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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193

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Breakfast to Snack

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Recipes with Nutrition

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What’s for Dinner TonightFeatured Dinner Recipes from 193 Countries

Showing 1669–1680 of 2301 dinner recipes

A white bowl of glossy braised red cabbage with a deep purple colour, served on a wooden table with a striped napkin

Germany 1h 10m

Dinner •German Heritage

German Braised Red Cabbage

German braised red cabbage, or Rotkohl, is the glossy purple side dish that belongs next to a Sunday roast: shredded cabbage cooked down with apple, onion, vinegar and a splash of red wine until it turns tender, sweet and sour all at once. The vinegar is not just for flavour — it keeps the cabbage its deep ruby colour. One serving is about 295 g.

Sweet-Sour Comfort

Shredded red cabbage braised slowly with apple, onion, vinegar and red wine until glossy, tender and sweet-sour.

Pairs Well With
Serve hot beside roast pork, roast goose or sausages with mashed potatoes and a spoonful of the cooking juices.

A golden lemon and almond cake dusted with powdered sugar, with one slice cut showing a moist crumb

Portugal 1h

Snack & Tea •Portuguese Heritage

Bolo de Amendoa

Bolo de amendoa is Portugal's almond celebration cake: ground almonds, butter, eggs and lemon zest baked into a moist, golden cake with a crisp flaked-almond top and a snowfall of powdered sugar. Unlike its flourless Spanish cousin, this version keeps a little wheat flour and baking powder, which gives it a lighter, butter-rich crumb. One serving is about 100 g.

Celebration Baking

A moist Portuguese almond cake enriched with butter and lemon, baked until golden and dusted with powdered sugar.

Pairs Well With
Serve a slice with espresso or a glass of port, with fresh berries on the side and softly whipped cream if you like.

A Moroccan beef tagine with dried figs in a glossy sauce, served in a clay tagine pot with the lid beside it

Morocco 2h 40m

Dinner •Moroccan Heritage

Moroccan Beef Tagine

Moroccan beef tagine is the classic sweet-savoury braise of the Maghreb: chunks of beef chuck cooked low and slow in a clay tagine with onions, ginger, saffron and cinnamon, then finished with dried figs and honey so the sauce turns dark, glossy and fragrant. The conical lid traps the steam and bastes the meat as it cooks. One serving is about 335 g.

Slow-Cooked Comfort

Beef chuck braised slowly with dried figs, honey, saffron and warm spices until the meat is spoon-tender and the sauce turns glossy.

Pairs Well With
Serve straight from the tagine with fluffy couscous or warm khobz bread to scoop up the sauce, and mint tea to finish.

High Protein

A glass bowl of creamy tahini salad with lemon and garlic on a table with copper pots

Egypt 15m

Lunch •Egyptian Heritage

Egyptian Tahini Salad

Egyptian tahini salad, or salatat tahina, is the creamy sesame dip that sits at the centre of every Egyptian mezze: tahini thinned with water and lemon juice, sharpened with garlic and cumin, and whisked until it turns pale, smooth and almost fluffy. It is scooped up with warm bread and served beside grilled meats, falafel and salads. One serving is about 83 g.

Fresh Mezze

Tahini whisked with lemon, garlic and cumin into a pale, creamy dip, finished with olive oil and parsley.

Pairs Well With
Serve with warm baladi bread, falafel or grilled meats, and a glass of lemon-mint juice on the side.

A white plate of golden Lebanese barazek cookies thickly coated in toasted sesame seeds

Lebanon 45m

Snack & Tea •Levantine Bakery Classic

Lebanese Barazek

This lebanese barazek recipe makes thin, crisp butter cookies coated on one side with toasted sesame seeds and on the other with chopped pistachios, scented with a whisper of mahleb. They are the tea biscuits of Levantine bakeries, shattering crisp at the edges and nutty all the way through. One serving is about 63 g.

Crisp & Nutty

Thin, buttery sesame cookies with a pistachio underside — a crisp, lightly sweet bite made for tea or coffee.

Pairs Well With
Serve with hot mint tea, Arabic coffee, or a glass of cold milk.

Golden wedges of Argentine faina chickpea flatbread stacked on a metal tray at a market stall

Argentina 1h

Lunch •Porteño Pizzeria Classic

Argentine Faina

This argentine faina recipe bakes a simple chickpea-flour batter in a hot oiled pizza pan until the top is deep gold and the inside stays soft and custardy. It is the thick Buenos Aires version of the Genoese chickpea flatbread, cut into wedges and eaten on its own or laid over a slice of pizza, a caballo. One serving is about 158 g.

Hearty & Savoury

A thick, golden chickpea flatbread from Buenos Aires pizzerias — soft inside, crisp-edged, and made for eating with pizza.

