Dinner Ideas • Recipes from 193 Countries

Dinner Ideas from 193 Countries — What to Cook Tonight

Stuck on what to cook for dinner? Dinner Ideas brings easy dinner recipes from 193 countries — signature dishes with ingredients, steps, nutrition and pairings.

Countries

193

Cuisines Covered

Meal Times

4 Slots

Breakfast to Snack

Nutrition

100%

Recipes with Nutrition

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What’s for Dinner TonightFeatured Dinner Recipes from 193 Countries

Showing 109–120 of 2290 dinner recipes

A pot of rougaille saucisse, pork sausages simmered in a rich red tomato sauce, with rice behind

Mauritius 55m

Dinner •Mauritian Creole Classic

Rougaille Saucisse

Rougaille saucisse is a Creole stew of browned pork sausages simmered in a spiced tomato sauce with onion, garlic, ginger, thyme and chilli, served over plain white rice. One serving is about 320 g of stew. This rougaille saucisse recipe serves 4 and takes under an hour, most of it hands-off simmering.

Comfort & Warmth

A rich, slow-simmered tomato and sausage stew that tastes like a Mauritian family dinner.

Pairs Well With
Serve over steamed white rice with a little of the sauce spooned on top, plus a green salad.

High Protein

Golden fish vindaye with sliced onions, peppers and coriander in a turmeric-mustard sauce, served with white rice

Mauritius 45m

Dinner •Mauritian Creole Classic

Mauritian Fish Vindaye

Mauritian fish vindaye is firm tuna, fried until golden, then coated in a warm mustard and turmeric paste with soft onions, peppers and chillies, and finished with white wine vinegar so the fish pickles lightly as it rests. One serving is about 295 g. This mauritian fish vindaye recipe serves 4, takes 45 minutes plus a short rest, and tastes best the next day, once the vinegar and spices have soaked into the fish.

Light & Zesty

Bright, tangy fish in a mustard and vinegar sauce, served with rice or bread.

Pairs Well With
Serve with steamed basmati rice or crusty bread, a crunchy cabbage and carrot salad, and a cold drink.

High Protein

A whole butterflied peri-peri chicken, charred from the grill, served with fries and tomato-onion salad

Mozambique 1h 5m

Dinner •Mozambican Heritage

Mozambican Peri-Peri Chicken

This mozambican peri peri chicken recipe starts with the sauce that made the dish famous: fresh bird's eye chillies blended with garlic, lemon juice, smoked paprika and olive oil into a fiery marinade. The chicken is butterflied so it cooks evenly, marinated for at least two hours, then grilled over medium-high heat and basted with the leftover sauce until the skin is crisp and charred at the edges. One serving is about 250 g.

Flame-Grilled Favourite

A whole butterflied chicken marinated in bird's eye chilli, lemon and garlic, then grilled over flame until the skin is charred at the edges and the meat stays juicy.

Pairs Well With
Fries, tomato-onion salad & extra peri-peri sauce

High Protein

A tray of golden triangular chamussas, crisp fried pastries filled with spiced beef

Mozambique 50m

Snack & Tea •Mozambican Heritage

Mozambican Chamussas

This chamussas recipe makes Mozambique's beloved street snack: thin pastry folded into triangles around a filling of spiced beef mince, onion, peas and fresh coriander, then fried until golden and shatteringly crisp. The filling is cooked until completely dry, which is what keeps the pastry crisp, and the triangles are sealed with a little flour paste so they do not open in the oil. One serving is about 150 g, three chamussas.

Crispy Snack

Crisp fried triangular pastries filled with spiced beef, peas and coriander — Mozambique's answer to the samosa, eaten hot with a squeeze of lemon.

Pairs Well With
Lemon wedges, peri-peri sauce & hot tea

Quick Prep (<30m)

Whole prawns in a thick golden coconut curry sauce, served on a white plate

Mozambique 40m

Dinner •Swahili Coast Heritage

Mozambican Prawn Curry

This mozambican prawn curry recipe is the coastal classic: large prawns simmered gently in coconut milk with tomato, onion, garlic, ginger and curry spices, finished with lemon and fresh coriander. The sauce is rich and golden, the prawns stay tender because they cook for only a few minutes, and a little bird's eye chilli gives it the peri-peri warmth Mozambique is known for. One serving is about 300 g, without rice.

Coastal Comfort

Plump prawns simmered in a rich coconut milk sauce with tomato, curry spices and bird's eye chilli — the Swahili coast's signature curry, best with rice.

Pairs Well With
Steamed rice, xima & tomato salad

High Protein

Beef strips grilling over charcoal at a Windhoek market stall, with the vendor turning the meat by hand

Namibia 35m

Lunch •Namibian Heritage

Kapana

This kapana recipe brings Windhoek's famous market grill home: beef strips seared over fierce heat until smoky at the edges, then dipped in chilli-salt and eaten with a bright tomato and onion salsa. It takes 35 minutes from cutting board to plate, needs no marinade time, and works on a charcoal grill, a gas grill or a cast-iron grill pan. One serving is about 270 g.

