Squid is eaten in many cuisines; in English, the culinary name calamari is often used for squid dishes. There are many ways to prepare and cook squid. Fried squid is common in the Mediterranean. In New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, and South Africa, it is sold in fish and chip shops and in steakhouses. In Britain, it can be found in Mediterranean "calamari" or Asian "salt and pepper fried squid" forms in various establishments, often served as a bar snack, street food, or starter.

Squid can be prepared for consumption in a number of other ways. In Korea and Japan, it is sometimes served raw, and elsewhere it is used as sushi, sashimi and tempura items, grilled, stuffed, covered in batter, stewed in gravy and served in stir-fries, rice, and noodle dishes. Dried shredded squid is a common snack in some Asian regions, including East Asia.

The body (mantle), arms, tentacles, and ink of squid are all edible; the only parts of the squid that are not eaten are its beak and gladius (pen). The mantle can be stuffed whole, cut into flat pieces or sliced into rings.

In Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine, squid is used in stir-fries, rice, and noodle dishes. It may be heavily spiced.

In China, Thailand, and Japan, squid is typically grilled whole and sold in food stalls.

Pre-packaged dried shredded squid or cuttlefish are snack items in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China and Russia, often shredded or rolled to reduce chewiness.

In Japan, squid is used in almost every type of dish, including sushi, sashimi, and tempura. It can also be marinated in soy sauce (ika okizuke), stewed (nabemono), and grilled (ikayaki). It is eaten raw as ika sōmen and katsu ika odori-don.

In Korea, squid is sometimes killed and served quickly. Unlike octopus, squid tentacles do not usually continue to move when reaching the table. This fresh squid is 산 오징어 (san ojingeo) (also with small octopuses called nakji). The squid is served with Korean mustard, soy sauce, chili sauce, or sesame sauce. It is salted and wrapped in lettuce or perilla leaves. Squid is also marinated in hot pepper sauce and cooked on a pan (nakji bokum or ojingeo bokum/ojingeo-chae-bokkeum). They are also served by food stands as a snack food, battered and deep fried or grilled using hot skillets. They are also cut up into small pieces to be added to 해물파전 (Korean seafood pancake) or a variety of spicy seafood soups. Dried squid may also accompany alcoholic beverages as anju. Dried squid is served with peanuts. Squid is roasted and served with hot pepper paste or mayonnaise as a dip. Steamed squid and boiled squid are delicacies.