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 841–852 of 2311 dinner recipes

Brazilian chicken stroganoff — chicken strips in a creamy sauce served with white rice and salad

Brazil 45m

Dinner •Brazilian Home Classic

Brazilian Chicken Stroganoff

This brazilian chicken stroganoff recipe is Brazil's beloved strogonoff de frango: strips of chicken simmered with onion, garlic and mushrooms in a creamy tomato sauce sharpened with ketchup and mustard, then served over white rice with a tumble of crispy shoestring potatoes. It is weeknight comfort food across Brazil. One serving is about 435 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Chicken strips simmered in a creamy tomato sauce with ketchup and mustard, served Brazilian-style with rice and shoestring potatoes.

Pairs Well With
White rice, batata palha & a green salad

Meat coated in green mole verde sauce with white rice and black beans on a red plate

Mexico 1h 40m

Dinner •Guerrero Green Sauce

Mole Verde

This mole verde recipe blends tomatillos, toasted pumpkin seeds, green chilli and a big handful of herbs into a bright green sauce, then simmers tender chicken in it until the flavours settle. One serving is about 425 g.

Fresh & Herby

Green sauce of tomatillo, pumpkin seeds and fresh herbs over tender chicken.

Pairs Well With
White rice, black beans and warm corn tortillas

A white bowl of potato gnocchi coated in tomato sauce with a fork

Italy 1h 5m

Dinner •Italian Potato Dumplings

Potato Gnocchi

This potato gnocchi recipe turns floury potatoes, flour and one egg into soft, pillowy dumplings, boiled until they float and tossed in a quick tomato sauce with basil and Parmesan. One serving is about 400 g.

Soft & Comforting

Pillowy potato dumplings tossed in a simple tomato sauce with Parmesan.

Pairs Well With
A green salad, crusty bread and a glass of red wine

Pasta & Noodles

Blanquette de veau in a creamy white sauce with mushrooms and carrots, served with rice on a white plate

France 2h 10m

Dinner •French White Cream Braise

Blanquette de Veau

This blanquette de veau recipe poaches tender veal gently in stock with carrots, leek and onion, then finishes it in a silky white sauce of cream, butter and egg yolk, with mushrooms folded through. One serving is about 450 g.

Creamy & Classic

Tender veal poached in stock, finished in a silky white cream sauce.

Pairs Well With
Steamed rice, buttered carrots and crusty bread

High Protein

Blistered green Pimientos de Padron sprinkled with flaky salt on a patterned plate

Spain 15m

Snack & Tea •Galician Tapa Classic

Pimientos de Padron

This pimientos de padron recipe fries small green peppers in hot olive oil until their skins blister and char in patches, then showers them with flaky sea salt. One serving is about 100 g — a small plate to share.

Quick & Salty

Blistered green peppers with flaky salt — a two-ingredient Galician tapa.

Pairs Well With
Crusty bread, olives and a cold beer

Quick Prep (<30m)

A bowl of katsudon with sliced breaded pork cutlet and soft-cooked egg over white rice, garnished with green leaves

Japan 45m

Dinner •Tokyo Rice-Bowl Classic

Katsudon

This katsudon recipe fries a panko-crusted pork cutlet until golden, then simmers it with onion and beaten egg in a sweet-savoury dashi broth and slides the whole lot over steaming rice. It is the donburi that turns leftover-style tonkatsu into a complete one-bowl dinner — unlike gyudon, which is thin beef and onions with no egg, and unlike oyakodon, which uses chicken and egg with no breaded cutlet at all. One serving is about 460 g.

Comfort & Warmth

A crisp panko pork cutlet, simmered briefly with onion and egg in a sweet dashi broth, served over hot rice.

Pairs Well With
Miso soup, pickled ginger and a pot of green tea

High Protein

Sliced grilled chicken with golden-brown skin on a black plate beside a small bowl of red chilli dipping sauce

Thailand 1h 5m

Dinner •Isaan Street-Food Classic

Thai Grilled Chicken

This Thai grilled chicken recipe — gai yang — marinates bone-in chicken quarters in lemongrass, garlic, coriander root and fish sauce, then grills them slowly over charcoal until the skin is blistered and the meat stays juicy. It is served the Isaan way, with sticky rice and a sharp, sour nam jim jaew dipping sauce. Unlike Thai chicken larb, which is a minced-chicken salad tossed with toasted rice powder and lime, gai yang is a whole grilled bird — smoky skin, juicy meat and a dipping sauce, not a salad. One serving is about 370 g.

Smoky & Satisfying

Whole chicken quarters marinated in lemongrass, garlic and fish sauce, grilled over charcoal until the skin blisters, served with sticky rice and nam jim jaew.

