Our most popular recipes in January 2026 were a real mix of recipes from long-time reader favouritesm such as my deeply flavoured Russian beef Stroganoff recipe and spiced Middle Eastern rice recipe, which in recent years have topped these lists month after month, to my Russian-Ukrainian family recipes like my traditional Russian beef stew recipe for solyanka and borscht, especially popular as was Orthodox Christmas in January, to recipes from the yearlong trip that launched Grantourismo, such as our Moroccan lamb tagine recipe.
As I said when I shared our 25 most popular recipes of 2025, the most popular food posts, culinary travel posts and most popular travel posts of 2025, I would love to be able to tell you all that we’ve been on holidays to explain the infrequent posts in January, and pause in newsletters (rebooting those asap; apologies to subscribers!) but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
As some readers know, I’ve been in Australia taking care of my elderly mum. We spent January dealing with horrific heatwaves, catastrophic bushfires close by, and occasional power cuts on the hottest days, which meant internet outages. After fire damaged broadcast transmission towers, we also lost free-to-air TV and mum’s favourite quiz shows, so in addition to caring, cooking and cleaning, I took on entertaining duties, from conducting trivia nights to playing YouTube DJ.
Something had to give. Unfortunately that was Grantourismo (and my sanity!). Now that mum’s television channels and beloved game shows have been restored, I finally have time to return to the site. First, I want to share these round-up posts that you all tell us you find inspiring, then I have lots of new recipes to share, as well as the launch of a new yearlong series. More on that shortly. If I owe you an email, I promise to reply asap.
Don’t forget, if you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, do browse our recipe archives, which are brimming with many hundreds of recipes we’ve cooked, created and collected from around the world, from places we’ve lived, worked, travelled, and loved. And when you find recipes you love, please share them with friends.
Now before you scroll down to our most popular recipes in January 2026, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; booking a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith; or buying something on Amazon, such as one of these best new cookbooks of 2025 or classic cookbooks for serious cooks. Now let’s tell you about the most popular January recipes.
Most Popular Recipes in January 2026 – Recipes Readers Loved Last Month
If you’re looking for cooking inspiration, these were the most popular recipes in January 2026 – the recipes readers searched for, spent most of their time on, and hopefully cooked in January – and we’ve also shared our 28+ recipes to make in February here.
Russian Beef Stroganoff Recipe
Once again, my classic beef Stroganoff recipe topped our list of most popular recipes in January 2026. It was no surprise, as it was the most popular recipe last year. My take on one of my Russian-Ukrainian family recipes, my recipe differs a little to mum’s from the 1970s, in that it’s more richly spiced. It also includes an unusual ingredient that often shocks readers, but actually makes sense.
An old aristocratic Russian dish with a long history, beef Stroganoff was popularised in early Soviet canteens before travelling the world with Russian émigrés, exiles and World War 2 refugees like my Russian-Ukrainian grandparents. It’s now popular around the globe, everywhere from Brazil to Bendigo, where I’ve never seen so many forms of Stroganoff in a supermarket, from seasonings to pre-prepared meals.
But nothing beats homemade Stroganoff and this beef Stroganoff recipe is one of my best Stroganoff recipes. I also have recipes for mushroom, chicken, meatball, and pork Stroganoff. We love to serve beef Stroganoff with classic sides, such as crunchy shoestring fries or mashed potatoes, a crisp garden salad, dill pickles, and sour cream.
For a proper family meal of the kind my baboushka made, serve it as part of a spread of dishes, including bowls of borscht with piroshki, a pink beet potato salad and garden salad, casserole pots full of Russian pelmeni and Ukrainian vareniki, cabbage rolls, and perhaps some chicken kotleti.
Russian Beef Stroganoff Recipe for a Retro Classic from a Palace Kitchen
Middle Eastern Rice Recipe with Spices, Dried Fruit and Nuts
I loved seeing my quick and easy Middle Eastern rice recipe with spices, nuts and raisins was another of the most popular recipes in January 2026. Like the beef Strog, it was one of the most popular recipes of 2025. My recipe will make you a fragrant rice dish infused with Middle Eastern spices and textured with nuts and raisins, and it’s one of our best Middle Eastern recipes.
But while my Middle Eastern rice recipe is authentic in taste and texture – there are few more quintessential Middle Eastern spice blends than the ‘seven spice’ mix known as ‘baharat’, and nuts such as pistachios and cashews – the technique I use is inauthentic. Instead of the pilaf method of cooking rice, I use the Asian stir-fry method to use up leftover rice.
This spiced rice is fantastic with smoky kofta kebab, the garlicky chicken called shish tawook, chicken shawarma, Middle Eastern vegetable sides, such as these spicy potatoes from Lebanon, and salads like fatoush and tabbouleh. I combine any leftover rice with leftover meat, which I break up into bite-sized pieces and quickly stir-fry again. The result is a wonderful rice dish that makes an easy yet comforting meal for a filling lunch or casual dinner.
