Our collection of 30 recipes to cook in April includes a mix of recipes for spring and autumn – from a green minestrone soup to a warm German potato salad. We also have recipes for the last days of Ramadan, ANZAC day and Orthodox Easter, from Europe, the Middle East and Australia. We’ve got recipes for everything from a Russian kulich cake to Anzac biscuits.
For this round-up of 30 recipes to cook in April we’re sharing recipes for the start of Spring in the northern hemisphere and Autumn in the southern hemisphere, along with some of my family recipes for Orthodox Easter and Middle Eastern recipes for the last week of Ramadan.
If you don’t find cooking inspiration in this compilation, then browse the Grantourismo recipe archives, which is brimming with 14 years of recipes that we’ve collected from around the world. Or peruse our compilation of the most popular recipes of March, which are the recipes our readers searched for, spent time on, and hopefully cooked.
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30 Recipes to Cook in April for Spring, Autumn, Ramadan, Anzac Day and Orthodox Easter
Our compilation of 30 recipes to cook in April include recipes for Ramadan, Russian Easter and, as well as spring and autumn recipe ideas for readers in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
Fattoush Salad Recipe with Pita Chips Made from Stale Pita Bread
This classic fattoush salad recipe makes a traditional Lebanese village salad of ripe tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, zingy radishes, fresh fragrant herbs, and quintessential Middle Eastern ingredients such as extra virgin olive oil. It’s one of my favourite Middle Eastern recipes and it’s next on our list of 30 recipes to cook in April.
Tossed in a delightful salad dressing distinguished by the beloved Middle Eastern ingredients of pomegranate seeds and ground sumac, fattoush is often called a pita bread salad, as it’s textured with crispy pita chips. There are instructions for making super simple unseasoned pita chips from scratch in the fattoush recipe in the post.
Fattoush Salad Recipe for a Traditional Lebanese Village Salad
Russian Eggplant Caviar Recipe for Ikra, the Soviet Union’s Poor Man’s Caviar
This easy Russian eggplant caviar recipe for ikra – also known as the ‘poor man’s caviar’ during the Soviet period – makes a deliciously-rich version of this traditional Russian dip, spread or side dish. It’s somewhere in between the ikra my baboushka made that was sumptuous and velvety and the ikra popularised during the Soviet era that more closely resembled a diced salad.
This recipe for ikra is super easy. Please don’t let the ikra recipes you may have seen before now that say this is a ‘complex’ dish to make deter you. When prepping your ingredients, there’s a lot of dicing involved. When frying the ingredients, there’s a bit of stirring so that nothing sticks and everything is cooking evenly. But there are no complex skills involved.
Easy Russian Eggplant Caviar Recipe for Ikra, the Soviet Union’s Poor Man’s Caviar
Homemade Traditional Hummus
Next on our list of 30 recipes to cook in April is one of our top Middle Eastern recipes. Hummus is a beloved Arabic dip typical eaten with an array of mezze or starters right across the Middle East. Thought to have originated in medieval Egypt, hummus is found right across the Arab world, from North Africa through the Levant to the Arabian Peninsula.
Our easy authentic hummus recipe makes a homemade traditional creamy hummus that a Lebanese friend taught Terence when we lived in Abu Dhabi and it tops our list of best Middle Eastern recipes.Tip: try to source sumac to sprinkle on your hummus. But, if you can’t, ground paprika, while quite a different spice, is also good.
Easy Authentic Hummus Recipe for a Creamy Homemade Traditional Hummus
Potato Vareniki Recipe for Mash and Caramelised Onion Filled Dumplings
My potato vareniki recipe makes the boiled dumplings stuffed with rustic mashed potato and caramelised onion that my Russian-Ukrainian baboushka used to make for family meals, particularly for Russian Easter, and the seemingly never-ending Sunday lunches that turned into dinners.
It was my responsibility to set the table and carry the dishes from the kitchen to dining room and I have to confess that I set the casserole pot filled with vareniki as close to my place setting as possible. My baboushka would serve the vareniki swimming in butter in a casserole pot, sprinkled with fresh fragrant dill, and accompanied by dishes of sour cream (smetana).
Russian Potato Vareniki Recipe for Mash and Caramelised Onion Filled Dumplings
Hummus with Spiced Ground Beef Recipe for Hummus bil Lahme
This addictively delicious hummus with spiced beef recipe makes hummus bil lahme, a delicious Arabic dish that has provenance in the Levantine cuisines of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan, but is eaten right across the Middle East.
