Calamari, or squid may seem intimidating to cook at home, but the truth is, you can prepare this amazing sea creature easily. And doing so is guaranteed to impress your dinner guests. This article will describe in detail how to prepare the best calamari in the pan on the stove top to make it stand out!
I personally found that preparing the calamari at home is much easier than I thought. It’s no different then knowing how to cook shrimp! And once I was brave enough to cook it for the first time, it was a breeze from there on. Whether I am roasting, grilling, boiling, or pan frying, I love having such an exotic homemade seafood dish at the comfort of my own home! Not to mention this is a great way to impress my family and friends.
How to buy the calamari
Frozen. When I bought my squid, it came frozen. And was I shocked when I realized how little of this sea creature was actually there once I defrosted it! Therefore keep in mind that when buying calamari is more is better. Not only because frozen squid can mislead you in terms of how much you are actually getting, but also because it is soft-bodied, and it will reduce in size during the cooking process.
I do recommend buying frozen calamari over the fresh ones. Why? Frozen calamari are mostly flash frozen at sea for optimal freshness, which you won’t get with the fresh squid. And I personally wouldn’t eat fresh calamari unless I caught it myself in the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, unless I buy it frozen, I would not know how long its been dead, or defrosted. Or, how much histamine it accumulated in the meantime. That’s why go for the frozen!
Where do you buy calamari?
Usually you will come across frozen calamari in the store or online. So far I have seen only frozen kind in my local fish store. I also like to buy frozen squid online at Vital Choice. They don’t always carry it among their seafood choices, but when they do – it comes super fresh and conveniently packaged in 1 lb. bags.
Supermarkets. You can now find calamari in the frozen section of many supermarkets.
If you live in NYC, many of the markets in Chinatown and Flushing would sell fresh calamari; having said that, I have always been able to purchase it in fish stores that are in Italian neighborhoods.
How to prepare calamari
If you bought it frozen, chances are that your calamari is already cut up, and there is nothing you will need to do. If not, simply remove each tentacle from the body by cutting it off at the base while the calamari lies flat on the cutting board. Use a sharp chef’s knife or kitchen shears to do that.
How to defrost your squid
Use microwave! The good news is that most frozen squid already comes pre cut. In that case I usually use my microwave. First I put calamari on a microwave safe plate or dish. Then I use “defrost” function for 4 minutes.
Defrost in the oven! Alternatively, you can use the oven method! How do we do it? First things first, I turn my oven on at 350 F. and “defrost” my calamari in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Use refrigerator. Or, you can thaw your calamari for at least 8 hours in the refrigerator, ensuring that it’s totally defrosted before proceeding.
This is what my calamari looked like after I defrosted in in the hot oven for 15 minutes:
Can you eat calamari raw?
Yes and no. Well, only if you enjoy tough and chewy texture! Raw calamari is rarely eaten even in Japan where sashimi is available!
Dried squid. Dried squid is another common way to enjoy it – dried shredded squid a popular item at H-Mart and in Korean cuisine.
How long do you cook the squid?
There is an old saying that you cook squid for either 1 minute or 1 hour, nothing in between. That’s because squid is great either cooked very little or long the middle usually is very chewy.
It’s amazing how different cook times break down different cells and tissues to give different textures!
In my recipe, we use short cooking method.
How to boil calamari
If you are up to boiling your squid, simply add it to the pot and cover. Gently boil for about 30-45 minutes, testing the texture with a fork every 15 minutes until it has become fully tender and ready to serve.
I love to use this method as a simple first step to tenderize my calamari before finishing it in a pan or on the grill. Do not discard the leftover liquid! Instead use it as a seafood stock!
Note that my recipe below does NOT include boiling. We simply defrost and then sauté raw squid.
How to grill it
A delicious way to prepare calamari is to throw it on the grill. But before you take it to the charcoals, it’s important to pre-cook your calamari because adding it straight to the grill as-is will result in tough, dry meat.
- I always boil it first, then let it cool down to room temperature and quickly grill it.
- As mentioned above, boil it for 30 to 45 minutes.
- To make it super delicious, coat boiled calamari in olive oil and season with salt and pepper before adding it to a high-temperature grill.
- I also like to use lemon juice, dried oregano, Italian seasoning, fresh parsley and garlic.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes on a covered grill, flipping once.
