Disclosed is an ink jet recording ink comprising water, an aqueous organic solvent, a surfactant and a self-dispersible pigment, wherein the number average particle diameter of dispersed particles of the pigment is from 15 to 100 nm, given that mv is the volumetric average particle diameter of the dispersed particles of said pigment and mn is the number average diameter of the dispersed particles of said pigment, mv/mn is less than or equal to 3, the number of particles having a particle diameter greater than or equal to 0.5 .mu.m among the dispersed particles of the pigment contained in one liter of the ink is less than or equal to 7.5.times.10.sup.10, the surface tension of the ink is less than or equal to 60 mN/m, the electroconductivity of the ink is from 0.05 to 0.4 S/m and the pH of the ink is from 6 to 11. This ink provides a high storage stability and a uniform image having high water-resistance, resolution, and density can be obtained.