Key points •  Dietary supplementation with inorganic nitrate has beneficial effects on skeletal muscle responses to exercise. •  Both mitochondrial and extra‐mitochondrial explanations have been proposed. •  Contractile force of fast‐twitch muscles was enhanced in mice supplemented with 1 mm NaNO3 in drinking water for 7 days. •  Myoplasmic free Ca2+ during tetanic stimulation was increased in fast‐twitch muscles of nitrate‐supplemented mice and this was accompanied by increased expression of calsequestrin 1 and the dihydropyridine receptor. •  These results provide a new mechanism by which nitrate exerts beneficial effects on muscle function with applications to sports performance and a potential therapeutic role in conditions with muscle weakness.   Dietary inorganic nitrate has profound effects on health and physiological responses to exercise. Here, we examined if nitrate, in doses readily achievable via a normal diet, could improve Ca2+ handling and contractile function using fast‐ and slow‐twitch skeletal muscles from C57bl/6 male mice given 1 mm sodium nitrate in water for 7 days. Age matched controls were provided water without added nitrate. In fast‐twitch muscle fibres dissected from nitrate treated mice, myoplasmic free Ca2+ was significantly greater than in Control fibres at stimulation frequencies from 20 to 150 Hz, which resulted in a major increase in contractile force at ≤50 Hz. At 100 Hz stimulation, the rate of force development was ∼35% faster in the nitrate group. These changes in nitrate treated mice were accompanied by increased expression of the Ca2+ handling proteins calsequestrin 1 and the dihydropyridine receptor. No changes in force or calsequestrin 1 and dihydropyridine receptor expression were measured in slow‐twitch muscles. In conclusion, these results show a striking effect of nitrate supplementation on intracellular Ca2+ handling in fast‐twitch muscle resulting in increased force production. A new mechanism is revealed by which nitrate can exert effects on muscle function with applications to performance and a potential therapeutic role in conditions with muscle weakness.