Poaching the calamari
Poaching simply means simmering it with lots of other good stuff!
- Start by boiling water (enough to cover the octopus) and a variety of flavorful additions like lemons, onions, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
- You can also add carrots, garlic, ginger, thyme and rosemary.
- I often add wine, maybe ½ cup or 1 cup to the liquid as well to bring out additional flavor.
- Simmer for about 45 to 90 minutes.
How to sauté your calamari
Sautéed Chili Calamari is my favorite method for cooking squid. What I usually do is add it frozen into the oven for 15 minutes at 350 F. and once it’s nice and soft, pan-fry your pre-cooked calamari briefly in a hot skillet for some delicious caramelization on the outside.
Make sure you have olive oil in your pan and then add sliced onion and garlic for extra flavor. I like to add red bell pepper as well paprika and a generous amount of cayenne pepper to give it an extra boost. Season with salt and pepper right in the pan and cook your tentacles to pan for about 5 minutes per side, for a perfect finish.
This is the cooking method we use in this recipe.
More delicious seafood recipes
Sautéed Chili Calamari
Ingredients
- 2 lb. calamari, frozen
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅓ cup white wine
- ½ red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ yellow bell pepper, chopped
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Defrost calamari in the microwaive by using "defrost" function for 4 minutes. I used microwave safe plate.
- Alternative defrosting method if not a fan of a microwave: Preheat oven to 350 F. Once the oven is hot, add frozen calamari to the oven safe skillet (no oil necessary). Reheat for 10 to 15 minutes until juices are released. Remove from the oven. DO NOT BOIL.
- Meanwhile add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until transparent for about 5 minutes. Add bell peppers, paprika and cayenne and cook, stirring, until, about 5 more minutes. Carefully add the white wine and deglaze.
- Now add your precooked calamari to the pan and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately high heat until browned, about 5-6 minutes. Flip the calamari and cook for 5 minutes longer.
- Serve hot.
- Cooked calamari can store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
I’m so confused!! Do I boil it or not? I would love to try this recipe.
Do not boil – sauté only:). Enjoy!
When boiling it for 30-45 minutes, are you putting the tubes in before the water is boiling or after it boils? I am making an old family recipe that requires you to boil it for 45 minutes, but nothing else is included as the recipe is 50 years old~
I do it after the water boils.
I moved to Panama about 20 yrs ago – and we have eaten w/wo cooking a lot of seafood. We get a lot of smallish squid maybe 10-11 inches overall. Standard go-to is to clean, leave the tentacles in 1 and cut the hood into 1/2″ rings – then maybe 6-7-8 rings into rolling boiling water for 30-35 SECONDS – AND OUT !!! – do not overload – the water needs to be back to real boiling – judge the number of rings to put in by the water being back to a boil before taking out – then into coolish water (not needing ice but OK) – no more until the comes back to hard boil – and repeat till done. When all done – drain, add pinch of salt and some really good olive oil – and use them however you want – salads, pasta, etc – just NO more cooking.
oh my God the flavors are just unreal I soaked the calamari in white wine as I was preparing the onions etc. just lovely thanks for the recipe
Boiling any tentacled animal is a bad idea! Your recipe is excellent,though I’d leave out the hot pepper. I’m a scoville freak,but I never make any fish spicy because it’s a delecate flavor. By the way,it’s the oil saute that tenderizes the squid.
So glad you like the recipe Darrell! Do you always cook squid in oil only? Thank you for your feedback too!
As suggested I tried boiling the squid first before grilling and it was horrible. They slow boiled for almost 45 minutes and would not turn tender. I put them on the grill for 2 minutes a side and they got even more rubbery. They were inedible and I had to throw them out. I had better results in the past going straight to grill. I do not recommend boiling.
Definitely overbuild at that point. I would go straight to the grill, or oven!
Boiling calamari for 45 minutes would result in rubber bands. Surely this is low temp braising??
Fried calamari is my absolute favorite and this one is going on my list for the this weekend….yummy
WOW! really loved this recipe and so easy! Added a few kalamata olives too 🙂
Sounds delicious with kalamata olives! I’ll have to try it like that.
I made this yesterday and served it as an appetizer before a large pasta meal!!!