This light and crispy Air Fryer Calamari is quick and easy to make without oil and is healthier than deep frying. You can make perfectly golden tender calamari seasoned with salt and pepper in less than 10 minutes.
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Recipe Highlights
- Cooks on high heat with less oil, is tender and melts in your mouth
- Fresh and light with all the typical zing of salt and pepper calamari
- Use fresh calamari hoods cut into rings, or frozen calamari rings
- Easy to cook in batches, and to make a double batch for more people
- Enjoy with your favourite dipping sauce, or a squeeze of lemon
- They’re crispy and golden on the outside and soft and tender on the inside
- Easy to prepare ahead of time, store in the fridge, and cook when needed
- Each batch cooks in just 5 minutes
Making food for a crowd? Check out these Air Fryer Popcorn Prawns
Ingredients
These air fried calamari can also be used in tacos, like these Calamari tacos.
Ingredient Notes
If using fresh Calamari or fresh squid: If using fresh calamari tubes, make sure to trim any excess bits and pieces around the sides/edges. Pat dry with kitchen towel/paper towel to remove excess moisture. Slice the tubes in ¼ to ½ inch pieces, depending on your preference.
If using frozen Calamari: Defrost the calamari before breading it otherwise it wont stick. Its best to defrost the calamari overnight in the fridge. Drain any excess moisture off and pat calamari dry with paper towel/kitchen towel.
Flour: Plain flour or all purpose flour is good to use as the first step. Any type of superfine flour would work to coat the calamari and this is what helps the egg to stick to the calamari to form a sticky base for the breadcrumbs to stick to.
Eggs: the egg mixture is essential and help the breadcrumbs to stick. If you don’t have enough eggs, you could get away with using less eggs, by mixing in a little milk to make them go further.
Breadcrumbs: I love using Panko breadcrumbs, but regular or wholemeal breadcrumbs would be great too.
Salt and Pepper: Sea salt and ground black pepper is ideal for salt and pepper calamari. You could also use a Lemon Pepper spice blend if that’s available where you live.
Garlic Powder: this helps to add a little extra flavour. If you don’t have it you could leave it out, or substitute it with onion powder. I wouldn’t recommend substituting it with garlic salt unless you’re adjusting the amount of sea salt, otherwise it will be too salt.
Turmeric and Paprika: these spices add a beautiful golden brown color to the calamari. If you don’t have both, one would still work, or you can leave them out. I used plain ground paprika, but your could also try smoked paprika, sweet paprika, or spicy paprika, all of which will add a slightly different flavor. Alternatively you could also add cayenne pepper or old bay seasoning.
Non Stick Cooking Spray: I typically use olive oil spray as only a little is needed. However you could also use vegetable oil spray or coconut oil spray.
How To Make
- Set out 3 bowls of similar size. Bowl 1 with flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder. Bowl 2 with 3 eggs, whisked. Bowl 3 with breadrumbs, ground paprika and turmeric.
- Bread the Calamari: Dip calamari rings one at a time in the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Set aside, laying flat in a single layer. Repeat until all calamari rings are breaded.
- Preheat air fryer to 200 degrees C / 400 degrees F for around 3 minutes
- Air Fry in Small Batches: lay calamari rings flat in air fryer basket in one layer, trying not to overlap pieces
- Spray lightly with oil: Spray the squid rings liberally so that all pieces have received a good even spray.
- Cook calamari at 200C/400F for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside, laying flat on parchment paper.
- Repeat for second batch.
Recipe Tips:
- Cooking Time: Calamari cooks quicker in an air fryer that in the oven, and as my rings with around ¼ inch wide, I cooked them in batches for 5 minutes at a time. If your rings are thicker or you’re using pieces you may need to adjust the cooking time
- Do not Overcook: overcooking will result in tough and leathery calamari.
- Tenderising Calamari: For extra soft and velvety calamari soak it in buttermilk overnight or for an hour if that is all you have. This step is optional and not one I often do, but if you have the time, it does make a small difference.
- Defrosting Calamari: the easiest way is to plan ahead and let the fridge do the work. Take it out the night before, put it into a bowl and cover so that it is air tight. When you’re ready to use it, drain off the excess liquid that has accumulated from the defrosting process, and pat dry the pieces with kitchen towel to remove as much moisture as you can.
- Serve with lemon wedges or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Dipping Sauces for Calamari
- Garlic Aioli. This is my go to favourite!
- Sweet Chilli Sauce. I make my own sugar free sweet chilli sauce and drizzled over calamari it provides a little spicy kick
- Smoky BBQ Sauce
- Creamy Ranch Sauce, which is also perfect with the Air Fryer Cauliflower Bites and Air Fryer Fish Tacos.
