Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Crni Rižot (Black Cuttlefish Risotto)
A jet-black Adriatic risotto of cuttlefish braised with garlic, white wine, and its own ink, stirred glossy with rice and no cheese.
Croatian (Dalmatian) · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 45 min
~523 cal · 36g protein · 73g carbs · 4g fat · 2g fiber · 2g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Crni rižot, black risotto, is one of the most dramatic dishes of Croatia's Dalmatian coast: rice stained inky black by cuttlefish and its own ink, tasting of the sea in a way nothing else quite manages, briny, mineral, and deep. Its roots trace to the centuries when Venice ruled the coast and brought risotto technique, which local fishermen adapted using the abundant Adriatic cuttlefish and the ink that is the animal's defence.
Nothing from the sea was wasted, and the silvery ink sac became the star, giving both colour and a savoury depth. Cuttlefish is preferred over squid for its milder flavour and greater ink, and the blacker the risotto, the more authentic Dalmatian cooks consider it. Crucially there is no cheese, a Mediterranean taboo the Croatians share with the Italians: the glossy body of the dish comes from rice starch, the cuttlefish, and the ink alone.
Looser and wetter than a Venetian risotto, eaten with a spoon from a shallow bowl, crni rižot is konoba food, served in the family taverns of the coast and at celebrations. It is the magical dish of the Adriatic, and it will stain your lips black and your memory darker still.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1.5 lbs fresh cuttlefish (or squid), cleaned and sliced
1 tbsp cuttlefish or squid ink
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
3/4 cup dry white wine
1.5 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
4 cups fish or water, kept warm
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
to taste salt and black pepper
Instructions
1
Soften the onion in the olive oil over low heat until translucent, then add the garlic and cook a minute more.
2
Turn up the heat, add the cuttlefish, and cook until any released liquid evaporates and it begins to catch, then stir in the tomato paste and cook a minute.
3
Pour in the white wine and let it bubble away, then add a ladle of warm stock and the ink, and braise gently for about 20 minutes until the cuttlefish is tender.
✎ Chef’s note
Cuttlefish turns rubbery in the middle of its cooking and tender again if you keep going, so give it a slow braise before the rice rather than rushing it.
4
Stir in the rice, then add the warm stock a ladle at a time, stirring often and letting each addition absorb before the next, for about 16 to 18 minutes until the rice is tender but still has body.
5
Season, stir in the parsley and a thread of olive oil, and serve at once in shallow bowls while loose and glossy.
Dalmatian coastal tradition, Croatia.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Dalmatia. Peka is a way of cooking rather than a dish. Meat or octopus and vegetables go into a shallow pan under a heavy bell lid, embers are heaped over the top, and it sits for a couple of hours with the lid lifted once to turn things. It needs an open hearth, which is why it stays a home and tavern thing.
🗺️
Croatia. The country folds in the middle. The Adriatic side cooks like the northern Mediterranean, grilled fish, olive oil, capers and prsut air-dried in the wind, while the continental interior north and east cooks like Central Europe, with paprika, freshwater fish stews and roasts. Pasticada, the Dalmatian braise, has an unsettled origin, and the oldest known recipe for it comes from fifteenth-century Dubrovnik.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Croatia
Brudet (Dalmatian Fish Stew)An Adriatic stew of mixed fish simmered in a tomato, onion, garlic and white-wine base, traditionally served over soft polenta.
Dalmatinska PašticadaBeef larded and marinated in wine and vinegar, then braised a full day with prunes into a sweet-dark Adriatic feast.
PalačinkeThin crepes rolled around jam, walnut, or chocolate, a Croatian breakfast and dessert.
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Good to know
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Croatia meal
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Zagorski ŠtrukliLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Crni Rižot (Black Cuttlefish Risotto)?
A jet-black Adriatic risotto of cuttlefish braised with garlic, white wine, and its own ink, stirred glossy with rice and no cheese.
Where does Crni Rižot (Black Cuttlefish Risotto) come from?
Crni Rižot (Black Cuttlefish Risotto) is a Croatian (Dalmatian) dish from Dalmatia, Croatia.
Can Crni Rižot (Black Cuttlefish Risotto) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Crni Rižot (Black Cuttlefish Risotto) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Crni Rižot (Black Cuttlefish Risotto) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Crni Rižot (Black Cuttlefish Risotto) take to make?
About 70 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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