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.

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Breakfast to Snack

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What’s for Dinner TonightFeatured Dinner Recipes from 193 Countries

Showing 145–156 of 2290 dinner recipes

Golden fried perch fillets on a white plate with a small cup of dipping sauce

South Sudan 35m

Dinner •South Sudan Heritage

South Sudanese Fried Perch

This south sudanese fried perch recipe turns fresh Nile perch fillets into a crisp, golden dinner: a light flour and cornmeal crust, seasoned simply, fried until the flesh flakes at 63°C (145°F). It takes 35 minutes, serves 4, and needs no special equipment beyond a pan and hot oil. One serving is about 230 g.

High-Protein Dinner

Crisp cornmeal-coated Nile perch fillets, fried golden and served hot with lemon.

Pairs Well With
Lemon wedges, aseeda or steamed rice, and a fresh tomato and onion salad

High Protein

Pieces of fish simmering in a rich red tomato stew in a wide pan

South Sudan 55m

Dinner •South Sudan Heritage

South Sudanese Kajaik

This kajaik recipe is South Sudan's fish stew: freshwater fish simmered gently in a rich tomato broth with onion, okra, leafy greens and a spoonful of groundnut paste to thicken it. It takes 55 minutes and one pot, and it is served with aseeda, kisra or rice to soak up the broth. One serving is about 500 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Freshwater fish simmered in a rich tomato broth with okra, greens and a spoonful of groundnut paste.

Pairs Well With
Aseeda, kisra flatbread, or steamed white rice

Soups & Broths • High Protein

A pan of fried beef liver with onion and green chilli beside a bowl of tomato, cucumber and cheese salad

Sudan 30m

Dinner •Sudanese Home Cooking

Sudanese Kebda

Sudanese kebda is beef liver cut into small pieces and fried fast in a hot pan with sliced onion, green chilli, garlic and a generous hand of cumin, then finished with lemon and fresh coriander. It cooks in minutes, smells wonderful, and is eaten scooped up with bread and a tomato and cucumber salad. One serving is about 160 g.

Iron & Energy

Pan-fried beef liver with onion, green chilli and cumin — rich in iron and protein, served with bread.

Pairs Well With
Warm flatbread, tomato and cucumber salad, mint tea

High Protein

A plate of thick, soft gurasa flatbread topped with chopped vegetables and kuli-kuli crumble

Sudan 1h 25m

Lunch •Sudanese Home Cooking

Sudanese Gurasa

Gurasa is Sudan’s thick, soft flatbread — a yeasted wheat batter, poured like a pancake onto a hot griddle and cooked until golden outside and pillowy inside. It is the bread that stews are eaten with: torn into pieces and used to scoop up sauce, or served plain with tea. One flatbread is about 130 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Thick, soft wheat flatbread cooked on a griddle, made for scooping up Sudanese stews.

Pairs Well With
Mullah stew, okra stew, yoghurt with garlic and cumin, honey and tea

A pan of browned meatballs simmered in a rich red tomato sauce

Sudan 1h 10m

Dinner •Sudanese Home Cooking

Sudanese Kofta

Sudanese kofta are oval meatballs of spiced minced beef mixed with half-cooked rice, fried until browned, then simmered in a thick tomato and onion sauce until they drink in its flavour. The rice inside keeps them tender, and the sauce is rich enough to need bread or rice beside it. One serving is about 360 g.

Strength & Recovery

Spiced beef meatballs with rice, fried and simmered in a rich tomato sauce, served with bread or rice.

Pairs Well With
Warm flatbread or steamed rice, tomato and onion salad, mint tea

High Protein

A whole round golden-brown banana cake on a white serving plate with a knife beside it, on a wooden table

São Tomé and Príncipe 1h 10m

Snack & Tea •São Tomé Island Dessert

São Tomé Bolo de Banana

This bolo de banana recipe makes a soft, golden banana sponge cake, baked in a round pan and served in slices. Ripe bananas are mashed straight into the batter, so every slice is moist and full of banana flavour, with a little cinnamon and nutmeg warming it through. The top bakes plain and golden brown, and the cake is at its best served warm or at room temperature with coffee. One serving is about 110 g.

