Abstract We prepared a gel starting from deacetylated chitin nanofibers by utilizing electrostatic interactions with an anionic cyclodextrin, sulfobutyl ether β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CyD). Among the various CyDs tested and their derivatives, SBE-β-CyD formed a stiff, nonfluid elastic gel that can be easily formed into a variety of shapes, whereas other gels prepared from neutral CyDs formed a weak, rather fluid gel. The viscosity of the deacetylated chitin nanofiber/SBE-β-CyD gel was higher by about one order of magnitude at a 1.0 w/v % concentration of SBE-β-CyD. Both the elastic (G′) and viscous (G′′) moduli of the deacetylated chitin-nanofiber gel increased in the presence of SBE-β-CyD, and the G′ values were much higher than the G′′ values. The SBE-β-CyD functioned to reinforce the deacetylated chitin nanofiber gel, by anchoring the fibers into a three-dimensional network through electrostatic interactions.