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.

Countries

193

Cuisines Covered

Meal Times

4 Slots

Breakfast to Snack

Nutrition

100%

Recipes with Nutrition

Category:

Meal Time

Choose the meal you are cooking for

Region

2290 dinner ideas matching filters

Reset Filters ×

What’s for Dinner TonightFeatured Dinner Recipes from 193 Countries

Showing 1861–1872 of 2290 dinner recipes

Sliced octopus covered in pink-purple olive sauce on a white plate, with a lime wedge and an edible flower

Peru 1h 10m

Lunch •Lima Heritage

Pulpo al Olivo

This pulpo al olivo recipe boils octopus until tender, slices it thin, and covers it with a creamy sauce of botija purple olives blended into fresh mayonnaise. One serving is about 225 g.

Elegant Lima Appetizer

Tender boiled octopus sliced and covered in a creamy purple-olive sauce — the classic cold starter of Lima's seafood restaurants.

Pairs Well With
Boiled potatoes and crusty bread

Red sambal belacan chilli paste in a stone mortar with a halved lime, pounded with shallots and chillies

Malaysia 20m

Snack & Tea •Malay Heritage

Sambal Belacan

This sambal belacan recipe pounds fresh red chillies with toasted fermented shrimp paste, shallot, garlic, lime juice and a little sugar. One serving is about 21 g — a tablespoon alongside rice.

Fiery Table Condiment

Fresh chillies pounded with toasted belacan, lime and sugar — the small, fiery relish that belongs on every Malaysian table.

Pairs Well With
Nasi lemak, grilled fish and steamed rice

Golden fried lumpia Semarang standing in a woven basket, with spring onions and sauce in a second basket behind

Indonesia 1h 5m

Snack & Tea •Semarang Heritage

This lumpia Semarang recipe makes the fried spring rolls of Semarang, Central Java: a savoury filling of bamboo shoots, chicken and egg, rolled in thin wheat wrappers and fried until golden and shatteringly crisp. They are served hot with sweet chilli sauce and spring onions, the way Semarang street stalls serve them. One serving is 3 rolls, about 302 g including the dip.

Crisp & Satisfying

Bamboo shoots, chicken and egg rolled in thin wheat wrappers and fried until crisp.

Pairs Well With
Sweet chilli sauce, spring onions and a hot cup of tea

A single glossy zeeuwse bolus, a dark caramel cinnamon spiral, on a white plate with a napkin

Netherlands 2h 10m

Snack & Tea •Zeeland Heritage

Zeeuwse Bolus

This zeeuwse bolus recipe makes the sticky cinnamon rolls of Zeeland: ropes of soft yeasted dough rolled in dark brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest, then coiled into spirals and baked until the sugar melts into a gooey caramel coat. They are best eaten warm, torn apart with coffee. One serving is 1 roll, about 102 g.

Warm & Sweet

A soft yeasted spiral rolled in dark brown sugar and cinnamon, baked until sticky.

Pairs Well With
Strong black coffee and a thick slice of butter

A close-up of a slice of suikertaart, golden sugar crystals glistening on a soft, pale crumb

Belgium 2h

Snack & Tea •Flemish Heritage

Suikertaart

This suikertaart recipe makes the Flemish sugar tart: a soft yeasted dough pressed into a tin and topped with a custard of dark brown sugar, cream and egg, baked until the top turns golden and caramelised. It is best cut warm, with the sugar still soft. One serving is 1 slice, about 110 g.

Golden & Sweet

A soft yeasted tart with a caramel custard top of brown sugar, cream and egg.

Pairs Well With
Unsweetened whipped cream and a cup of coffee

A glossy saucisse aux choux, the Vaud cabbage sausage, curled on a plain white plate

Switzerland 1h 5m

Dinner •Vaud Heritage

Saucisse aux Choux

This saucisse aux choux recipe is the cabbage sausage of Vaud, in French-speaking Switzerland: a smoked pork sausage made with white cabbage, braised gently in white wine with more cabbage and onion until it is juicy and tender. It is served sliced, with boiled potatoes and mustard. One serving is 1 sausage with cabbage and potatoes, about 469 g.

Hearty & Comforting

Vaud cabbage sausage braised in white wine with cabbage, served with boiled potatoes.

Pairs Well With
Boiled potatoes, Dijon mustard and a glass of Chasselas

A spoonful of Olivier salad with diced ham, green peas, potato and egg in creamy mayonnaise over a white bowl

Russia 1h

Lunch •Russian Heritage

Olivier Salad

This olivier salad recipe dices waxy potatoes, carrots, peas, dill pickles, hard-boiled eggs and cooked ham into small even cubes, then folds them through creamy mayonnaise with a little mustard and fresh dill. It is the cold, make-ahead salad at the centre of Russian holiday tables. One serving is about 306 g.

Festive & Comforting

A creamy diced salad of potatoes, carrots, peas, pickles, egg and ham, dressed with mayonnaise.

