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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What’s for Dinner TonightFeatured Dinner Recipes from 193 Countries

Showing 397–408 of 2290 dinner recipes

Mansaf — tender lamb in creamy jameed sauce over yellow rice on flatbread, with a bowl of jameed and pickles

Jordan 3h 10m

Dinner •Jordan National Dish

Mansaf

Mansaf is Jordan's national dish and its grandest gesture of hospitality: bone-in lamb simmered until it falls off the bone, bathed in jameed — a sharp, salty sauce made from dried fermented yogurt — and piled over turmeric-gold rice on sheets of markouk flatbread, then scattered with toasted almonds, pine nuts and parsley. One serving is about 420 g. Traditionally the whole platter goes in the middle of the table and everyone eats together, with extra jameed sauce poured over each helping.

Celebration & Togetherness

Jordan's national dish: slow-cooked lamb in tangy fermented-yogurt sauce, served over saffron rice on flatbread for sharing.

Pairs Well With
Extra jameed sauce, pickled vegetables and fresh spring onions

High Protein

Jordanian maqluba — a golden dome of rice topped with chicken pieces and carrots, just flipped from the pot

Jordan 2h 15m

Dinner •Jordanian Family Classic

Jordanian Maqluba

Maqluba means 'upside-down', and that flip is the whole drama of the dish: chicken, fried eggplant, cauliflower, carrots and potato are layered in a pot with spiced basmati rice, cooked slowly until the rice is tender and fragrant, then the whole pot is turned out onto a platter in one golden, steaming dome. One serving is about 550 g. In Jordan it is a Friday family dish, made in a big pot and eaten straight from the platter it was flipped onto.

Comfort & Togetherness

Chicken, eggplant, cauliflower and carrots layered with spiced rice, cooked in one pot and flipped into a golden dome.

Pairs Well With
Plain yogurt and a chopped cucumber-tomato salad

Kunafa — a golden round of crisp shredded pastry topped with ground pistachios and whole pistachios

Jordan 1h 10m

Snack & Tea •Levantine Sweet Classic

Jordanian Kunafa

Kunafa is the Levant's most beloved sweet: fine shredded kataifi pastry, tossed in melted butter and pressed into a pan around a layer of soft, stretchy cheese, baked until the top is deep gold and crisp, then drowned in warm lemon-orange syrup and scattered with ground pistachios. One serving is about 180 g. Eaten warm, the cheese pulls in long strings with every spoonful, and the syrup soaks into the crisp pastry without ever making it soggy.

Sweet Comfort

Crisp golden kataifi pastry wrapped around stretchy melted cheese, soaked in lemon-orange syrup and crowned with pistachios.

Pairs Well With
Arabic coffee and a glass of cold water

Kazakh beshbarmak on a large platter — sliced boiled horse meat and potatoes over flat noodles, topped with soft onions in broth

Kazakhstan 3h 45m

Dinner •Kazakh National Dish

Kazakh Beshbarmak

This kazakh beshbarmak recipe is Kazakhstan's national dish: horse meat simmered slowly on the bone until it falls apart, sliced and laid over wide, silky squares of homemade noodle, then covered with soft onions steeped in the rich cooking broth. The broth itself — sorpa — is served in bowls to sip alongside, and the whole platter is set in the middle of the table for everyone to share. One serving is about 560 g, including a bowl of sorpa.

Hearty & Celebratory

Tender boiled horse meat served over wide flat noodles with soft onions and hot sorpa broth — Kazakhstan's national feast dish.

Pairs Well With
Sorpa broth, pickled onions & kumis

Pasta & Noodles • High Protein

Kazakh baursak — four golden puffy fried dough balls in a bowl with a small dish of white kaymak cream

Kazakhstan 1h 40m

Snack & Tea •Kazakh Celebration Bread

Kazakh Baursak

This kazakh baursak recipe makes the puffy fried bread that sits at the heart of every Kazakh celebration: a soft yeast dough, rolled and cut into little pillows, fried until golden and hollow inside, light as air and crisp outside. The smell of frying baursak is said to rise to the sky so loved ones who have passed can share the feast. One serving is about 130 g — three warm baursak with a spoonful of sour cream.

Warm & Comforting

Golden, hollow, puffy fried bread — the sweet-smelling centrepiece of Kazakh celebrations and tea time.

Pairs Well With
Kaymak or sour cream, honey & black tea

Lagman in a white bowl — thick hand-pulled noodles with beef, bell peppers and daikon in a savoury sauce, topped with fresh dill

Kazakhstan 2h

Dinner •Kazakh Silk Road Noodles

Kazakh Lagman

This kazakh lagman recipe is Kazakhstan's take on the great Silk Road noodle soup: noodles pulled by hand into long, chewy strands, laid in deep bowls and covered with a mild, savoury sauce of beef, daikon, bell peppers and tomatoes. It is gentler than its neighbours' versions — no fiery chilli heat, just warm cumin and coriander and the sweetness of the vegetables — and it is the dish Kazakh families cook when the steppe wind turns cold. One serving is about 675 g.

