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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What’s for Dinner TonightFeatured Dinner Recipes from 193 Countries

Showing 241–252 of 2290 dinner recipes

A plate of farikal with lamb, cabbage and boiled potatoes in broth

Norway 2h 20m

Dinner •Norwegian Heritage

Fårikål

This fårikål recipe layers bone-in lamb and cabbage in a pot with whole black peppercorns, adds just enough water, and braises it slowly until the meat falls from the bone and the cabbage turns sweet and silky. Boiled potatoes and the cooking broth finish the plate. One serving is about 665 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Lamb and cabbage layered in a pot with whole peppercorns, braised until tender.

Pairs Well With
Boiled potatoes, flatbread & lingonberry jam

High Protein

A baked salmon fillet with herbs, crushed potatoes and peas on a white plate

Norway 45m

Dinner •Norwegian Heritage

Norwegian Salmon

This Norwegian salmon recipe bakes salmon fillets with garlic, lemon and fresh herbs until they flake, then serves them with a warm dill cream sauce, crushed potatoes and buttered peas. The fish stays moist, the sauce is light, and the whole plate comes together in under an hour. One serving is about 455 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Salmon fillets baked with garlic and herbs, served with a dill cream sauce, crushed potatoes and peas.

Pairs Well With
Dill cream sauce, crushed potatoes & buttered peas

High Protein

A plate of raspeballer with mashed rutabaga, bacon, sausage and potatoes

Norway 1h 20m

Dinner •Norwegian Heritage

Raspeballer

This raspeballer recipe grates raw potato, squeezes it dry and mixes it with cooked potato and barley flour into plain, unfilled dumplings, then boils them gently until tender. They are served with mashed rutabaga, crisp bacon and melted butter poured over the top. One serving is about 530 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Plain potato dumplings boiled and served with mashed rutabaga, bacon and melted butter.

Pairs Well With
Mashed rutabaga, bacon & melted butter

A plate of golden pierogi ruskie dumplings, one cut open on a fork showing the potato and cheese filling, with chopped spring onions

Poland 1h 25m

Dinner •Polish Heritage

Pierogi

This pierogi recipe makes soft, half-moon dumplings filled with mashed potato and twaróg cheese, boiled until they float, then fried golden in butter with onions. They are the classic Polish pierogi ruskie, the version most Polish families make at home, and they arrive at the table with a spoonful of sour cream. One serving is about 340 g, roughly ten pierogi with sour cream.

Comfort & Warmth

Soft dough parcels filled with potato and cheese, boiled then crisped in butter and served with sour cream.

Pairs Well With
Sour cream and fried onions, with a crisp cucumber salad on the side.

A plate of bigos, the Polish hunter's stew of sauerkraut and mixed meats, garnished with parsley on a checked tablecloth

Poland 3h 30m

Dinner •Polish Heritage

Bigos

This bigos recipe slow-cooks sauerkraut and fresh cabbage with pork, sausage, smoked ham and bacon, with dried mushrooms and prunes for depth. It is Poland's hunter's stew, a dish that was made to use up leftover meats and that improves every time it is reheated. One serving is about 430 g, served with rye bread.

Comfort & Warmth

A slow, sour stew of sauerkraut, fresh cabbage and mixed meats that tastes better the next day.

Pairs Well With
Dark rye bread and a cold beer, with pickled cucumbers on the side.

High Protein

Żurek sour rye soup served in a hollowed bread bowl, creamy with herbs, on a white plate

Poland 1h

Lunch •Polish Heritage

Żurek

This zurek soup recipe turns fermented rye starter, smoked sausage and potato into Poland's tangy sour soup, finished with a boiled egg and a spoonful of sour cream. It is ladled into a hollowed-out bread loaf, so the bowl itself becomes part of lunch. One serving is about 520 g, soup and bread together.

Comfort & Warmth

A tangy sour-rye soup with sausage, potato and egg, served in a bread bowl.

Pairs Well With
A hollowed rye bread loaf as the bowl, with extra sausage on the side.

Soups & Broths

Romanian sarmale cabbage rolls on a wooden plate with yellow polenta, sour cream and a pickled green chilli

Romania 3h 30m

Dinner •Romanian Heritage

Romanian Sarmale

This Romanian sarmale recipe rolls minced pork and rice in soured cabbage leaves, packs the rolls into a pot with smoked bacon and tomato, and braises them slowly until tender. They are served the Romanian way, with hot polenta, sour cream and a pickled chilli. One serving is about 420 g, three rolls with polenta and sour cream.

