This Calamari Salad features tender calamari, crisp bell peppers, and a zesty lemony dressing. It is light, fresh, healthy, and delicious. Go ahead and try to stop yourself after just one serving!
There is this one Dominican restaurant that Aldo and I go to in Bayonne pretty often to pick up food to go. It’s not a fancy place – it has prepared food in buffet-style containers ready to go. But even though it is not fancy, the food is so so good. Rice and beans, pulled pork, chicharron, maduros, fresh salads, and tres leches for dessert. And no matter what we get for the main course, I always grab an order of the calamari salad from there because it is one of my favorite things.
I decided to recreate the Calamari Salad at home, and after a few attempts I think I have the recipe down! This Calamari Salad is super easy to make if you follow my recipe below, and it is a great salad to make to feed a crowd. I made this for my grandma’s birthday dinner and it was a huge hit with my whole family. The whole salad was devoured!
This Calamari Salad not only tastes great, but it is also a pretty darn good looking salad, if I say so myself. The combination of red onion and colorful peppers makes this a beautiful salad to serve even on special occasions. Plus the fact that it is made from calamari makes it sound fancy – you are sure to impress your dinner guests or family with this recipe. 
Ingredients
- 2 lb chopped calamari (squid), thawed if frozen
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning (or more to taste)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced (I used 1/2 green, 1/2 yellow, and 1 whole red)
- Salt & pepper to taste (about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon each)
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Combine the chopped calamari with the lemon pepper seasoning and mix well. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and cook the calamari for about 5 minutes or until fully cooked, stirring frequently.
- In a large bowl, toss together the sliced red onion, rice vinegar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Allow the marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the cooked calamari and the rest of the ingredients (sliced bell peppers, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and chopped parsley) to the large bowl with the marinated onions. Stir well and allow to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving, stirring every 10 minutes to distribute the zesty lemon dressing.
Kitchen stuff used in this recipe:
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