Hummus bil lahme is drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with cumin powder, and topped with a generous layer of aromatic, richly-spiced ground beef and roasted pine nuts. It’s a breeze to make. Simply pulse the chickpeas, garlic powder, extra virgin olive oil, tahini paste, ground cumin, and lemon juice in a food processor or blender.
Make the spiced beef mince, spread the hummus on a plate, pile the spiced beef on top, sprinkle on finely chopped parsley, and serve with zingy pickles, fresh pita bread or homemade toasted pita chips. Too easy.
Delicious Hummus with Spiced Ground Beef Recipe for Hummus bil Lahme
Easy Salmon Tray Bake Recipe for Crispy Skinned Salmon with Spring Vegetables
This easy salmon tray bake recipe tops our list of 30 recipes to cook in April. It’s one of our best salmon recipes. My recipe makes crispy skinned salmon fillets baked so that the skin crackles but flesh remains moist, with roasted spring vegetables that are still crunchy.
Sprinkled with spring onions and fresh fragrant dill and served with lemon slices, it makes the lightest of roasts. If you’re in the southern hemisphere, you serve autumn veggie sides. Roast beetroot, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower florets all work. If your autumn is feeling like winter, try Terence’s crispy skin salmon fillet with colcannon with prawns or creamy mashed potatoes.
Easy Salmon Tray Bake Recipe for Crispy Skinned Salmon with Spring Vegetables
Green Minestrone Soup Recipe that Evolves Like the Seasons
This green minestrone soup recipe is next on our list of 30 recipes to cook in April. It makes an easy, versatile, year-round soup that evolves just like the seasons, transforming from a fresh light spring soup on the first day of making it to a warming hearty autumn broth if you refrigerate the leftovers overnight and reheat it the next day.
You’ll love this green minestrone soup recipe if you like slurping soups as much as I do – whether they’re chicken soups, noodle soups, chicken noodle soups, fish soups, warming winter soups, cold summer soups, I enjoy them all. But I especially love those hearty European-style broths that are almost like stews, such as this Italian ribolitta soup and Italian wedding soup.
Braised Chicken with Olives and Capers Recipe for Juicy Mediterranean Style Chicken
One of our best chicken recipes, this braised chicken with olives and capers recipe makes incredibly succulent chicken legs in a Mediterranean style with a couple of surprising Asian ingredients. It’s adapted from a recipe by Australian chef Martin Benn.
It’s a foolproof set-and-forget chicken recipe that no matter how long you leave it or reheat it, the chicken remains juicy. Serve it with a chicken jus and crunchy Hassleback potatoes or creamy mashed potatoes and this radish cucumber salad with feta, rucola and fresh herbs.
Braised Chicken with Olives and Capers Recipe for Juicy Mediterranean Style Chicken
Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Almonds Recipe from Marrakech
Terence first made this Moroccan lamb tagine with prunes and almonds recipe in the kitchen of our riad in Marrakech, Morocco, where he was taught to make it by Jamila, the riad cook. It’s one of our favourite tagine recipes and is next on our list of 30 recipes to cook in April. The best thing about this Moroccan lamb tagine with prunes and almonds is that, firstly, it’s dead easy.
Secondly, it will fill your home with the most delicious aromas. Serve it with some crusty bread or plain couscous. Note that you can buy the Ras el Hanout spice mix online if you can’t get all of the ingredients separately to make your own. You could also use a pressure cooker if you want, as it should cut the simmering time down to about an hour.
Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Almonds Recipe from Marrakech
Best Coleslaw Recipe with Purple Cabbage, Crunchy Carrot and Pickled Pink Shallots
Next on our list of 30 recipes to cook in April is our best coleslaw recipe, which makes a crunchy coleslaw with purple cabbage and pickled pink shallots. It has more colour, texture and tang than the average coleslaw thanks to the crunchy cabbage and zingy pickles.
This colourful coleslaw is a feast for the eyes and is as delicious as it looks. It’s a fantastic side to schnitzel, burgers and barbecue, and will also make you the ultimate spring picnic salad. I recommend using a mandoline for shredding the cabbage, and for the carrots, I use a small hand-held vegetable peeler with a wavy blade that looks like this.
Otherwise, a good old-fashioned box grater or a food processor with a shredding attachment. We love Hellmann’s creamy mayonnaise or the Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise.
Best Coleslaw Recipe with Purple Cabbage, Crunchy Carrot and Pickled Pink Shallots
Authentic Baba Ganoush Recipe
Our authentic baba ganoush recipe will make you the traditional Middle Eastern eggplant dip – also spelt baba ghanoush, baba ghanouj and baba ganouj – that’s eaten with flatbread as one of an array of Arabic mezze or appetisers. Made with smoky grilled eggplants, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil, it’s super easy to make and tastes so much better homemade than store-bought.
