Our collection of 31 recipes to cook in May 2025, the last month of spring and autumn, includes a mx of recipes for Cinco de Mayo, Mothers Day and Memorial Day. We’ve got recipes for everything from traditional Mexican, Mexican-American and Tex-Mex recipes that we love to make for Mexican holidays and my Russian-Ukrainian family recipes, some of the most popular on our site, to Southeast Asian dishes we’ve been cooking since we settled in the region over a decade ago, and some of my quick and easy pasta recipes.
For this round-up of 31 recipes to cook in May 2025 we’re sharing Mexican, Mexican-American and Tex-Mex recipes for Cinco de Mayo, collections of Mothers Day recipes for every meal, Memorial Day ideas, and recipes for the last month of autumn in the southern hemisphere and spring in the northern hemisphere, from fried rice and curries to warm salads to deliciously addictive veggie sides.
If you don’t find cooking inspiration in this collection, then do browse our recipe archives, which is brimming with 15 years of recipes we’ve collected from around the world, from places we’ve lived, travelled and loved. Or peruse our compilation of the most popular recipes of April, which are the recipes our readers searched for, spent time on, and hopefully cooked.
Before you scroll down to our 31 recipes to cook in May 2025, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting our work by supporting our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon; by buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; or by buying something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, or gifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers. We may earn a small commission but you won’t pay any extra.
31 Recipes to Make in May 2025 for Cinco de Mayo, Mothers Day and Memorial Day
These are the 31 recipes we think you should cook this May 2025 whether you’re celebrating a holiday, cooking for family or friends, or making yourself a meal for one.
Mexican Recipes for Cinco de Mayo
Topping our list of 31 recipes to cook in May 2025 are these Mexican recipes if you’re cooking up a feast for Mexico‘s Cinco de Mayo. Our compilation of Mexican recipes also include recipes for dishes from north of the border, because Mexican-American cuisine and Tex-Mex cuisine are the hijos of the mother cuisine after all.
We have authentic Mexican recipes that we made in our kitchens in Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende (try the sopa de tortilla which we learnt to make in this Mexican Cooking Class in San Miguel), as well as recipes for Mexican dishes that we became enamoured with on our very first trip to Mexico in our late 20s when we backpacked all over the country.
We also have recipes for Mexican dishes from the USA, from a Tex-Mex chilli con carne that Terence has been making since we first moved in together to my ultimate nachos, which is my take on the ‘loaded’ American iteration of the far simpler Northern Mexican dish invented in the 1940s. Whatever you make, wash it all down with classic margaritas or micheladas.
Best Mexican Recipes for Cinco de Mayo from Sopa de Tortilla to Tacos al Pastor
Russian Barley Pickle Soup Recipe for Rassolnik
You’ll adore this soup if you’re a lover of hearty stew-like soups. One of our best chicken soup recipes, my Russian barley pickle soup recipe for rassolnik with chicken and vegetables makes one of my favourite Russian-Ukrainian family recipes. While borscht might be the best known Russian soup, rassolnik has a special place in people’s hearts and stomachs.
Made with homemade dill pickles, rassolnik is a pickle soup for many and it’s true that pickles are a key ingredient, but for me it’s always been about the pickles and pearl barley. Rice won’t do. While I love chicken, rassolnik can be made with beef, veal, lamb, pork, or offal, all of which are traditional. My family’s preference was always chicken for rassolnik and borscht was made with beef.
While onions, carrots, potatoes, and cabbage are a must, I love to add mushrooms, another beloved Russian ingredient, as I adore them, whether eaten on their own or used in everything from beef Stoganoff to buckwheat kasha with mushrooms.
Russian Barley Pickle Soup Recipe for Rassolnik with Chicken and Vegetables
Broccoli and Potato Soup Recipe with Cheddar
If you’re a broccoli lover (and if you are, try our roast broccoli with zucchini, green beans and sesame), you’ll love this broccoli and potato soup recipe with cheddar cheese, crispy bacon and crunchy croutons. One of our best potato soup recipes, it makes a deliciously creamy broccoli potato soup without cream, but with loads of flavour and texture thanks to cheese, bacon, croutons, fragrant fresh herbs, extra virgin olive oil, sour cream, and chilli flakes.
Melted cheddar cheese will give your broccoli potato soup a richness and denser texture if you use enough of it – and there’s a long tradition of using cheddar in broccoli soups. I prefer to sprinkle a little quality vintage cheddar cheese at the end (or a little Parmigiano Reggiano), along with a handful of other toppings, rather than turn my broccoli and potato soup into a soupy green fondue. But that’s just me. You do as you like.
