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 973–984 of 2321 dinner recipes

A plate of golden fried Vietnamese spring rolls (cha gio) with two small bowls of nuoc cham dipping sauce

Vietnam 52m

Snack & Tea •Vietnamese Street-Food Classic

Cha Gio (Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls)

This cha gio recipe turns ground pork, shrimp, glass noodles and wood ear mushrooms into 16 golden fried spring rolls with a blistered, crackling rice-paper shell. The rolls are fried twice — once to cook the filling through, once to crisp the wrapper — and served hot with nuoc cham, lettuce and herbs for wrapping. One serving is about 245 g.

Crisp & Satisfying

Ground pork and shrimp with glass noodles and wood ear mushrooms, rolled in rice paper and fried twice until shatteringly crisp, then dipped in sweet-sour nuoc cham.

Pairs Well With
Nuoc cham dipping sauce with lettuce and fresh herbs

High Protein

A pan of creamy mashed refried beans with a wooden spoon, pink-brown and glossy on the stove

Mexico 1h 27m

Lunch •Mexican Heritage

Frijoles Refritos

This refried beans recipe turns creamy pinto beans, onion and garlic into Mexico's essential side dish, mashed smooth in the pan and finished with fresh cilantro. One serving is about 205 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Creamy pinto beans mashed with onion, garlic and cumin, a fibre-rich side that anchors a Mexican lunch.

Pairs Well With
Warm corn tortillas and a spoonful of pico de gallo.

Cooked saltimbocca alla romana on a white plate, veal topped with prosciutto and sage leaves in a light wine sauce

Italy 30m

Dinner •Roman Heritage

Saltimbocca alla Romana

This saltimbocca recipe layers thin veal scallops with prosciutto and fresh sage, pan-fries them in minutes, and finishes them in a white wine and butter sauce. One serving is about 202 g.

High-Protein Dinner

Thin veal scallops layered with prosciutto and sage, pan-fried and finished in a white wine and butter sauce.

Pairs Well With
Buttery mashed potatoes and a crisp green salad.

High Protein

A whole round kouign-amann on a white plate, deep golden brown with a glossy caramelised crust

France 1h 15m

Snack & Tea •Breton Heritage

Kouign-Amann

This kouign amann recipe folds butter and sugar into yeasted dough, layer by layer, then bakes it into a round Breton cake with a shattering caramel crust. One serving is about 127 g.

Sweet Indulgence

Layers of yeasted dough, butter and sugar baked into a crisp, caramelised Breton cake.

Pairs Well With
A strong black coffee or a cup of Breton cider.

Huevos rotos on a white plate, two fried eggs with runny yolks over golden fried potatoes and slices of jamón

Spain 30m

Breakfast •Spanish Heritage

Huevos Rotos

This huevos rotos recipe fries potatoes until crisp in olive oil, tops them with fried eggs and jamón, then breaks the yolks open at the table so they coat the potatoes. One serving is about 400 g.

Hearty Breakfast

Crisp fried potatoes topped with fried eggs and jamón, broken open at the table so the yolk coats everything.

Pairs Well With
Crusty bread and a glass of fresh orange juice.

Quick Prep (<30m)

Golden chicken karaage pieces piled on a black plate with shredded cabbage, lemon and mayonnaise

Japan 45m

Dinner •Japanese Heritage

Chicken Karaage

This chicken karaage recipe is the Japanese fried chicken you find in bento boxes and izakaya all over Japan: boneless thigh meat marinated in soy sauce, sake, mirin, ginger and garlic, then dusted in potato starch and fried once at high heat until the coating turns pale gold and shatters. No batter, no glaze, no double fry — just juicy chicken, a crackly crust, lemon and mayonnaise. One serving is about 275 g.

Crispy & Savoury

Bite-size chicken thigh marinated in ginger, soy and sake, coated in potato starch and fried once until crisp.

Pairs Well With
Shredded cabbage, lemon wedges & Japanese mayonnaise

High Protein

A bowl of Thai boat noodles in dark broth with sliced beef, meatballs, braised shank and fresh herbs

Thailand 1h 15m

Lunch •Thai Heritage

Thai Boat Noodles

This Thai boat noodles recipe is kuay teow reua, the dark noodle soup once sold from boats on the canals of Ayutthaya and Bangkok: flat rice noodles in a deep-brown broth seasoned with dark soy, fish sauce and palm sugar, piled with sliced beef round, beef meatballs, braised shank and pork liver, then finished with bean sprouts, Thai basil and fried garlic. The broth is rich, salty-sweet and intensely beefy — a bowl that eats like a meal and a half. One serving is about 632 g.