Middle Eastern Rice Recipe with Spices, Pistachios, Cashews and Raisins
How to Boil Eggs Perfectly Every Time
Not so much a recipe, but rather a guide to how to boil eggs perfectly every time, this was another of our most popular recipes in January 2026. Terence shared his perfect boiled eggs guide in his just-turned 16 year old Weekend Eggs recipes series on breakfast egg dishes from around the world, which we started way back in January 2010 when we launched Grantourismo.
Even if you’re not a breakfast eggs person and prefer to slurp a noodle soup or tuck into a plate of pancakes, it’s still handy to learn how to boil eggs perfectly. We use soft-boiled eggs in our creamy curried egg sandwiches and semi hard-boiled eggs in our ohn no khao swe recipe for the wonderful Burmese chicken coconut noodle soup.
Terence’s tips include everything from starting with room temperature eggs and beginning boiling the eggs in boiling water to using old eggs rather than fresh eggs. And he has lots more tips in the post. If you’re a lover of boiled eggs, we have more boiled eggs recipes here.
How to Boil Eggs Perfectly Every Time for Perfect Soft and Hard Boiled Eggs
Traditional Russian Christmas Food Recipes
It was no surprise to see that this collection of my traditional Russian Christmas food recipes was another of our most popular recipes in January 2026, as it was Orthodox Christmas on 7 January, when I cooked my mother, who has Russian-Ukrainian heritage, a feast of Russian pelmeni and Ukrainian vareniki, including a new hybrid pelmeni-vareniki dish I’ll share here soon.
Traditionally the Orthodox Christmas begins on Christmas Eve (6 January) when many Russians and Orthodox Christians from neighbouring Slavic countries sit down for a Christmas Eve dinner, feet aching from a long late church service. I’m speaking from experience!
But many families also enjoy an Orthodox Christmas lunch or Christmas dinner the next day, which was the tradition in my Russian-Ukrainian grandparents; home when I was growing up in Sydney’s western suburbs. I thought I was the luckiest kid in the world, getting to celebrate two Christmases and two Easters.
This compilation includes some of the Russian-Ukrainian family recipes that my grandmother used to spent days in the kitchen preparing for our family feasts, from borscht to piroshki, cabbage rolls to kotleti, as well as some of my mother’s favourite dishes, such as this Russian crab salad.
Traditional Russian Christmas Food Recipes for Orthodox Christmas Feasts
Cambodian Nom Banh Chok Recipe
Cambodian food has such a special place in our hearts, having lived in Siem Reap since 2013, researching and writing our epic Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. So I love seeing readers searching for our Cambodian recipes and am thrilled to see this nom banh chok recipe high on the list of our most popular recipes in January 2026.
Nom banh chok, also written as nom banhchok, is both the name of the fresh daily-made rice noodles and the noodle soup itself. Nom banh chok is thought to be an ancient Khmer dish that has influenced many other noodle soup dishes around Southeast Asia, from Thailand’s khanom jeen to a Southern Vietnam Khmer dish from the Mekong Delta called bún kèn.
There are a handful of types of nom banh chok, but our traditional nom banh chok recipe for Cambodia’s beloved ‘Khmer Noodles’ will make you nom banh chok samlor proher, a popular Siem Reap breakfast of the rice noodles served with a yellow-green coconut-based fish curry, fragrant with fresh herbs, seasonal greens, edible flowers, and foraged herbs.
Authentic Nom Banh Chok Recipe for Cambodia’s Beloved Khmer Noodles
Buckwheat Kasha with Bacon, Eggs and Mushrooms
Despite the rustic appearance, this is perhaps the least traditional of my Russian-Ukrainian family recipes. Although I have to confess that of all the Russian breakfasts my baboushka used to make – French toast, blini, potato cakes, and buckwheat pancakes – kasha was my least favourite breakfast as a child. The nutty flavour and strong smell put me off.
It wasn’t until I was an adult that I became smitten with kasha. This comforting Russian buckwheat kasha recipe with caramelised onions, bacon lardons, pan-fried mushrooms, and soft-boiled eggs makes my heartier take on my grandmother’s traditional Russian breakfast and it was another of our most popular recipes in January 2026 on Grantourismo.
The key ingredient of this savoury porridge (kasha) is buckwheat groats (grechka). While based on my grandmother’s recipe, I’ve spiced things up. My baba kept things simple and sprinkled chopped hard-boiled eggs on top, whereas I use soft-boiled eggs, and garnish it with diced gherkins, loads of fresh fragrant dill, and a dollop of sour cream. If you enjoy this, try my spiced pumpkin kasha rcipe for cossack comfort food.
Russian Buckwheat Kasha Recipe with Bacon, Caramelised Onions, Mushrooms and Eggs
Russian Beef Stew Recipe for Solyanka
Another of our most popular recipes in January 2026, 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 when it was a staple dish during the medieval period.