And as for that colour: broccoli is green, so I’ve never understood why so many broccoli potato soups look yellow, even when the greater proportion of the vegetables on the ingredient list is broccoli. If you have that problem, toss a few fresh green veggie leaves or handful of herbs into the blender, and give it a quick blitz.
Broccoli and Potato Soup Recipe with Cheddar, Crispy Bacon, Crunchy Croutons
Half Boiled Eggs Recipe for Classic Kopitiam Eggs
A kopitiam is a coffee shop in Singapore and Malaysia and you’ll see these eggs called Singaporean kopitiam eggs or Malaysian kopitiam eggs or Singapore-style coffee shop eggs or Malaysian-style coffee shop eggs. A quintessential kopitiam breakfast consists of these kopitiam eggs, also called ‘half-boiled eggs’, served with ‘kaya toast’, toast soldiers and kaya coconut jam, and kopi (coffee). It’s one of our best boiled eggs recipes.
Half-boiled eggs are just-set, still runny yolks and milky whites, which are perfect for dipping toast ‘soldiers’ into. The secret is getting perfectly soft eggs every time and Terence’s technique is flawless. After countless tests, he settled on a vessel to cook the eggs in that not only retains heat well but with repeat cooking, the eggs remain at the same level of doneness. And that vessel is a stainless steel vacuum insulated coffee mug.
We first shared this recipe during the pandemic, when, like many of the Weekend Eggs recipes we shared then, came from a place of missing our former life that was filled with travel, and we’d especially been missing the experience of lingering over a long, slow, weekend breakfast or brunch at a local cafe or coffee shop and whatever that entails wherever we are in the world.
Half Boiled Eggs Recipe for Classic Kopitiam Eggs to Go With Your Kaya Toast
Mothers Day Recipes
Our collection of Mothers Day recipes for every meal for Mum’s special day kicks off with Mother’s Day breakfast recipes for mums who appreciate the luxury of breakfast in bed. They include breakfast dishes that are a bit special, that are manageable on a breakfast tray, and aren’t so filling that they’ll spoil brunch.
Our Mother’s Day breakfast ideas include recipes for a classic eggs Benedict and creamy scrambled eggs with truffles to Terence’s poached eggs with asparagus, pancetta and parmesan and my jammy soft-boiled eggs on sourdough with dill cream cheese and homemade pickles.
We’ve also pulled together compilations of our best Mothers Day brunch recipes, Mothers Day lunch ideas, and Mothers Day dinner recipes. If you don’t find any Mothers Day cooking inspiration in those collections, do browse our Weekend Eggs archive of breakfast dishes from around the world that we’ve learnt to cook in places on our travels.
Mothers Day Breakfast Recipes for Mums Who Love Breakfast in Bed
Gnocchi with Asparagus and Mushrooms, Bacon and Parmesan Recipe
This asparagus and mushrooms, bacon and Parmesan gnocchi recipe makes a delicious pasta that’s quick, easy and versatile. Keep things simple and let the beautiful fresh produce shine with a light pan-fry in olive oil. Or cook it longer in plenty of cream and sprinkle on extra cheese before serving for a creamier pasta. Try both and let us know what you think.
If you’re a lover of asparagus and mushrooms and a fan of pasta dishes, you’ll adore my asparagus and mushrooms, bacon and Parmesan gnocchi recipe. The dish comes together quickly if you let the ingredients shine, only lightly frying the mushrooms so they’re glossy and still meaty and the asparagus remains bright and crunchy.
And if you are a fan of asparagus, try our recipes for fusilli with a creamy pumpkin pasta sauce, pan-fried asparagus on hummus with dukkah, my sauteed asparagus on goat’s cheese, and Terence’s classic Venetian poached eggs, asparagus, pancetta and parmesan and his contemporary take on that dish, which, while Terence shared it for Weekend Eggs, his series on breakfast eggs from around the world, makes a wonderful amuse bouche.
If you’re a gnocchi lover, try this crispy pan fried gnocchi with broccoli and bacon, my pan fried pumpkin gnocchi with brown butter sage sauce, our creamy tomato pasta sauce with gnocchi recipe or this basil pesto with gnocchi recipe.
Gnocchi with Asparagus and Mushrooms, Bacon and Parmesan Recipe
Fresh Herb Salad Recipe for Yum Chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant Bangkok
This fantastic fresh herb salad recipe makes a big fragrant bowl of yum chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant, Bangkok, and comes courtesy of owner-chef Chalee Kader. While more akin to a European-style green salad than a Thai salad, it’s nevertheless distinctly Southeast Asian in its sweet and sour flavours and zesty-ness.
I’d been hankering to make this fragrant fresh herb salad recipe for yum chee since we first tasted it at chef Chalee Kader’s 100 Mahaseth restaurant, a casual nose-to-tail eatery in Bangkok‘s hip Charenkroeung neighbourhood that is one of the Thai capital’s most sustainable restaurants, so begged Chalee for the recipe.
