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Crispy and crunchy Fried Calamari with warm marinara sauce is the ultimate delicious appetizer. This quick and easy appetizer can be made in the matter of minutes. Serve it with my Caprese Salad with burrata and a cold Aperol Spritz.
Fried Calamari
You’ll LOVE this recipe if:
- You grew up in the 90s and used to go to TGIFridays with your friends where you’d eat appetizers only.
- You and your parents would go out to dinner at Olive Garden and you’d order fried calamari and the tentacles would terrify you, but you’d still play with them and give them voices.
- If you went to Macaroni Grill and loved drawing (borderline offensive) things on the paper tablecloths in crayon.
I know I just described my 12 year old self here but I also did all of these things in college, too. Very little spiritual growth happened for me during that time.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Fried Calamari
- Calamari. I like buying this fresh from the fish counter. But you can also use frozen. Just let it thaw in the fridge or in cold water and proceed with the recipe.
- Flour. This is going to assist our batter.
- Eggs.
- Spices.
- Marinara sauce of choice.
For the rest of the ingredients, please see the recipe index card below!
How to Make Fried Calamari
- Make the quick marinara sauce. Of course you could use a jar of store-bought marinara too.
- Make the egg mixture by beating together in the eggs in a bowl.
- Mix together the dry ingredients. Toss together the all-purpose flour, corn meal, Italian seasoning, salt and crushed red pepper.
- Dip the calamari in batter. In a medium pot, pour in 3 inches of oil. Heat the oil to 325 degrees F. Add the calamari to the eggs and then immediately transfer them to the flour mixture, being sure the calamari is thoroughly coated.
- Fry the calamari. Using a fork, grab them from the dredge and drop them in the hot oil for 1 to 2 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
- Drain the calamari. Transfer them to a bed of paper towels and sprinkle with flakey sea salt.
- Repeat frying the calamari.
- Serve them with the warm marinara sauce and a charred lemon.
Recipe Tip
- Be sure not to overcook it. The one trick to good tasting calamari is to not over cook it. It overcooks quickly, so below you’ll see 1 to 2 minutes. Be sure to stick to that.
- Char the lemons. Good gracious. It makes it a million times better and it’s as simple as placing lemons on the grates of your gas range.
- How to buy calamari. I bought mine from the fish department at my local grocery store. I asked them to clean it and prepare it for fried calamari and they happily obliged. All I had to do at home was cut the tubes into 1-inch pieces.
Recipe FAQs
I think people are sometimes confused as to what fish calamari comes from and it comes from squid! The circle pieces are from the squid’s body, while the tentacles come from, well, their tentacles.
Calamari should never be rubbery (this is a sign of it being overcooked). It should also never be fishy. Good calamari has a tender texture and a slightly sweet and fresh flavor.
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Fried Calamari with Quick Marinara
Equipment
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 shallot, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (14-ounce) can San Marzano crushed tomatoes
- 1 small carrot, grated
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Calamari:
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup corn meal
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasonings
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 pound calamari and tentacles, cleaned and cut into 1-inch tubes
- Vegetable oil
- 3-4 sprigs of Italian parsley
- 1 lemon, halved and charred
Instructions
To Make the Easy Marinara Sauce:
- To a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the shallot and minced garlic; cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, grated carrot and Italian seasoning.
- Bring the tomato sauce for to a simmer and then immediately bring the heat down to medium low. Simmer, allowing the sauce to reduce, for 5 to 7 minutes. Mix in the salt and adjust seasonings to your liking. Cover the pot, so the sauce doesn't reduce anymore, and bring the heat down to very low.
To Fry the Calamari:
- In a medium bowl, beat together the two eggs. In a large bowl, toss together the all-purpose flour, corn meal, Italian seasoning, salt and crushed red pepper.
- In a medium pot, pour in 3 inches of oil. Heat the oil to 325 degrees F. Working in batches, transfer the calamari and tentacles into the bowl with the beaten eggs.
- Transfer the calamari, a few handfuls at a time, into the flour mixture, being sure the calamari is thoroughly coated. Using a fork (I found this to be the best tool), drop the flour-dusted calamari into the hot oil, cooking for 1 to 2 minutes, until light brown.
- Transfer to a bed of a paper towels to drain. Place the fried calamari into a warm (200 degree F) oven while you fry up the rest of the calamari. Repeat the dredging, frying steps until you've worked your way through all of the calamari. For garnish, add a few sprigs of Italian parsley to the hot oil, cooking for about 1 minute.
- Transfer the calamari and fried Italian parsley plate and serve with warm marinara sauce. Garnish with the charred lemon.
Notes
- Be sure not to overcook it. The one trick to good tasting calamari is to not over cook it. It overcooks quickly, so below you’ll see 1 to 2 minutes. Be sure to stick to that.
- Char the lemons. Good gracious. It makes it a million times better and it’s as simple as placing lemons on the grates of your gas range.
- How to buy calamari. I bought mine from the fish department at my local grocery store. I asked them to clean it and prepare it for fried calamari and they happily obliged. All I had to do at home was cut the tubes into 1-inch pieces.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
*This post was originally published on May 19th, 2014. It has been since updated with new information and formatting.
Once I saw the recipe for this plate, my mind flew to all my summer vacations with my family in famous Greek places (without any sauce). This was a dish found in our table sometimes, whenever we ate out at a restaurant. MEMORIES.
P.S. I’ll definitely try this recipe in the near future. Can’t wait!
SWOON. If only my GF version looked half as delicious ๐ One day…
Love tentacles even more. I used rice flour instead of all purpose for a lighter crispy coating.
Oh you just made my favorite appetizer of all time! And I just see myself in your explanation of your 90’s self! Why else would you go to Macaroni Grill than to draw on the table? I love the simplicity of this recipe. It will definitely make it into our kitchen soon!
This looks awesome. And my mom charred her lemons + peppers over the gas stove <3
That *does* make it so much better.