First mentioned in print in the 15th century, solyanka is an ancient dish made for modern times: it’s a one-pot dish that is filling and comforting. Based on my baboushka’s recipe, which I grew up eating in the 1970s and 1980s, it’s one of our best stew recipes.
Solyanka has long been thought to have been invented to use up leftovers, which explains all the bits and pieces, and why some solyanka recipes call for several kinds of meats and sausages, and ingredients such as dill pickle juice.
Traditional Russian Beef Stew Recipe for Solyanka, a Medieval Dish for Modern Times
Borscht Recipe for the Soup of my Childhood
This borscht recipe makes the hearty home-cooked soup of my childhood that my Russian-Ukrainian grandmother used to make. While borscht has its provenance in Ukraine, it was cooked all over Russia, the former Soviet states, Poland, and parts of Eastern Europe.
My baboushka’s beetroot-driven vegetable soup was also served with sour cream and fresh dill and was a filling meal in itself. For a week-day meal, we’d slurp it for lunch or dinner the first night, typically with piroshki (hand pies), then for breakfast the next day.
Borscht would also get served as a starter before a weekend family feast, along with this beet potato salad, Olivier potato salad, a classic garden salad, Russian pelmeni, Ukrainian varenyki (mashed potato with caramelised onion filled dumplings), stuffed cabbage rolls, and chicken kotleti (pan fried meat patties).
Russian Borscht Recipe for the Hearty Home-Cooked Soup of my Childhood
Creamy Cauliflower and Cabbage Potato Soup Recipe
One of our most popular winter soup recipes, one of our best potato soup recipes, and one of our favourite cabbage recipes, my easy cauliflower cabbage potato soup recipe makes a creamy vegetable soup that’s incredibly rich and comforting. It was another of our most popular recipes in January 2026 on Grantourismo.
This creamy cauliflower cabbage potato soup recipe will make you a comforting vegetable soup textured with homemade croutons that tastes so rich and creamy you’d think there was cream in it (there isn’t!) and while you could happily tuck into a bowl on the sofa in your PJs, you could also make it a bit fancy.
You could enjoyably slurp it as it is on a chilly winter or autumn/fall evening, dunking toast into the silky broth. Or you could add texture to the soup by sprinkling on those crushed croutons, fresh fragrant dill sprigs, and cracked black pepper on top. For a dinner party you could serve small portions in shot glasses or an espresso cup and sauce with toast fingers as an amuse bouche or starter.
Cauliflower Cabbage Potato Soup Recipe for a Comforting Creamy Vegetable Soup
Korean Coleslaw Recipe for a Classic Side Salad
This Korean coleslaw recipe makes a zingy Korean cabbage salad that we first shared as part of a series of Korean small plate dishes we love – Korean street food, Korean sides called banchan, and Korean dishes served as drinking food called anju – which included recipes for Korean corn cheese, Korean meatballs, Korean potato salad, and Korean cucumber salad.
If you’re a lover of cabbage dishes, especially coleslaw and cabbage salads, such as my colourful coleslaw made with purple cabbage and pickled pink shallots, this Burmese raw cabbage salad, and this Japanese style cabbage and cucumber salad, you’re also going to enjoy this classic Korean cabbage salad recipe for Korean coleslaw.
We love to serve this Korean slaw as a side to Korean fried chicken – or any fried chicken for that matter! – with Korean-style burgers (or this Japanese chicken katsu burger) or tucked into a Korean-inspired gourmet hotdog.
If you’re a fan of Korean food and have made and enjoyed our Korean recipes for Korean spicy udon noodles, Korean japchae (glass noodles), and bokkeumbap (kimchi fried rice), you will love this Korean coleslaw. It was another of our most popular recipes in January 2026.
Classic Korean Coleslaw Recipe for a Korean Cabbage Salad Side Dish
Authentic Cambodian Fish Amok Recipe
One of my favourite Cambodian recipes, this classic Cambodian fish amok recipe for a traditional steamed fish curry is based on the recipe of a respected family of elderly cooks whose mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers made the dish during a time when Cambodian women thought nothing of spending a full day preparing a family feast – and we did just that with the ladies when we met them soon after moving to Siem Reap way back in 2013.
Our fish amok recipe makes an authentic steamed fish curry made to a recipe from an older generation of cooks who believe that if it’s not properly steamed, it’s not amok trei, a steamed fish curry. ‘Amok’ means to steam in banana leaves in Khmer and many Cambodians believe this refined dish is a Royal Khmer specialty dating back to the Khmer Empire. Although the banana leaf packaging and firm-ish texture also made it easy for farmers to transport to the rice fields for lunch.
Our recipe doesn’t make the watery fish amok style curry or sloppy fish amok you might have eaten in Siem Reap tourist restaurants, which can be made in minutes in a wok. To make this authentic steamed fish curry from scratch, including pounding your own Khmer yellow kroeung (a herb and spice paste), you’ll need to allow at least an hour. It’s worth it!
