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 97–108 of 2290 dinner recipes

A whole grilled fish, partly flaked open, with caramelised onion sauce, served with rice and fried plantain on a white plate

Liberia 1h 10m

Dinner •Liberian Coast Heritage

Liberian Grilled Fish with Rice and Plantain

This Liberian grilled fish recipe serves a whole fish, grilled until the skin is crisp and the flesh flakes, under a slow-cooked caramelised onion sauce, with steamed rice and fried plantain alongside. It is the fish dinner of the Liberian coast, from Monrovia cookshops to beach shacks. One serving is about 584 g.

Coastal Comfort

A whole grilled fish with a slow-cooked onion sauce, steamed rice and sweet fried plantain.

Pairs Well With
Steamed rice & fried plantain

A pot of romazava, Madagascar's beef and greens stew, simmering on a stove with the lid half open

Madagascar 1h 55m

Dinner •Madagascar Heritage

Romazava

Romazava is Madagascar's national stew: chunks of beef simmered in a savoury tomato broth with onion, garlic and ginger, then finished with watercress, spinach and mustard greens wilted right into the pot. This romazava recipe makes a brothy, warming one-pot dinner that is ladled over steamed rice, with hot sakay chilli sauce on the side for anyone who wants heat. One serving is about 400 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Tender beef simmered with tomatoes, onion, garlic and ginger, finished with a generous pile of wilted greens and ladled over rice.

Pairs Well With
Steamed white rice, with sakay chilli sauce and a tomato rougail on the side

Soups & Broths • High Protein

A metal tray piled with pale golden round mokary rice-coconut cakes

Madagascar 1h 45m

Breakfast •Madagascar Heritage

Madagascar Mokary

This madagascar mokary recipe turns rice flour, coconut milk, sugar and vanilla into 12 small, soft cakes with pale golden tops and a tender, slightly chewy crumb. A spoonful of cooked rice-flour paste (koba) and a one-hour rise give the batter its lift, then the cakes are cooked in small moulds or a greased pan until puffed and golden. One serving is about 210 g.

Sweet Breakfast & Morning Tea

Soft, lightly sweet rice-coconut cakes for breakfast or morning tea, made with rice flour and coconut milk and naturally gluten-free.

Pairs Well With
Serve warm, three cakes per person, with a cup of black tea or coffee and fresh fruit.

Dark brown koba rolls wrapped in banana leaves on a street vendor's stall in Antananarivo, Madagascar

Madagascar 50m

Snack & Tea •Madagascar Heritage

Koba Akondro

Koba akondro is Madagascar's beloved street snack: a batter of mashed ripe bananas, ground peanuts, honey and corn flour, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed until it sets into dense, dark, chewy cakes. This koba akondro recipe makes six little parcels that travel well, keep for days and taste of banana, peanut and caramel. One serving is about 140 g.

Comfort & Warmth

Ripe bananas, ground peanuts, honey and corn flour steamed in banana leaves into dense, dark, chewy cakes.

Pairs Well With
Hot black tea or coffee, with fresh mango or pineapple on the side

Poulet mayo — roast chicken pieces coated in creamy mayonnaise with spring onions, served on a white plate with sliced chikwangue (kwanga)

Democratic Republic of the Congo 1h 40m

Dinner •Kinshasa Heritage

Poulet Mayo

Poulet mayo is Kinshasa's creamy roast-chicken street food: a whole chicken rubbed with paprika, thyme and rosemary, roasted until golden, then cut up and tossed in mayonnaise with mustard, lime, charred onion, green pepper, cucumber and spring onions, and roasted a second time in a parchment parcel. This poulet mayo recipe follows that two-roast method, so the chicken stays juicy and the mayonnaise turns into a warm, tangy coating rather than a cold sauce. One serving is about 367 g.

Hearty & Creamy

Roast chicken, cooked twice and tossed in mayonnaise with raw onion, pepper and cucumber — a rich, creamy Kinshasa street-food favourite.

Pairs Well With
Chikwangue (kwanga), fried plantains and a cold drink

High Protein

Malawian mandasi — a bowl of golden, puffy fried dough cakes

Malawi 1h 40m

Breakfast •Malawian Breakfast Fritter

Malawian Mandasi

This mandasi recipe makes Malawi's beloved breakfast fritters: soft, puffy yeast dough cakes, lightly sweet and scented with cardamom, fried until deep golden and eaten warm with tea. One serving is about 170 g (3 mandasi).

Sweet & Golden

Soft, puffy yeast dough cakes fried golden and dusted with sugar — the warm breakfast fritter eaten with tea across Malawi.