Focused largely on food from Thailand’s Northeastern Isaan region, 100 Mahaseth was originally conceived as a pho joint after the chef and his partner fell in love with the Vietnamese soup while studying overseas. 100 Mahaseth’s menu features a hearty pho, and, um, a spicy hot dog, so this fresh green salad that looks more European in style, but is made with Southeast Asian herbs, isn’t out of place.
It’s a simple yet ingenious salad that like a lot of yums or yams, uses the ingredients of the classic northern Southeast Asian dipping sauce found in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – fish sauce, palm sugar and lime juice – as the salad dressing. Plus you have the bite of the birds-eye chillies and the texture of the crushed peanuts and dried shrimp sprinkled on at the end.
Fresh Herb Salad Recipe for Yum Chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant Bangkok
Pork Spare Ribs with Star Anise Recipe for Aromatic Cambodian Style Ribs
This pork spare ribs with star anise recipe makes a wonderfully aromatic Cambodian style of pork ribs that you can tuck into on their own, washed down with cold beers of course, or you can serve as one of a number of dishes as part of a Cambodian family feast.
We first shared this recipe for pork spare ribs with star anise as part of our series on the best Cambodian barbecue recipes, which included recipes for smoky grilled pork ribs, marinated beef skewers and grilled eggplant with stir-fried minced pork and fermented soya beans.
This Cambodian-style pork spare ribs with star anise recipe is another one of our favourite pork dishes (along with these pan-roasted, brined and marinated pork chops, which are the best pork chops in the world) and it makes a generous plate of fragrant mouth-watering ribs that you can tuck into on their own as you down some cold beers or you can serve them with a handful of other dishes if you’re preparing a Cambodian feast.
Along with our other barbecue and grilled ribs and skewers recipes, you might spot these pork spare ribs on the menus at simple neighbourhood eateries but you’re more likely to find them at a Cambodian restaurant or – if you’re so lucky – dished up in a local home.
Pork Spare Ribs with Star Anise Recipe for Aromatic Cambodian Style Ribs
Dumpling Soup Recipe for Siberian Pelmeni Soup with Fresh Dill and Sour Cream
One of my Russian-Ukrainian family recipes, this dumpling soup recipe for Siberian pelmeni soup with fresh dill and sour cream makes the delicious Russian dumplings called pelmeni in the Siberian style. Petite pelmeni stuffed with a savoury ground beef, minced pork and soft fried onion filling are served in a buttery broth with cracked pepper, dollops of sour cream, and plenty of fresh fragrant dill.
As a child, I only knew three things about Siberia – it was one of the coldest places on earth, it was home to horrific gulags where people were forced into back-breaking work until it killed them, and that Siberia was the reason my Russian great-grandmother never smiled. My grandmother on the other hand, always had a twinkle in her eye and dimples when she smiled.
Baboushka didn’t serve pelmeni in soup. So I had no idea this bone-chillingly cold place called Siberia, long associated with brutal labour camps, produced such warming bowls of dumpling goodness, known outside those frozen lands as Siberian pelmeni. We first sampled these at a Siberian restaurant in Moscow. If you enjoy these, also try my vareniki recipe.
Dumpling Soup Recipe for Siberian Pelmeni Soup with Fresh Dill and Sour Cream
Balela Salad Recipe for a Delicious Warm Chickpea Salad from the Middle East
My easy balela salad recipe makes a warm chickpea salad from the Middle East. Creamy hummus balila – a rustic, cumin-spiced hummus textured with whole chickpeas and drizzled with a lemony olive oil – is topped with a traditional Arabic salad of crunchy cucumbers, sweet tomatoes, zingy purple shallots, crispy radishes, and fresh fragrant mint and parsley.
If you’ve made and enjoyed our hummus balila recipe then you’re going to love this balela salad recipe. It’s deliciously addictive, one of our best Middle Eastern recipes, and one of our best canned beans recipes if you’re looking for budget-friendly meals during these increasingly challenging times.
If you’re not familiar with the Middle East’s many cuisines and only know the chickpea dip called hummus or hummus bi-tahina – ‘hummus’ is ‘chickpeas’ in Arabic and ‘tahina’ is ‘tahini’ and it’s a chickpea and tahini dip – then know that there’s actually a whole huge world of hummus. You’ll find more of our best hummus recipes from a region we lived in for a decade.
Serve this salad as a stand-alone meal or part of a mezze spread of starters or sides, alongside baba ganoush, fattoush and beef kofta and the like. If our balela salad recipe is reminding you of something, I reckon salata balela, as it’s called in Arabic, has a cousin in Antalya piyaz, a white bean salad of creamy, soupy white beans that are also topped with salad and customarily eaten with the Turkish bread called pide and Turkish köfte or meatballs. I could live off both dishes.
