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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What’s for Dinner TonightFeatured Dinner Recipes from 193 Countries

Showing 1693–1704 of 2301 dinner recipes

A golden Zwiebelkuchen onion cake with caramelised onion rings on a wooden board

Germany 2h 20m

Lunch •Swabian Wine-Festival Classic

Zwiebelkuchen

This zwiebelkuchen recipe bakes the Swabian onion cake of southern Germany: a soft yeast dough piled with slow-cooked onions, egg, sour cream and melted Emmental, scented with caraway. One serving is about 215 g and carries 421 calories. Serve it warm from the oven, the way the wine festivals do, with a glass of young wine or a crisp green salad.

Comfort & Warmth

A golden Swabian onion cake: soft yeast dough piled with slow-cooked onions, egg, sour cream and melted Emmental, scented with caraway.

Pairs Well With
Federweisser or a dry Riesling, with a crisp green salad.

A whole chourico sausage flaming over blue flames in a clay assador, with green olives beside it

Portugal 15m

Snack & Tea •Portuguese Petisco Classic

Chourico Assado

This chourico assado recipe is Portugal's firework of a petisco: a whole cured chourico, scored and set over blue aguardente flames in a clay assador until its skin crackles. One serving is about 135 g and carries 705 calories. Slice it hot at the table and mop up the smoky juices with crusty bread.

Smoky & Satisfying

A whole cured chourico, scored and flame-grilled over blue aguardente fire in a clay assador until its skin crackles.

Pairs Well With
Crusty bread, green olives and a glass of red wine.

A green bean salad with nasturtium flowers, pine nuts, raisins and red onion in a white dish

Morocco 25m

Lunch •Moroccan Mezze Classic

Moroccan Green Bean Salad

This moroccan green bean salad recipe blanches crisp green beans and tosses them with tomato, red onion, garlic and a cumin-lemon dressing, finished with parsley and an optional scatter of pine nuts and raisins. One serving is about 214 g and carries 175 calories. It is the bright, crunchy salad that belongs on every Moroccan mezze table.

Light & Fresh

Crisp green beans tossed with tomato, red onion, garlic and a cumin-lemon dressing — the bright salad of the Moroccan mezze table.

Pairs Well With
Grilled fish or chicken, warm khobz bread and mint tea.

Diced red beets piled on a white plate with beet leaves

Egypt 1h

Lunch •Egyptian Mezze Classic

Egyptian Beet Salad

This egyptian beet salad recipe — salatet bangar — tosses sweet boiled beets with garlic, lemon, vinegar, cumin and coriander into a jewel-red mezze salad. One serving is about 185 g and carries 124 calories. Chill it briefly so the dressing soaks in, then serve with warm bread and olives.

Light & Fresh

Sweet boiled beets tossed with garlic, lemon, vinegar, cumin and coriander — the jewel-red salad of the Egyptian mezze table.

Pairs Well With
Warm baladi bread, olives and grilled fish or chicken.

Golden squares of Argentine apple bizcochuelo sponge cake on a floral plate, showing the light, airy crumb

Argentina 55m

Snack & Tea •Argentine Home Baking

Argentine Bizcochuelo

Argentine bizcochuelo is a feather-light sponge cake made from just eggs, sugar and flour, whipped full of air and baked golden — here with sweet apple folded through the batter. One serving is about 79 g. It is the classic base of Argentine birthday tortas, and just as good eaten plain with mate or coffee.

Afternoon Tea & Merienda

A light, airy sponge cake made from eggs, sugar and flour, with sweet apple folded through the batter.

Pairs Well With
Mate, café con leche, or a glass of cold milk, with dulce de leche on the side for spreading.

A plate of Peruvian locro de zapallo, golden pumpkin stew with cheese cubes, corn and peas, served with white rice and fried eggs

Peru 1h

Dinner •Andean Heritage

Locro de Zapallo

Locro de zapallo is Peru's golden pumpkin stew: sweet zapallo simmered with potato, corn and peas in a gentle ají amarillo base, then finished off the heat with evaporated milk and cubes of queso fresco. One serving is about 515 g. It is a one-pot, meat-free dinner that tastes like the cool Andean evenings it comes from.

Comfort & Warmth

A thick, golden pumpkin stew from the Peruvian Andes, finished with milk and fresh cheese.

Pairs Well With
White rice and a fried egg on top, with a simple salad and a glass of chicha morada or herbal tea to drink.