Sweet & Spiced

A soft, golden banana sponge cake, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Pairs Well With
Warm with a cup of São Tomé coffee or a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Three whole golden fried red snapper on a plate, crisp and ready to eat

São Tomé and Príncipe 35m

Dinner •São Tomé Island Fish Supper

São Tomé Fried Fish with Molho Cru

This sao tome fried fish recipe fries red snapper fillets until golden and crisp, then spoons over molho cru — a raw sauce of onion, tomato, malagueta chilli, lime and olive oil that is never cooked. The hot, crunchy fish and the cool, sharp sauce belong together, and the whole plate comes together in about 35 minutes. One serving is about 270 g.

Crisp & Zesty

Golden fried snapper fillets served with a raw onion, tomato and chilli sauce that cuts through the richness.

Pairs Well With
Steamed rice, fried plantain and a cold beer

High Protein

A black pot of feijoada, a dark bean and meat stew with pieces of sausage and pork

São Tomé and Príncipe 2h 50m

Dinner •São Tomé Island Stew

Feijoada Santomense

This feijoada santomense recipe is São Tomé's slow pot of black beans, pork shoulder, beef, smoked sausage and bacon, simmered with onion, garlic, bay leaf and a spoonful of red palm oil until the beans are tender and the broth is thick. It is the island's take on the Portuguese bean stew, rich, smoky and made for sharing. One serving is about 320 g.

Hearty & Slow-Cooked

Black beans simmered low and slow with pork, beef, smoked sausage and bacon until the broth turns thick and rich.

Pairs Well With
Steamed rice, fried plantain and orange slices

High Protein

A plate of East African pilau rice with chicken, garnished with chopped herbs

Tanzania 1h 20m

Dinner •Swahili Coast Heritage

Tanzanian Pilau

This tanzanian pilau recipe is the Swahili coast's celebration rice: long-grain basmati steamed in one pot with tender chicken, dark sweet onions and five whole spices — black peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and cumin — bloomed in oil with garlic, ginger and green chilli. The chicken simmers in its own spiced broth first, so every grain of rice carries the flavour, and the pot is served with cool kachumbari and hot pilipili. One serving is about 325 g.

Celebration Rice

Basmati rice steamed with chicken and five whole coastal spices — black pepper, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and cumin — the Swahili coast's celebration dish.

Pairs Well With
Kachumbari, pilipili ya kukaanga & hot chai

High Protein

A bowl of white coconut rice with green beans and curry beside it

Tanzania 40m

Dinner •Swahili Coast Heritage

Tanzanian Wali wa Nazi

This wali wa nazi recipe is the Swahili coast's coconut rice: long-grain basmati steamed in rich, full-fat coconut milk with a little onion and whole cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, until the grains are separate, fragrant and faintly sweet. Wali means rice and nazi means coconut in Swahili, and the dish is the classic partner for curries and stews from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam. One serving is about 200 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Basmati rice steamed in full-fat coconut milk with cardamom, cinnamon and cloves — the Swahili coast's classic coconut rice.

Pairs Well With
Chicken curry, kachumbari & hot chai

Two golden-brown vitumbua coconut rice cakes on foil

Tanzania 1h 20m

Snack & Tea •Swahili Coast Heritage

Tanzanian Vitumbua

This vitumbua recipe makes the soft, golden coconut rice cakes sold hot from street stalls across Tanzania and the Swahili coast, from Stone Town in Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam. Soaked rice is blended with coconut milk, sugar and cardamom, lightly fermented with yeast, then cooked in a pan with round wells until each cake is crisp on the outside and almost custardy in the middle. One serving is four cakes, about 140 g, and the recipe makes about 20 cakes.

Sweet Snack

Fermented rice and coconut milk fried in a wells pan into soft, golden, cardamom-scented cakes — the Swahili coast's street snack.

Pairs Well With
Masala chai, fresh fruit & honey

Quick Prep (<30m)

A plate of ayimolou, Togolese rice cooked with black-eyed peas, served with fried chicken, fried plantain and tomato sauce

Togo 1h 35m

Dinner •Lome One-Pot Classic

Ayimolou

This ayimolou recipe cooks black-eyed peas and long-grain rice together in a single pot, so the grains soak up the bean cooking liquid, tomato and onion while the peas stay whole and creamy inside. Fried chicken goes on top, and the plate is finished with fried plantain. One serving is about 420 g.

Hearty & Filling

Black-eyed peas and rice cooked together in one pot, served with fried chicken — a filling Togolese dinner built on beans, not just rice.

Pairs Well With
Fried plantain and a spoonful of fried tomato sauce (nugbagba) on the side.

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

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Antigua and Barbuda

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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