This collection of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022 includes our most searched-for and most-read recipes in 2022, from my deliciously rich and creamy beef Stroganoff recipe, which tops the list, to a tomato bredie recipe for a classic Cape Town stew, two iconic Cambodian recipes, nom banh chok and fish amok, to global favourites such as chicken schnitzel and Italian meatballs.
We always find it so fascinating to look at our end-of-year stats to see which were the most searched-for and visited recipes and stories of the last 12 months. This year the figures were especially interesting, both for this list and our 22 most popular breakfast egg recipes of 2022 from our Weekend Eggs series.
If you’re arriving here for the first time, this compilation of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022 include a mix of new dishes from this year and old recipes from around the world, some dating as far back to the year we launched Grantourismo in 2010 with our year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel.
On that trip, we settled into places for two weeks at a time to get an insight into how locals lived, and in each place that we stayed we explored the local food, engaged with local cooks and chefs, and learnt to cook local specialties.
Now before I tell you about our 22 most popular recipes of 2022, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you’ve cooked our recipes and enjoyed them, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon with a one-off donation or pledge.
Another option is to use our links to buy travel insurance, rent a car or campervan or motorhome, book accommodation, book a tour on Klook or Get Your Guide or buy something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, travel books to inspire wanderlust, or gifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers.
Alternatively you could browse our Grantourismo store for gifts for food lovers, including fun reusable cloth face masks designed with Terence’s images, or buy us a coffee and we’ll use our coffee money to buy cooking ingredients for recipe testing. Now let’s tell you about our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
22 Most Popular Recipes of 2022 – Stroganoff, Schnitzel, Noodles, Meatballs and Curries
Our 22 most popular recipes of 2022 included an array of delicious dishes from around the world.
Rich and Creamy Russian Beef Stroganoff Recipe
I was chuffed to see my deliciously rich and creamy Russian beef Stroganoff recipe top the list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022. Better known as a retro-classic of the 1970s, beef Stroganoff is an old aristocratic Russian dish with peasant roots.
Dating to the 1700s to the pink Stroganov Palace in St Petersburg, it was democratised and popularised in the cafeterias of the Soviet Union, before travelling the world with Russian émigrés, exiles and World War II refugees like my Russian-Ukrainian grandparents.
My take on this incredibly comforting dish is based on a combination of my family recipe, a beef Stroganoff I fell in love with many years ago, and the earliest documented beef Stroganoff recipes of the mid-late 1800s.
As with all my best Stroganoff recipes, I recommend traditional Russian sides such as mashed potatoes, crispy shoestring fries or buckwheat kasha. A garden salad is a must, as well as dishes of homemade dill pickles and sour cream.
When all the family used to gather for Christmas or Easter or a holiday feast, baboushka would prepare a whole spread of dishes, such as borscht, piroshki, Russian pelmeni and Ukrainian vareniki, stuffed cabbage rolls, a beetroot potato salad, and chicken kotleti.
Authentic Russian Beef Stroganoff Recipe for a Retro Classic from a Saint Petersburg Palace Kitchen
Tomato Bredie Recipe for a Classic Cape Town Stew
Next on the list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022 was this tomato bredie recipe, which makes a classic Cape Town stew. A bredie, which is an Afrikaans word meaning ‘stew’, is a slow-cooked mutton and tomato stew, and it’s as Cape Town as Table Mountain.
The variety of bredies and amount of spices used have an infinite variety of permeations. This is Terence’s version, cooked during our two weeks in Cape Town back in 2010, on that trip that launched Grantourismo.
After sampling the dish in Cape Town restaurants during our stay, and making it in our kitchen several times, Terence found the sweet spot with this recipe, a good mix of lamb pieces cooked for at least a couple of hours, a good rest overnight before reheating, and then add the potatoes.
Garnish with fragrant coriander and serve this tomato bredie recipe with some aromatic rice, and roti if possible, and a good South African Shiraz or some ice cold beer.
Tomato Bredie Recipe for a Classic Cape Town Stew from South Africa
Authentic Nom Banh Chok Recipe for Khmer Noodles
Cambodian food has such a special place in our hearts, having spent almost a decade here researching and writing an epic Cambodian cookbook and culinary history, so I was thrilled to see nom banh chok place at #3 on this list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
Nom banh chok which is both the name of the fresh rice noodles and the dish itself, is an ancient Khmer specialty that has influenced so many other dishes around Southeast Asia, from Thailand’s khanom jeen to a Southern Vietnamese Khmer dish from the Mekong Delta called bún kèn.