Balela Salad Recipe for a Delicious Warm Chickpea Salad from the Middle East
Cambodian Pork and Rice Recipe for Bai Sach Chrouk, Cambodia’s Popular Breakfast Dish
This Cambodian pork and rice recipe makes bai sach chrouk, a popular Cambodian breakfast dish that is a classic that’s found all over Cambodia. Sold at bustling morning markets and busy roadside stalls, thin pork strips that have marinated overnight are grilled and served with steamed rice and a quick pickle of carrot and daikon.
Bai sach chrouk is one of Cambodia’s most popular breakfasts, along with the noodle soups kuy teav and nom banh chok, and the rice porridge borbor, and it’s one of the easiest Cambodian recipes to make. Rise early with the locals and you’ll spot a pork and rice stall on almost every block of nearly every town and city in Cambodia. In fact you’ll spot the plumes of smoke, hear the pork fat sizzling, and smell the sweet aromas first.
This recipe was shared as part of our series on the best Cambodian barbecue recipes, following recipes for smoky grilled pork ribs, marinated beef skewers, grilled eggplant with stir-fried minced pork and fermented soya beans, and pork spare ribs with star anise.
Cambodian Pork and Rice Recipe for Bai Sach Chrouk, Cambodia’s Popular Breakfast Dish
Tamarind Eggplant Recipe from Rajasthan from Indian Cooking Class by Christine Manfield
This tamarind eggplant recipe from Rajasthan is from the cookbook Indian Cooking Class by Australian chef Christine Manfield, who has a deep love of India, Indian cuisines and spices, having travelled to India 40 times and published four books on Indian food. This tamarind eggplant dish is sweet and sour, savoury and saucy, and it comes together quickly.
If you loved Christine Manfield’s chole bhatura recipe for a Punjabi chole or chickpea curry from the Punjab region of Northern India, which straddles India and Pakistan, which we also published, you’re going to love this tamarind eggplant recipe from neighbouring region of Rajasthan.
“I collected this recipe years ago in Rajasthan,” says Christine Manfield in her cookbook Indian Cooking Class. “It’s one of my all-time favourite eggplant dishes. I use it at any opportunity. I love its deeply satisfying sweet and sour notes.”
Christine Manfield has been travelling to and leading culinary tours in India for over two decades, and Northern India is one of her favourite parts of the country, and Rajasthan one of her favourite places. The chef and prolific cookbook author wrote about her passion for Rajasthan in a previous cookbook cum travelogue, the award-winning Tasting India, which is a fantastic companion to Indian Cooking Class.
Tamarind Eggplant Recipe from Rajasthan from Indian Cooking Class by Christine Manfield
Capricciosa Pasta Recipe for Mushroom, Artichoke, Olive and Ham Fusilli
My capricciosa pasta recipe for mushroom, artichoke, olive and ham fusilli makes a quick and easy pasta inspired by the capricciosa pizza, an Australian favourite in the 1970s, invented in Rome in the 1930s. Featuring the key ingredients of the old-school pizza minus tomato sauce, my capricciosa pasta can be made with extra virgin olive oil or add cream for a deliciously rich pasta. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan and grind on cracked black pepper.
If you enjoyed my asparagus and mushrooms, bacon and Parmesan gnocchi recipe, please try my capricciosa pasta recipe for mushroom, artichoke, olive and ham fusilli. It’s become one of the pasta recipes I have on repeat. It’s delicious, quick and easy, and versatile: skip the cream (I prefer just extra virgin olive oil) or add more for a rich, creamy pasta (mum’s preference!).
As with the asparagus and mushrooms gnocchi, it was a dish I conceived for my mother, who can’t eat spicy food anymore, and when it comes to eating Asian food only eats Cantonese. Aside from Russian-Ukrainian food and Middle Eastern food, mum only really enjoys Italian food these days, especially pastas, and particularly rich and creamy pastas.
She adores any dishes with mushrooms and loves the ham/bacon and mushroom combination – another perfect ingredient combo along with those other genius pairings I mused about in previous posts: cucumber and yoghurt, tomato and buffalo mozzarella, etc – so I’ve been developing new recipes that meet mum’s criteria. Lots more to come but suggestions welcome!