Cambodian Fish Amok Recipe for an Authentic Steamed Fish Curry in the Old Style
Calabrian Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta Recipe
I was thrilled to see that this spicy Italian sausage pasta recipe was another of the most popular recipes in January 2026, as it’s one of our best pasta recipes. We fell in love with this pasta dish many years ago, on one of our most memorable culinary adventures, a months-long road trip criss-crossing Calabria, Italy’s southernmost mainland region, researching and writing the first English-language Calabria travel guidebook.
It was on that Calabria trip that we fell in love with Calabrian cuisine, some of Italy’s spiciest food, courtesy of Peperoncino Calabrese or Calabrian chilli used in everything from bomba Calabrese, a spicy chilli relish, and Calabrian soppressata, a spicy salami, to Calabria’s fiery spreadable chilli pepper and pork sausage, ’nduja. You can read more about that in our guide to ’nduja and how to use it.
Traditionally, this recipe calls for ’nduja, although you’ll also find Southern Italian pastas made with Italian sausage at restaurants in Calabria, especially the mushroom capital of Camigliatello Silano, that don’t feature ’nduja, such as my mushroom and sausage pasta recipe.
These days it’s easy to buy ’nduja online and if you are a fan, see our recipes for Calabria’s version of eggs in purgatory; an easy nduja bruschetta with goat’s cheese and sweet red capsicum, which makes a perfect snack, brunch, lunch or finger food; our take on Australian chef Christine Manfield’s legendary eggplant ‘sandwich’ with ’nduja (instead of basil pesto); and Terence’s ’nduja pizza made in a Dutch oven.
Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta Recipe from Calabria in Southern Italy
Traditional Burmese Chicken Curry Recipe
Our authentic Burmese chicken curry recipe makes a fragrant gently-spiced curry perfumed with turmeric, ginger, garlic, chilli, and lemongrass. A rich curry with a moreish tomato-based gravy and a layer of aromatic oil that’s soaked up by coconut rice, it’s meant to be served with zingy salads, such as this Burmese raw cabbage salad, Burmese potato salad and Shan tomato salad, and a relish or two.
This classic Burmese chicken curry recipe, and this Burmese Indian style chicken curry recipe, are recipes I’ve adapted from my favourite Burmese cookbook, Mi Mi Khaing’s Cook and Entertain the Burmese Way, dating to 1978. It’s a delightful little booklet I bought in a dusty bookshop near the Strand Hotel in Yangon that is as much a historical document as it is a practical cookbook.
If you’re a lover of curries, you’re going to adore these Burmese curries. And if you do, make sure to browse some of our other Myanmar recipes, including Mi Mi Khaing’s recipe for homemade curry powder, and these recipes for Burmese street food-style fried chicken and Burmese coconut rice.
Classic Burmese Chicken Curry Recipe for an Aromatic Tomato Based Curry
Cambodian Chicken Rice Porridge Recipe
One of our best breakfast rice recipes, on of our best Asian breakfast recipes, and one my favourite Cambodian recipes, this Cambodian chicken rice porridge recipe for borbor sach moan makes a Cambodian congee that I’ve been making since we first moved to Cambodia‘s Siem Reap way back in 2013. If you enjoy this, you’ll also love this borbor sor with pork meatballs.
The Cambodian take on Chinese congee or jok is a classic Cambodian comfort food favourite that’s eaten at any time of day these days. Cambodians tuck into big bowls of borbor for breakfast, brunch, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner (particularly if someone isn’t feeling well), and a late night supper (it’s a great hangover cure).
Called borbor sach moan in Khmer, this chicken congee is thought to be a dish of Chinese origin and part of the Cambodian-Chinese culinary heritage rather than a Khmer dish. But whatever its provenance, over many centuries it’s become a comfort food staple for all Cambodians – as well as Cambodian residents, including ourselves.
Cambodians have really made the classic Chinese rice porridge their own. Here in Siem Reap you’ll find anything from chicken, pork, fish, dried fish, seafood, snails, and frog legs in borbor and you’ll also see an array of condiments, from dried fish floss and pickled vegetables to the condiments we love to use: fish sauce, chilli flakes, chilli oil, and fresh fragrant herbs.
Cambodian Chicken Rice Porridge Recipe for Borbor Sach Moan, Cambodia’s Congee
Japanese Style Cabbage Cucumber Salad Recipe
Another one of the most popular recipes in January 2026, this Japanese style cabbage and cucumber salad recipe calls for quintessential Japanese ingredients such as sliced roasted seaweed or nori sheets, some black sesame seeds and white sesame seeds.
The sesame seeds give it a nutty flavour as well as fantastic texture, while the dressing, made with Shichimi Togarashi Japanese Seven Spice (we recommend the S&B brand), Japanese sesame oil, Japanese soy sauce, Japanese rice vinegar, and mirin give the salad a gentle spice, nuttiness, and delightful tartness and zing.
