Fried calamari

Name: Fried calamari
Prep time: 7 min
Cook time: 13 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 300g Squid; 200g Plain Flour; 2 tblsp Capers; 1 clove peeled crushed Garlic; 5 tblsp Mayonnaise; For frying Vegetable Oil; To serve Lemon

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Seafood recipe with Spanish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 35 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Step-by-step instructions

Cut the squid into rings about ½cm thick. Tip the flour into a freezer bag and season well. Add the capers, then give everything a good shake to mix together. Tip the squid into the bag, then shake again until all the rings are well coated. Mix together the garlic and mayonnaise, then place in a serving bowl.
Pour some oil into a large pan until it comes about 7cm up the sides, but the pan is no more than a third full. Place over a medium heat and let the oil warm up. To test that the oil is ready, place a small piece of bread in the pan – it should sizzle when it touches the oil.
Remove a handful of squid from the flour and shake off any excess. Gently drop into the oil, then cook for about 3 mins until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining squid. Serve straight away with the mayonnaise and lemon wedges.

Why this works on a weeknight

Fried calamari genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Fried calamari actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Seafood Spanish ⚡ 30-Min Dinner