Traditional Recipes from Around the World to make at Home

Cooking or baking is such a fun and rewarding thing to do. Especially when you master a new recipe from a place you’ve been to or want to go to. With recipes from around the world you can recreate memories or prepare yourself for new places. I’ve asked fellow food and travel bloggers  for their traditional dishes that are easy to make at home. So here are 20 traditional dishes to make at home.

Recipes from Around the World

A link to the best recipes from around the world are included in each text about the dish.

Erwtensoep

Contributed by Cosette from Cosette is Cookin’.

A typical Dutch food is erwtensoep or split pea soup. It’s true comfort food, which is prepared in fall/winter time, when it’s cold outside. Split pea soup is a soup which has as its base meat broth or water with split peas. You can add celeriac, leek, carrot, onion, potatoes, celery and leaf celery. Next to vegetables, meat is added to the soup, think about spareribs, pork loin, smoked sausage, pigs leg or pork chop. This should result in a soup thick enough that a spoon can stand straight up in the soup.

Another name for erwtensoep is snert. The soup is usually eaten with ryebread on the side. On the ryebread there’s either raw bacon (katenspek) or cheese. Ertwensoep is a Dutch traditional food, like red beets endivie stamppot.

The moment the weather turns cold, my husband and son ask for split pea soup, so every winter I’m making split pea soup for us.

Badrijani Nigvzit

Contributed by Maggie from No Frills Kitchen.

If you’re looking for a unique, easy and traditional Georgian dish to make at home, then look no further than badrijani nigvzit. This delicious dish is completely vegan and uses a lot of flavours, ingredients and techniques found in Georgian cuisine.

Literally translated, badrijani nigvzit means eggplants with walnuts and that is exactly what this dish is! Thin slices of eggplant are lightly fried, spread with a garlicky walnut paste, rolled up and then often topped with pomegranate seeds. This is an incredibly popular dish in Georgia and it is absolutely delicious.

If you’re keen to make this at home, your typical badrijani nigvzit recipe shouldn’t take longer than about an hour to execute from start to finish. All you need to do is slice, salt and fry the eggplants and make the walnut paste. 

This simply consists of grinding some walnuts, adding a couple of cloves of minced garlic, mixing in a few spices such as coriander and blue fenugreek and thinning out the mixture with some water. Season with salt and pepper and you’re ready to spread it over your eggplants!

Badrijani nigvzit is an easy recipe to make and the perfect dish to try if you’re keen to sample traditional Georgian cuisine. It’s also a great option for vegans as there are no animal products involved.

Kolač od jabuka

Contributed by Martina & Jürgen from PlacesofJuma.

Probably the most heavenly sweet traditional dish in the world, and on top of that easy to make at home, is the Kolač od jabuka – the typical Croatian apple pie. Granted, apple pie is probably not the fanciest piece, however, if you’ve ever tried this pie on a trip to Croatia, you know why I chose this sweet dish.

Whether for breakfast, hot or cold, afternoon coffee or dessert, this fabulous cinnamon dish can be enjoyed any time of the day! Quite simply made, and with a sweet and tart apple cinnamon filling combined with the sweet layer of sugar on top, you really experience a treat when you eat that. For me personally one of the best apple pies in the world and a real must-try to make at home!

Beef & Stout Pie

Contributed by Donna from Explore the Road with Donnamarie.

For St. Patrick’s Day everyone usually cooks up corned beef and cabbage. However, I prefer a traditional Beef and Stout Pie. This makes a great comfort food with beef, carrots, mushrooms and of course stout. All this cooked in a hearty gravy topped with pie crust. My family loves the combination of ingredients and I love it because it is easy to make at home. I have altered the recipe to make it simpler and healthier. Typically I am bad with pie crusts. This pie has no bottom crust and I cut out shamrock shapes to place on top. Therefore, I don’t have to deal with trying to roll out a crust that falls apart when I try to place it in the pie dish. Since I use less dough, the other flavors shine through more abundantly.

Babgulyás

Contributed by Emese & Nandor from My Pure Plants.

You might have heard of Hungarian Goulash, and you probably think of a thick, hearty, sweet paprika-infused beef stew. Actually there are 3 different Authentic Hungarian Goulash recipes: one with beef, one with bones only called Mock Goulash and one with beans. Various regions prepare goulash slightly differently, but they all have one thing in common. Goulash is a soup and not a stew. 

