Squid (Calamari) Nutrition Calculator — Raw, Grilled, Fried & Dried

Squid has 233mg cholesterol per 100g raw — the highest among all seafood, exceeding tiger prawn (152mg), lobster (95mg), and crab (78mg) ^[1]. Grilled squid concentrates to 308mg, and dried squid reaches 750mg per 100g.

Despite this high cholesterol, squid has only 1.38g total fat and 0.36g saturated fat per 100g raw. For food journaling, squid illustrates that cholesterol and fat content can be entirely uncoupled — a useful data point for comprehensive tracking ^[2].

Raw squid at 92 kcal becomes 175 kcal as fried calamari — a 90% increase ^[1]. The breading adds 7.79g carbs (from 3.08g) and oil adds 7.48g fat (from 1.38g). Sodium jumps from 44mg to 260mg.

Grilled squid (122 kcal) preserves the lean profile much better, keeping fat at 1.83g and sodium at 58mg. For calorie-aware journaling, 6 fried calamari rings (70g) log at 123 kcal, while the same weight grilled logs at just 85 kcal — a 45% difference from preparation alone.

Squid provides 44.8mcg selenium per 100g raw (81% DV), exceeding blue crab (37.4mcg), tiger prawn (38.0mcg), and American lobster (41.4mcg) ^[1]. Grilled squid concentrates to 59.2mcg (108% DV).

Dried squid reaches 140.0mcg selenium per 100g (255% DV) — making it one of the most selenium-dense foods per gram. A 30g dried squid snack provides 42.0mcg selenium (76% DV). The amino acid analysis of Loligo edulis confirmed similarly high mineral retention after drying ^[3].

Dried squid concentrates protein to 54.5g per 100g at 304 kcal — the highest among all dried seafood in our database ^[1]. This exceeds dried anchovy (48.57g), dried chakla (52.0g), and dried shrimp (~48g).

However, dried squid also concentrates cholesterol to 750mg per 100g and sodium to 1,200mg. A 30g dried squid snack provides 16.4g protein, 225mg cholesterol, and 360mg sodium. For snack journaling, the portion weight is the critical variable.

Squid contains 3.08g carbohydrate per 100g raw — unusual for an animal protein ^[1]. Most fish and meat have 0g carbs. Oyster (2.97-4.95g) and clam (3.06g) are the only other seafoods with significant carbs, all from natural glycogen.

Fried calamari's carbs jump to 7.79g from breading flour. Dried squid also increases to 7.5g from concentration. For those tracking carbs precisely, squid's baseline 3g carbs per 100g is small but should be logged — especially at large serving sizes ^[4].