A shallow white bowl of glossy jet-black rice with rings of squid, chopped parsley, a thread of green olive oil and a lemon wedge

Squid in Ink with Rice: A Black Risotto from Tin and Jar

September 26, 2026

Rice and squid cooked black with ink turn up all along the coasts of southern Europe. In Spain there is arroz negro. On the Basque coast, baby squid are stewed in their own ink as txipirones en su tinta. The pantry version takes two tins, a jar and a bag of rice. The tins hold squid already cooked in its ink, which supplies both the squid and the base of the sauce. A spoon of ink from the jar deepens the color to true black. The rice is vialone nano, cooked loose enough to slump in the bowl.

The one thing to get right is the order. The ink and the sauce from the tins go in early, right after the wine, so the color spreads while the grains are still taking up liquid and every grain comes out the same black. The squid goes in last, only long enough to warm through, because it is already cooked.

The black comes from melanin. Charles Derby's 2014 review of cephalopod ink in Marine Drugs describes ink "blackened by melanin" and puts melanin at about 15 percent of the ink's wet weight in cuttlefish. The same review notes that most ink sold as squid ink is actually cuttlefish ink, chosen for its flavor. Either one works here.

Ingredients, for four

320 g (about 1 2/3 cups) vialone nano (shop vialone nano) or carnaroli (shop carnaroli) rice
2 tins (110 g each) squid in ink
2 to 3 teaspoons squid ink (shop squid ink) from a jar
1.4 L (6 cups) hot fish stock or light vegetable stock, plus 250 ml (1 cup) more at altitude
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon to finish
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
120 ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine
A pinch of chile flakes (optional)
A small handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Fine sea salt, to taste

Method

Heat the stock and dissolve the ink. Bring the stock to a bare simmer and keep it there. Whisk the jarred ink into one ladle of hot stock in a small bowl until no streaks remain. Jarred ink is thick and clumps if it goes straight into the rice.
Split the tins. Tip the squid into a sieve over a bowl. Keep every drop of the black sauce for step 5. Slice the squid into bite-size rings and set them aside.
Soften the onion. Warm the oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium-low heat. Cook the onion with a pinch of salt for 6 to 8 minutes, until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the garlic and chile for the last minute.
Toast the rice. Add the rice and stir over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until the grains are hot, coated with oil and translucent at the edges.
Wine, then the black. Pour in the wine and stir until it is almost gone. Add the dissolved ink and the tin sauce, and stir until every grain is evenly black.
Cook with stock. Add the hot stock a ladle at a time, stirring often and adding more once the last ladle is mostly absorbed. Stirring rubs starch off the surface of the grains, and that starch thickens the liquid into a sauce. Cook 16 to 18 minutes at sea level, or 19 to 23 minutes in Denver, until the rice is tender with a slight bite at the center. At sea level some stock may be left over.
Squid last. Fold in the squid rings and cook 1 to 2 minutes, just until they are hot. Add a last splash of stock. The rice should slump loosely when you shake the pan, not sit in a stiff mound.
Finish. Off the heat, stir in the tablespoon of raw oil and the parsley. Taste before salting, because the tins and stock both bring salt. Rest for 1 minute and serve in warm bowls with lemon at the side.

The white-plate test

Ink strength varies from jar to jar and tin to tin, so judge by color, not by the measurement. After step 5, drop a spoonful of rice and liquid onto a white plate. If the liquid looks glossy black all the way to its edge, there's enough ink. If the edge looks slate gray, or the rice looks brown-purple, whisk another half teaspoon of ink into a little stock and stir it in. Too much ink makes the rice taste metallic and bitter. Three teaspoons is about the ceiling for four servings. Use a steel or silicone spoon, because wood keeps the stain.

At altitude

Colorado State University Extension puts the boiling point of water at about 203°F at 5,000 feet, against 212°F at sea level. Denver sits at 5,280 feet. The Extension guide notes that food cooked by boiling or simmering needs more time at elevation, and that water evaporates faster there. Rice is no exception. Expect three to five extra minutes, keep the extra cup of stock hot, and add it as the pan dries. The altitude guide covers the rest of the kitchen.

Why it went wrong

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Gray or streaky rice	Too little ink, or the ink went in late or undissolved	Dissolve the ink in hot stock first. Add it right after the wine. Use the white-plate test
Bitter or metallic	Too much jarred ink	Stay at or under three teaspoons for four servings. Finish with more lemon and raw oil
Rubbery squid	The squid went in too early and cooked with the rice	Fold it in during the last two minutes. It only needs to warm through
Stiff and gluey	Too little stock at the end, or the rice rested too long	Loosen with stock just before serving. Serve within a few minutes
Chalky center	Undercooked. In Denver the rice needs three to five minutes more than at sea level	Cook longer with more stock. Taste a grain, don't go by the clock
Too salty	Salted before tasting. The tin sauce and stock are already seasoned	Use unsalted or low-sodium stock. Salt only at the end

Notes and variations

The rice. Vialone nano is the rice of the Veneto. Grown in the lowlands south of Verona, it became the first rice in Europe to receive protected geographical indication status, in 1996. The EU registration describes grains rich in starch that release much of it during cooking while keeping their shape, which suits a loose, saucy risotto like this one. Carnaroli works too.

No cheese. This recipe finishes with raw olive oil instead of butter and Parmigiano, so the ink and the squid stay the main flavors.

Fresh squid instead of tins. Cut it into rings and sear it separately in a very hot pan for a minute or two. Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking says squid should be cooked either very briefly or for a long time, because anything in between makes it tough. Stir the seared squid in at step 7, and double the jarred ink, since there is no tin sauce.

Arroz negro. Cook the same base in a wide, shallow pan without stirring, add all the stock at once, and let a crust form on the bottom. Serve it with aioli. Leftovers: shape cold rice into patties, dust them in flour and pan-fry until crisp.

The tinned squid, the jarred ink, the rice and the oil are at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, and ship nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com. The jarred ink comes from the Galician cannery in the Conservas de Cambados guide, and whatever sauce is left in the tins has more uses in what to do with the oil and sauce left in a tin.