To provide an inkjet recording ink, which contains water, a water-soluble organic solvent, a colorant, and a surfactant, wherein the colorant contains a surfactant-dispersible pigment (A) dispersed by the surfactant, and a resin-coated pigment (B), and wherein the surfactant is a surfactant selected from the group consisting of anionic surfactants represented by the following formula (1), and having HLB value of 12 or higher: R1—O—(CH2CH2O)m-A  (1) where R1 is a C2-C24 alkyl group, alkenyl group, alkylphenyl group, or alkylallyl group; A is —COOM1, —SO3M2, or —PO(OM3)OM4, where M1, M2 and M4 are each independently alkali metal, quaternary ammonium, quaternary phosphonium, or alkanolamine, and M3 is a hydrogen atom or R2(CH2CH2O)n with proviso that R2 is a C1-C4 alkyl group, alkenyl group, alkylphenyl group, or alkylallyl group, and n is an integer of 4 to 20; and m is and integer of 15 to 40.