Pairs Well With
Sticky rice, som tam (green papaya salad) and nam jim jaew

High Protein

Grilled pork sausage skewers on a white plate beside rice paper sheets, chopped cucumber, garlic and chillies, and a bowl of dipping sauce

Vietnam 50m

Lunch •Nha Trang Grilled Pork

Nem Nuong

This nem nuong recipe shapes seasoned ground pork into plump sausage skewers, grills them until caramelised, and serves them with rice paper, herbs and vermicelli so everyone rolls their own at the table. It is a different dish from thit kho, which is pork braised soft in coconut water with eggs, and from bun thit nuong, which serves grilled pork sliced over a noodle bowl — nem nuong is a sausage you roll yourself, with a peanut-flecked dipping sauce. One serving is about 330 g.

Fresh & Hands-On

Juicy grilled pork sausage skewers, rolled at the table in rice paper with herbs, vermicelli and crunchy vegetables.

Pairs Well With
Rice paper, fresh herbs, rice vermicelli and peanut dipping sauce

High Protein

Golden-brown scallion pancakes on a white plate, with green scallion flecks visible in the flaky crust

China 50m

Snack & Tea •Shanghai Street Snack

Scallion Pancakes

This scallion pancakes recipe makes cong you bing the traditional way: a hot-water dough rolled into layers with oil and chopped scallions, coiled like a snail, flattened and pan-fried until crisp outside and flaky inside. It is a layered flatbread, not a batter pancake — the flakiness comes from the rolling, and the only filling is scallion and salt, so it stays vegetarian. One serving is about 220 g.

Flaky & Crispy

Hot-water dough rolled thin, brushed with oil, scattered with scallions and coiled into flaky layers, then pan-fried until golden.

Pairs Well With
Soy-vinegar dipping sauce and a pot of hot tea

Budae jjigae bubbling in a wide black pan, with sausage slices, rice cakes and spring onions in a red-orange broth and a serving ladle

South Korea 45m

Dinner •Korean Heritage

Budae Jjigae

This budae jjigae recipe is Korea's army stew: a bubbling shared pot of kimchi, Spam, frankfurter sausage, baked beans, rice cakes and instant noodles in a gochujang broth, finished with melted cheese. It is not kimchi jjigae — that stew is built on kimchi and pork alone — and it is not doenjang jjigae or sundubu jjigae either; the tinned meats, beans and noodles are what make this dish. One serving is about 620 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Spam, sausage, kimchi and instant noodles simmered together in one spicy pot — a hearty, communal Korean stew.

Pairs Well With
Steamed rice, kimchi & cold barley tea

Soups & Broths

Karniyarik in a round metal baking pan: baked eggplants split open and filled with spiced beef, topped with tomato slices in a rich sauce

Turkey 1h 10m

Dinner •Turkish Home Classic

Karniyarik

This karniyarik recipe is Turkey's beloved stuffed eggplant: whole eggplants fried until soft, split open like a belly — the name means 'split belly' — and filled with ground beef cooked with onion, tomato and green pepper, then baked in a light tomato sauce. It is not imam bayildi, the vegetarian olive-oil eggplant served at room temperature, and it is not moussaka, which is a layered bake; karniyarik is a single stuffed eggplant, served hot, with the beef filling as the point. One serving is about 425 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Whole eggplants split open and filled with spiced ground beef, tomato and pepper, then baked until soft and saucy.

Pairs Well With
Pilav, cacik & a tomato salad

Two golden tiropita slices on a blue glass plate, with crisp filo pastry and a creamy white cheese filling, garnished with basil

Greece 1h 10m

Snack & Tea •Greek Bakery Classic

Tiropita

This tiropita recipe is the Greek cheese pie found in every bakery in Greece: layers of crisp filo brushed with butter, wrapped around a creamy filling of feta and ricotta bound with egg and a little dill. It is not spanakopita — that pie is filled with spinach and feta — tiropita is cheese alone, which is why the filling tastes so purely of feta. To keep it fully vegetarian, choose feta and ricotta made with vegetarian rennet. One serving is about 119 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Crisp golden filo wrapped around a creamy feta and ricotta filling — Greece's classic bakery cheese pie.

Pairs Well With
Greek salad, olives & a cold coffee

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

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Estonia

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

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Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jordan

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Kenya

Kiribati

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Latvia

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Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

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Luxembourg

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Malawi

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Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

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Mexico

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Myanmar

Namibia

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Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

North Korea

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Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Palau

Panama

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Paraguay

Peru

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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

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Slovakia

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Solomon Islands

Somalia

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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

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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