Capricciosa Pasta Recipe for Mushroom, Artichoke, Olive and Ham Fusilli
Hearty Penne Pasta with Sausage, Potatoes and Peppers Recipe
Another one of our 31 recipes to cook in May 2025, this penne pasta with sausage, potatoes and peppers recipe makes a hearty pasta inspired by the Spanish ‘poor man’s potatoes’, a rustic home-style dish of sausage, potatoes, bell peppers (capsicums), and onions fried in extra virgin olive oil and garlic, seasoned with salt and pepper, and sprinkled with fresh flat-leaf parsley and grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
If you made my recipe for ‘poor man’s potatoes’ – a traditional dish from Southern Spain of fried potatoes, capsicums and onions cooked in olive oil and garlic, seasoned with little else but good quality sea salt and cracked black pepper, and showered with fresh flat-leaf parsley – and you enjoyed that, you’re going to love this soul-nourishing pasta dish.
This is one of those dishes that make even better leftovers. Like a lot of recipes I create and share here, this penne pasta with sausage, potatoes and peppers was the result of getting creative with leftovers – in this case leftover ‘poor man’s potatoes’. Now I make that rustic dish just so I can make this penne pasta with sausage, potatoes, capsicums, and onions.
It’s not only one of our best pasta recipes, it’s one of our best recipes with potatoes. It’s a recipe that makes a deliciously hearty vegetarian pasta if you leave out the sausages. Although juicy fatty sausages really make the dish, you can use whatever sausages you have in the fridge. I love herby Italian-style sausages, but a fat Spanish chorizo gives the pasta a nice kick of heat.
This dish is next in our series of easy pastas, which has included recipes for canned tuna pasta with scallions, capers and fresh herbs, asparagus, mushrooms and bacon gnocchi, a creamy tomato pasta sauce with gnocchi, my cherry tomato feta pasta recipe, a canned sardine pasta with gremolata and pangrattato, mac and cheese with caramelised shallots and crispy bacon, and bacon and mushroom pasta.
Hearty Penne Pasta with Sausage, Potatoes and Peppers Recipe
Delightful Thai Grilled Eggplant Salad Recipe with Red Shallots, Fragrant Mint and Soft-Boiled Eggs
This Thai grilled eggplant salad recipe makes a delightful dish of smoky pieces of creamy eggplant with sweet red shallots, aromatic mint, the umami of fish sauce, a sublime soft-boiled egg, and a kick of chilli. This salad is best when the eggplant is straight from the grill or barbecue, and combined with the other ingredients just before serving.
Light, fragrant and flavourful, this Thai salad of smoky grilled eggplant with shallots, mint, chilli powder, and a soft-boiled egg makes a fantastic side dish, one of an array of dishes if you’re cooking up a Thai feast, or a filling main course if you add a five-minute egg and a bowl of jasmine rice, as we did yesterday.
You won’t find this David Thompson dish on a cookie-cutter Thai restaurant menu so if you’re craving good Thai food as much as I have been lately – ah, I’d give anything to be able to hop on a plane to Thailand and dine at David Thompson’s restaurant Aksorn in Bangkok – then you’ll need to make this smoky grilled eggplant salad yourself.
You might also have spotted David Thompson’s Thai eggplant salad recipe in his Thai Food cookbook. Thompson calls the dish yam makreua yao in his Thai Food cookbook, although you’ll mostly see ‘eggplant salad’ spelled as yam makeua yao (no ‘r’) – a ‘yam’ is salad and ‘makeua’ is eggplant. You’ll also see it spelled as: yum makeua yao, yum makua yao, and yum ma kua yao if you’re doing further research. It’s ยำมะเขือ in Thai.
Delightful Thai Grilled Eggplant Salad Recipe with Red Shallots, Fragrant Mint and Soft-Boiled Eggs
Tonkatsu Recipe for Crunchy Japanese Deep Fried Pork Cutlet and Tonkatsu Sauce
One of our best Japanese recipes, this tonkatsu recipe makes the most tender, juicy Japanese deep fried pork cutlet you’ll ever taste. This simple but revered deep-fried Japanese pork dish has an amazing crunch from the golden panko crust, melt-in-your-mouth moist pork, and the tangy taste of the tonkatsu sauce. It was another one of our 31 recipes to cook in May 2025.
When we need a break from Southeast Asian cooking, this Japanese favourite is one of the first dishes I’ll make. We first realised what a great dish tonkatsu could be on our second trip to Tokyo way back in 2010, almost mid-way through the year-long global grand tour that launched this website.
At a tranquil tonkatsu place at sleek Roppongi Hills we ate our perfectly deep-fried, breaded pork cutlet in silence. How could such a simple dish be so incredible we wondered? Well, it’s the combination of the golden panko crunch, moist tender pork, the punch of the brown tonkatsu sauce, and refreshing cabbage ‘salad’ that makes a great tonkatsu.
