An aqueous coating formulation for use in preparing ink jet recording materials is provided. The coating formulation, which employs porous pigments and/or metal oxide gels in combination with inorganic pigments (i.e., calcium carbonate and mixtures of calcium carbonate and alumina), has a relatively high binder-to-pigment dry weight ratio. An ink jet recording material prepared using such an aqueous coating formulation is also provided. The ink jet recording material demonstrates good printability and provides images having excellent water and humidity resistance and high image densities. In a preferred embodiment, the inventive recording material further demonstrates good light or fade resistance.