There are a handful of types of nom banh chok but our authentic nom banh chok recipe for Cambodia’s beloved ‘Khmer Noodles’ makes nom banh chok samlor proher, a popular breakfast dish of the rice noodles doused in a yellow-green coconut-based fish curry, garnished with fragrant herbs, seasonal vegetables, edible flowers, and wild herbs.
Authentic Nom Banh Chok Recipe for Cambodia’s Beloved Khmer Noodles
Traditional Cambodian Fish Amok Recipe
As with Cambodia’s nom banh chok, above, I was so delighted to see another Cambodian dish land at #4 on this list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
Our traditional Cambodian fish amok recipe makes an authentic steamed fish curry to a classic recipe from an older generation of cooks who believe that if it’s not properly steamed, then it’s not amok trei. ‘Amok’ means to steam in banana leaves and ‘trei’ means fish in Cambodia’s Khmer language.
While the dish is eaten by all Cambodians on all kinds of occasions – the firm consistency and banana leaf wrapping made it convenient for farmers to take it out to the rice paddies for a midday deal, while the sumptuous texture and rich taste made it a wedding party favourite – it’s thought that this refined dish is a Royal Khmer specialty dating as far back as the Khmer Empire.
Cambodian Fish Amok Recipe for an Authentic Steamed Fish Curry in the Old Style
Chicken Schnitzel Recipe with Crunchy Panko Coating
Our chicken schnitzel recipe is next on our list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022 and it makes moist, tender chicken fillets with a super crunchy panko breadcrumb coating elevated with lemon zest and parmesan.
These old-fashioned Australian style chicken schnitties will take you right back to the 1970s. For a complete nostalgia trip, squeeze some lemon wedges over the schnitzels and serve with potato salad.
I recommend making extra chicken schnitzel fillets so you can make Terence’s chicken schnitzel burger the next day, topped with bacon, cabbage and tomato between soft burger buns, and served with our homemade dill pickles.
Chicken Schnitzel Recipe with Crunchy Panko Breadcrumb Coating with Parmesan and Lemon Zest
Richly Spiced Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe
This Cape Malay chicken curry recipe makes a richly spiced curry from Cape Town and it’s next on the list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022. Our recipe was inspired by the fragrant chicken curry we learnt to make in a Cape Malay cooking class in colourful Bo-Kaap, the heart of Cape Malay culture.
The gently spiced chicken curry is a cousin of the classic Cape Town tomato bredie, above. They’re dishes that locals here in Southeast Asia would describe as ‘same same but different’, sharing a lot of similar spices.
Eaten with aromatic Cape Malay yellow rice, buttery roti, and simple tomato, onion and cucumber sambals, it’s an incredibly delicious curry that you’ll be sorry to finish. Our advice: make double the amount, as it tastes even better as leftovers the next day.
Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe for a Richly Spiced Curry from Cape Town, South Africa
Cambodian Chicken Rice Porridge Recipe for Borbor Sach Moan
This Cambodian chicken rice porridge recipe for borbor sach moan, also known as Cambodian congee, was another of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022, and it’s no surprise. It makes an incredibly comforting dish that’s super easy to make.
During our nearly ten years in Cambodia we’ve observed Cambodians tuck into big bowls of borbor for breakfast, brunch, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner (particularly if feeling unwell), and a late night supper (i.e. hangover cure).
We like to use local Cambodian fish sauces for Cambodian dishes, but you’re unlikely to find those outside Cambodia. We recommend the Thai fish sauce brand Megachef, although we know that our American readers love the American-Vietnamese brand Red Boat.
Cambodian Chicken Rice Porridge Recipe for Borbor Sach Moan, Cambodia’s Congee
Classic Cote de Boeuf Recipe Courtesy of Chef Pierre Gagnaire
Our classic cote de boeuf recipe from superstar French Chef Pierre Gagnaire became one of our most memorable souvenirs of our stay in Paris, and it’s another of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
When we first posted the recipe for this quintessential French dish on our site way back in 2010, we could never have known it would become one of our most read stories and most popular recipes year after year. Make it and you’ll understand why.
