Nanocrystalline spinel cobalt ferrite particles are synthesized by simple combustion method using aspartic acid and glycine as fuels. The single phase cubic structure of CoFe2O4 is revealed through X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Further the Rietveld refinement confirms the formation of inverse spinel structure of CoFe2O4. The characteristic functional groups of Co-O and Fe-O are identified from Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) analysis. Uniform distribution of of nearly spherical particles with the size range of 40-80 nm is identified through field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) images. The calculated DC conductivity is 1.469 x 10(-7) and 2.214 x 10(-8) S cm(-1), for CoFe2O4 synthesized using aspartic acid and glycine, respectively. The dielectric behavior obeys the Maxwell-Wagner interfacial polarization. The ferromagnetic behavior of CoFe2O4 is identified using VSM analysis and the calculated coercivity is 27 Oe and saturation magnetization is 68 emu/g. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.