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 157–168 of 2290 dinner recipes

A bowl of gboma dessi, Togolese spinach stew with a piece of meat and red chilli, served beside maize paste

Togo 1h 50m

Dinner •Lome Leaf Stew

Gboma Dessi

This gboma dessi recipe starts with beef simmered until tender, then builds a tomato and onion sauce around it with gbotemi spice, ground pumpkin seeds and smoked mackerel, and finishes by folding in a full 700 g of fresh spinach until it wilts into the sauce. One serving is about 470 g.

Rich & Nourishing

Tender beef and smoked fish simmered with a mountain of spinach in a tomato sauce seasoned with gbotemi spice — a hearty Togolese stew.

Pairs Well With
Akoume (maize paste) or steamed white rice, to scoop up the sauce.

High Protein

White steamed ablo rice cakes on a plate beside a bowl of meat and pepper stew

Togo 2h

Lunch •Togolese Steamed Classic

Togolese Ablo

This ablo recipe soaks whole rice overnight, grinds it into a batter, cooks a third of it into a thick paste, then ferments the rest with yeast and steams it in moulds into soft, white, faintly sour cakes. Two cakes make a serving, and they are torn and dipped into stew. One serving is about 230 g.

Light & Fermented

Soaked rice, fermented and steamed into soft, white, faintly tangy cakes — the mild, springy bread of the Togolese coast.

Pairs Well With
A thick meat or fish stew, or grilled fish with a spoonful of pepper sauce.

Fermented / Gut Health

Four whole grilled sardines on a metal platter with boiled potatoes and a lettuce and tomato salad

Guinea-Bissau 35m

Dinner •Bissau Coastal Classic

Guinea-Bissau Grilled Sardines

This guinea bissau grilled sardines recipe salts whole sardines, brushes them with garlic and olive oil, and grills them over hot charcoal until the skin crisps and the flesh flakes. They are served with boiled baby potatoes and a lettuce and tomato salad, the way Bissau's grill stalls serve them. One serving is about 425 g.

Light & High-Protein

Whole sardines grilled over charcoal with lemon, garlic and coarse salt — small oily fish, big flavour, and nothing to hide behind.

Pairs Well With
Boiled baby potatoes and a lettuce, tomato and onion salad, with lemon wedges.

High Protein

A mound of mashed steamed matooke served with roasted chicken drumsticks on a plate

Uganda 2h 25m

Dinner •Buganda Heritage

Matoke

This matoke recipe is Uganda's national dish: green cooking bananas peeled, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed until tender, then mashed into a soft, pale-yellow mound. The leaves give the bananas a gentle, earthy aroma that no pot of boiling water can match. One serving is about 380 g.

Uganda's National Dish

Green cooking bananas steamed in banana leaves and mashed soft — Uganda's national dish, served with rich stews and sauces.

Pairs Well With
Groundnut sauce, beef stew & steamed greens

Chicken luwombo opened in its banana leaf, showing stewed chicken in a rich sauce

Uganda 2h 30m

Dinner •Buganda Royal Heritage

Luwombo

This luwombo recipe is Uganda's celebration stew: chicken thighs simmered in a tomato and groundnut sauce with carrots and potatoes, then wrapped in smoked banana leaves and steamed until meltingly tender. Opening the leaf at the table releases a wave of smoky, savoury steam. One serving is about 358 g.

Celebration Stew

Chicken and vegetables steamed inside smoked banana leaves — the Buganda royal dish, now Uganda's celebration stew.

Pairs Well With
Steamed matooke, posho & steamed greens

High Protein

Two Ugandan rolex wraps cut in half on a white plate with lime wedges

Uganda 40m

Lunch •Kampala Street Food

Ugandan Rolex

This ugandan rolex recipe is Kampala's famous street wrap: a thin omelette studded with cabbage, tomato and onion, laid on a soft homemade chapati and rolled into a log. The name comes from 'rolled eggs', said fast — and the wrap is just as quick to eat. One serving is about 395 g.

Street-Food Favourite

A vegetable omelette rolled in a soft chapati — Kampala's beloved street-food wrap, ready in 40 minutes.