Tonkatsu Recipe for Crunchy Japanese Deep Fried Pork Cutlet and Tonkatsu Sauce
Pumpkin Chickpea Curry Recipe with Cashews, Coriander and Crispy Shallots
One of our best pumpkin recipes, our recipe for a rich pumpkin chickpea curry with cashews and coriander calls for Thai massaman curry paste, but this vegetarian curry was inspired by a Cambodian curry soup made with a red Khmer spice paste and pumpkin, but is also delicious made with Thai red curry paste or any of the Cambodian curry pastes, such as the paste that makes this rich Cambodian saraman curry.
Use our homemade spice paste recipes if you have time or store-bought curry pastes if you don’t, and steamed jasmine rice instead of rice noodles if you like. Our recipe is nothing if not versatile and there are few dishes more warming than curries. More of our best curry recipes here.
I’ve been buying pumpkins to make soup, stew and curry here in southern Australia, where, as I write, it’s a wintry 8°C (46°F) and grey and dreary out. After making this pumpkin curry I’ll start making our other pumpkin dishes – pumpkin porridges, pumpkin soups, pumpkin pastas, pumpkin puddings.
Pumpkin Chickpea Curry Recipe with Cashews, Coriander, Crispy Shallots
Braised Cabbage Recipe with Bacon for a Rich Savoury Cabbage Side
This braised cabbage recipe with bacon makes a rich savoury side to almost any main course. My baboushka served braised cabbage with meatballs, kotleti (chicken meat patties), and roast chicken, and used it to fill Ukrainian-style varenyky.
Easy to make, it comes together quickly, though the lower and slower you cook it, the richer it tastes. This is even richer than my grandmother’s and it’s one of my favourite cabbage recipes, and another one of our 31 recipes to cook in May 2025.
Braised cabbage always featured as one of an array of plates that were shared family-style for Easter and Christmas meals and Sunday lunches, which at a bare minimum included piroshki (hand pies), beetroot and potato salad, a classic garden salad, and casserole pots brimming with Russian pelmeni and potato vareniki.
Braised Cabbage Recipe with Bacon for a Rich Savoury Side Dish to Almost Any Main
Chorizo Cabbage and Three Bean Stew Recipe
Our hearty chorizo cabbage and three bean stew recipe makes my spicy take on a traditional Eastern European style stew inspired by one of my family recipes my Russian-Ukrainian grandmother cooked called kapustniak, kapustnyak or kapusniak in Russia, Ukraine and Poland.
Originally made with kielbasa and sauerkraut, I use chorizo to add warmth and deep flavours, and three types of beans to add texture. It’s one of my favourite winter soup recipes and one of my best cabbage recipes. Like all good Russian grandmas, my baboushka had an impressive repertoire of hearty soups and stews.
In autumn and winter, there seemed to always be a big pot of something bubbling on the stove, steaming up the windows in a kitchen that was always cold, and filling the house with mouthwatering aromas. This is another of our 31 recipes to cook in May.
Chorizo, Cabbage and Three Bean Stew Recipe for a Spicy Take on a Traditional Eastern European Stew
Spaghetti Stroganoff Recipe for a Russian Inspired Mushroom Bolognese
My spaghetti Stroganoff recipe will make you a Russian Stroganoff inspired mushroom Bolognese with spaghetti instead of tagliatelle, and a ragù of mushrooms and ground beef and pork, flavoured with the quintessential Stroganoff ingredients, allspice, paprika, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and sour cream. It’s deeply flavoured yet quick and easy to make.
If you’re a fan of the legendary Russian dish beef Stroganoff and a lover of the Northern Italy classic ragu alla Bolognese, the rich meaty sauce traditionally served with tagliatelle; the Italian-Australian/American spaghetti Bolognese, or even my ‘cheat’s Bolognese’ (some of our best pasta recipes), you should also enjoy my spaghetti Stroganoff recipe, a delicious fusion of the lot.
And if you are a Stroganoff fan, we’ve got a collection of best Stroganoff recipes, which includes recipes for my beef Stroganoff, chicken Stroganoff, meatball Stroganoff, mushroom Stroganoff, and pork Stroganoff, which uses the Chinese velveting technique. We also have recipes for classic Stroganoff sides, including crispy shoestring fries, mashed potatoes, buckwheat kasha, and dill pickles.
If you enjoy Slavic cuisines, we have dozens of family recipes from four generations of women cooks from the Russian-Ukrainian side of my family, my great grandmother, grandmother, mum, and myself, including recipes for borscht, piroshki, cabbage rolls, chicken kotleti, mashed potato and caramelised onion-stuffed vareniki and minced beef and pork-filled pelmeni.