- Burger Sauce
Common Questions
Store leftover calamari in an air tight container in the fridge for 24 hours. Make sure it has completely cooled before putting into the container and sealing to avoid moisture build up.
To reheat air fried calamari that’s bee stored in the fridge, preheat the air fryer to 400 F/200 C and cook for around half to three quarters of the time you initially cooked it.
Calamari needs to be cooked at a high temperature to ensure it is soft and tender. Preheating the air fryer is essential to this process as is getting the temperature right. 400 F/200 C is the ideal temperature for achieving calamari that is crispy outside and soft inside.
Color: Cooked calamari should have a golden-brown color on the outside. The breading or coating should be crisp, and the squid itself should be opaque.
Texture: The calamari should have a firm and tender texture. Overcooked calamari can become rubbery and tough, so aim for a balance between crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Crispiness: The outer coating should be crispy. If it's soggy, it may need more time in the air fryer. Keep in mind that the calamari continues to crisp up a bit after it's removed from the air fryer, so take it out when it's slightly underdone if you're concerned about overcooking.
This healthier version of Air Fried salt and pepper Calamari is a dish that can be enjoyed more often and its great to use in salads and to chop up and sprinkle on stir fries with noodles and vegetables as well.
More Air Fryer Recipes
- Air Fryer Fish Tacos
- Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
- Air Fryer Honey Soy Chicken Wings
- Air Fryer Potato Wedges
Air Fryer Calamari
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 400 grams Squid tubes cut into rounds (circles)
- ½ cup Plain/All purpose flour
- 3 medium Eggs
- 1 ¾ cups Panko Bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon Sea Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon ground paprika
- ½ teaspoon tumeric
- Spray oil
Instructions
- Organise Breading Station: Set out 3 bowls of similar size. Add the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder to bowl 1. Whisk the 3 eggs together in bowl 2. Next, add the panko crumbs, ground paprika and tumeric to bowl 3.
- Bread the Calamari Pieces: One at a time dip the rings in the flour and shake off excess, then dip into egg, then press into breadcrumbs on both sides. Set aside, laying flat on a wire rack covered in baking/parchment paper. Repeat this process until all calamari rings are breaded.
- Preheat air fryer to 200 degrees c / 400 degrees F for around 3 minutes
- Prepare to Air Fry: Add the first batch of calamari to the Air fryer laying flat in one layer, trying not to overlap pieces (this will ensure that the heat can flow evenly throughout the air fryer to cook properly)
- Air Fry the Calamari in Batches: Spray the calamari rings liberally so that all pieces have received a good spray. Cook at 200C/400F for 5 minutes.
- Repeat until all done: Remove from air fryer and set aside on a separate wire rack covered with baking/parchment paper. Repeat this process, cooking the squid in batches until its all been done.
Notes
- If using fresh Calamari: If using fresh calamari tubes, make sure to trim any excess bits and pieces around the sides/edges. Pat dry with kitchen towel/paper towel to remove excess moisture. Slice the tubes in ¼ to ½ inch pieces, depending on your preference.
- If using frozen Calamari: Defrost the calamari before breading it otherwise it wont stick. Its best to defrost the calamari overnight in the fridge. Drain any excess moisture off and pat calamari dry with paper towel/kitchen towel.
- Flour: Plain flour or all purpose flour is good to use as the first step. Any type of superfine flour would work to coat the calamari and this is what helps the egg to stick to the calamari to form a sticky base for the breadcrumbs to stick to.
- Eggs: these are essential and help the breadcrumbs to stick. If you don’t have enough eggs, you could get away with using less eggs, by mixing in a little milk to make them go further.
- Breadcrumbs: I love using Panko breadcrumbs, but regular or wholemeal breadcrumbs would be great too.
- Salt and Pepper: Sea salt and ground black pepper is ideal for salt and pepper calamari. You could also use a Lemon Pepper spice blend if that’s available where you live.
- Garlic Powder: this helps to add a little extra flavour. If you don’t have it you could leave it out, or substitute it with onion powder. I wouldn’t recommend substituting it with garlic salt unless you’re adjusting the amount of sea salt, otherwise it will be too salt.
- Tumeric and Paprika: these spices add a beautiful golden golden colour to the calamari. If you don’t have both, one would still work, or you can leave them out. I used plain ground paprika, but your could also try smoked paprika, sweet paprika, or spicy paprika, all of which will add a slightly different flavour.
- Spray Oil: I typically use olive oil spray as only a little is needed. However you could also use vegetable oil spray or coconut oil spray.
- Air fryer baskets tend to cook quicker than Air fryer ovens. For this recipe I used my 5.6 litre/6 quart Tefal XXL Deluxe basket Air Fryer. I cooked all the calamari in two batches.
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.
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