Street-Food Energy

Char-grilled beef strips with a chilli-salt dip and fresh tomato salsa — a fast, protein-rich lunch straight off the grill.

Pairs Well With
Fresh white rolls, tomato-onion salsa and a cold drink

High Protein • Quick Prep (<30m)

A black cast-iron potjie filled with Namibian potjiekos: beef, corn on the cob, green beans and carrots

Namibia 3h 15m

Dinner •Namibian Heritage

Namibian Potjiekos

This namibian potjiekos recipe is the slow, layered stew of southern Africa: beef browned in a cast-iron potjie, then potatoes, carrots, butternut, beans and corn stacked in layers and left to simmer, lid on and never stirred, until everything is tender and the gravy is rich. It takes 3 hours 15 minutes, most of it hands-off, and feeds six generously. One serving is about 480 g.

Slow Comfort & Warmth

Beef and vegetables layered in a cast-iron pot and simmered slowly until tender — a one-pot dinner built for sharing.

Pairs Well With
Crusty bread, a green salad and a cold drink

High Protein

A mound of pale mahangu porridge on a woven basket beside a clay pot of ombidi spinach

Namibia 30m

Dinner •Namibian Heritage

Oshifima

This oshifima recipe is the stiff mahangu porridge of northern Namibia: pearl millet flour stirred into boiling water until it turns into a firm, smooth, greyish mound that is torn into pieces and used to scoop up stew, greens or soured milk. It takes 30 minutes and one pot, uses just three ingredients, and is the staple food of more than half of Namibia. One serving is about 290 g.

Everyday Energy

Pearl millet flour stirred into boiling water until firm — the quiet, filling staple that carries stews, greens and soured milk.

Pairs Well With
Ombidi spinach, beef stew or oshikandela (soured milk)

A plate of dambou, steamed millet couscous topped with moringa leaves, onions and peppers

Niger 1h 10m

Dinner •Zarma-Songhai Heritage

Dambou

This dambou recipe is Niger's steamed millet couscous: fine millet grains rolled by hand, steamed until fluffy, then folded through tender moringa leaves, sweet onion, hot chilli and crunchy roasted peanuts. It is the everyday dinner of the Zarma and Songhai people of the southwest, eaten warm from a shared bowl with a spoonful of oil and a pinch of salt. One serving is about 250 g.

Millet & Moringa Dinner

Steamed millet couscous tossed with moringa leaves, onion, chilli and crushed peanuts — a filling, plant-based dinner from southwestern Niger.

Pairs Well With
Grilled fish or chicken, cool yoghurt & lime

Two sheets of kilishi, reddish-brown spice-coated dried beef, on a white plate

Niger 6h 30m

Snack & Tea •Hausa Heritage

Nigerien Kilishi

This kilishi recipe is the Hausa way of turning lean beef into a snack that keeps: paper-thin sheets of beef are dried, coated in labu — a thick paste of ground roasted peanuts, ginger, cayenne, paprika, cloves and nutmeg — then dried again and finished over heat until the coating sets into a rust-red, nutty crust. It is chewy, fiery and deeply savoury, and a small piece goes a long way. One serving is about 55 g.

High-Protein Snack

Thin sheets of lean beef coated in a peanut-spice paste called labu, then dried until chewy — the Hausa spiced dried beef of Niger and northern Nigeria.

Pairs Well With
Sliced onion, cold water or beer & fresh fruit

High Protein

A bowl of cooked masa, round pale-golden fermented rice cakes

Niger 50m

Breakfast •Hausa Heritage

Nigerien Masa

This nigerien masa recipe starts the night before: short-grain rice is soaked, blended with a little cooked rice, and left to ferment until it smells gently sour and bubbles. The next morning the batter is spooned into a hot, oiled wells pan, where it puffs into soft, round cakes — pale and spongy inside, golden and lightly crisp outside. Eat them warm, plain or with honey, soup or suya spice. One serving is about 150 g.

Fermented Breakfast Cakes

Soft, spongy, slightly tangy fermented rice cakes cooked in a wells pan — the Hausa breakfast of Niger and northern Nigeria, also called waina.

Pairs Well With
Honey, miyan taushe soup & suya spice (yaji)

Fermented / Gut Health

A slice of orange Nigerian moi moi bean pudding cut open to show the filling, on a white plate

Nigeria 1h 30m

Lunch •Yoruba Heritage

Nigerian Moi Moi

This moi moi recipe turns peeled black-eyed peas, red peppers, onion and palm oil into a smooth orange batter, steamed in foil parcels or leaves until it sets into a sliceable pudding with boiled egg inside. One serving is about 280 g. It takes about 90 minutes from soaking the beans to unmoulding the puddings, and most of that time the pot looks after itself.