Authentic Baba Ganoush Recipe for the Traditional Middle Eastern Eggplant Dip
Homemade Pita Chips Recipe for Crunchy Baked Pita Crisps
This quick and easy homemade pita chips recipe is next on our list of 30 recipes to cook in April. It will make you super crunchy baked pita crisps that are made within minutes. They’re perfect for scooping up dips such a hummus, baba ghanoush, guacamole, and salsas, or using in the Arabic salad fattoush. They’re also versatile – brush them with olive oil flavoured with spices or herbs to complement any dip.
Easy Homemade Pita Chips Recipe for Crunchy Baked Pita Crisps Made in Minutes
Spicy Ground Beef Turnovers Recipe for Mini Chebureki
If you cooked and enjoyed my traditional chebureki recipe, which makes the crunchy fried pastries stuffed with savoury minced beef and onions that are so big you need to hold them in two hands, then you’re going to love this spicy ground beef turnovers recipe for mini chebureki.
A beloved Black Sea beach holiday snack of Crimean Tatar cuisine, traditional chebureki (чебуреки) became an incredibly popular street food staple in Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, as well as in the Crimean Tartar diaspora, If you’re a fan of filled fried pastries such as samosas and empanadas, you are going to adore this mini chebureki recipe.
Spicy Ground Beef Turnovers Recipe for Mini Chebureki, Cumin Spiced Fried Minced Beef Pastries
Hummus Balila Recipe for Creamy Warm Chickpeas Spiced with Cumin
When we first moved to the Middle East many years ago, we looked forward to weekends away in Beirut, Damascus or Cairo and a traditional breakfast spread of labneh, olives, pickles, radishes, fresh salad vegetables, and a comforting bowl of warm soupy beans, such as hummus balila or ful medames (recipe coming).
Also known simply as ‘balila’, the Levantine dish has long been a popular breakfast or snack everywhere from Lebanon and Syria to the Arabian Peninsula. Creamy warm chickpeas are gently spiced with ground cumin, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, and served with pita bread, pickles, fresh herbs, and salad.
It’s one of my favourite recipes on this list of 30 recipes to cook in April. Make a big batch so you can turn it into a balila salad the next day; recipe below.
Middle Eastern Hummus Balila Recipe for Creamy Warm Chickpeas Spiced with Cumin
Russian Cabbage Rolls Recipe for a Petite Version of Baboushka’s Golubtsy
I adore my baboushka’s Russian cabbage rolls recipe that makes golubtsy (голубцы) – cabbage rolls stuffed with a savoury minced pork, beef, carrot, and rice filling, and cloaked in a rich homemade tomato sauce.
They were a feature of countless family meals, especially for Orthodox Easter. But baba’s cabbage rolls were a meal in themselves, so I’ve reduced the size so that they are rather petite, meaning you can eat more than one.
I’ve also cooked the savoury filling for the golubtsy before rolling it. That’s because, as much as I love baba’s recipe (which requires that the meat filling mixture be raw), this allows you to speed up the process if you’re tight on time.
Easy Russian Cabbage Rolls Recipe for a Petite Version of Baboushka’s Golubtsi
Balela Salad Recipe for a Delicious Warm Chickpea Salad
My easy balela salad recipe makes a warm chickpea salad and it’s another of my favourite recipes on this list of 30 recipes to cook in April. Creamy hummus balila, the rustic cumin-spiced hummus is textured with chickpeas, drizzled with a lemony olive oil, and topped with an Arabic salad of crunchy cucumbers, sweet tomatoes, zingy purple shallots, crispy radishes, and fresh fragrant mint and parsley.
This balela salad can be scooped up with pita bread, but as a warm chickpea salad, you could also tuck into it for a shared lunch or dinner as part of a mezze spread of starters or sides. A note on the spelling: I used ‘balila’ for hummus balila and ‘balela’ for the salad because that’s the most common spellings on search engines and I want you to find our recipes.
Balela Salad Recipe for a Delicious Warm Chickpea Salad from the Middle East
Italian Roast Chicken Recipe with Peppers, Leeks, Olives, Capers and Thyme
Our Italian roast chicken recipe with peppers, olives and capers makes succulent chicken quarters roasted on a bed of leeks and red and green peppers with plump black olives, briny capers and sprigs of fresh thyme. The slow-cooked chicken is incredibly delicious and will fill your home with the sweet scent of roasted peppers.
While this Italian roast chicken is perfectly satisfying with the leeks and red and green capsicums, you could always serve sides of crunchy Hassleback potatoes or creamy mashed potatoes and we have lots more recipes for vegetable side dishes.