Pairs Well With
Hot sweet tea with milk, or strong black coffee

Quick Prep (<30m)

Malawian kachumbari — a white bowl of chopped tomato and red onion salad with a spoon

Malawi 15m

Lunch •East African Tomato Onion Salad

Malawian Kachumbari

This kachumbari recipe is the fresh East African tomato and onion salad that sits beside grilled fish and meat all across Malawi: ripe tomatoes, sharp red onion, cilantro and lemon, tossed raw and served cool. One serving is about 171 g.

Fresh & Bright

Ripe tomatoes, red onion, cilantro and lemon tossed raw — the cool, sharp salad served with grilled fish and meat across East and Southern Africa.

Pairs Well With
Grilled fish, grilled meat, or rice dishes

Quick Prep (<30m)

Malawian zitumbuwa — golden fried banana fritter balls dusted with sugar, stacked on wooden skewers

Malawi 30m

Snack & Tea •Malawian Banana Fritter

Malawian Zitumbuwa

This zitumbuwa recipe makes Malawi's banana fritters: ripe bananas mashed with cornmeal and flour into a thick batter, spooned into hot oil and fried into golden cakes, crisp outside and soft inside. One serving is about 185 g (4 cakes).

Sweet & Golden

Ripe banana mashed with cornmeal and flour, fried into golden cakes — Malawi's warm, sweet snack, crisp outside and soft inside.

Pairs Well With
Milky tea, or a glass of cold milk

Quick Prep (<30m)

Grilled dibi lamb pieces on brown paper with sliced raw onions and yellow mustard sauce

Mali 1h 5m

Dinner •Bamako Street Food

Malian Dibi

This dibi recipe marinates bone-in lamb chops in mustard, garlic and lemon, grills them over charcoal until charred at the edges, then cuts the meat into pieces and piles it with raw onion and a tangy mustard sauce. The word dibi means barbecue in Wolof, and the dish is the street food of West African evenings — smoky, sharp and eaten with your hands. One serving is about 270 g.

Charcoal-Grilled Comfort

Charcoal-grilled lamb chops cut into pieces and served with raw onion and a tangy mustard sauce.

Pairs Well With
Crusty baguette & a cold drink

High Protein

A plate of bright green ewedu jute-leaf soup with fish stew

Mali 1h

Dinner •Malian Home Cooking

Malian Lalo

This malian lalo recipe simmers fresh jute leaves with potash and fermented locust beans until they collapse into a silky green soup, then stirs in dried stockfish and ground crayfish and serves it with stiff millet tô. Lalo is the Malian name for the jute leaf, the same leaf cooked as ewedu across West Africa, and the soup is prized for its smooth, slippery texture — the draw that lets it slide off a piece of tô. One serving is about 550 g.

Light & Green

Silky jute-leaf soup with locust beans and dried fish, scooped up with millet tô.

Pairs Well With
Millet tô & a tomato stew

Soups & Broths

Golden-brown fried wagashi cheese pieces piled in a patterned bowl

Mali 1h 18m

Snack & Tea •Fulani Dairy Heritage

Malian Fried Wagashi

This Malian wagashi recipe starts with fresh cow's milk, curdled with vinegar and pressed into a firm fresh cheese, then sliced and fried until deep golden outside and soft inside. It is served hot with a spicy tomato-pepper sauce for dipping, the way Fulani market vendors sell it across Mali. One serving is about 185 g.

Golden Fried Cheese Snack

Fresh cow's-milk cheese made at home, fried golden and served with a spicy tomato-pepper sauce.

Pairs Well With
Crusty baguette & spicy tomato-pepper sauce

High Protein

A stack of thin golden-yellow dholl puri flatbreads on a white plate

Mauritius 1h 15m

Lunch •Port Louis Street Food

Dholl Puri

Mauritian dholl puri is a thin, golden flatbread made from wheat flour kneaded with ground yellow split peas, cumin and turmeric, griddled until soft and folded around butter bean curry, tomato chutney and pickles. One serving is about 440 g: two warm puris with bean curry and chutney. This mauritian dholl puri recipe makes 8 puris, enough for 4 people, and tastes best eaten fresh off the griddle.

Comfort & Warmth

A soft, warm flatbread with a hearty bean curry, made to be eaten with your hands and shared.

Pairs Well With
Serve with butter bean curry (cari gros pois), tomato chutney and pickled vegetables, plus a cold drink.

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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Breakfast Lunch Dinner Snack & Tea

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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