This salad is the perfect side to Japanese fried chicken, as well as juicy pork tonkatsu, or katsu burgers, or any Japanese comfort food dish. This Japanese potato salad recipe also makes a great side if you’re preparing a Japanese spread.
Japanese Style Cabbage and Cucumber Salad Recipe with Sesame Seeds
Classic Cambodian Chicken Curry Recipe
This classic Cambodian chicken curry recipe makes one of Southeast Asia’s most comforting chicken curries and along with a Saraman curry is one of our favourite curries. While the curry has a depth of flavour that comes from dried spices and fresh aromatic ingredients, it has a richness thanks to a liberal use of coconut cream and milk, and a gentleness due to the mild red chillies.
This chicken curry was originally adapted from Authentic Cambodian Recipes From Mother to Daughter by Sorey Long and Kanika Linden, although Terence has tweaked the recipe over the years. We highly recommend the book if you’re new to Cambodian cooking. If you can get hold of the book the recipe is called Chicken Curry or Samlar Can Moan.
A ‘samlar’ or ‘samlor’ is a stew or soup, which often stumps foreigners unfamiliar with Cambodian food, who have been known to question the consistency of a dish served at a restaurant if they’ve sampled one or the other. ‘Cari’ is curry and ‘moan’ is chicken, which my Cambodian friends often charmingly translate to ‘kitchen’. I can’t tell you how many times Cambodian real estate agents have said “Let me show you the chicken (meaning ‘kitchen’)… ” then break out into giggles when they realise their mistake.
Cambodian Chicken Curry Recipe for a Gentle Comforting Southeast Asian Curry
Khmer Yellow Kroeung Herb and Spice Paste
This Khmer yellow kroeung recipe makes the Cambodian herb and spice paste called kroeung, which is an irreplaceable ingredient in Khmer cooking. The yellow kroeung is the foundational kroeung and the most versatile of the five main herb and spice pastes used in many classic Cambodian dishes, especially soups such as samlor machou kroeung sach ko.
The Khmer yellow kroeung paste is the basic kroeung or freshly-pounded herb and spice paste in Cambodian cooking. The other main four pastes are the green kroeung (kroeung prâhoeur), the red kroeung (kroeung samlor kari), ‘k’tis kroeung’ (kroeung samlor k’tis; k’tis is coconut cream/milk in Khmer), and the saraman kroeung (kroeung samlor saraman), used to make the Cambodian Saraman curry.
The yellow kroeung is used for many classic Khmer and Cambodian dishes, including fish amok (amok trei), a steamed fish curry, and soups such as samlor machou kroeung sach ko, sour beef soup with morning glory, which is why the paste is commonly called kroeung samlor machou.
The Khmer yellow paste is also used as a marinade for the popular street food snack, charcoal-grilled beef skewers, and in prahok k’tis, the ubiquitous Khmer dip made with prahok (fermented fish), minced pork, coconut milk, and pea eggplants that is eaten with crunchy vegetable crudites. This was another of our most popular recipes in January 2026.
Khmer Yellow Kroeung Recipe for Kroeung Samlor Machou, Cambodia’s Essential Spice Paste
Hummus with Spiced Beef Recipe for Hummus bil Lahme
My hummus with spiced beef recipe for hummus bil lahme makes an addictively delicious hummus drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with cumin powder, and topped with a generous layer of richly-spiced ground beef and roasted pine nuts. It’s one of my favourite Middle Eastern dishes and one of our best hummus recipes.
You can tuck into a plate of hummus bil lahme on its own, scooping it up with crispy homemade pita chips – which are a cinch to make in the oven from rounds of pita bread (recipe on previous link) – or serve with pickles and olives and an array of Arabic mezze or starters, such as baba ghanoush and muhammara.
Hummus bil lahme also makes a fantastic side dish to beef kofta, mixed grilled meats, roasted chicken, grilled lamb chops, Arabic sausages, and salads, such as fattoush and tabbouleh, if you’re cooking up a Middle Eastern feast for a group of friends or family. And if you are, please send us an invitation!
Authentic Mexican Guacamole Recipe Like A Mexican Abuela Would Make
This authentic Mexican guacamole recipe makes a genuine Mexican guacamole of the kind a Mexican abuela (grandma) makes – 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.
And it’s one of the best things to make with a mortar and pestle. Although even Mexicans can’t agree on that. Chef Martha Ortiz of Dulce Patria in Mexico City said it was essential to make guacamole with a molcajete, a Mexican mortar and pestle, while Marilau, who we did a Mexican cooking class with in San Miguel de Allende, was adamant that a molcajete wasn’t necessary. She said it’s only used for dry not wet ingredients.
