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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4 Slots

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 1753–1764 of 2301 dinner recipes

A glass dish of bolo de bolacha, Portugal's biscuit layer cake with biscuit crumbs, cream and mint

Portugal 35m

Snack & Tea •Portuguese Celebration Classic

Bolo de Bolacha

This bolo de bolacha recipe layers coffee-dipped Maria biscuits with a silky butter and condensed-milk cream, then chills the cake until it slices like a baked sponge. One serving is about 111 g and carries 415 calories. Serve cold, topped with crushed biscuits, with a small cup of espresso.

Sweet Treat

Layers of coffee-dipped Maria biscuits and buttercream, chilled until the biscuits turn cake-soft — Portugal's no-bake celebration cake.

Pairs Well With
A small espresso and fresh berries.

A tall glass of Moroccan avocado smoothie beside half an avocado

Morocco 10m

Snack & Tea •Moroccan Café Classic

Moroccan Avocado Smoothie

This moroccan avocado smoothie recipe blends ripe avocado with cold whole milk, sugar, ground almonds and orange blossom water into a thick, pale-green cafe drink. One serving is about 428 g and carries 490 calories. Pour into tall chilled glasses and top with crushed toasted almonds.

Cool & Creamy

Ripe avocado blended with cold milk, sugar and almonds into a thick cafe smoothie — Morocco's favourite afternoon drink.

Pairs Well With
A handful of toasted almonds and mint tea.

Quick Prep (<30m)

A plate of Egyptian fried eggplant, golden fried slices piled on a white plate

Egypt 55m

Lunch •Egyptian Mezze Classic

Egyptian Fried Eggplant

This egyptian fried eggplant recipe salts and fries eggplant slices until golden, then dresses them with a garlic, vinegar and cumin dakka. One serving is about 248 g and carries 168 calories. Serve warm with baladi bread, tomato and parsley.

Tangy & Satisfying

Golden fried eggplant slices dressed with a punchy garlic, vinegar and cumin dakka — an Egyptian mezze that eats like a main.

Pairs Well With
Warm baladi bread and tahini salad.

Golden fried cauliflower florets piled over chopped parsley, tomato and onion salad in a blue-rimmed bowl

Lebanon 35m

Lunch •Lebanese Mezze Classic

Lebanese Cauliflower Salad

This lebanese cauliflower salad recipe turns the classic mezze cauliflower into a salad: small florets fried until golden and crisp, then piled over chopped parsley, tomato and red onion with a sharp lemon and olive oil dressing. One serving is about 280 g.

Fresh & Crunchy

Golden fried cauliflower over a lemony herb salad — crisp, bright and light.

Pairs Well With
Warm pita bread, hummus, and grilled halloumi or chicken

A blue bowl of colourful mixed fruit salad with kiwi, strawberry, pineapple, orange and grapes on a white background

Argentina 25m

Snack & Tea •Argentine Family Classic

Argentine Fruit Salad

This argentine fruit salad recipe makes the classic ensalada de frutas: banana, apple, orange, peach, strawberry, kiwi, pineapple and grapes, cut small and left to swim in ice-cold orange juice with lemon and a little sugar. One serving is about 299 g.

Sweet & Refreshing

Chilled mixed fruit swimming in ice-cold orange and lemon juice.

Pairs Well With
Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or a glass of sparkling water

A dark plate of spaghetti coated in orange-red sauce with a chicken drumstick and chopped herbs on top

Peru 1h 15m

Dinner •Peruvian Family Classic

Tallarines Rojos

This tallarines rojos recipe makes Peru’s red spaghetti: chicken drumsticks simmered in a tomato, carrot and ají panca sauce, then tossed with spaghetti until every strand is coated in the deep-red sauce. One serving is about 518 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Spaghetti in a deep-red tomato, carrot and ají panca sauce with chicken drumsticks.

Pairs Well With
Crusty bread, a simple green salad, and a cold glass of chicha morada

Pasta & Noodles

A tall crisp golden cone of roti tissue standing on a steel plate

Malaysia 1h 5m

Snack & Tea •Mamak Stall Classic

Roti Tissue

This roti tissue recipe makes the mamak stall showpiece: a soft dough stretched until paper-thin, fried until shatteringly crisp, then folded into a tall cone, brushed with condensed milk and dusted with sugar. One serving is about 148 g.