Pairs Well With
Diced ham, pickles & creamy mayonnaise

A slice of golden apfelstrudel dusted with icing sugar, served with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream on a white plate

Austria 1h 30m

Snack & Tea •Viennese Heritage

Apfelstrudel

This apfelstrudel recipe stretches a soft flour dough until it is paper-thin, fills it with sliced apples, raisins, walnuts and cinnamon, and bakes it until the pastry is crisp and golden. It is the Viennese coffee-house classic, best served warm with whipped cream. One serving is about 208 g.

Sweet & Comforting

Paper-thin strudel pastry wrapped around cinnamon apples, raisins and walnuts, baked golden and dusted with icing sugar.

Pairs Well With
Cinnamon apples, whipped cream & vanilla ice cream

Golden banosh cornmeal porridge in a black dish, topped with crumbled white bryndza cheese, dark pork cracklings and fresh dill

Ukraine 50m

Dinner •Hutsul Heritage

Banosh

This banosh recipe cooks fine cornmeal slowly in sour cream and milk — never just water — until it turns thick, glossy and tangy, then tops it with crumbled bryndza cheese and crisp pork cracklings. It is the Hutsul shepherds' dish of the Carpathian Mountains. One serving is about 344 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Cornmeal simmered in sour cream and milk until thick and creamy, topped with salty bryndza and crisp pork cracklings.

Pairs Well With
Bryndza cheese, pork cracklings & fresh dill

Chicken and mushroom ciulama in a creamy golden sauce with yellow rice in a dark bowl

Romania 55m

Dinner •Romanian Heritage

Ciulama de Pui cu Ciuperci

This ciulama de pui recipe sears chicken and mushrooms, then simmers them in a golden sauce built from a flour-and-milk roux with a spoonful of sour cream, garlic and a pinch of sweet paprika. It is Romania's classic creamy chicken stew: rich and comforting, but lighter than a cream sauce because milk does most of the work. Serve it over a mound of yellow rice, exactly as in the photo. One serving is about 425 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Chicken and mushrooms simmered in a thick, golden flour-and-milk sauce with garlic and fresh herbs, served hot with yellow rice.

Pairs Well With
Yellow rice, mămăligă & pickled vegetables

High Protein

A clay pot of lobio: red kidney beans in a walnut sauce, topped with fresh coriander leaves and raw onion rings.

Georgia 1h 20m

Dinner •Georgian Everyday Heritage

Lobio

This lobio recipe simmers red kidney beans until soft, then mashes them with a walnut, garlic and blue fenugreek paste, so the stew turns thick, nutty and fragrant. Fresh coriander, raw onion rings and pomegranate seeds go on top just before serving. One serving is about 260 g, served hot in a clay pot or deep bowl with cornbread.

Comfort & Warmth

A slow-cooked Georgian kidney bean stew with ground walnuts, blue fenugreek and fresh coriander, served hot in a clay pot.

Pairs Well With
Cornbread (mchadi) and a glass of Georgian red wine or sparkling water.

Kazakh nauryz kozhe in a carved wooden bowl — creamy milky soup with flat noodles, corn kernels and pieces of beef, a wooden ladle resting in the bowl, golden baursak behind

Kazakhstan 2h 15m

Lunch •Nauryz Spring New Year Dish

Kazakh Nauryz Kozhe

This kazakh nauryz kozhe recipe is the soup at the heart of Nauryz, the Kazakh spring new year: tender beef simmered into a clear broth, then thickened with millet, rice and barley, hand-cut noodles and sweet corn, and finished with warm milk, ayran and crumbled kurt until it turns creamy white and gently sour. By tradition it holds seven obligatory ingredients — water, meat, salt, fat, flour, a cereal and milk — each one a wish for the year ahead. One serving is about 610 g, a generous bowl that works as a full lunch.

Festive & Nourishing

A thick, milky-sour beef soup with millet, rice, barley and hand-cut noodles, made for the Kazakh spring new year.

Pairs Well With
Warm baursak, black tea & pickled vegetables

Soups & Broths

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

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Brunei

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cabo Verde

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Comoros

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

Costa Rica

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czechia

Côte d'Ivoire

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mexico

Micronesia

Moldova

Monaco

Mongolia

Montenegro

Morocco

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

North Korea

North Macedonia

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Palau

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Romania

Russia

Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

San Marino

São Tomé and Príncipe

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Africa

South Korea

South Sudan

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Suriname

Sweden

Switzerland

Syria

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand

Timor-Leste

Togo

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vanuatu

Venezuela

Vietnam

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe Browse all 193 countries →

Dinner Ideas by Category

Soups & Broths Pasta & Noodles High Protein Fermented / Gut Health Quick Prep (<30m)

Dinner Ideas by Meal

Breakfast Lunch Dinner Snack & Tea

Dinner Ideas by Region

Mediterranean & Italy East & South Asia Latin America & Caribbean Middle Eastern Nordic & European African Heritage North America Oceania & Pacific

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.

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