Pairs Well With
Serve hot with pizza, a green salad, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

A plate of ocopa arequipena with green huacatay sauce over potatoes, egg, tomato and olives

Peru 50m

Lunch •Arequipa Picantería Classic

Ocopa Arequipena

This ocopa arequipena recipe coats boiled potatoes in a creamy green sauce of huacatay, roasted peanuts, ají amarillo and queso fresco, served cool on lettuce with egg, tomato and black olives. It is the herbal, nutty cousin of papa a la huancaína, and the signature starter of Arequipa's picanterías. One serving is about 421 g.

Herby & Comforting

Boiled potatoes under a creamy green huacatay sauce with peanuts and queso fresco — Arequipa's classic starter.

Pairs Well With
Serve cool as a starter with crusty bread, choclo corn, and a cold beer or chicha morada.

Stir-fried midin fern fiddleheads with garlic and ginger slices in a steel bowl — bright green curled fronds glistening with oil

Malaysia 25m

Lunch •Sarawak Home Cooking

Midin

This midin recipe shows how to stir-fry Sarawak's wild fern fiddleheads the classic way — with garlic, ginger, red chilli and belacan (shrimp paste) in a blazing wok, so the curled fronds stay crisp and glossy. One serving is about 125 g, a bright green plate that belongs beside steamed rice.

Crisp Jungle Green

Wild Sarawak fern fiddleheads wok-fried with garlic, ginger, chilli and belacan — crunchy, savoury and ready in under half an hour.

Pairs Well With
Steamed white rice, Sarawak laksa or grilled fish, and a cold drink

Quick Prep (<30m)

Banana-leaf wrapped lemper rolls, one cut open to show the spiced chicken filling

Indonesia 1h 55m

Snack & Tea •Indonesian Market Classic

Lemper

Lemper is Indonesia's beloved banana-leaf parcel: coconut-steamed glutinous rice wrapped around a spiced chicken filling, then steamed again until the leaf perfumes the rice. This lemper recipe makes 8 rolls with a savoury-sweet chicken floss centre. One roll is about 140 g.

Savoury Snack & Sharing

Coconut sticky rice wrapped around spiced chicken floss — a filling, portable Indonesian snack.

Pairs Well With
Hot tea, fresh cucumber & sambal

A plate of andijviestamppot — vivid green endive mashed with potatoes, glossy with melted butter, with a crisp golden-brown slice of speklap alongside

Netherlands 50m

Dinner •Dutch Heritage

Andijviestamppot

This andijviestamppot recipe boils floury potatoes, mashes them with butter, warm milk and freshly grated nutmeg, then folds in raw endive a handful at a time so the heat wilts it just enough. It is served with crisp butter-fried speklap — slices of pork belly — and a quick gravy made from the pan juices. One serving is about 580 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Floury potatoes mashed with fresh endive, butter and nutmeg, served with butter-fried pork belly and pan gravy.

Pairs Well With
Crisp speklap & butter gravy

Konijn met pruimen — braised rabbit pieces with whole glossy prunes, caramelised onions and parsley in a rich brown sauce in a white bowl

Belgium 1h 55m

Dinner •Flemish Farmhouse Classic

Konijn met Pruimen

This konijn met pruimen recipe browns jointed rabbit, then braises it in Belgian brown ale with plump prunes, sweet onions and thyme until the meat falls from the bone. One serving is about 360 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Rabbit braised slowly in Belgian brown ale with prunes and caramelised onions until the meat is tender and the sauce turns dark, glossy and sweet-sour.

Pairs Well With
Serve with Belgian frites or creamy mashed potatoes to catch the prune-and-beer sauce.

Three golden-brown Willisauer Ringli biscuits on white marble

Switzerland 1h 15m

Snack & Tea •Lucerne Heritage Biscuit

Willisauer Ringli

Willisauer Ringli are the famous hard ring biscuits of Willisau in the canton of Lucerne: flour, sugar, honey and citrus zest baked low and slow into crisp, golden rings. This willisauer ringli recipe follows the published home-baking version and makes 24 rings. One serving (2 rings) is about 66 g.

Sweet Tradition & Tea Time

Very hard honey-and-citrus rings from Willisau — made to be sucked slowly, not bitten.

Pairs Well With
Black coffee, herbal tea & a glass of milk

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

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Canada

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

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Comoros

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

Costa Rica

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Dominican Republic

Ecuador

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Fiji

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Gabon

Gambia

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Guinea-Bissau

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Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

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Indonesia

Iran

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Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jordan

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Kenya

Kiribati

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Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

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Libya

Liechtenstein

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Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malawi

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Maldives

Mali

Malta

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Mauritania

Mauritius

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Mozambique

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Niger

Nigeria

North Korea

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Norway

Oman

Pakistan

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Panama

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Peru

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Poland

Portugal

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Romania

Russia

Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

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São Tomé and Príncipe

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

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Sweden

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Syria

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Thailand

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Togo

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Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

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Venezuela

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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

All news →

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.