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 2185–2196 of 2290 dinner recipes

A pile of golden, flaky baked beef empanadas with rope-crimped edges on a plain white plate on a mustard-yellow tablecloth

Paraguay 1h 50m

Snack & Tea •Paraguayan Heritage

Paraguayan Empanada de Carne

This Paraguayan empanada de carne recipe bakes golden half-moon pastries of tender lard pastry around a filling of slow-braised shredded beef chuck, onion, green pepper, hard-boiled egg and green olives, sealed with the rope crimp called the repulgue. Unlike the ground-beef empanadas of neighbouring Argentina, the Paraguayan filling is beef cooked until it shreds, and the pastry is made with hot milk and lard. One serving is about 272 g, two empanadas, and carries 827 calories.

Comfort & Warmth

Golden baked empanadas filled with shredded beef, hard-boiled egg and green olives in a tender lard pastry.

Pairs Well With
A squeeze of lemon and a simple tomato and onion salad.

High Protein

Golden mantecados dusted with sugar and cinnamon, piled on a white plate

Cuba 35m

Snack & Tea •Cuban Classic

Mantecados

This mantecados recipe makes 24 golden Cuban lard shortbread cookies that crumble at the first bite and melt on the tongue. Lard, egg yolk, vanilla and lemon zest make a tender, sandy dough, and a cinnamon-sugar dusting finishes every cookie. One serving is about 52 g, two cookies, and carries 265 calories.

Sweet Treat

Crumbly Cuban lard shortbread cookies with egg yolk, vanilla and lemon, dusted with cinnamon sugar.

Pairs Well With
A small cup of strong Cuban coffee or hot chocolate, with the cookies served at room temperature.

A square slice of coconut flan with a glossy caramel top and caramel sauce drizzled around it, served on a white square plate

Dominican Republic 1h 35m

Snack & Tea •Dominican Quesillo Classic

Dominican Coconut Flan

This Dominican coconut flan recipe — known at home as quesillo de coco — blends coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk with eggs into a silky custard, then bakes it in a water bath under a dark caramel. It is lighter than a cheese flan and tastes unmistakably of coconut, with shredded coconut flakes on top. One serving is about 142 g.

Sweet & Comforting

A silky coconut custard set under dark caramel, lighter than a cheese flan and unmistakably coconut.

Pairs Well With
Toasted coconut flakes and a cup of strong Dominican coffee

A golden coconut flan with dark caramel sauce and shredded coconut on a plate

Haiti 1h 20m

Snack & Tea •Haitian Celebration Dessert

Haitian Coconut Flan

This haitian coconut flan recipe bakes coconut milk, shredded coconut and eggs into a silky custard under dark amber caramel, with cinnamon, nutmeg and lime zest. One serving is about 181 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Silky baked custard of coconut milk and shredded coconut under dark caramel.

Pairs Well With
A cup of strong Haitian coffee after the meal

Steamed bollo de yuca rolls wrapped in corn husks on a plate

Colombia 1h 15m

Breakfast •Colombian Caribbean Classic

Bollo de Yuca

This bollo de yuca recipe makes the soft steamed cassava rolls of Colombia's Caribbean coast. Fresh cassava is peeled, parboiled until just soft, then ground and kneaded with crumbled queso fresco, butter, a little sugar and grated coconut. The dough is shaped into rolls, wrapped in corn husks and boiled until tender and fragrant. One roll is about 238 g.

Soft Steamed Cassava Rolls

Steamed cassava dough with melted queso fresco and butter, wrapped in corn husks and served warm.

Pairs Well With
Hot chocolate, coffee, or grilled chorizo

Creamy viche chonero soup with shrimp, plantain and cilantro in a glass bowl

Ecuador 1h 15m

Lunch •Manabí Coastal Classic

Viche Chonero

This viche chonero recipe makes the creamy peanut soup of Chone, in Ecuador's Manabí province. White fish and shrimp simmer in a broth thickened with grated green plantain and natural peanut butter, with chunks of yuca, ripe plantain and sweet corn, all built on a refrito of onion, tomato, pepper and garlic with achiote. It is finished with lime juice and fresh cilantro. One serving is about 750 g.

Creamy Peanut Seafood Soup

Fish and shrimp simmered in a peanut broth with yuca, plantain and corn — the brothy soup of Manabí.