Spaghetti Stroganoff Recipe for a Russian Inspired Mushroom Bolognese
Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe with Cabbage, Crunchy Peanuts, Crispy Fried Shallots
This Vietnamese chicken salad recipe makes a fantastic year-round salad called gỏi gà bắp cải in Vietnamese. The healthy Vietnamese shredded chicken salad has heaps of texture thanks to shredded cabbage and carrot, crunchy peanuts and crispy fried onions. It’s also loaded with umami with a lively dressing of Vietnamese fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, and chilli.
One of our best nut recipes thanks to the crunchy peanuts, it has loads of texture – also courtesy of the crispy fried shallots and shredded cabbage – in the way that the best Southeast Asian salads do. Som tam is another great example of those textured Asian salads. Like som tam, it’s fantastic with grilled pork and fried chicken.
The cuisines of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam all feature deliciously addictive salads and we’ve got loads of Southeast Asian salad recipes in our archives, but if you’re new to Southeast Asian salads, some of my favourites are this Shan tomato salad from Myanmar, this Thai grilled eggplant salad, this Cambodian pork and yam bean salad and banana flower salad, and this Vietnamese bitter melon salad.
Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe with Cabbage, Crunchy Peanuts, Crispy Fried Shallots
Italian Potato Salad Recipe with Olives, Capers, Anchovies and Rucola
Our Italian potato salad recipe with olives, capers, anchovies and rucola makes a fantastic year-round potato salad made with quintessential Mediterranean ingredients. It’s one of our best potato salads, and one of many Italian potato salads we fell in love with during our travels in Italy, and it’s another one of our 31 recipes to cook in May 2025.
Although I adore eating this Italian potato salad while it’s still warm – and who doesn’t love a warm potato salad? They’re a fantastic accompaniment to so many winter mains and this German potato salad recipe makes one of my favourite warm potato salads – it’s really a great year-round salad.
Like the Italian green beans recipe, above, this Italian potato salad is the perfect accompaniment to Mediterranean style braised chicken, juicy pan-roasted brined pork chops, chicken cacciatore, or even chicken schnitzel or chicken parma. It would also be fab with côte de bœuf.
Italian Potato Salad Recipe with Olives, Capers, Anchovies and Rucola
Cambodian Sour Soup With Pork, Pineapple and Coconut Milk for Samlor Machou Ktis
This Cambodian sour soup with pork, pineapple and coconut milk recipe makes a versatile dish that you can serve as a soup by thinning it out with stock or water, or dish it out as an almost curry-like stew by letting it simmer longer and reduce right down. It’s a great year-round dish. Serve with steamed rice and stir-fried greens.
We first shared the recipe as part of our series on Cambodian soups – the first was the Cambodian sour beef soup with morning glory (samlor machou kroeung sach ko) and next was the ‘outside the pot’ soup. This was another one of our favourite Cambodian soups for its versatility and presentation, as much as for its sour and sweet flavours, and it’s one of our best coconut milk recipes.
Few things are as comforting as soups and we all need comfort right now, so while Terence is char-grilling aubergines and turning beef skewers on the brazier for his Cambodian barbecue recipe series, I’m stirring pots of bubbling Cambodian soups on the stove.
Cambodian Sour Soup With Pork, Pineapple and Coconut Milk for Samlor Machou Ktis
Okonomiyaki Recipe for Japanese Cabbage Pancakes
This classic okonomiyaki recipe for the umami-packed Japanese cabbage pancakes is one of our 31 recipes to make in May 2025. One of our favourite cabbage recipes, okonomiyaki is made from eggs, finely sliced cabbage, grated yams, dashi stock, and a little flour to bind the pancake. It’s a very filling meal, but best of all, it can be eaten at any time of day.
Okonomiyaki roughly translates to “as you like it”, which means the toppings – sometimes cooked separately – can vary greatly. Some of the most common toppings include pork belly or bacon, prawns, octopus, and other seafood.
The plump savoury pancakes are served at teppanyaki restaurants where they’re made old-school style on the teppanyaki grill. You’ll also spot them on menus at Japanese izakayas, casual taverns where the food is served to soak up the booze. While heartier, they’re presented with more finesse.
If you’re as addicted to umami as we are and haven’t tried these filling savoury pancakes topped with a sauce made from soy and Worcestershire, creamy mayo, umami-rich bonito flakes and nori flakes, and a sprinkle of furikake (sesame seeds, nori and chilli flakes) for more texture and flavour, make these now. You’ll love them.
Okonomiyaki Recipe for Japanese Cabbage Pancakes for Umami Lovers + Okonomiyaki Sauce Recipe
Green Minestrone Soup Recipe that Evolves Like the Seasons
This green minestrone soup recipe makes an easy, versatile, year-round soup that starts out as a light fresh spring soup, but leave it overnight and it evolves into a warming, hearty autumn broth. is one of our 31 recipes to make in May 2025 for
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.
What I love most about this green minestrone soup recipe is that the soup 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.
