Recipes from Around the World to Inspire Travel (2024)

Eat your way across borders with these 10 recipes from around the world that will inspire you to travel from the comfort of your own home!

There’s nothing like the fragrant aroma of an international dish that just instantly transports you back to a moment in time when you were exploring a land far, far away.

Since we haven’t been able to physically travel, I’ve been finding ways to travel the world from my home! My favorite way to do this has been by whipping up some of our most-loved recipes from around the world.

I’ve tried every single one of the recipes below and can vouch for their tastiness and authenticity. I hope these recipes from around the world inspire you to travel right from your kitchen table!

It was my first trip to Thailand that inspired my love of Asian cuisine. Ever since then, I’ve been experimenting with a variety of traditional and modern Thai recipes in my own kitchen. From spicy curries to Tom Yum Soup and even Mango Sticky Rice, you can bet I’ve tried it all.

One recipe I keep going back to is the Red Curry Chicken from Carlsbad Cravings. This Thai curry is ultra-rich, featuring a creamy coconut sauce, tender pieces of chicken, and crisp veggies. Bursting with flavor, this dish comes together in just 30 minutes!

I recommend serving this Red Curry Chicken with basmati rice and topping it off with some fresh basil or cilantro leaves.

Give this recipe a try and I promise you’ll feel like you’re in Thailand. Plus, your entire house will smell absolutely incredible.

Delicate, sweet, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious, crepes are a simple dessert that you can make with ingredients you already have at home! It’s the easiest dessert to whip up when you have last-minute guests, or if you’re just craving a sweet treat. Below is the exact crepe recipe my family has been making for years.

Ingredients:
1 cup of flour
1 cup of milk
1 egg
Teaspoon vanilla
Sugar to taste
1/2 cup water (you can also use sparkling water if you have it at home, this just makes the crepes a little more airy)

Directions:
Whisk all of the ingredients together in a large bowl until smooth. You’ll notice the batter will be much thinner than pancake batter.
Grease an 8-inch nonstick skillet with butter or vegetable oil, and place it over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, pour about 1/4 of a cup of the batter into the middle of the pan, tilting and swirling the pan until it is completely coated in batter.
Cook until the edges of the crepe begin to turn golden. Then lift the edge of the crepe with a spatula and flip (sometimes you’ll need to use your hands to help it flip).
Cook the second side for about another 30-45 seconds before removing it from the pan.

Once you’ve used up all the batter comes the fun part – the fillings! Fill your crepes with whatever you’d like. Some of my favorites are strawberries, Nutella, or raspberry jam.

This recipe makes about 8 crepes, but you can easily double it if you want more.

Is there anything more glorious than freshly made hummus? Pita bread still warm from the oven? Crisp tabouleh? Perfectly fried falafel? I could go on.

Growing up with family friends from the Middle East, it’s not surprising that Middle Eastern food became a staple in our household. My mom frequently made falafel and baklava, and our pantry was always fully stocked with baba ganoush, pita bread, tahini, chickpeas, you name it.

Falafel is a popular fast food made of chickpeas, fresh herbs and spices, all rolled up and fried into crisp, fluffy balls. Making falafel is actually pretty simple too! This recipe by The Mediterranean Dish is as authentic as it gets. She provides an easy-to-follow recipe, as well as some extra tips to make sure your falafels are absolute perfection.

I love serving falafel still hot from the pan, stuffed into warm pita bread with fresh tomatoes and a garlic yogurt sauce. Feel free to spread some hummus on there too!

Shakshuka is a tasty Israeli breakfast food that makes for a bright and spicy start to the morning.

This piquant dish is a one-skillet combination of eggs in a tomato and red pepper sauce seasoned with cumin, paprika, and a dash of cayenne. Topped off with gently poached eggs, shakshuka makes for a meal that is healthy, filling, and packed with flavor. Don’t forget to serve your shakshuka with a side of warm and crusty bread!

This shakshuka recipe from Downshiftology is my favorite.

When we initially booked our trip to Stockholm, I wasn’t really expecting anything revolutionary when it came to the local cuisine.

Surprisingly, Stockholm really blew us away with its food scene! One of the best dishes we tried were the traditional Swedish meatballs at Meatballs for the People. These meatballs were so delectable that I just knew I had to recreate the recipe when I got home. Swedish meatballs are served in a roux-like creamy gravy with a side of lingonberry jam and mashed potatoes.

Luckily, Ikea just recently released their famous meatball recipe, so including it in this post was a no-brainer!

During my 48 hours in Singapore, trying Hainanese Chicken Rice was high on our list of things to do. As soon as we landed in Singapore, we made a beeline for Maxwell Road Hawker Center to sample the real deal. We went straight to Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice – a Michelin-Star-food-stall that even Anthony Bourdain graced with his presence.

In two days, we had Hainanese Chicken Rice three times – it was that incredible. The first time the tender poached chicken and flavorful rice hit my tastebuds, I knew we had to make this recipe at home.

After searching the internet for the perfect recipe, I came across this one from Adam Liaw. Considering Adam’s father is from the Hainan region in China, and he grew up eating this dish, I knew it would be good.

It was more than good. It was perfect.

The first time I made this Singapore specialty at home, I couldn’t believe it turned out to be so mouthwateringly similar to the original we had tasted a few months back! Give this recipe a try if you want to have a true taste of authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice from the comfort of your own home.

I love Indian food.

So much so that my roommates and I would order Indian food on a weekly basis in college. It became a Sunday tradition to try various Indian dishes, stuff our faces with naan, and test our ability to handle different levels of spiciness.

When I moved to Croatia six years ago, and the international food scene was still fledgling, I knew I needed to find a way to bring that delicious Indian comfort food to my new home.

So, I started researching and the testing recipes of my favorite Indian dishes. One of those dishes was Murgh Makhani (or Butter Chicken). The sauce in this meal is so thick, so creamy, and so irresistible, it’s almost better than getting it from a restaurant. The best recipe I’ve come across has to be this one by Swasthi. Her recipe is the real deal, and I promise it’s worth the overnight preparation.

Pair the final result with some garlic naan, and you’ll have a dinner that is lip-smacking good.

One of my favorite parts about going out to eat at an Asian restaurant has to be the Miso Soup.

This savory, soothing, and not to mention healthy soup is the ultimate comfort food. A cornerstone of Japanese cuisine, Miso Soup is a timeless classic that you can easily make at home.

Up until recently, I always reserved Miso Soup for sushi outings, but once I discovered how simple it is to make, I’ve been making it by myself. For this recipe, all you’ll need are four ingredients and just 15 minutes of anticipation before it all comes together!

Biscotti – a crisp cookie that will take you back to sipping an espresso in the middle of an Italian piazza.

This twice-baked Italian cookie was designed to be dunked. Whether you choose to dip it in your coffee, tea, or even milk, they make for a wonderfully sweet treat to accompany any warm beverage.

Two of the best things about these cookies are:

1. They are ridiculously easy to make.
2. They last forever!

Since biscotti is a dry, low-moisture cookie, you can keep them in an air-tight container at room temperature for several weeks. My favorite biscotti recipe is from none other than Giada de Laurentis. She has several biscotti recipes, giving you plenty of flavor options to play around with. I personally love this one with chocolate chips, but I do also enjoy a good almond and cranberry biscotti from time to time.