Arroz Negro (Valencian Squid Rice)

Arroz negro or arròs negre ("black rice" in Spanish and Catalan respectively) is a Valencian dish of cuttlefish (or squid) and rice which is very similar to seafood paella. In fact, some call it paella negra (black paella in Spanish).
Ingredients
Paella
- 3 pounds diced squid
- 1 pounds green cubanelle peppers
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups Valencian rice
- 3 teaspoons squid ink
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- Olive oil
Broth
- 8 oz crab
- 8 oz smelt or fish heads
- 1 medium onion
- 1 medium green or red bell pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 gallon of water
Steps
Broth
- Quarter one onion and one bell pepper. Put in large pot with remaining broth ingredients.
- Boil about 30 minutes. Occasionally press ingredients against pot bottom with potato masher or ladle.
- Strain broth. Set aside. Discard boiled seafood.
Paella
- Pour enough oil into paellera to cover bottom. Heat over medium flame.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt to cubanelles. Sauté until soft.
- Add squid. Sauté 2 minutes.
- Add garlic. Sauté until brown, without burning.
- Add rice. Braise until coated with oil.
- Add paprika. Sauté no more than 15 seconds. Quickly add four cups broth to prevent burning.
- Add squid ink. Mix well.
- Boil broth. Simmer 2 minutes.
- Taste broth. If bland, add 1 teaspoon salt at a time.
- Add the rice.
- After about 20 minutes simmering, start tasting rice and reduce heat a bit. Do not let rice get too soft. Taste every 10 minutes, reducing heat slightly each time, until center is slightly underdone. This takes 30 minutes to an hour.
- Done when rice is slightly firm to the bite (al dente), paella is a little moist but not soupy, and toasted rice is on the bottom.
- Remove paellera from heat. Cover with white towel (NOT ALUMINUM FOIL). Rest 5 minutes before serving.
Notes from the original
- To save time, start preparing the paella once the broth starts boiling.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Arroz Negro (Valencian Squid Rice)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2026-04-12, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Arroz negro 02.JPG by RecoveryMinded, Public domain, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.