Although there are only two of us, I make enough of this soup for six so that there’ll be leftovers to refrigerate overnight. On the first day, I simmer everything until just-cooked, adding the beans and peas at the end so that they’re still fresh, firm and bright green when serving.
Then, while we’re eating, I leave the remaining soup to simmer longer, until the potatoes are soft and starting to break apart, until the butter beans are rich and creamy, and the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rind is melting and oozing. I refrigerate it overnight and the next day we have a hearty stew-like broth for lunch and dinner.
Best Coleslaw Recipe with Purple Cabbage, Crunchy Carrot and Pickled Pink Shallots
Another one of our 31 recipes to make in May 2025, our best coleslaw recipe is made with purple cabbage and pickled pink shallots and 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 picnic salad. All those bold bright colours just scream summer.
To prep your cabbage, remove any damaged outer leaves, and core your cabbage. When it comes to shredding the cabbage, I use a sharp knife to finely slice it, however, you can use a mandoline.
For shredding 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.
Follow this recipe for pink pickled shallots if you don’t any. It’s a quick pickled recipe, which is best made the day before, but will be just fine if you make them the day of the coleslaw. We love Hellmann’s creamy mayonnaise or the Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise.
Best Coleslaw Recipe with Purple Cabbage, Crunchy Carrot and Pickled Pink Shallots
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 winter or serve warm in spring or summer. It’s fantastic with chicken schnitzel and a side of coleslaw.
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 and it’s another of our 10 most popular recipes of May.
While that’s definitely appealing in the chilly months of autumn and winter, in the warmer months of spring and scorching summer months, you might want to serve this potato salad warm or at room temperature.
Whatever temperature you decide on, this German potato salad recipe makes a terrific accompaniment to meatballs, roast chicken, sausages, any barbecued meats, and it’s also fantastic with a side of coleslaw.
German Potato Salad Recipe for a Warm Potato Salad with Bacon, Celery and Scallions
Japanese Fried Rice Recipe for Yakimeshi with Bacon, Egg and Cabbage
This Japanese fried rice recipe for yakimeshi with bacon and egg makes my take on the classic Japanese fried rice. I’ve added shredded cabbage, sesame seeds and roasted seaweed to give the fried rice greater texture, along with quintessential Japanese ingredients, such as Japanese soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, sesame oil, and shichimi togarashi Japanese seven spice to intensify the flavour.
When we first made this we had some leftover steamed Japanese rice in the fridge, which we had with Japanese fried chicken and the Japanese style cucumber and cabbage salad. The best thing to do with leftover rice is make fried rice, so that’s what I did. I made Japanese fried rice. And it’s another one of our 31 recipes to cook in May 2025.
But you know me: not content with making one of the many fried rice recipes in our archives, I couldn’t help but experiment. As regular readers know, in between working on our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history, I’ve been developing a rice cookbook during the pandemic.
The rice cookbook project emerged from a ‘rice war’ that broke the internet and resulted in these stories: Make Rice Not War, A Celebration of Rice Diversity to Inspire Curiosity and Connection and How to Cook Rice Around the World: 66 Rice Dishes by 65 Rice Lovers. And this rice recipe was the result of experimentation, as all the best rice recipes are.
Japanese Fried Rice Recipe for Yakimeshi with Bacon, Egg and Cabbage
Russian Meatballs Recipe for Tefteli for Juicy Meatballs in a Creamy Tomato Sauce
This Russian meatballs recipe for tefteli makes some of the juiciest meatballs you’ll ever taste. Made with ground beef and minced pork, grated carrot, and cooked rice, these incredibly delicious meatballs are coated in flour, fried until brown to lock in their juices, and simmered in a rich, creamy tomato sauce to finish cooking and soak up even more flavour.
I know I told you that our Italian-style meatballs recipe made one of the best meatballs ever for the most flavoursome and juiciest meatballs you’ll taste. But I hadn’t yet shared my baboushka’s Russian meatballs recipe for tefteli, an even softer, even more succulent, yet textured meatball thanks to the addition of cooked rice and grated carrot.
Like our recipe for the Italian-style meatballs, this recipe for my Russian-Ukrainian grandmother’s home-cooked meatballs is another of our best meatball recipes – which, if you haven’t browsed that collection, includes recipes for all kinds of meatballs, from the Spanish meatballs called albondigas, a popular tapas bar snack, to the Southeast Asian meatballs that squeezed into baguettes here in Northern Cambodia or rolled up in rice paper in Vietnam and Southern Cambodia.
Russian Meatballs Recipe for Tefteli – Juicy Meatballs Made with Rice in a Creamy Tomato Sauce
Please do let us know if you make any of our 31 recipes to cook in May 2025 as we’d love to know how they turn out for you.