Pairs Well With
Chai, fresh fruit & chilli sauce

Quick Prep (<30m)

A plate of stewed kapenta fish in tomato sauce served beside a mound of nshima

Zambia 50m

Dinner •Lake Kariba Table

Zambian Kapenta

This kapenta recipe stews tiny dried fish from Lake Kariba with tomato, onion and garlic, with a spoonful of groundnut powder to round out the sauce. The little fish soften in the pan and soak up the tomato, turning rich and savoury. Serve it beside a mound of nshima and eat it the Zambian way, with your fingers. One serving is about 390 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Tiny lake fish stewed in a tomato-onion sauce, served with nshima for a filling family dinner.

Pairs Well With
Nshima & a side of greens

High Protein

A bowl of ifisashi — leafy greens in a creamy peanut sauce

Zambia 1h

Dinner •Zambian Home Table

Ifisashi

This ifisashi recipe simmers spinach, pumpkin leaves and sweet potato in a creamy sauce of ground peanuts, tomato and onion until everything turns soft and nutty. The greens are the heart of the dish, not a garnish — they wilt down into the peanut sauce and carry its flavour. Serve it with nshima for a proper Zambian dinner. One serving is about 375 g.

Everyday Nourishment

Leafy greens simmered in a creamy groundnut sauce — a filling, meat-free Zambian classic.

Pairs Well With
Nshima & roasted peanuts

Cubed chikanda cake garnished with cherry tomatoes and herbs on a dark green plate

Zambia 1h 5m

Snack & Tea •Bemba Heritage Snack

Chikanda

This chikanda recipe boils orchid-tuber meal and groundnut meal into a thick slurry, sets it with a little baking soda, and lets it cool into a firm, sliceable cake. It looks like bologna and slices like it, but it contains no meat at all — just tubers, peanuts and spice. One serving is about 158 g.

Snack & Sharing

A sliceable cake of orchid-tuber meal and groundnuts — Zambia's meat-free 'African polony'.

Pairs Well With
Chilli sauce & tomato relish

High Protein

A bowl of smooth golden pumpkin porridge

Zimbabwe 50m

Breakfast •Zimbabwe Heritage

Zimbabwean Nhopi

Zimbabwean nhopi is a soft, spoonable porridge of cornmeal, mashed pumpkin and peanut butter, cooked until smooth and golden. This nhopi recipe makes 4 bowls in 50 minutes, and the pumpkin gives it a natural sweetness while the peanut butter adds richness and staying power. One serving is about 350 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Soft cornmeal porridge enriched with sweet pumpkin and peanut butter — a gentle, filling Zimbabwean breakfast.

Pairs Well With
Steamed leafy greens or a glass of milk

Smooth pale maize porridge in a cooking pot

Zimbabwe 25m

Breakfast •Zimbabwe Heritage

Zimbabwean Bota

Zimbabwean bota is a thin, soft maize porridge, cooked smooth with water and finished with oat milk and a little sugar. This zimbabwean bota recipe makes 4 bowls in 25 minutes, and it stays pourable and silky, never stiff — the kind of porridge you eat with a spoon, not your hands. One serving is about 380 g.

Comfort & Warmth

A thin, silky maize porridge with oat milk — the plain, gentle breakfast that starts the day in Zimbabwe.

Pairs Well With
Fresh fruit, bread, or a cup of tea

Cooked mopane worms served with softened onions on a patterned plate

Zimbabwe 1h

Dinner •Zimbabwe Heritage

Zimbabwean Mopane Worms

Zimbabwean mopane worms are the dried caterpillars of the emperor moth, soaked until plump, then fried with onion, tomato, garlic and chilli until crisp at the edges. This mopane worms recipe serves 4 in 60 minutes, and the worms turn out savoury, chewy-crisp and deeply seasoned. One serving is about 210 g.

High-Protein Energy

Dried mopane caterpillars, rehydrated and fried crisp with onion, tomato and chilli — Zimbabwe's famous protein dish.

Pairs Well With
Sadza (stiff maize porridge) and leafy greens

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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Zambia

Zimbabwe Browse all 193 countries →

Dinner Ideas by Category

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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