Most Popular Recipes of 2023 from Beef Stroganoff to Fish Amok

Our 23 most popular recipes of 2023 included our gently spiced Russian beef Stroganoff recipe, incredibly rich Cambodian fish amok recipe, a hearty Cape Town tomato bredie, and an authentic Mexican guacamole recipe. Our readers also loved recipes for our Moroccan lamb tagine with prunes and almonds and our salmon potato salad with soft-boiled eggs, capers, gherkins and dill.

A belated happy new year from us here at Grantourismo! We took some time off over the holiday season – I’m currently in Australia with mum, and Terence and Pepper are home in Siem Reap – but we’re back and we’ll be sharing lots of new travel and food stories this month, from new recipes and cooking tips to new travel guides and hotel reviews.

But first I wanted to share with you a couple of our favourite annual round-ups, beginning with this compilation of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023, the most searched-for, most-read and hopefully most-cooked recipes of 2023, and the 23 most popular travel posts of 2023, the travel stories, guides, itineraries, and reviews our visitors read most.

Once again, my deliciously rich and creamy beef Stroganoff recipe topped the list, followed by our authentic Cambodian fish amok recipe and a Cape Town tomato bredie recipe. Terence first shared the recipe for the beloved South African stew way back in 2010 from Camps Bay on the yearlong grand tour of the world that launched Grantourismo.

On that trip, aimed at inspiring you all to travel more slowly, locally and experientially, we settled into places for two weeks at a time to get an insight into how locals lived, and in each place we explored the local food, connected with local cooks and chefs, and learnt to make local specialties. A number of recipes from that trip remain some of our readers’ favourite recipes.

Before I tell you about our 23 most popular recipes of 2023, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo. For instance, you could make a one-off donation to a project close to our hearts, our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon or buy something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, travel books to inspire wanderlust, or gifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers. Now let’s tell you about our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

23 Most Popular Recipes of 2023 from Beef Stroganoff to Fish Amok

Our 23 most popular recipes of 2023 included an array of delicious dishes from around the world.

Classic Russian Beef Stroganoff Recipe

Our gently spiced Russian beef Stroganoff recipe topped the list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023. Better known as a retro-classic of the 1970s, beef Stroganoff is an old aristocratic Russian dish with peasant roots.

My take on this incredibly comforting dish is based on a combination of my family recipe, a beef Stroganoff I fell in love with many years ago, and the earliest documented beef Stroganoff recipes of the mid-late 1800s.

As with all my best Stroganoff recipes, I recommend traditional Russian sides such as mashed potatoes, crispy shoestring fries or buckwheat kasha. A garden salad is a must, as well as dishes of homemade dill pickles and sour cream.

When all the family used to gather for Christmas or Easter or a holiday feast, baboushka would prepare a whole spread of dishes, such as borscht, piroshki, Russian pelmeni and Ukrainian vareniki, stuffed cabbage rolls, a beetroot potato salad, and chicken kotleti.

Authentic Russian Beef Stroganoff Recipe for a Retro Classic from a Palace Kitchen

Authentic Cambodian Fish Amok Recipe

Next on this list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023 was our traditional Cambodian fish amok recipe makes an authentic steamed fish curry to a classic recipe from an older generation of cooks.

While you’ll find fish amok take many forms in Cambodia these days, the older cooks believe that if fish amok is not properly steamed, then it’s not amok trei. ‘Amok’ means to steam in banana leaves and ‘trei’ means fish in Cambodia’s Khmer language.

While the dish is eaten by all Cambodians on all kinds of occasions – the firm consistency and banana leaf wrapping made it convenient for farmers to take it out to the rice paddies for a midday deal, while the sumptuous texture and rich taste made it a wedding party favourite – it’s thought that this refined dish is a Royal Khmer specialty dating as far back as the Khmer Empire.

Cambodian Fish Amok Recipe for an Authentic Steamed Fish Curry in the Old Style

Tomato Bredie Recipe for a Classic Cape Town Stew

Our tomato bredie recipe, which makes a classic Cape Town stew, was next on the list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023. A bredie, which is an Afrikaans word meaning ‘stew’, is a slow-cooked mutton and tomato stew, and it’s as Cape Town as Table Mountain.