If you want to make goulash at home, this is the easiest recipe you can try. Especially if you want to remain authentic. It is always a bit tricky to get the right beef and cook it to the correct texture. However, with bean goulash, you just need to grab a can of red kidney beans and you are good to go. This recipe will show you how easy it is to make an Authentic Hungarian Goulash even if you are a beginner home cook. It will be like you were in Hungary and enjoy it exactly how Hungarians eat it.

Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe

Contributed by Claudia from Strictly Rome.

Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe is one of the quintessential traditional pasta dishes of Roman cuisine. The recipe only calls for 3 ingredients: spaghetti, cacio (AKA pecorino romano cheese) and black pepper. You could say that they are 5, if you want to count the water to boil the noodles and the salt you have to add to the water. 

Albeit only calling for such few ingredients, cacio e pepe requires some practice to be fully mastered – which is why many outside of Italy end up adding other ingredients to achieve the creamy texture of the sauce. Please don’t do that, though! The original recipe tastes a million times better than any adaptation. 

Here’s how to do it:

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt it. Then, throw in the spaghetti, without breaking them. 

In a separate pan, toast the pepper and add a spoon or two of the water where the pasta is cooking in.

Grate the pecorino cheese in a separate bowl, and add some of the pasta water. Whisk it vigorously until you obtain a creamy, light texture. 

Once the spaghetti are cooked al dente (firm), drain them – but make sure to save some water – and place them in the pan with the cheese sauce and the pepper. Sautee lightly for a few moments, adding a bit of water from the pasta pot if it appears too dry. 

Serve immediately!

Boquerones

Contributed by Joanna from Andalucia in my pocket.

Boquerones is one of those dishes that makes you remember your holiday in the South of Spain over and over again. There are several ways to cook boquerones – the Spanish anchovies. One of the most popular ones is the boquerones al limon, which means that the fish is marinated in lemon first and then deep fried. This recipe is so easy to make and requires very few ingredients: fresh anchovies, garlic, lemon, parsley, chickpea flour and olive oil. The fish is first marinated in lemon, garlic, and parsley for a couple of hours, then passed through the chickpea flour before being fried in the olive oil. Boquerones are usually served as a snack or a tapa, alongside a cold beer. They are perfect in summer when the weather is sunny and warm.

I love boquerones and I make them quite often at home. I always ask my local fishmonger to clean them for me, so that I don’t have to do it myself. This makes the recipe even easier to make.

Tortilla de Patata

Contributed by Vicki from Vickiviaja.

Anyone visiting Spain will quickly discover that tortilla de patata is THE dish offered in almost every bar and restaurant throughout the country. However, it is hardly surprising because the Spanish potato omelet is one of the best dishes in Spain and is also easy to prepare. That’s why the tortilla is one of the national dishes of Spain today (along with paella and gazpacho).

Basically, tortilla de patata consists only of egg and potatoes. Some also prepare it with onions. Then you can add different vegetables according to your taste if you like. White beans, peas, spinach, or similar are especially popular.

The tortilla is prepared in a pan and, therefore, later takes on the round shape of the pan. However, instead of being flat like a traditional omelet, the tortilla da patata has a cake-like form.

The name of the dish may well cause confusion, as some confuse it with the Mexican tortilla. The tortilla francesa is also a different dish. Tortilla Francesa is, in fact, just a regular omelet without potatoes.

Bobotie

Contributed by Sabine from The Tasty Chilli.

One of my favourite dishes to make at home is South African bobotie. I learned to cook this rather sweet mince curry when I was living in South Africa. The dish is known in South Africa as a Cape Malay curry, named after the Malaysian people who brought the recipe when they came to South Africa to work as slaves. The Cape Malay have settled in the colourful Bo-Kaap area of Cape Town, where this dish is really popular, especially by tourists. It is also often considered as being South Africa’s national dish.

The South African bobotie recipe consists of a few key ingredients such as minced meat (preferably lamb), raisins, apricot jam, bread, milk, eggs, bay leaves and curry powder. The meat is first cooked with all the spices, then covered with a topping of eggs, milk and bay leaves and baked in the oven to perfection.  The trick to making it at home is to get the right balance between sweet and spicy flavours. Serve with fragrant yellow rice and a refreshing salsa.

