Do you know how to clean cuttlefish perfectly? Here are the tips to clean cuttlefish perfectly and use them for many recipes!
Once cleaned, you can use the cuttlefish to make
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 2 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 72.00 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 0.70 (g) of which sugars 0.70 (g)
- Proteins 14.00 (g)
- Fat 1.50 (g) of which saturated 0.00 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
- Fibers 0.00 (g)
- Sodium 355.04 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 2 people
- 10.6 oz cuttlefish
- 8.5 cups water
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Knife
- 1 Cutting board
Procedure
The cleaning of cuttlefish varies based on their size and whether they are fresh or frozen. Below you will find instructions for both methods.
Fresh cuttlefish may contain the precious cuttlefish ink, perfect for making the classic cuttlefish ink risotto. To avoid wasting this delicacy, carefully set aside the ink sac without breaking it.
Cuttlefish caught in nets tend to contain more ink, as they experience less stress compared to those caught with hooks, making it more likely for them to retain the ink in their internal sac.
To clean the cuttlefish, you simply need to detach the head from the body with a clean snap.
After removing the head, locate the bone inside the cuttlefish and remove it from the body using your hand or a knife.
Now remove the skin covering the cuttlefish’s body and discard the internal organs.
For a better clean, if you don’t plan to stuff the cuttlefish, you can also turn them inside out like a sock to better remove impurities.
Frozen cuttlefish are usually cleaned before freezing, making the cleaning process easier and faster.
If you are cleaning large frozen cuttlefish, simply rinse them under fresh running water to remove any internal residues.
For small cuttlefish or baby cuttlefish, a quick soak is usually sufficient as they are typically cleaned and gutted.

