An ink jet recording ink is provided which does not have a problem concerning curling of a recording medium containing cellulose, and can deal with high-definition image recording while maintaining good response at a high level during ejection at a high drive frequency and good startup properties. The ink contains at least water, a colorant, a compound represented by the following general formula (I) accounting for 8 to 40% by mass of the total mass of the ink, and a water-soluble substance accounting for 5 to 30% by mass of the total mass of the ink, the ratio (A/B) of mass (A) of the compound represented by general formula (I) and mass (B) of the water-soluble substance is in a range of 1/3 to 7/1.General formula (I)