An ink for ink jet recording and an ink jet recording method which realize an image quality of laser printer on a plain paper in a one-pass printing mode under conditions of a volume of an ink droplet ejected being 5 to 43 Pico liter, a velocity of an ink droplet being 6 to 20 m/sec, frequency of 1 kHz and resolution of 300 dpi or more. The ink for ink jet recording is a penetrating type ink which includes (1) at least one humectant selected from glycerin, 1,3-butandiol, triethyleneglycol, 1,6-hexanediol, propyleneglycol, 1,5-pentanediol, diethyleneglycol, dipropyleneglycol, trimethylolpropane and trimethylolethane, (2) colorant contained in the amount of 6% by weight or more, (3) a polyol having 8 to 11 carbon atoms and glycolether, and an anionic surfactants or non-ionic surfactants, the ink has viscosity of 5 mPa·s or more at 25° C. and a surface tension of 40 mN/m or less.