Grilled squid skewers with vegetables and grilled potatoes on the sides. Drizzled with healthy and appetizing lemon and olive oil dressing. This meaty seafood dish is super yummy!
Why make squid skewers instead of just grilling squid? Well for one, because we love Souvlaki (food on skewers). For two, it's a delicious way to cook squid because it's cut into pieces cooked together with vegetables in between (peppers and onions), and charred beautifully all around. And oh that flavor of char-grilled squid... It's heavenly!
Table Of Contents
Squid Or Calamari?
You can use both in this recipe. Their differences are slight and you can read more about this (if you like) here.
How To Make Squid Souvlaki
Clean + Cut. To make Squid or Calamari Souvlaki first clean and cut the squid. If this is something you haven't done before then I highly recommend watching a video on how to clean squid. Bellow I'm showing you how we're cutting squid in order to make Souvlaki / Skewers.
Marinate. After cutting the squid marinate it for about 20 minutes at room temperature.
Grill. Thread the squid on skewers with pieces of vegetables in between. Then grill on a very hot grill pan or BBQ. Begin on high heat to char the squid skewers evenly on all sides and then turn the heat to low to grill slowly until tender.
TIPS
- Use metal skewers instead of wooden ones for squid.
- Brush both the grates of your grill/grill pan and the squid skewers with olive oil before adding the skewers on.
- Don't flip the skewers too often. Leave 2-3 minutes on each side before turning.
- After charring the squid evenly all around go low and slow with the grilling of squid so the heat has time to reach all the way to the center.
- Squid doesn't char the same as meat does. So don't expect it to get color all over just a bit on the edges.
- Prick with a knife the squid's meat to see if it's done. It shouldn't feel slippery anymore.
How Long To Grill
Squid Souvlaki unlike Grilled squid, needs to cook a little longer. Because the meat is threaded tightly together and takes longer to cook all the way to the center. It takes anywhere from 25 to 30 minutes. But grilling time depends on two important factors such as:
- Cooking source. Whether you are using a grill pan, a gas grill, a charcoal grill, etc. A gas grill can be much stronger so you may need to cook for 25 minutes while on a grill pan for 30 minutes.
- The size of the squid you're grilling plays a major factor. I'm using large squid but if you are using medium-sized squid (which means their flesh is much thinner) you may need to grill for 20 minutes.
Is It Tender?
Yes, the acidic lemon marinade and the salt both help to tenderize the squid. And if you don't grill the squid for longer than necessary, then you will enjoy tender and delicious grilled squid!
Grilled Potatoes
Grilled potatoes are one of the best sides for grilled squid and if you are cooking on a BBQ than they're also a convenient side dish. If you are cooking on a grill pan though you may want to cook them before the squid because they take some space. Or choose another side dish from the ones I mention below.
To Make Grilled Potatoes:
First, rinse and rub their skins from dirt. It's better to leave the skins on as they help them to keep their shape and not fall apart.
Second, cut into thick slices and mix together with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, thyme, salt, and pepper. Lay them in a large baking dish or sheet pan (they shouldn't be stalked together).
Thirdly, bake until tender when pricked with a knife but still a bit firm. Allow to cool down out of the oven.
Finally, grill the potatoes over medium heat. Make sure to brush the grill grates with olive oil before adding the potatoes. Turn and flip them to get a nice color on both sides.
Serve With
Serve with a Classic Greek Salad or a Mediterranean Tuna Salad. If you want to skip the grilled potatoes go for these Oven-Baked Greek Fries, or a filling Greek Quinoa Salad. Or you can just serve it with some veggies like Briami - Mixed Greek Vegetable Bake.
Recipe
Grilled Squid Skewers
Equipment
- 2 metal skewers
Ingredients
- 600 grams (1.5 pounds) large squid I used 2 big ones
- 1 lemon cut in quarters to serve with
- dried oregano to sprinkle on top
For The Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil + some extra to brush the squid and the grill grates
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ⅔ teaspoon dry oregano
- fine sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
- ½ sweet red pepper cut into 2.5-3 cm squared pieces
- ½ green bell pepper cut into 2.5-3 cm squared pieces
- ½ small red onion cut into 2.5-3 cm squared pieces
For The Olive Oil + Lemon Sauce:
- 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
For The Grilled Potatoes:
- 500 grams (1.1 pounds) small potatoes
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- If using frozen squid thaw in the fridge overnight or add in a bowl with cold water at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
- Add the ingredients for the olive oil and lemon sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F.
- Prepare the potatoes. Rinse and rub the skin of the potatoes. Then cut them into 1.5 cm thick slices. Add to a baking dish (not stacked) and drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice, sprinkle the oregano and garlic powder, season with salt and pepper, add 4 tablespoons of water, and toss and mix well.
- Bake the potatoes for about 30 minutes until fork tender and no water remains inside the dish. Don't overbake them so they won't break when grilling them. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Prepare the squid. Pull the head away from the body. Cut under the legs and discard that part containing the teeth and eyes. Remove everything from inside the squid's body. Pull and remove the membranes from the body. Score the flesh very lightly on top making diagonal lines on both sides of the squid (we're not making actual cuts here).
- Cut the squid. Cut and remove the fins. Beginning from the top of the body cut the squid into 2,5-3 cm thick rings. When you reach the narrow part of the body slice open it in half. Then cut each half into long strips about the same thickness as the rings (see notes below). Rinse well. Drain in a strainer. And then pat dry with paper towels.
- Marinate. Add the squid to a small bowl season with salt and pepper and mix with all of the ingredients for the marinade. Marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature.
- Heat your grill pan or BBQ on high.
- Thread the skewers. Thread each squid ring tightly on the skewer, by folding it one or two times, depending on how long each ring is. After each piece of squid, add a piece of vegetable as well (pepper or onion from the marinade). Thread also the fins and squid strips, the head we will grill separately.
- Grill. Brush the grates of the grill or grill pan with olive oil. Brush also the squid and then place on the grill. Grill on high heat for 8-10 minutes to sear and color all around (turn after the first 2-3 minutes of grilling not sooner). Then drop the heat to low and grill for about 17-20 minutes longer. Overall grill time is about 25 to 30 minutes. Prick the squid towards the end to see how tender it feels it's meat shouldn't feel or look slippery anymore.
- To grill the potatoes either add them around the squid skewers, or if it's easier for you, grill them before the squid and keep them in a warm oven. To grill the potatoes, again brush the grates of the grill with the oil (no need to brush the potatoes) and grill them for about 10-15 minutes, to roast and crisp on both sides.
- Serve. Stir the lemon sauce vigorously to combine and drizzle over the grilled skewers (no need to add it all). Sprinkle some dried oregano on top of the squid and potatoes. You may also sprinkle the potatoes with any minced fresh herbs of your preference, such as parsley, dill, mint, or chives (I used parsley).
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