I’ve been making this genuine Mexican guacamole for over 30 years, since we tasted our first proper Mexican guacamole in Mexico City on our inaugural trip to Mexico in the mid-1990s. We became so smitten with this sublime guacamole that was simpler yet far superior to the guacamole I’d been making for a decade or longer, that upon our return to Sydney, Australia, we established a weekend guacamole ritual.
This guacamole is best served with fresh tortilla chips and washed down with classic margaritas or micheladas. You can also top a nachos or big old bowl of chili con carne with a few dollops of this wonderful avocado dip. If you’re making a Mexican feast, fill your table with dishes of guacamole and our easy red tomato salsa, bowls of tortilla soup and plates of tacos al pastor, char-grilled corn on the cobs, a grilled corn salad, nachos, and quesadillas.
Authentic Mexican Guacamole Recipe Like A Mexican Abuela Would Make
Chicken Stew Recipe for an Old Fashioned Stew
Terence believes that chicken stew is one of the dishes that every cook should master to become a better cook, and that’s as good an excuse as any to make my best chicken stew recipe. I have my grandparents and parents to thank for this stew, as well as a couple of tricks – or techniques, more correctly – from two of my favourite cuisines, Indian and Italian.
Our best chicken stew recipe will make you a deeply flavoured old fashioned chicken stew with melt-in-the-mouth chicken that falls off the bone. Subtle use of spices such as turmeric and paprika add earthiness and warmth, while using two types of potatoes – waxy and starchy – ensure some potato pieces remain firm while others break down, creating a thick comforting stew.
If you’re a fellow stew lover, do browse our best stew recipes for recipes for the Russian beef stew called Solyanka, a Spanish rabo de toro oxtail stew, a French cassoulet, a tomato bredie, a classic Cape Town stew, a traditional Irish beef stew, an Irish beef and Guinness stew with dumplings, the Hungarian stew porkolt (often confused goulash), a Cambodian pork stew with star anise and ginger, and my chorizo, cabbage and three bean stew (a spicy take on kapusniak).
Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew
Roast Broccoli Recipe with Zucchini, Beans and Sesame
If you’re a lover of broccoli, you need to make my broccoli soup with cheddar, potato, crispy bacon and crunchy croutons, which I’m completely addicted to, but you should also enjoy this easy roast broccoli recipe. Broccoli, zucchini and green beans are quickly roasted on high heat in seasoned extra virgin olive oil, piled onto a creamy butter bean spread, and showered with sesame seeds. I also like to sprinkle on some chilli flakes.
We love to serve this with succulent braised chicken with olives and capers and a salad, such as this radish cucumber salad with feta, rucola and fresh herbs or sides of roasted cauliflower on hummus with crispy chickpeas and pickled shallots, and either Hassleback potatoes or creamy mashed potatoes.
This roast broccoli recipe is nothing if not versatile and if you’re reluctant to go East-West and prefer more European flavours, use ground paprika instead of chilli flakes, skip the sesame seeds, and sprinkle the vegetables with crispy bacon, toasted breadcrumbs or homemade croutons, and even a little grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
Roasted Broccoli Recipe with Zucchini, Green Beans and Sesame Seeds
Cambodian Sour Beef Soup with Morning Glory Recipe
This Cambodian sour beef soup with morning glory recipe makes a wonderful green vegetable-driven broth called samlor machou kroeung sach ko in Khmer. It’s super-easy to make, especially if you make the Khmer yellow kroeung first. Kroeung is a Cambodian herb and spice paste, and you can read more about it above.
In addition to the funkiness of the fish sauce and prahok (fermented fish paste), a feature of these sour soups is, naturally, their sourness. If you like tang, add the tamarind juice, the souring agent for this soup. In Cambodia, locals use the seeds of krasaing or wood apple as an alternative, but you might have a hard time tracking the fruit down if you live outside Southeast Asia.
If you don’t love sour, leave the tamarind juice out. It’s delicious either way. If you enjoy this, also try these recipes for a Cambodian pork, pineapple and coconut milk soup-cum-stew and the Khmer ‘outside the pot’ soup. This was another of our most popular recipes in January 2026.
Sour Beef Soup with Morning Glory Recipe for Samlor Machou Kroeung Sach Ko
Cumin Spiced 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 (obviously), where you’ll find specialist shops and fast food joints selling little else but chebureki.
If you haven’t tried the traditional cumin-driven chebureki, but you’re a fan of filled fried pastries such as samosas and empanadas then trust me, you are going to adore my mini chebureki recipe. The main differences between my mini chebureki and traditional chebureki is the size and level of spice. I’ve added spices used in Crimean-Tatar cuisine and the cuisines of the Central Asian countries of the Silk Road along which chebureki would have travelled.