The bone-in ribeye steak is a delicious cut of meat but it is also an expensive cut, so if you’re unsure about oven temperatures or how to judge the doneness of the meat, use a meat thermometer. You don’t want to get this wrong.
Cote de Boeuf Recipe Courtesy of Chef Pierre Gagnaire in Paris
Meatballs Recipe for the Tastiest Juiciest Italian Style Meatballs
My best meatballs recipe will make you the tastiest, juiciest Italian style meatballs that I based on the classic Southern Italian meatballs called polpette, made in Sicily and Calabria with ricotta, parmesan and pecorino cheeses, that are fried until brown then simmered in a tomato sauce.
First you’ll need to make my deliciously-rich homemade Italian tomato sauce recipe, which I like to use for pasta, meatballs, pizza, and parmas then pour it into your biggest fry pan or skillet and put it on the stove to heat up so you can simmer these juicy meatballs in it after you’ve finished frying them.
This recipe was part of a series on my favourite classic southern Italian-influenced recipes, from my spaghetti with meatballs recipe, below, to my recipe for Italian-Australian chicken parmigiana or chicken parma, so once again I was chuffed to see it on this list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
Best Meatballs Recipe for the Tastiest Juiciest Italian Style Meatballs
Best Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe for a Comfort Food Classic
Our best spaghetti and meatballs recipe makes an incredibly delicious version of the much-loved comfort food classic with juicy meatballs and a rich tomato sauce made from scratch.
The spaghetti is combined with the sauce before serving, and topped with the meatballs, plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh basil. Serve the second it’s ready with crusty bread
This is the best spaghetti and meatballs recipe as the key ingredients are made from scratch, from a rich deeply flavoured tomato sauce to the juiciest, tastiest homemade meatballs that simmer in the sauce, which the spaghetti is stirred in before being plated.
A generous sprinkle of Parmigiano Reggiano and fragrant fresh basil leaves complete this classic comfort food favourite. The only things we haven’t made are the dried pasta and Parmigiano Reggiano, because Italians do both better.
Best Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe for the Comfort Food Favourite from Southern Italy
Best Irish Stew Recipe a Deeply Flavoured Irish Classic
This is the best Irish stew recipe for a deeply flavoured classic Irish stew with a rich gravy thanks to an easy roux – and half a bottle of Shiraz. Dishes don’t get more Irish than this traditional Irish stew, considered by many to be Ireland’s national dish, and it’s next on the list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
This year we used St Patrick’s Day as an excuse to cook Irish food. While Terence is the one with Irish ancestry and Irish stews were part of his mother’s repertoire, I took on Irish stew duties as I grew up eating and later cooking Russian stews and I have to confess to having a thing about stews. (Have you made my Russian beef stew?)
If you’re also a stew lover, you’re going to adore this Irish stew recipe. Terence did make a delicious Irish breakfast colcannon with bacon and eggs for Weekend Eggs, which I also encourage you to try.
Best Irish Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Traditional Irish Beef Stew
Authentic Mexican Guacamole Recipe Like Grandma Made
This authentic Mexican guacamole recipe makes a genuine Mexican guacamole of the kind your Mexican abuela (grandma) might make – the kind that’s made table-side at good restaurants in Mexico. It’s all about the creamy luscious texture, bright green colour and full flavour of perfectly ripe avocados
I’ve been making this authentic Mexican guacamole recipe for almost 30 years, since we tasted our first genuine guacamole in Mexico City on our inaugural trip to Mexico in the mid-Nineties. We became so smitten with that sublime guacamole that was so much simpler yet far superior to the one I’d been making, that we adapted a guacamole ritual and I’ve been making it ever since.
Whether you use a Mexican mortar and pestle called a molcajete or not is much-debated. In Mexico City, chef Martha Ortiz said it was essential, while our cooking instructor in San Miguel de Allende was adamant it wasn’t. As most of our readers outside Mexico probably won’t have a molcajete, the recipe calls for a fork. You could also use a Southeast Asian granite mortar and pestle.
