out. The family always gets a kick out of an octopus, and it's the most delicious part of the salad, in my opinion.
Shrimp. Shrimp is an easy and reliable seafood that most people have cooked before. It's the perfect addition to an easy Italian seafood dish.
Calamari. Calamari, when carefully poached, is so tender and absorbs so much flavor when it's marinated!

Olive Oil. This is one of those dishes that heavily relies on the flavor of olive oil. You need to use a high-quality extra virgin olive oil because it will command so much of the flavor in the dish. You can also substitute a subtle dressing like Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette.
Celery and Red Onion. You can add other vegetables or substitute these with veggies like red peppers, carrots, green peppers, or spice it up with chile peppers.
Salt. Even though seafood is salty as is, I like to season it with salt when marinating, and then add a little the following day if it needs it.
Fresh Parsley. Fresh parsley can't be substituted with dried. It just won't give the same flavor or texture.

*Please see the recipe card below for more information about the ingredients.

Seafood Variations

This recipe can easily be modified to work for your family. It can be as simple as eliminating the seafood you don't like or might find more intimidating to cook. You can also replace it with some of your favorites. Here are some alternatives to add:

Scallops. I like to prepare all the seafood separately; even if I'm poaching shrimp, I'll poach my scallops separately, so everything is perfectly cooked. Then, I'll put them in an ice bath.
Clams. Steam clams along with the mussels for another delicious shellfish.
Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish is similar to squid and can either be substituted for or added to the dish.
Anchovies. Add a few chopped-up or whole anchovies to add salt and umami to the salad.
Snapper. Cut the snapper into thick pieces and gently poach it to add a white fish to your salad.

How to Make Italian Seafood Salad

Depending on what variations or substitutions you use, the preparation may look a little different. My biggest piece of advice is to prepare all the seafood in its own batches so nothing gets overcooked.

How to Boil Octopus

Step 1: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water once it is boiling. Dunk your octopus into the boiling water 3 times for the tentacles to begin to curl. Then place the entire octopus into the boiling pot of water and boil for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, remove the octopus and place it in a small bowl. Wrap the octopus and refrigerate for 2 hours.

How to Steam Mussels

Prepare your mussels by rinsing them in a colander. Toss any mussels that have broken shells.Debeard any mussels that have a loose beard.

Step 2: Add 1 cup of water, ½ cup of wine, and juice from a lemon into a large saucepan. Place the mussels in the pan and raise the heat to medium-high. Cover the saucepan and steam the mussels until their shells open.

Strain the mussels and place them in a bowl. Remove them from the shells and place them in a bowl. Place them in a bowl and refrigerate.

How to Poach Shrimp and Calamari

Prepare the squid by slicing the tubes into rings. Peel and devein the shrimp.

Step 3: Transfer the liquid from steaming the mussels into a medium pot. Add water until the pot is ¾ full. Add 1 bay leaf and bring the water to a boil. Once the water comes to a boil, add the shrimp and calamari to the water.

Within 2-3 minutes, the shrimp will become opaque. Immediately transfer the shrimp and calamari to a bowl using a slotted spoon. Refrigerate for an hour.

Making the Seafood Salad

Step 4: When all of the seafood has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator. Chop the tentacles off the octopus. Chop the shrimp in half. Drain the scungilli and rinse them.

Step 5: Add all of the seafood to a large bowl and combine.

Step 6: Add the extra virgin olive oil, juice from 1 lemon, salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, celery, red onion, and garlic to the bowl.

Step 7: Mix all of the ingredients well and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator overnight to marinate.

Step 8: Marinate for 24 hours. Add a drizzle of olive oil when you're ready to serve. Serve cold with crusty Italian bread or more delicious seafood dishes!

Pro-Tips

Cook each seafood separately, as they will all have different cooking times based on their size. Certain things cooked together are okay, but for the most part, cooking things together can result in overcooking.
Use salted water when boiling or poaching. You'll be able to taste the difference.
Seafood salad is best enjoyed after marinating overnight.
Start by boiling the octopus, and you can cook the rest of the seafood while that is boiling.
Refrigerate each seafood separately for an hour or 2. Combining them can make them overcook because of the extra heat.
Use frozen squid and octopus. The freezing and thawing will help tenderize the muscles.

Recipe FAQs

Can I use frozen seafood?

Most Italians I know prefer to use frozen seafood. Almost all shrimp will have been frozen at some point, and using frozen squid and octopus will almost always result in more tender meat.

How can I adapt for kids?

Some of the seafood can be a little more "adventurous" for kids, so depending on your kid, you can slowly introduce more seafood. Instead of doing 5 seafood types in one dish, try just 2, like shrimp and calamari, and see if they like that.

How long in advance can I make seafood salad?

You can make this up to 2 days in advance. Just always add extra olive oil and lemon juice when you're ready to serve.

Are there any shortcuts for busy families?

Of course, you can find a lot of these types of seafood pre-prepared at some supermarkets. Discern what you think would be okay to use as precooked, just keep in mind, pre-cooked seafood can be less flavorful.

Serving Suggestions for Christmas Eve

Insalata di mare is a quintessential Christmas Eve dish. You can basically knock out more than half the 7 fish in one dish! Here are some recipes I like to serve on Christmas Eve!