Lecsó

Contributed by Réka from Homecook Vibes.

Letcho is the uncrowned king of Hungarian cuisine. The basis of several traditional Hungarian dishes is this vegetable dish, which is incredibly simple and quick to prepare. All you need are onions, peppers, and ripe tomatoes.

There are several variations of it: you can make a vegetarian version, which you can then use to flavor food, or store it in a bottle on the pantry shelf. But you can also enrich it with eggs and sausages, so in a few moments it becomes a really nutritious food.

Irish Soda Bread and Coddle

Contributed by Sinead from Map Made Memories.

One of my favourite dishes to make at home is tasty soda bread served with Coddle. Both of these are traditional dishes from Ireland. Coddle is a quick and easy, healthy and filling meal made from sausage and bacon with potatoes, onions, carrots and barley. Irish soda bread is perfect for mopping up Coddle’s watery leftovers! It is a dense, heavy bread made from flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. Ideally served warm with lots of butter, Irish soda bread is surprisingly quick to make as the dough does not require kneading or time for the yeast to rise. Baked soda bread can be made from scratch in around 30 minutes and is best eaten hot and fresh.

Vetkoek

Contributed by Küra from Food n History.

Vetkoek is one of South Africa’s most wonderful dishes. Much like the country, it is rich, complex, and delicious. One of the main reasons this deep-fried dough is so popular is because it can always be found at social events and functions, tying the thought and smell of it to good times and tons of fun.

This meal is extremely easy to make at home, and you almost definitely have the ingredients in your cupboard right now. All you need is flour, yeast, sugar and salt. And of course, a good bit of sunflower oil to fry it in.

Much like normal bread, you’ll make and allow the dough to rise with time to spare. When it has risen to about twice its original size, you can switch the stove on, fill a pot up to a third of its capacity with oil, and allow it to heat up. While it heats up, shape your dough balls, squash them flat, and then drop them into the hot oil until they’ve browned, which they will do beautifully.

The finished product can be eaten with curry mince, or simply jam and cheese.

Rote Grütze

Contributed by Cate from International Desserts Blog.

If you like berries, you’ll love Rote Grütze (red berry “pudding”), a traditional summer treat from northern Germany. Comprised of a delicious mix of red berries, cherries, and currants, this easy dessert is one of my all-time favorites. It only takes about 10 minutes to make a batch of homemade Rote Grütze and you can use fresh or frozen berries. In my opinion, the best way to enjoy Rote Grütze is the way it was first served to me in Germany: still a bit warm and topped with cold fresh cream. But it’s also amazing chilled with vanilla sauce or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. 

Urfa Kebab

Contributed by Denise from Chef Denise.

One bite of the traditional kebab of Urfa, Turkey, aptly named Urfa Kebab, will tell you you’re eating a Turkish specialty. Classic Middle Eastern herbs and spices like mint, cumin, garlic, and cinnamon give these kebabs the authentic taste and aroma that will transport you to Turkey in your own kitchen.

Made with ground meat, usually ground beef, lamb, or a mix of the two, Urfa kebabs require a bit more work than the usual cubed meat kebabs, but are still very easy to make at home. You just mix everything together, form it on the stick, and cook them in the oven or on the grill. They look deceptively difficult but are really quite simple!

Best of all, while ground meat dishes can be dry, if you follow this Urfa Kebab recipe, your kebap as they say in Turkey, will be moist and delicious. The exotic flavors of Turkey are sure to impress your friends and family, and unless they are Turkish, they’ve probably never had this tasty dish before.

Pollo a la Brasa

Contributed by Ayngelina from Bacon is Magic.

While the country is known for its seafood, Peru also has a history of fantastic rotisserie chicken.

If you don’t have a rotisserie at home don’t worry, this Peruvian chicken recipe is fail proof using an Instant Pot.

From start to finish it takes under 30 minutes and is a great weeknight meal option. While the chicken is cooking take things up a notch with very simple Peruvian sauces aji verde and aji amarillo, which are yellow and green hot sauces – but don’t worry they are not too hot.

You can buy aji paste on amazon and quickly pull the side dishes together. Traditionally this chicken is served with a side of fries. Which is great because you’ll want to dip them in the side sauces.

Chicken Parmigiana

Contributed by Sharyn from Travellers Fare.