Rich & Hearty

Flat rice noodles in a dark, sweet-savoury beef broth with sliced steak, meatballs, braised shank and liver.

Pairs Well With
Bean sprouts, Thai basil & lime wedges

Soups & Broths • Pasta & Noodles

A bowl of white century egg congee topped with crisp fried youtiao and spring onions

China 1h 30m

Breakfast •Cantonese Heritage

Century Egg Congee

This century egg congee recipe is pi dan shou rou zhou, the Cantonese breakfast classic: jasmine rice simmered long and slow until it breaks down into a silky porridge, with lean pork and century egg — duck eggs preserved until their whites turn dark and jelly-like — stirred through at the end. It is nothing like chicken congee: there is no chicken here at all, just pork, preserved egg, ginger and white pepper, with crisp youtiao on top for crunch. One serving is about 545 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Silky rice porridge with lean pork and preserved century egg, finished with ginger, white pepper and crisp youtiao.

Pairs Well With
Youtiao, white pepper & hot tea

Soups & Broths

A bowl of kongguksu — cold soybean milk over wheat noodles with cucumber, sesame and ice — with kimchi and salt on the side

South Korea 50m

Lunch •Korean Heritage

Kongguksu

This kongguksu recipe is Korea's cold soybean noodle soup: dried soybeans soaked overnight, ground and strained into a fresh, creamy milk, then chilled and poured over wheat noodles with cucumber, tomato and a scatter of sesame. It is nothing like naengmyeon — there is no icy beef broth and no buckwheat here, just mild, nutty soybean milk, served cold on the hottest days of summer. One serving is about 578 g.

Cool & Refreshing

Chilled fresh soybean milk poured over wheat noodles with cucumber, tomato and sesame — Korea's summer noodle soup.

Pairs Well With
Kimchi, cucumber & sesame

Pasta & Noodles

Scoops of white dondurma topped with orange pumpkin sauce and walnuts on a metal plate

Turkey 45m

Snack & Tea •Kahramanmaras Classic

Dondurma

This dondurma recipe turns milk, cream, sugar, salep and a pinch of mastic into Turkey's famous stretchy ice cream: dense and chewy instead of soft and scoopy, so it holds its shape in the sun and stretches like warm dough when you pull a spoon through it. Salep, the ground tuber of a wild orchid, and mastic resin are what make it different from every other ice cream you have tried. One serving is about 116 g.

Cool & Chewy Treat

Stretchy Turkish ice cream thickened with salep and scented with mastic — dense, chewy and slow to melt.

Pairs Well With
Turkish tea, baklava & fresh figs

A platter of crescent-shaped kourabiedes cookies thickly coated in white icing sugar

Greece 1h 3m

Snack & Tea •Greek Christmas Classic

Kourabiedes

This kourabiedes recipe creams butter with icing sugar, folds in roasted almonds and flour, and bakes the dough into crescents that turn pale gold at the edges. While they are still warm they are rolled in icing sugar, so each cookie wears a thick, snowy coat that cracks as you bite into the crumbly, buttery centre. They are the almond shortbread Greece bakes for Christmas, weddings and baptisms. One serving is about 83 g, two cookies.

Buttery & Crumbly

Greek almond shortbread cookies, baked until pale gold and buried in icing sugar — crisp outside, melt-in-the-mouth inside.

Pairs Well With
Greek coffee, cinnamon tea & fresh oranges

A bowl of arroz carreteiro — rice with chunks of dried beef and sausage, topped with shredded cheese and a cherry tomato

Brazil 1h 40m

Dinner •Rio Grande do Sul Classic

Arroz Carreteiro

This arroz carreteiro recipe pressure-cooks dried salted beef until tender, shreds it, then fries it with bacon and calabresa sausage before the rice goes in and soaks up all the smoky, savoury flavour in the same pot. It is the wagon drivers' dinner of Rio Grande do Sul: practical, salty, deeply meaty, and finished with grated parmesan and parsley. One serving is about 372 g.

Hearty Gaucho Comfort

One-pot rice cooked with dried salted beef, calabresa sausage and bacon — the filling wagon-driver dinner of southern Brazil.

Pairs Well With
Farofa, vinaigrette salad & chimarrão

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.

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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

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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