Pairs Well With
White rice, patacones, or lime wedges

Soups & Broths

A white bowl of porotos con riendas, red pinto beans and pale spaghetti strands in a rich orange broth, on a black tablecloth

Chile 1h 15m

Lunch •Chilean Winter Heritage

Porotos con Riendas

This porotos con riendas recipe is Chile's winter bean stew: pinto beans simmered with orange pumpkin until creamy, then finished with spaghetti broken into short strands — the 'reins' that give the dish its name — and a sofrito of onion, tomato, garlic and paprika. It is a one-pot meal, thick, warming and meat-free as written, with longaniza sausage as the traditional addition. One serving is about 440 g.

Hearty & Comforting

A filling one-pot stew of beans, pumpkin and spaghetti, the classic Chilean winter lunch.

Pairs Well With
Serve hot with pebre and a Chilean tomato salad, and a glass of red wine or sparkling water.

Soups & Broths • Pasta & Noodles

A white cup of frothy hot chocolate with a large wedge of pale cheese melting into it, with a bread roll at the edge, on a wooden table

Colombia 15m

Breakfast •Bogotá Heritage

Chocolate Santafereño

This chocolate santafereo recipe whisks dark chocolate into hot milk with panela and cinnamon, then drops in cubes of queso campesino to soften in the mug - the Bogotá breakfast that surprises every first-timer and converts them by the second sip. Serve it at once, with bread for dipping. One serving is about 325 g.

Warming Bogotá Breakfast

Frothy hot chocolate with cubes of fresh cheese melting into it, served with bread for dipping.

Pairs Well With
Almojábana or a bread roll, with a tamal on the side for a full Bogotá breakfast

Five golden coconut macaroon mounds with crisp toasted tops on a plain white plate

Venezuela 33m

Snack & Tea •Venezuelan Coastal Sweet

Besitos de Coco

This besitos de coco recipe bakes about 20 golden coconut kisses from shredded coconut, sugar and whipped egg whites. One serving is about 75 g, four little mounds with crisp, toasted tops and soft, chewy centres. They are the coconut sweet of Venezuela's Caribbean coast, made in minutes and gone just as fast.

Sweet Coconut Treat

Golden baked coconut mounds bound with whipped egg white, crisp outside and chewy inside.

Pairs Well With
Strong black coffee or hot chocolate.

Golden fried pristinos drizzled with panela syrup on a white plate

Ecuador 1h 35m

Snack & Tea •Ecuadorian Christmas Classic

Pristinos

This pristinos recipe makes the thin, crisp fried dough rings Ecuador serves at Christmas. A soft dough of flour, butter and eggs, scented with anise and a spoonful of aguardiente, is rolled paper-thin, cut into strips, fringed at the edges and joined into rings, then fried until golden and puffed. They are served warm, drowned in a spiced panela syrup with cinnamon, cloves and orange. One serving (three pristinos with syrup) is about 131 g.

Sweet Fried Comfort

Thin crisp anise dough, cut into fringed rings, fried golden and served warm under a spiced panela syrup.

Pairs Well With
Hot chocolate, coffee, or canelazo

A white meringue island with caramel drizzle and toasted flaked almonds in a glass bowl over custard

Uruguay 1h

Snack & Tea •Uruguayan Heritage

Uruguayan Isla Flotante

Uruguayan isla flotante is the floating island dessert: soft meringue clouds poached in milk, set afloat on a silky vanilla custard and finished with caramel and toasted almonds. This Uruguayan isla flotante recipe makes 6 servings in about 60 minutes, plus an hour of chilling. One serving is about 165 g at about 302 calories.

Light & Elegant

Cloud-soft meringue islands floating on vanilla custard with a golden caramel drizzle.

Pairs Well With
Serve well chilled in wide bowls, with the caramel drizzled over the top just before it reaches the table.

Two grilled beef short ribs with grill marks on a white plate

Paraguay 3h 20m

Dinner •Paraguayan Heritage

Paraguayan Grilled Ribs

This Paraguayan grilled ribs recipe is the heart of the Paraguayan asado: a rack of beef short ribs, the costilla, seasoned with nothing but coarse salt, garlic and oregano, and grilled low and slow over hardwood embers until the meat pulls back from the bone and turns tender and smoky. It is a single-cut grill, not the mixed parrillada of Argentina and Uruguay, and it is always served with boiled mandioca. One serving is about 438 g, ribs with mandioca, and carries 1361 calories.

Comfort & Warmth

Beef short ribs grilled low and slow over embers with coarse salt, served with boiled mandioca.

Pairs Well With
Boiled mandioca and a tomato and onion salad.

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

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