Many people in Australia visit the local pub to eat ‘pub grub’ (pub food). One of the favourite dishes that is always on the menu is a ‘Parma’ short for Chicken Parmigarma. Many pubs have a ‘parma and pot’ (pot of beer) night where you can buy both for a special price. A parma is basically a chicken snitzel with tomato sauce, ham and melted cheese. The parma is served with hot chips and a salad.

And it is very easy to make at home. I usually buy readymade snitzel, but of course you can buy a chicken breast, tenderise it and coat it in a light breadcrumb mix yourself. After cooking the snitzel – which I usually lightly fry both sides in butter in a frypan – you smear one side with tomato sauce or tomato paste, put a slice of ham on the sauce, then grated cheese. Put the snitzel into the oven at around 180 degrees and bake until the cheese has melted. Serve the parma hot. It goes down very well with a nice cold beer or wine!

Tacos

Contributed by Victoria from Guide Your Travel.

Tacos might not seem like the most traditional dish but that just might be because you’re not making them authentically! What most people consider Mexican food is actually Tex-Mex meaning it’s an American adaptation. Authentic Mexican tacos come in many different forms but luckily they’re all quite easy to make. Most of the time they consist of corn tortillas, some sort of fried meat, onion and lots of lime. Spices are definitely important for authentic tacos so make sure to add lots of cumin and chilli powder. Fresh cilantro should also be added to tacos although you can leave it out if you don’t enjoy the taste. For the most authentic tacos don’t add any sour creme.

Onion Bhajji

Contributed by Lavina from Continent Hop.

Traditional dishes in India are quite diverse, each region, be it Goa, Delhi, Kerala or Calcutta come with their unique specialities. 

However, when people think of street food in India, one of the top items that comes to many people’s minds is onion bhajji. 

What makes onion bhajji special is its simplicity and versatility. It’s the perfect dish that acts as an accompaniment for any type of meal however works best with a pint of beer. 

Cumin, Salt, Chilli Powder, Turmeric is added to thinly sliced onions. Chickpea flour is then added to this mixture with some water to bind it all and then small portions of this batter are either deep-fried or shallow fried. 

It could also be made in an air fryer for those who prefer avoiding fried dishes!

Having hot onion bhajji on a rainy day with some tea or coffee, makes for a memorable snack! 

Cranachan

Contributed by Larch from The Silver Nomad.

Imagine a creamy, sweet dessert that is slightly fruity, with an oat crunch and with a lovely warmth of whisky. This is the delicious pudding from Scotland called Cranachan is known as the King of Scottish desserts.

Based on an old Scottish breakfast called “crowdie” which was made from a cow’s milk cheese and oats. In the summer after the harvests, ripe juicy raspberries and heather honey were added as a treat for the workers.

Nowadays, Cranachan is served all year round and in particular after a traditional Burn’s night supper in.

The Cranachan recipe is simple to make at home using whisked double (heavy) cream, toasted oats, crushed fresh raspberries, honey combined with whisky. Served in glass bowls with a few whole raspberries it is a delightful dessert any time of the year.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Contributed by Paulina from Paulina on the Road.

Gazpacho is a traditional soup that is made from raw blended vegetables. It originated from the southern regions of the Liberian peninsula and is now popular worldwide. People around Spain and Portugal love it widely and consume the soup mostly during hot summers because of its refreshing taste. There are a lot of varieties of Gazpacho.

Watermelon Gazpacho is made using a lot of fresh watermelons, tomatoes, red pepper, scallions, cucumber, and herbs. I love this recipe because it has the refreshing and hydrating features of watermelon and the cool soup hits the spot. If you are in a warm place, this recipe can be refreshing.

The best part is that the Watermelon Gazpacho recipe is pretty easy because we only need to blend all the ingredients. We can make it at home easily with commonly available ingredients. Start with mixing all the chopped watermelon, half the cucumber, tomatoes, red bell pepper, and green onion in the blender. Chop the remaining ingredients and keep them aside. Finally, add red wine vinegar, olive oil, basil, garlic, salt, and pepper to the blender. Pour the soup into a bowl and add the remaining veggies. Chill for a few hours and serve.  

So that’s a wrap on the recipes from around the world

Hope you’ve enjoyed this collection of traditional dishes and aim to try them out. Share below in the comments if you’ve tried out one or more of the recipes. It turns out this blog is the most popular blog of 2021!

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