Today we are going to talk about a dish that although it´s not just Spanish, and you will find it in many other countries, in Spain is very popular. You will see Spanish fried Calamari everywhere in the Iberian Peninsula. You should also know that the Spanish Fried Calamari Recipe is different than other types of Calamari dishes.
Next, we will also tell you all you need to know about the fried Calamari: How to eat calamari, how to make it, its ingredients, where to buy them…
🦑 Spanish calamari recipe
Sometimes we want to cook international dishes, but it takes forever. Luckily fried Calamari is one of the easiest recipes you will find in Spain. It will take you just about 30 minutes to make them and it will be totally worth it!! Learn all about How to make Spanish Calamari!
Fried Calamari ingredients
- 2 clean tube of squid
- 1 cup of Sunflower Oil
- 1 cup of All-purpose Flour
- A pinch of Sea Salt
- 1 lemon
- Additional: Chopped Fresh Parsley, Smoked Sweet Paprika or Ground Black Pepper
⏰Fried Calamari cooking time:
- 45 mins
- 149
💪 Fried calamari calories:
Other fried calamari nutrition facts 🍽️
- Total Fat 6.4g
- Cholesterol 221mg
- Total Carbohydrate 6.6g
- Protein 15.2g
Easy Spanish squid recipe 🍳
- 1) In a frying pan add some Sunflower Oil to medium-high heat
- 2) Clean and run cold water through the squid and rinse out the inside. Pat dry with paper towers.
- 3) Cut the squid into 1/4-inch-thick rings. Cover them with Flour.
- 4) Add some of them to the frying pan (don´t overcrowd)
- 5) Keep them for 1 ½ minutes and take them out into a plate with a paper tower
- 6) Once you have drained the oil, put them in a new plate
- 7) Add salt and lemon (parsley is additional) and serve them!
- 8) Enjoy your Spanish squid dish!
⭐ What to eat with fried calamari
If you are eating spanish squid tapas, you must share them with other tapas. Don´t miss these recipes!
Spanish style Mussels
Spanish Octopus
Chorizo
⭐ How to eat Calamari in Spain
There are four different ways of eating fried calamari: As a tapa, in a salad, with paella, or the most common way in Spain as a «bocadillo de calamares».
Although eating calamari is very typical in Spain, not everyone do it the same way. Depending on the region, or the time of the day you will realise that there are different types of calamari dishes.
Here are the different ways of “How to eat Calamari”:
1) Spanish Calamari Tapas
Eating Calamari as a tapa is the most common way in Spain. No matter if you go to a restaurant or if you are eating at home, most of the people serve Calamari as a tapa.
Learning a calamari tapas recipe is very simple, as you would just need to cook one or two portions of calamari and prepare it in a «tapa dish».
To make the moment even better, set the table and share with yor friends or family with a cold beer on your hands. That´s how Spanish people do it!
2) Fried Calamari Sandwich
Less common but it´s still very popular to eat a sandwich of fried calamari in Spain. The «Bocadillo de calamares recipe» is as simple as adding calamari into bread roll.
If you are visiting Madrid you have to try them, as it´s a must when you go to the capital of Spain. In every single restaurant and terrace of Plaza Mayor they serve these typical Madrid Calamari Sandwiches.
You should also know that these special dishes are normally served with a caña (small beer).It will cost you about 3-5€, and the size is not so bad, so it´s a good recommendation.
3) Paella with calamari
In this “How to eat Calamari?” list, we can´t forget about the famous “paella with calamari”. As you may know the most famous Spanish dish (la paella) is cooked in different ways, and on of them always comes with calamari.
As you may know, paella is cooked in two diferent ways: Chicken paella and seafood paella. The last one is served with lambs, clams, mussles and of course, calamari.
4) Fried calamari salad
The less common way to eat Calamari is in a salad, but there are some people that do it. This salad is normally served with either small tomatoes or red grapes. Some people also add aioli to thefried calamari salad.
⭐ How to fry Calamari??
When we are making Spanish fried Calamari, it´s important that we make them crispy. Other than that, if our calamari end up soggy, then the taste will not be that good.
The Oil temperature is very important to fry calamari. If it´s not heated properly, the calamari may end up overcooked or too soft.
The right temperature is normally around 375 ºF (190 ºC). Many people also add cornstarch to make it crunchier.
⭐ Sauce for fried Calamari
Of course, we recommend you to be creative and try different sauces for Calamari. Some people like to add different tomato sauces or mayonnaise.
In our case we really like Calamari without any sauce, just a little bit of lemon on the top. If we have to choose any sauce for the Spanish calamari, that would be aioli.
⭐ Where can I get fried calamari? Restaurants
You can get calamari every market you visit, and then it´s not hard to cook them. But if you want to try good fried calamari, we advise you to visit Madrid and eat at any of their terraces.
Madrid is not a city near the ocean or anything, but as we said their biggest talent is to make “bocadillos de calamares”. Some of the best places to eat calamari in Madrid are Casa María or Casa Rúa.
Other than that, Calamari is a typical dish in the south of Spain and you will enjoy it lot in any “chiringuito” near the beach.
⭐ Is fried Calamari healthy?
It´s time to give you the bad news… Although the squid is a very healthy dish as it´s low in saturated fat. When you add that huge amount of oil to fry the calamari, it turns into a not so healthy dish.
Of course, this happens with most of the fried dishes, but Calamari is a delicious one. One thing you can do is to make them with a different type of Oil (Calamari oil).
Anyway, we know how delicious this plate is, so don´t worry to much, but just don´t eat it every day!
⭐ Enjoy the Calamares fritos recipe
Now that you know how to make calamares, and all about this delicious dish, hope you are able to make it at home and enjoy it with family or friend!! If you have any question or suggestion about the fried calamari rings, let us know in the comments!!