Spicy Ground Beef Turnovers Recipe for Mini Chebureki, Fried Cumin Mince Pastries
Potato Vareniki Recipe for Mash and Caramelised Onion Filled Dumplings
Another of our most popular recipes in January 2026, this traditional potato vareniki recipe makes half-moon dumplings filled with mashed potato and caramelised onion that are eaten with sour cream and fresh dill. Boiled the first time they’re cooked, and tossed in plenty of butter, vareniki are fantastic fried the next day.
My Odessa-born Russian-Ukrainian baboushka made a big batch of these, along with meat-filled pelmeni for our shared family meals. Especially for the feasts for Orthodox Christmas and Easter, and the seemingly never-ending Sunday lunches that turned into dinners.
As a child, it was my responsibility to set the dining table and carry the dishes from the kitchen to dining room – everything from baboushka’s dumplings to stuffed cabbage rolls, beetroot potato salad and classic garden salad, and Russian kotleti and piroshki – and I have to confess that I set the casserole pot filled to the brim with the potato vareniki as close to my place setting as possible.
Potato Vareniki Recipe for Mash and Caramelised Onion Filled Dumplings
Ohn No Khao Swe Recipe for Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup
One of our best Asian street food recipes, our ohn no khao swe recipe for Myanmar’s much-loved coconut chicken noodle soup – probably the most popular dish alongside mohinga – combines the best of the many renditions Terence and I sampled on our Myanmar travels, starting with the first ohn no khao swe we savoured at Yangon’s grand old hotel, The Strand.
Ohn no khao swe – more correctly, ohn no khao swè, but you’ll also see it written as ohn no khauk sway, on no khauk swe, ohn no khau sway, and ohn no khau swe – consists of egg noodles in an aromatic chicken curry soup with a coconut milk base, typically garnished with crunchy fried noodles, boiled eggs, shallots, fried garlic, dried chilli, lime, coriander (cilantro), and sometimes fried chickpea fritters.
In Cook and Entertain the Burmese Way, published in 1978, author Mi Mi Khaing includes her ohn no khao swe recipe in a chapter titled Eating Out and One-Dish Meals. Khaing, who was of the Mon ethnic group, married a royal from the Shan States, and was one of the first scholars and authors to write in English about her culture and cuisine.
In the chapter introduction she describes how “from sleek cars drawn up at roadside counters, dainty and bejewelled women get out to eat”, and how dishes were “sold in streets by male hawkers with shoulder poles and two loads. One load holds the fire and main pot; the other, some accompaniments, dishes, and a wash basin” and “female hawkers carrying food more gracefully on their heads”.
Ohn No Khao Swe Recipe for Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup
Classic Cambodian Kuy Teav Recipe for a Soul Nourishing Chicken Noodle Soup
Sold at local markets all over Cambodia, our classic kuy teav recipe makes the chicken version of one of Cambodia’s most popular breakfast noodle soups. Kuy teav sach moan – ‘sach moan’ is chicken meat in Khmer; you’ll also spot kuy teav sach chrouk with pork (chrouk) and kuy teav sach ko with beef (ko) on menus – is also one of Cambodia’s most beloved street food dishes.
I’ve called this recipe a classic Cambodian kuy teav recipe – rather than, say, an ‘authentic’ Cambodian kuy teav recipe as what’s ‘authentic’ is obviously particular to a specific time, place and experience – although I could also have called it a ‘traditional’ Cambodian kuy teav recipe.
The point is to document a Cambodian kuy teav recipe that’s in the restrained style that you would typically come across at a market or street food stall or simple local eatery in Cambodia. A good clear flavourful stock is what has historically distinguished this soup rather than a bowl filled with a variety of or an abundance of ingredients. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Make sure to provide plenty of condiments on the table. Set out dishes of lime quarters, fresh fragrant herbs such as basil, coriander, mint, fish leaf, etc, extra blanched bean sprouts, and finely sliced birds-eye chillies. Also provide pepper and sugar – Cambodians tend to use fish sauce instead of salt in soups – and fish sauce, soy sauce, chilli sauce, chilli flakes, and perhaps some homemade chilli oil.
Classic Cambodian Kuy Teav Recipe for a Soul Nourishing Chicken Noodle Soup
Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Almonds Recipe
Terence learnt to make this traditional Moroccan lamb tagine with prunes and almonds recipe – one of our best recipes with nuts – from the lovely Jamila, the cook at the Marrakech riad we settled into for two weeks in Marrakech way back in February 2010, when we launched Grantourismo.
Morocco was the first stop on that year-long grand tour of the world aimed at inspiring you all to travel more slowly, locally and experientially, forms of travel we’d long believed were more immersive, engaging and interactive, and therefore more meaningful and more memorable. Cooking food, and slow food, was a big part of that project.
This Moroccan tagine has been one of our most popular recipes since we published it, and one of our favourite tagine recipes, along with this classic chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives. If you’re making a full Moroccan meal, kick it off with bowls of Terence’s spiced Moroccan chickpea soup, which he also learnt to make from Jamila, or my hearty Moroccan harrira made with lentils.