Sweet & Crisp

A paper-thin roti fried crisp, folded into a tall cone and dusted with sugar.

Pairs Well With
Teh tarik, Milo, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Grilled Ayam Taliwang chicken pieces on a banana leaf with tomato and cucumber slices

Indonesia 1h 15m

Dinner •Lombok Grilled Chicken

Ayam Taliwang

This ayam taliwang recipe grills young chicken over charcoal, then coats it in a fiery paste of red chillies, bird's eye chillies, shallots, garlic, tomato and sand ginger, with lime and a little palm sugar to round the heat. It is the grilled chicken of Lombok — smoky, spicy and savoury, with none of the sweet soy glaze of ayam bakar. One serving is about 260 g.

Fiery Charcoal-Grilled Chicken

Young chicken grilled over charcoal and coated in a fiery red-chilli paste, served with cool cucumber — Lombok's most famous chicken, high in protein.

Pairs Well With
Steamed rice, cool cucumber and tomato, and a spoonful of plecing kangkung balance the chilli heat.

High Protein

Roasted Brussels sprouts with cubes of bacon in a white bowl

Netherlands 40m

Dinner •Dutch Winter Classic

Spruitjes met Spek

This spruitjes met spek recipe fries smoky bacon lardons until crisp, softens onion in the bacon fat, then tosses in halved Brussels sprouts with butter and nutmeg until they are tender and browned at the edges. It is the Dutch winter classic — salty, buttery and green, with the sprouts' gentle bitterness tamed by bacon and butter. One serving is about 230 g.

Hearty Winter Greens and Bacon

Brussels sprouts fried with smoky bacon lardons, onion and butter, finished with nutmeg — the Dutch winter side that eats like a main, rich in fibre.

Pairs Well With
Mashed potatoes, a roast or a fried egg turn the sprouts into a full Dutch winter dinner.

A round plum tart with crumble topping and dark red plums on a white plate

Belgium 1h 50m

Snack & Tea •Belgian Bakery Classic

Pruimentaart

This pruimentaart recipe bakes a crisp shortcrust shell filled with soft almond frangipane, arranged with halved plums and finished with a buttery crumble, until the fruit is jammy and the top is golden. It is the plum tart Belgian bakeries make when plums ripen in late summer — buttery, nutty and not too sweet, with the plums doing most of the talking. One serving is about 172 g.

Buttery Plum Tart with Almond

A crisp shortcrust tart filled with almond frangipane and halved plums under a golden crumble — the plum tart of Belgian bakeries, best with coffee.

Pairs Well With
Lightly whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, with a cup of coffee, makes a slice complete.

A golden cheese croissant with melted cheese and tomato on a plate with a napkin, knife and fork

Switzerland 45m

Lunch •Swiss Bakery Classic

Käsegipfeli

This kasegipfeli recipe makes the Swiss bakery classic: triangles of puff pastry rolled around nutty Gruyère with a smear of Dijon mustard, brushed with milk and baked until golden and flaky. It is the cheese Gipfeli of Swiss bakeries — a cheese croissant, eaten warm from the oven with coffee or soup, and the meat-free partner to the ham-filled schinkengipfeli. One serving is about 175 g: two warm crescents with melted cheese in every bite.

Flaky Cheese Crescents

Puff-pastry crescents rolled around nutty Gruyère with a smear of Dijon mustard, baked golden — the cheese answer to the Swiss Gipfeli, high in protein.

Pairs Well With
A green salad and a cup of coffee balance the rich, buttery pastry.

Sliced German wild boar roast in rich brown gravy with potato dumplings, red cabbage and cranberry sauce.

Germany 3h 30m

Dinner •Franconian Forest Classic

German Wild Boar Roast

German wild boar roast is Franconia’s festive game dish: a wild boar shoulder marinated overnight in red wine with juniper, then braised low and slow until it slices tender under a dark, glossy gravy. One serving is about 345 g, with dumplings and red cabbage alongside.

Rich & Hearty

Slow-braised wild boar in red-wine gravy with dumplings and red cabbage — Germany’s classic forest-game roast.

Pairs Well With
Serve with potato dumplings, red cabbage and a spoonful of cranberry sauce.

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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Andorra

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

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Republic of the Congo

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Laos

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North Korea

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Portugal

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Saint Lucia

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Samoa

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Zimbabwe Browse all 193 countries →

Dinner Ideas by Category

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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.