Italian Roast Chicken Recipe with Peppers, Leeks, Olives, Capers and Thyme
Antalya Style Turkish White Bean Salad Recipe
This Antalya style Turkish white bean salad recipe with jammy soft boiled eggs is next on my list of 30 recipes to cook in April. It will make you my take on Antalya usulü piyaz – a Turkish white bean salad made the Antalya way. Traditionally, the cold, soupy, garlicky white beans are topped with tomatoes, onions and hard-boiled eggs.
I blend the white beans for a hummus-like texture, pile on a salad of cherry tomatoes, purple shallots and fresh herbs, and top with jammy eggs. It’s one of my favourite Turkish recipes and one of our best canned beans recipes.
Antalya Style Turkish White Bean Salad Recipe with Jammy Soft Boiled Eggs for Antalya Piyaz
Roast Beetroot Salad Recipe with Feta, Rucola and Pistachios on Carrot Hummus
My roast beetroot salad recipe with feta, rucola and pistachios on cumin-spiced carrot hummus is not strictly traditional but rather takes inspiration from the food of the Middle East and Mediterranean. It makes my twist on the classic beetroot salad with feta, walnuts and rucola or arugula roca or rocket.
The bed of carrot hummus adds another dimension of flavour and texture, while pistachios add crunch and are better suited to this version than walnuts. My inspiration is the Middle Eastern balela salad and the Antalya version of a Turkish white bean salad. in which the salad is also piled onto the creamy white beans.
Roast Beetroot Salad Recipe with Feta, Rucola and Pistachios on Cumin Spiced Carrot Hummus
Bang Bang Chicken Salad Recipe
Next on the list of 30 recipes to cook in April is our bang bang chicken salad recipe, inspired by the classic Chinese bang bang chicken, a Sichuan cuisine specialty typically served as one of an array of starters at Sichuanese restaurants.
Cold succulent chicken is served swimming in a deliciously addictive sesame sauce with a delightfully hot and numbing homemade Sichuanese chilli oil. Crisp lettuce, crunchy cucumbers and fresh fragrant coriander transform the dish into a lovely light yet filling salad.
It’s a cinch to make, too, comes together quickly, and is a fantastic use of poached chicken breasts. For more, see this collection of our best poached chicken breast recipes.
Bang Bang Chicken Salad Recipe for a Fresh Light Take on the Spicy Sichuan Speciality
Roasted Cauliflower Recipe with Creamy Hummus
A Middle Eastern inspired dish, my roasted cauliflower recipe makes a dish of cauliflower florets roasted in gently spiced extra virgin olive oil, plated on creamy hummus, and topped with crispy fried chickpeas, tangy pickled shallots, and fragrant fresh mint.
What I love about this roasted cauliflower dish is that it makes a great companion to other Mediterranean dishes. We enjoy it with this braised chicken with olives and capers and Hassleback potatoes and I love to serve this radish cucumber salad with feta, rucola and fresh herbs on the side.
I use this pickled shallots recipe which, while it’s a Mexican recipe, tastes exactly like the pickled onions our favourite Lebanese restaurant in Abu Dhabi served.
Roasted Cauliflower Recipe with Creamy Hummus, Crispy Chickpeas, Pickled Shallots and Mint
White Chicken Chilli Tostadas Recipe
Next on the list of 30 recipes to cook in April is my white chicken chilli tostadas recipe. If you made our deliciously addictive white chicken chilli recipe and our breakfast tostadas recipe with fried eggs and enjoyed those, then you’re also going to love this easy tostadas recipe.
The recipe makes an incredibly delicious yet quick and easy weeknight meal if you have leftover white chicken chilli in the fridge – or any leftover chilli beans or chilli con carne.
Spread the chicken chilli on the tostadas, melt grated cheddar on top, garnish with coriander, jalapenos and avocado, and add a dollop of sour cream. Done. And so delish!
White Chicken Chilli Tostadas Recipe for a Quick and Easy Weeknight Meal
Authentic Moroccan Chickpea Soup Recipe from Marrakech
Our authentic Moroccan chickpea soup recipe is one of our favourite chickpea soup recipes. It makes a warming, hearty bowl of soup that’s a meal in itself – particularly when served with some oven-fresh flatbread.
Terence learnt to make this chickpea soup in a Marrakech kitchen back in 2010 and hasn’t tweaked a thing since. A tin of chickpeas, can of tomatoes and chicken stock form the basis of this soup, and vegetarians can sub vegetable stock.
If you prefer to make this with dried chickpeas, rather than canned chickpeas, you need to start the day before and soak the dried chickpeas overnight to soften them.