Comfort & Warmth

A soft, savoury steamed bean pudding that is filling, high in protein and gentle enough for a weekday lunch.

Pairs Well With
Serve warm with pap (akamu), garri, or plain white rice and a spoon of vegetable soup.

High Protein

Find Dinner Ideas by Country

Every one of the world's 193 countries has a signature dish — browse the full directory to find tonight's dinner, or jump straight to a cuisine with recipes.

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Andorra

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Brunei

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cabo Verde

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Comoros

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

Costa Rica

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czechia

Côte d'Ivoire

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mexico

Micronesia

Moldova

Monaco

Mongolia

Montenegro

Morocco

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

North Korea

North Macedonia

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Palau

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Romania

Russia

Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

San Marino

São Tomé and Príncipe

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Africa

South Korea

South Sudan

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Suriname

Sweden

Switzerland

Syria

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand

Timor-Leste

Togo

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vanuatu

Venezuela

Vietnam

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe Browse all 193 countries →

Dinner Ideas by Category

Soups & Broths Pasta & Noodles High Protein Fermented / Gut Health Quick Prep (<30m)

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The Dinner GazetteFresh Dinner Ideas from the Journal

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A bowl of tagliatelle with rich ragù sauce

Ingredient Guides

The Pantry Staples Every World Kitchen Shares

From a market in Bangkok to a farmhouse in Tuscany, cooks reach for the same handful of staples: rice, dried beans, good oil, salt, garlic, chillies and something sour. Stock these, and dinner in any cuisine is suddenly within reach.

November 5, 2026 • 725 words

A hearty autumn stew served in a rustic bowl

Seasonal Cooking

Autumn’s Best: Cooking with Squash and Root Vegetables

When the air turns cool, the garden answers with squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and beets. Roasted low and slow, these autumn vegetables turn sweet, caramelised and deeply satisfying — here is how to cook them well.

November 5, 2026 • 597 words

Fresh herbs rolled into Vietnamese spring rolls

Kitchen Techniques

How to Store Fresh Herbs So They Last Two Weeks

Fresh herbs wilt in days when they are tossed loose into the fridge. The jar method — a little water, a loose bag, and the right shelf — keeps parsley, cilantro, mint and dill bright and fragrant for up to two weeks.

November 5, 2026 • 658 words

Food Pairing Guide

What to Eat With What

Some foods taste better — and do you more good — together. Here is what to serve with each dish, and what to skip, with the science in plain words.

Tested in the Dinner Ideas kitchen

Phở Bò (Vietnamese Beef Broth)

Iron & Collagen Dynamics

EAT TOGETHER: Fresh Lime & Sawtooth Coriander

The ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in freshly squeezed lime converts the non-heme and heme iron from thinly shaved beef into its bioavailable ferrous form (Fe²⁺), escalating iron assimilation by up to 300%. Fresh culantro supplies carotenes that ignite digestive bile acids.

AVOID IMMEDIATELY AFTER: Condensed Milk Iced Coffee

Drinking condensed milk coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Đá) directly following Phở binds active polyphenolic chlorogenic acids and milk casein directly to the beef iron molecules, forming unabsorbable insoluble complexes that severely stunt nutrient uptake. Wait at least 90 minutes.

Metabolic window: Breakfast (07:00 – 09:30) • Optimal Gut Transition: 3.5 Hours

Tomatoes & Wild Summer Greens

Carotenoid Unlocking

EAT TOGETHER: Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Aged Feta

Lycopene is an intrinsically lipophilic (fat-soluble) antioxidant compound bound tight inside tomato skin cells. Pairing ripe heirloom tomatoes with the monounsaturated fats of raw cold-pressed olive oil boosts vascular lycopene absorption by nearly 4.4-fold.

AVOID TOGETHER: Fat-Free Industrial Dressings

Consuming vine tomatoes with zero-fat or high-sugar artificial vinaigrettes prevents the body from emulsifying fat-soluble Vitamins A, E, and K, passing essential restorative nutrients unabsorbed through the gastrointestinal tract.

Metabolic window: Lunch or Aperitivo • Lycopene Uptake: +440%

Turmeric + Black Pepper

Piperine in coarse crushed pepper amplifies active curcumin bioavailability by 2000%.

Green Tea + Lemon Twist

Citric acid preserves delicate EGCG catechins through acidic stomach transit intact.

Calcium Rich + Iron Stews

Heavy dairy cheese interferes with non-heme iron absorption channels if consumed simultaneously.

Dinner Ideas from 193 Countries — What to Cook Tonight

What’s for Dinner TonightFeatured Dinner Recipes from 193 Countries

Find Dinner Ideas by Country

Dinner Ideas by Category

Dinner Ideas by Meal

Dinner Ideas by Region

The Dinner GazetteFresh Dinner Ideas from the Journal

What to Eat With What

Iron & Collagen Dynamics

Carotenoid Unlocking

Never wonder what’s for dinner again