Authentic Mexican Guacamole Recipe Just Like Your Mexican Abuela Would Make
Russian Beef Stew Recipe for Solyanka
This traditional Russian beef stew recipe makes solyanka, a delicious hearty stew or heavy soup that’s a little sour, a little sweet, and was a whole lot saltier back in its day. It’s next on the list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
First mentioned in print in the 15th century, solyanka is an ancient dish made for modern times: invented to use leftovers, it’s a one-pot dish that is filling and comforting.
It’s one of my favourite beef stew recipes, based on my baboushka’s recipe, which I grew up eating in the 1970s. Garnish with plenty of fresh fragrant dill and eat with dollops of sour cream (smetana) and dill pickles, and a Russian garden salad on the side.
Traditional Russian Beef Stew Recipe for Solyanka, a Medieval Dish for Modern Times
Cambodian Beef Skewers Recipe for Sach Ko Ang
This Cambodian beef skewers recipe kicked off a series we published a few years ago on the best Cambodian barbecue recipes and it was another of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
Called sach ko ang in Khmer, the skewers are are a classic late afternoon or early evening snack in Cambodia. Baguettes, a legacy of the French, are offered and are highly recommended. Locals place the skewers in the baguettes and slide the meat off the skewer into the buttered baguette to make a meal out of them.
Skewered barbecue meats are found right across Southeast Asia, but what makes these special is the Cambodian kroeung or herb and spice paste that they are marinated in. It’s distinctly Cambodian. They typically come with pickled vegetables and optional douse of chilli sauce.
Cambodian Beef Skewers Recipe with Lemongrass – How To Make Sach Ko Ang
Cabbage Roll Casserole Recipe for an Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole or Lazy Cabbage Rolls
Next on this list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022 is this baked cabbage roll casserole recipe for an unstuffed cabbage roll casserole or lazy cabbage rolls.
Blanched cabbage leaves are layered lasagna-like with a rich tomato sauce, farmer’s cheese, and a cabbage roll fried rice made from the savoury ground pork, onion, garlic and carrot filling usually stuffed in the cabbage leaves to make traditional cabbage rolls.
If you enjoyed my recipe for traditional cabbage rolls stuffed with savoury rice and mince, baked in a rich tomato sauce called golubtsy (голубцы), which are cooked in Russia, Ukraine and neighbouring countries, then you’re going to love this baked cabbage roll casserole recipe for unstuffed cabbage rolls or lazy cabbage rolls.
I also recommend trying my cabbage roll fried rice recipe, which is absolutely delish, even if I do say so myself, and my hearty cabbage roll soup recipe, which probably had my baboushka rolling in her grave when I published that, but it’s also a keeper! And we’ve got more cabbage recipes here.
Easy Cabbage Roll Casserole Recipe for an Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole or Lazy Cabbage Rolls
Khmer Prahok Ktis Recipe for Cambodia’s Minced Pork and Coconut Dip
Our authentic Khmer prahok ktis recipe makes the deliciously rich Cambodian dip made from fermented fish, minced pork and coconut milk that is served with fresh crispy vegetables. It also makes a great introduction to the use of Cambodia’s beloved prahok and the herb and spice paste called kroeung in authentic Khmer cuisine
Made with prahok, yellow kroeung herb and spice paste, minced pork, pea eggplants, some chillies and coconut milk, this prahok ktis recipe – or more accurately, prahok k’tis – is as authentic as they come. But it is also a recipe where you can tone down the amount of prahok as a mild concession to Western palates.
One of the things that restaurants owners in Siem Reap have told us over the years is that when tourists to Cambodia first try prahok ktis, if it’s too ‘fishy’ smelling or it tastes a little too much like an old French cheese, they automatically think there is something wrong with it, usually because you don’t normally associate pork mince with a fermented aroma.
Once they are assured that it’s fine, many go on to fall in love with the Cambodian dip, despite the fact that their ‘Western’-trained noses tell them the pork dip is ‘off’. All of which is to explain that we were so thrilled to see this dish land on this list of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
Authentic Khmer Prahok Ktis Recipe for Cambodia’s Pork and Coconut Milk Dip
Russian Cabbage Rolls Recipe for a Petite Version of Baba’s Golubtsi
My easy Russian cabbage rolls recipe for golubtsi (голубцы) makes a more petite version of my baboushka’s bigger cabbage rolls – one cabbage roll was a meal in itself! – while still retaining the flavour of her golubtsi, so I was thrilled that this was another of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
I adore my baboushka’s golubtsi (голубцы) – cabbage rolls stuffed with a savoury minced pork, beef, carrot, and rice filling, and cloaked in a rich homemade tomato sauce – but they were huge.