Hearty & Warming

Chewy hand-pulled noodles in a mild beef sauce with daikon and bell peppers — Kazakhstan's warming Silk Road noodle soup.

Pairs Well With
Pickled vegetables, flatbread & green tea

Pasta & Noodles

A bag of golden fried breadfruit slices photographed from above

Kiribati 30m

Snack & Tea •Kiribati Street Snack

Te Baan ni Mai

Te baan ni mai is Kiribati's simplest street snack: slices of breadfruit fried in coconut oil until golden and crisp at the edges, then salted and eaten hot from the bag. One serving is about 208 g.

Quick Snack & Energy

Crisp fried breadfruit slices make a simple, filling snack between meals, with slow-release starch for steady energy.

Pairs Well With
Eat hot with just a pinch of salt, alongside a cold drink.

Quick Prep (<30m)

A nest of thin rice noodles in coconut milk on a steel plate

Kiribati 25m

Lunch •Kiribati Home Cooking

Teia

Teia is Kiribati's gentle coconut noodle dish: thin rice noodles simmered briefly in coconut cream with softened onion and finished with lime. One serving is about 239 g.

Quick Comfort Lunch

Soft rice noodles in warm coconut cream make a gentle, filling lunch that comes together in one pot.

Pairs Well With
Serve warm in a bowl with a wedge of lime and a little extra coconut cream on top.

Pasta & Noodles • Quick Prep (<30m)

A bowl of smooth creamy orange pumpkin soup with a sprinkle of herbs

Kiribati 40m

Lunch •Kiribati Island Soup

Kiribati Pumpkin Coconut Soup

This kiribati pumpkin coconut soup recipe blends soft pumpkin with ginger and coconut milk into a smooth, golden soup, served hot or cold. One serving is about 490 g.

Comfort & Warmth

A smooth, gently spiced pumpkin soup that warms up a lunch table and can be served hot or cold.

Pairs Well With
Serve hot with crusty bread for dipping and a sprinkle of fresh herbs.

Soups & Broths

Kuwaiti machboos — golden spiced basmati rice topped with browned chicken pieces, nuts, raisins and dried lime

Kuwait 1h 50m

Dinner •Kuwait City Heritage

Kuwaiti Machboos

This kuwaiti machboos recipe is Kuwait's national dish, and its character comes from three things no other Gulf rice dish leans on in quite the same way: warm baharat spice, dried lime (loomi) for a gentle sourness, and saffron bloomed with rosewater. Bone-in chicken is braised until tender, lifted out, and the basmati rice is cooked in that same spiced broth, so every grain tastes of the chicken and the lime. A sweet-savoury hashaw of chickpeas, onions and raisins is scattered over the top, and a fresh tomato-garlic daqqus is spooned alongside. One serving is about 450 g.

National Dish & Family Feast

Bone-in chicken braised with baharat and dried lime, basmati rice cooked in the chicken's own broth, finished with a chickpea-and-onion hashaw and a fresh daqqus sauce.

Pairs Well With
Salata, daqqus, pickled lime & hot black tea

High Protein

Kuwaiti harees — smooth wheat and chicken porridge topped with melted butter and cinnamon sticks

Kuwait 3h 20m

Dinner •Kuwait City Heritage

Kuwaiti Harees

This harees recipe is Kuwait's great Ramadan porridge: whole wheat berries and chicken simmered together for hours until the wheat falls apart and the meat shreds into it, then beaten smooth with a wooden spoon. It is a wheat porridge, not a rice or maize one, and its character is the soft, creamy grain itself, finished with a pool of melted ghee and a dusting of cinnamon. It is gentle, filling, and made for breaking a fast or for a quiet family evening. One serving is about 375 g.

Ramadan Comfort & Gentle Energy

Whole wheat and chicken simmered for hours, then beaten smooth and finished with melted ghee and cinnamon.

Pairs Well With
Cucumber-tomato salad, lentil soup & hot black tea

Soups & Broths

Kuwaiti luqaimat — golden fried dough balls drizzled with date syrup and sprinkled with sesame seeds

Kuwait 1h 50m

Snack & Tea •Kuwait City Heritage

Kuwaiti Luqaimat

This luqaimat recipe is Kuwait's beloved Gulf sweet: little balls of yeast dough, spiced with cardamom and saffron, dropped into hot oil until they puff up crisp and golden, then tossed in warm date syrup and honey. They are crisp on the outside, soft and steamy inside, and finished with a scatter of sesame seeds. Luqaimat means little morsels, and that is exactly how they are eaten — one warm mouthful at a time, with tea, at Ramadan or any family gathering. One serving is about 115 g, roughly 4 dumplings.

Sweet Treat & Sharing

Crisp yeast dumplings fried golden, then soaked in date syrup and honey with cardamom and saffron.

Pairs Well With
Hot black tea, Arabic coffee & fresh fruit

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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Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

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Central African Republic

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Democratic Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

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Russia

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Saint Kitts and Nevis

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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

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.