Authentic Moroccan Chickpea Soup Recipe Straight from a Marrakech Kitchen
Classic Anzac Biscuits Recipe Based on the 1933 Country Women’s Association Recipes
It’s ANZAC Day on the 25th April when Australians and New Zealanders bake Anzac biscuits, so here’s a recipe for you if you don’t already have one. This classic Anzac biscuits recipe is as close to the early 1933 Australian Country Women’s Association Anzac biscuit recipes that I could get.
It makes the best Anzac biscuit ever – even better than the Anzac biscuits of my memory. If you like your Anzac biscuits crunchy, they’ll need around 12 minutes in the oven (but check them at 11 minutes to make sure they’re not about to burn).
If you prefer best Anzac biscuits chewy, pull them out at 9-10 minutes. Note that they’re going to be soft until they cool down, so you’ll need to take care when shifting them from the oven pan to a cooling tray.
Classic Anzac Biscuits Recipe Based on the 1933 Country Women’s Association Recipes
Beef Kofta Recipe for Grilled Ground Meat Kebabs
Next on the list of 30 recipes to cook in April is our beef kofta recipe, which makes traditional Lebanese kafta – grilled, spiced, ground meat kebabs that are made throughout the Middle East. Cooked at home, served at restaurants, and barbecued in parks at family gatherings on weekends and holidays, these Arabic minced meat kebabs are one of the most beloved dishes in a region that loves its grilled meats.
Beef Kofta Recipe for Lebanese Kafta – Grilled Spiced Ground Meat Kebabs
German Potato Salad Recipe for a Warm Potato Salad with Bacon, Celery and Scallions
This German potato salad recipe makes a warm potato salad – also called a hot German potato salad – with a dressing of fried celery, scallions or spring onions, and bacon. Time things right and you can deliver it hot to the table in autumn or serve warm-ish or even at room temperature in spring.
You’re going to love this German potato salad recipe if you’re a lover or potato salads, especially warm potato salads, and you made my Mediterranean-style warm potato salad recipe with capers, anchovies, chives, and celery leaves and enjoyed that.
Like that warm Mediterranean potato salad, this warm German potato salad is a perfect side to chicken schnitzel or our chicken schnitzel burger.
German Potato Salad Recipe for a Warm Potato Salad with Bacon, Celery and Scallions
Old Fashioned Chicken Lentil Soup Recipe with Potatoes, Carrots, Celery and Dill
My easy chicken lentil soup recipe with potatoes, carrots, celery and dill makes one of those endearingly old-fashioned chicken soups that will transport you back to simpler times. It’s a quick and easy soup to make, especially if you use leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken and canned lentils.
We poach chicken breasts and use the liquid as the soup stock. It has quickly become one of my favourite chicken soup recipes. Don’t make this soup recipe if you’re looking for a big bold bowl of broth brimming with flavour and intensely spiced. This is a subtle restorative soup that’s perfect for slurping if you’re not feeling well.
Old Fashioned Chicken Lentil Soup Recipe with Potatoes, Carrots, Celery and Dill
Cheesy Pasta and Potatoes Recipe for the Southern Italian Pasta e Patate
Our cheesy pasta and potatoes recipe makes the Southern Italian pasta e patate. It’s a home-cooked comfort food dish that you’re unlikely to see on Italian restaurant menus in Italy unless you get off the tourist trail or into a local home. Some slices of sourdough and a simple rucola and tomato salad on the side are all it needs.
If we were renting an apartment in Italy, we’d be pouring tumblers of a simple table wine. While the Neapolitan pasta, patate e provola with provolone cheese is better known, Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano can also be used and is my preference.
Cheesy Pasta and Potatoes Recipe for the Southern Italian Pasta e Patate
Russian Kulich Recipe
If you haven’t yet baked your kulich, an Easter cake which is the equivalent to hot cross buns for Slavic peoples of the Orthodox Church, then I suggest you do that right now and use my kulich recipe. Laced with dried fruit and topped with lemon icing that drips down the loaf, kulich is baked in tin cans to create the cylindrical-shaped bread, and it tastes similar to Italian panettone or French brioche.
Blessed by Orthodox priests at the Easter Saturday night service in Russia, Ukraine and other Slavic countries, it is traditionally eaten between Easter Sunday and Pentecost. My easy kulich recipe will only take you a couple of hours to make in total, most of which is resting, rising and baking time – a stark contrast to your baboushka’s kulich, which probably took her much of the day.
Russian Easter Cake Recipe for Kulich and Happy Easter or Schastlivoy Paskhi
Please do let us know if you make any of our 30 recipes to cook in April as we’d love to hear how they turned out for you.