My recipe is ever so slightly different. I cook the savoury pork, beef, carrot, and rice filling before stuffing the cabbage rolls, as they bake much faster than the larger golubtsy filled with a raw meat mixture, yet they’re equally delicious. I also make my cabbage rolls smaller.
Easy Russian Cabbage Rolls Recipe for a Petite Version of Baboushka’s Golubtsi
Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Almonds Recipe from Marrakech
This Moroccan lamb tagine with prunes and almonds recipe came direct from our riad kitchen in Marrakech, Morocco. Terence first learnt to make it from Jamila, our riad cook, way back in 2010, on the year-long grand tour that launched Grantourismo.
In fact it was early 2010, as our Marrakech was our first proper 2-week stop on that 12-month trip, making it one of the oldest recipes on this site, which makes it even more special that this was another of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
A Moroccan tagine is essentially a slow-cooked stew made from meat, generally lamb or chicken, but can contain anything from duck to fish. We used lamb in the original recipe, which we’d bought from the local market, along with the vegetables and spice mix, although you can now buy the Ras el Hanout spice mix online.
Tagines are traditionally cooked in a tagine pot, a glazed clay base and a large conical lid that’s designed to guide the condensation from cooking back into the pot, but if you don’t have one you can make this in a cooking pot.
Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Almonds Recipe from Marrakech
Rabo de Toro Oxtail Stew Recipe from Jerez in Southern Spain
This melt-in-your-mouth Rabo de Toro oxtail stew recipe from Jerez in Southern Spain is a classic slow braised dish that requires a long cooking time, but rewards with rich, robust flavours.
Inspired by the rabo de toro that we ate at Bar Juanito here in Jerez, it’s one of our best stew recipes. It closely resembles bœuf bourguignon, only it’s tastier because the marrow from the ox tail adds depth to the gravy or sauce. The bone and marrow aren’t used in bœuf bourguignon.
If you love a good old-fashioned traditional stew, you’re going to love this, as obviously so many of our readers do, as it was another of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
Rabo de Toro Oxtail Stew Recipe from Jerez in Southern Spain
Classic Banana Flower Salad Recipe for Cambodia’s Gnoam Trayong Chek
This recipe for a banana flower salad – also called a banana blossom salad – makes the Cambodian banana flower salad called gnoam trayong chek in Khmer, and it was another of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
A fragrant and crunchy salad that is all about the texture and aromas, our banana flower salad includes poached chicken, but you could make a vegetarian version. It’s a super-easy recipe to make, just work fast so your banana flower doesn’t brown
Like our Cambodian green papaya salad recipe, this banana blossom salad also has cousins in Thailand and Vietnam, which vary slightly. This delicious banana blossom salad recipe was published as part of our series on Cambodia’s wonderful salads that we’re recipe testing for our Cambodian cookbook.
The series included recipes for a crunchy green papaya salad that is full of texture, a very moreish Cambodian minced pork larb, a fragrant grilled beef salad, and, what has now become one of our favourite Cambodian salads, this light pork and jicama salad.
Classic Banana Flower Salad Recipe for Cambodia’s Gnoam Trayong Chek
Chicken and Potato Soup Recipe for a Comforting Soup
This easy chicken and potato soup recipe makes a homemade potato and chicken soup from scratch that is comforting and healing, and it was another of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022.
It’s a simple, hearty soup that’s subtly seasoned but given texture at the end with crunchy croutons and crispy fried onions, and is enlivened by fresh fragrant dill – or any aromatic herb of your choosing, as it’s also incredibly versatile.
The base of this warming winter soup is the easiest chicken stock you’ll ever make, made from perfectly poached chicken breasts, which you then pull apart and add to the broth near the end. It was a new recipe for 2022 so it was a delight to see it make this list.
Chicken and Potato Soup Recipe for a Comforting Soup that Starts with an Easy Stock
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make any of our 22 most popular recipes of 2022 as we’d love to know how they turn out for you.
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