A plate of Mie Aceh curry noodles with beef, cucumber, tomato, lime and crackers

Indonesia 50m

Lunch •Acehnese Curry-Noodle Classic

Mie Aceh

This mie aceh recipe brings the fiery curry noodles of Banda Aceh to your kitchen: thick yellow wheat noodles tossed in a fragrant paste of chillies, shallots, garlic, turmeric and cumin, with tender strips of beef, crisp bean sprouts and tomato. It is served hot with cool cucumber, a lime wedge, fried peanuts and crunchy crackers on the side. One serving is about 500 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Thick yellow noodles fried in a spiced curry paste with tender beef, bean sprouts and tomato, served with cucumber, lime and crackers.

Pairs Well With
Cucumber, lime wedges & melinjo crackers

Pasta & Noodles

A whole Limburgse vlaai with a golden lattice crust and cherry filling, dusted with coarse sugar

Netherlands 1h 55m

Snack & Tea •Limburg Fruit-Pie Classic

Limburgse Vlaai

This limburgse vlaai recipe makes the cherry pie of Dutch Limburg: a soft, bread-like yeast crust filled with juicy sour cherries and topped with a woven lattice, baked until golden and scattered with coarse sugar. It is lighter than a shortcrust apple pie and best eaten slightly warm, with coffee. One serving is about 125 g.

Sweet Treat

A soft yeast-leavened pie with a golden lattice top and a juicy sour-cherry filling, lightly dusted with coarse sugar.

Pairs Well With
Coffee, whipped cream & vanilla ice cream

A bowl of witloofsoep with endive, potato cubes, tomato and chives

Belgium 45m

Lunch •Belgian Winter Soup

Witloofsoep

This witloofsoep recipe makes the Belgian endive soup of Brussels kitchens: pale endive leaves simmered with potato, tomato and onion until tender, in a light vegetable stock finished with butter and snipped chives. It is gently bitter, silky and warming — a classic first course or light lunch. One serving is about 470 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Pale Belgian endive simmered with potato, tomato and onion in vegetable stock, finished with butter and fresh chives.

Pairs Well With
Crusty bread, grated cheese & a green salad

Soups & Broths

Golden fried schenkeli pastry fingers dusted with sugar on a wooden plate

Switzerland 45m

Snack & Tea •Swiss Carnival Classic

Schenkeli

This schenkeli recipe makes the little fried pastry fingers of Swiss carnival: a soft lemon-and-kirsch dough shaped by hand, fried until deep golden and rolled in sugar while still warm. Crisp outside, tender inside, they are at their best within hours of frying. One serving is about 130 g.

Sweet Treat

Golden fried pastry fingers flavoured with lemon and kirsch, rolled in sugar and eaten warm at carnival time.

Pairs Well With
Coffee, hot chocolate & mulled wine

A bowl of pan mee — hand-torn flat wheat noodles in clear anchovy broth with braised mushrooms, leafy greens and fried garlic

Malaysia 1h 5m

Lunch •Malaysian Chinese Hawker Heritage

Pan Mee

This pan mee recipe is the classic Malaysian soup version: a plain flour-and-egg dough kneaded by hand, rested, then torn into ragged flat pieces and dropped straight into a clear anchovy (ikan bilis) broth. The bowl is finished with seasoned minced pork, braised shiitake mushrooms, sweet potato leaves, a poached egg, crisp fried anchovies and fried shallots, with sambal on the side. It is a different dish from the dry chilli pan mee of Kuala Lumpur — this one is all about the clear, savoury broth. One serving is about 620 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Hand-torn wheat noodles simmered in a clear, savoury anchovy broth with minced pork, mushrooms, greens and a poached egg — a warming hawker lunch.

Pairs Well With
Serve with sambal belacan and cut red chilli on the side, and a cold glass of iced lemon tea or barley water.

Pasta & Noodles

Three Aachener Printen on a white background — one with a white glaze, one coated in dark chocolate and one topped with an almond

Germany 55m

Snack & Tea •Aachen Christmas Classic

Aachener Printen

This aachener printen recipe makes Aachen's famous hard spiced cake: a dark syrup dough scented with anise, cinnamon and cloves, rested overnight, then baked firm and finished with a lemon glaze. Unlike soft, nut-rich lebkuchen, real Printen snap when you bite them and soften slowly as they keep. One serving is about 90 g (two pieces).

Comfort & Warmth

A hard, dark spiced cake from Aachen, sweetened with syrup and brown sugar and scented with anise, cinnamon and cloves.

Pairs Well With
Black coffee, hot chocolate & 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

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Antigua and Barbuda

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Chad

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Republic of the Congo

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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