Comfort & Warmth

Pork and rice rolled in soured cabbage leaves, braised with smoked meat and served with polenta.

Pairs Well With
Hot polenta, sour cream and a pickled chilli, with a glass of red wine.

High Protein

Three grilled mici skinless sausages on a white plate with a pool of yellow mustard

Romania 55m

Dinner •Romanian Heritage

Mici

This mici recipe mixes beef, pork and lamb with garlic, thyme and a little baking soda, rests the mixture overnight, and grills it as skinless sausages. Mici are Romania's favourite grill food — juicy, garlicky and charred at the edges — and they are always served with mustard and fries. One serving is about 340 g, four mici with fries and mustard.

Comfort & Warmth

Garlicky grilled skinless sausages, juicy inside and charred outside, with mustard and fries.

Pairs Well With
Sharp mustard and hot fries, with a cold beer.

High Protein

A bowl of creamy ciorba de burta tripe soup with sour cream and parsley, in a speckled bowl

Romania 3h

Lunch •Romanian Heritage

Ciorbă de Burtă

This ciorba de burta recipe simmers beef tripe slowly with carrot, parsnip and celery until meltingly tender, then enriches the broth with egg yolk and sour cream and sharpens it with vinegar. It is Romania's famous tripe soup, served hot with chilli and extra vinegar on the side. One serving is about 420 g.

Comfort & Warmth

A sour, creamy tripe soup with vegetables, enriched with egg yolk and sour cream.

Pairs Well With
Hot chilli peppers and extra vinegar, with crusty bread.

Soups & Broths • High Protein

Beef stroganoff, strips of beef in a creamy mushroom sauce with parsley, on a black plate

Russia 50m

Dinner •Russian Heritage

Beef Stroganoff

This beef stroganoff recipe sears strips of beef tenderloin until browned, simmers them with mushrooms and onion in a rich stock, and finishes the sauce with sour cream and mustard. It is the Russian classic that travelled the world, and it is best served over buttered egg noodles. One serving is about 370 g, sauce and noodles together.

Comfort & Warmth

Tender beef strips in a creamy mushroom sauce, served over egg noodles.

Pairs Well With
Buttered egg noodles and a crisp cucumber salad.

High Protein

A red plate of cooked Russian pelmeni dumplings with sour cream and chopped green onion, with radishes beside it

Russia 1h 25m

Dinner •Russian Heritage

Pelmeni

This pelmeni recipe wraps a juicy filling of minced beef and pork in thin wheat dough, pinched into little ear shapes, and boils the dumplings in a light beef broth. Unlike pierogi, which are filled with potato and cheese and fried in butter, pelmeni are meat dumplings served in their hot cooking broth with sour cream and dill. One serving is about 450 g, dumplings, broth and sour cream together.

Comfort & Warmth

Small meat dumplings in thin dough, boiled and served in hot broth with sour cream.

Pairs Well With
Sour cream and fresh dill, with a spoonful of the hot broth.

High Protein

Rolled Russian blini pancakes with berry sauce, icing sugar and mint on a white plate, with a teapot and cup

Russia 1h 40m

Breakfast •Russian Heritage

Blini

This blini recipe makes thin, golden pancakes from a yeasted batter, fried one by one in butter until lacy at the edges. Blini are Russia's celebration pancake, eaten at breakfast with sour cream, jam and honey, or rolled up with sweet fillings. One serving is about 300 g, six blini with toppings.

Comfort & Warmth

Golden yeasted pancakes, thin and lacy, served with sour cream, jam and honey.

Pairs Well With
Sour cream, strawberry jam and honey, with hot tea.

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

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Botswana

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Burkina Faso

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Cabo Verde

Cambodia

Cameroon

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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Côte d'Ivoire

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Dominican Republic

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Fiji

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Gabon

Gambia

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Guinea-Bissau

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Iceland

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North Korea

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Norway

Oman

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Portugal

Qatar

Romania

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Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

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Saudi Arabia

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Sweden

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Trinidad and Tobago

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Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

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Uzbekistan

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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)

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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