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 253–264 of 2290 dinner recipes

A large grilled pljeskavica patty with fries and salad on a white plate

Serbia 40m

Dinner •Serbian Heritage

Pljeskavica

This pljeskavica recipe mixes beef, pork and lamb with onion, garlic and paprika, shapes the meat into one large, flat patty, and grills it over high heat until charred outside and juicy inside. It is Serbia's great grill dish, from the grill town of Leskovac, and it is served with fries, raw onion and sour cream. One serving is about 380 g, patty, fries and onion together.

Comfort & Warmth

A big, juicy grilled patty of three meats, charred outside and pink inside, with fries.

Pairs Well With
Fries, raw onion and sour cream, with a cold beer.

High Protein

A golden breaded karadjordjeva snicla roll with fries, lemon, salad and tartar sauce on a plate, with a beer

Serbia 50m

Dinner •Serbian Heritage

Karađorđeva Šnicla

This karadjordjeva snicla recipe pounds pork loin flat, rolls it around smoked ham and cheese, coats it in breadcrumbs and fries it golden and crisp. It is Serbia's most famous schnitzel, a roll of pork that hides a melted cheese centre, and it is served with fries and tartar sauce. One serving is about 400 g, one roll with fries and tartar sauce.

Comfort & Warmth

Pork rolled around ham and cheese, crumbed and fried golden, with fries and tartar sauce.

Pairs Well With
Fries, tartar sauce and a lemon wedge.

High Protein

A round golden proja, Serbian cornbread with cheese, baked in a pan

Serbia 45m

Snack & Tea •Serbian Heritage

Proja

This proja recipe mixes yellow cornmeal, plain flour, eggs, yoghurt and crumbled feta into a thick batter, then bakes it in a round pan until the top turns deep golden and crisp. Cut into wedges while still warm, it is soft and crumbly inside, salty from the cheese, and best eaten with a spoonful of plain yoghurt or kajmak. One serving is about 124 g.

Hearty Snack

A sliceable baked cornbread with crumbled white cheese, eggs and yoghurt, golden outside and soft inside.

Pairs Well With
Plain yoghurt, kajmak & tomato salad

Quick Prep (<30m)

Bryndzove halusky potato dumplings in bryndza cheese sauce with crisp bacon, on a wooden plate with a wooden spoon

Slovakia 50m

Dinner •Slovak Heritage

Bryndzové Halušky

This bryndzove halusky recipe makes small, soft dumplings from grated potato and flour, boils them until they float, and tosses them in bryndza, the tangy Slovak sheep cheese, with crisp smoked bacon on top. It is Slovakia's national dish, the food of mountain shepherds, and it is eaten from a wooden plate with a wooden spoon. One serving is about 380 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Small potato dumplings tossed in bryndza sheep cheese with crisp bacon.

Pairs Well With
Crisp smoked bacon and a glass of sour milk, with chives on top.

Pasta & Noodles

A bowl of kapustnica sauerkraut soup with a spoonful of sausage and potato, in a painted ceramic bowl

Slovakia 1h 55m

Lunch •Slovak Heritage

Kapustnica

This kapustnica recipe simmers sauerkraut with smoked sausage, ham and bacon, dried mushrooms and prunes, until the broth turns deep, sour and smoky. It is Slovakia's sauerkraut soup, the soup of Christmas Eve in its meatless form and of winter weekends with sausage. One serving is about 420 g, with a spoonful of sour cream.

Comfort & Warmth

A sour sauerkraut soup with sausage, smoked meat, mushrooms and prunes.

Pairs Well With
Dark bread and a spoonful of sour cream.

Soups & Broths • High Protein

A plate of segedin goulash, pork and sauerkraut in a creamy sauce with a dollop of sour cream and boiled potatoes

Slovakia 2h 15m

Dinner •Slovak Heritage

Segedin Goulash

This segedin goulash recipe braises pork shoulder with sauerkraut, onion and sweet paprika until the meat falls apart, then finishes the sauce with sour cream. Unlike bigos, which mixes several meats and no cream, segedin is pork only, and the sour cream and paprika sauce is what defines it. One serving is about 450 g, goulash with boiled potatoes.

Comfort & Warmth

Pork braised with sauerkraut and paprika, finished with sour cream and served with potatoes.

Pairs Well With
Boiled potatoes and a dollop of sour cream, with chives on top.

High Protein

Toast Skagen topped with shrimp, dill and orange roe on a white plate

Sweden 30m

Lunch •West Coast Classic

Toast Skagen

Toast Skagen is Sweden's beloved open shrimp sandwich: cold cooked shrimp folded through mayonnaise and dill, piled high on crisp butter-fried bread and crowned with roe and lemon. One serving is about 190 g.

Light & Fresh

Cold shrimp on butter-fried toast with dill, lemon and a spoonful of roe.

Pairs Well With
A crisp green salad and a glass of cold lager or sparkling water with lemon

A whole gravlax salmon fillet cured with dill on a white background

Sweden 30m

Lunch •Swedish Christmas Table

Gravlax

Gravlax is salmon cured — never cooked — in salt, sugar and dill until it turns silky and translucent, then sliced thin and served with a sweet mustard-dill sauce and crispbread. One serving is about 85 g.

High Protein & Omega-3

Salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill, sliced thin and served with mustard sauce.

Pairs Well With
Mustard-dill sauce, rye crispbread and a wedge of lemon

High Protein

Janssons frestelse golden potato bake in a white baking dish

Sweden 1h 20m

Dinner •Swedish Christmas Table

Janssons Frestelse

Janssons Frestelse is Sweden's creamy potato bake: thin matchsticks of potato layered with sweet onion and salty anchovies, drowned in cream and baked until the top turns crisp and golden. One serving is about 260 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Layers of potato, onion and anchovy baked in cream until golden.

Pairs Well With
A crisp green salad and pickled cucumber to cut the richness

A red fondue pot of melted cheese with bread cubes and a glass of white wine

Switzerland 40m

Dinner •Swiss Alpine Classic

Swiss Cheese Fondue

Swiss cheese fondue is the Alps in a pot: Gruyere and Emmental melted slowly into dry white wine with garlic and a splash of kirsch, kept warm at the table while everyone dips cubes of bread into the bubbling cheese. One serving is about 310 g.

Comfort & Togetherness

Gruyere and Emmental melted in white wine, shared from one pot.

Pairs Well With
Cubes of crusty bread, boiled potatoes and cornichons on the side

A large golden rosti potato cake on a blue plate

Switzerland 40m

Lunch •Bernese Farmhouse Classic

Rösti

Rösti is Switzerland's crisp potato cake: grated potato pressed into one large golden disc and fried in butter until the outside shatters and the inside stays soft, then topped with a fried egg. One serving is about 240 g.

Simple & Satisfying

One large crisp cake of grated potato, pan-fried in butter and topped with a fried egg.

Pairs Well With
A fried egg on top and a simple green salad with sharp vinaigrette

Quick Prep (<30m)

Melted raclette cheese scraped over a plate with boiled potatoes and pickles

Switzerland 40m

Dinner •Valais Alpine Classic

Raclette

Raclette is the Swiss Alps' other great melted-cheese meal: a half-wheel of raclette cheese is warmed until the cut face bubbles, then scraped in ribbons over boiled potatoes, with cornichons and pickled onions to cut the richness. One serving is about 365 g.

Comfort & Togetherness

Melted raclette cheese scraped over boiled potatoes with pickles.

Pairs Well With
Boiled potatoes, cornichons, pickled onions and a green salad

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 →

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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