For dessert, you could try my take on a sweet Moroccan orange salad with cinnamon, mint, pomegranate and pistachios. And for breakfast, try Terence’s Moroccan version of chakchouka, which he shared for the Moroccan edition of Weekend Eggs.
Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Almonds Recipe from Marrakech
Hearty Penne Pasta with Sausage, Potatoes and Peppers Recipe
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; one of those dishes that make even better leftovers – and you enjoyed that, you’re going to love this soul-nourishing pasta dish.
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.
We shared this dish as part of our series of easy pasta recipes, 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
Egg Foo Young with Gravy Recipe for Chinese American Crispy Omelettes
Readers enjoyed our recipe for the original Cantonese-style egg foo young – or egg foo yung, egg fu yung or the Cantonese fu yong dan or fuyong dan – a delightfully crispy omelette filled with flavourful pork, fresh spring onions and crunchy bean sprouts. With provenance in Southern China dating back to the 18th century Ching Dynasty, it’s one of our best Chinese egg dishes and one of our best omelette recipes.
So for Terence’s Weekend Eggs series he also shared our Chinese American egg foo young with gravy recipe, which makes a popular Chinese takeout dish that originated in Chinese American restaurants in the 19th or 20th century. There are numerous origin stories. Similar egg foo young iterations exist in Chinese diasporas around the world, each with their own tweaks, and they’re all delicious.
If you love a good omelette, try our recipes for a luxurious Southeast Asian crab omelette, the puffy Thai omelette kai jiaw, Thai fried egg salad for yam khai dao, our herby Cambodian sa’om omelette, two classic omelettes, and a Russian sour cream omelette with broccoli and bacon.
Egg Foo Young with Gravy Recipe for Chinese American Crispy Omelettes
Ultimate Nachos Recipe for the Most Delicious Nachos You’ll Eat
It was no surprise that my ultimate nachos recipe was another of our most popular recipes in January 2026, especially toward the end of the month when it was inundated with traffic, as it was National Corn Chip Day on 29 January.
Terence’s Mexican migas recipe with a twist for a ‘Migas tortilla’ and my breakfast nachos with fried egg, avocado, escabeche, tomato salsa, and sour cream, one of our Weekend Eggs recipes, also had lots of visitors that day.
If you’re making our ultimate nachos, after grilling cheese over the corn chips, we love to spread some of Terence’s chili con carne leftovers on top, or my white bean chilli, but you could also top it with vegetarian bean chilli, one of our best canned bean dishes.
Next, we spoon on freshly-made Mexican guacamole, scatter on some Mexican escabeche or mixed vegetable pickles, slices of pickled jalapenos, spring onions, and black olives, and dollop on some sour cream and spicy tomato salsa.
For a full Mexican food feast, also see our recipes for a tortilla soup, tacos al pastor, char-grilled corn on the cob street food snack elotes, grilled corn salad, and quesadillas. Wash it all down with classic margaritas or micheladas.
Ultimate Nachos Recipe for the Most Delicious Nachos You’ll Ever Eat
Persimmon Salad Recipe with Bocconcini, Pepitas, Cranberries and Basil
I was surprised to see my persimmon salad recipe land on this list of most popular recipes in January 2026 for the first time. But then I remembered that winter is persimmon season, and it’s winter in the northern hemisphere, which is easy to forget when we’re sweltering in a heat wave down here.
My recipe makes a pretty salad of mixed lettuce, persimmon, bocconcini, and purple shallots, sprinkled with pepitas and cranberries, and showered with fresh basil. Textured and fragrant, it’s quick and easy, coming together in ten minutes. It’s a wonderfully light yet filling meal on its own, a fantastic picnic side to roast chicken, and a brilliant barbecue salad with grilled fish, smoky lamb chops or spicy sausages.
If you’re a fan of fruit in savoury salads, you’ll love this persimmon salad. As a child, I thought vegetables went in savoury dishes and fruit was for dessert. But having lived in Southeast Asia for so long, where fruit stars in spicy salads – such as this Cambodian green papaya salad with shrimp, green mango salad with smoked fish, banana flower salad with chicken, prawn and pomelo salad, Burmese green mango salad, and Thai som tam – I adore savoury fruit-driven salads.
Although my intro to the sweet and savoury/salty combo didn’t come from Asia but from Europe with Italian melon and prosciutto, which inspired my melon, prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella salad and fig, mozzarella, prosciutto and chicken salad, it was in the Med where we savoured that sweet-salty combo again with fruit and white cheese salads such as this Greek watermelon, feta and red onion salad and Cypriot watermelon, tomato and halloumi salad.
Persimmon Salad Recipe with Bocconcini, Pepitas, Cranberries and Basil
Please do let us know if you make any of our most popular recipes in January 2026, as we’d love to know how they turn out for you. And don’t hesitate to ask questions in the comments below if you need help or ideas. Or share your feedback, tips and tweaks.