The variety of bredies and amount of spices used have an infinite variety of permeations. This is Terence’s version, cooked during our two weeks in Cape Town way back in 2010. After sampling the dish in restaurants and making it in our kitchen several times, Terence found the sweet spot with this recipe.

It’s a good mix of lamb pieces cooked for at least a couple of hours, a good rest overnight before reheating, and then the potatoes. Garnish with fragrant coriander and serve this tomato bredie with some aromatic rice, and roti if possible, and a good South African Shiraz or some ice cold beer.

Tomato Bredie Recipe for a Classic Cape Town Stew from South Africa

Russian Salmon Potato Salad Recipe

Our Russian salmon potato salad recipe with soft-boiled eggs, capers, gherkins and dill makes one of our best recipes with potatoes and it was another one of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

The recipe makes a filling salad that you can eat year-round. In the cool season, you can serve it with warm potatoes and seared salmon straight from the pan, while it can be refrigerated for warm weather meals, such as summer barbecues and spring picnics.

If you’re eating it at home during cool weather, you’ll want to work quickly so the potatoes, seared salmon and soft-boiled eggs are still warm. In spring and summer, I suggest dressing it with little else but extra virgin olive oil, quality sea salt and good ground black pepper, but in winter, I strongly recommend creamy mayonnaise.

In that case, the runnier the eggs the better, but otherwise, soft jammy eggs are what you want. For perfect soft-boiled eggs, Terence has an excellent guide to boiling perfect eggs every time.

Russian Salmon Potato Salad Recipe with Soft-Boiled Eggs, Gherkins, Capers and Dill

Classic Mexican Guacamole Recipe

This authentic Mexican guacamole recipe makes a genuine Mexican guacamole of the kind your Mexican abuela (grandma) might make – the kind that’s made table-side at good restaurants in Mexico. It’s all about the creamy luscious texture, bright green colour and full flavour of perfectly ripe avocados

I’ve been making this authentic Mexican guacamole recipe for almost 30 years, since we tasted our first genuine guacamole in Mexico City on our inaugural trip to Mexico in the mid-Nineties. We became so smitten with that sublime guacamole that was so much simpler yet far superior to the one I’d been making, that we adapted a guacamole ritual and I’ve been making it ever since.

Whether you use a Mexican mortar and pestle called a molcajete or not is much-debated. In Mexico City, chef Martha Ortiz said it was essential, while our cooking instructor in San Miguel de Allende was adamant it wasn’t. As most of our readers outside Mexico probably won’t have a molcajete, the recipe calls for a fork. You could also use a Southeast Asian granite mortar and pestle.

Authentic Mexican Guacamole Recipe Just Like Your Mexican Abuela Would Make

Cote de Boeuf Recipe Courtesy of Chef Pierre Gagnaire

Our classic cote de boeuf recipe from superstar French Chef Pierre Gagnaire became one of our most memorable souvenirs of our stay in Paris, and it’s another of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

When we first posted the recipe for this quintessential French dish on our site way back in 2010, we could never have known it would become one of our most read stories and most popular recipes year after year. Make it and you’ll understand why.

The bone-in ribeye steak is a delicious cut of meat but it is also an expensive cut, so if you’re unsure about oven temperatures or how to judge the doneness of the meat, use a meat thermometer. You don’t want to get this wrong.

Cote de Boeuf Recipe Courtesy of Chef Pierre Gagnaire in Paris

Russian Beef Stew Recipe for Solyanka

This traditional Russian beef stew recipe makes solyanka, a delicious hearty stew or heavy soup that’s a little sour, a little sweet, and was a whole lot saltier back in its day. It’s next on the list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

First mentioned in print in the 15th century, solyanka is an ancient dish made for modern times: invented to use leftovers, it’s a one-pot dish that is filling and comforting.

It’s one of my favourite beef stew recipes, based on my baboushka’s recipe, which I grew up eating in the 1970s. Garnish with plenty of fresh fragrant dill and eat with dollops of sour cream (smetana) and dill pickles, and a Russian garden salad on the side.

Traditional Russian Beef Stew Recipe for Solyanka, a Medieval Dish for Modern Times

Burmese Chicken Curry Recipe

Our authentic Burmese chicken curry recipe makes a fragrant gently-spiced curry that is 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 quickly soaked up by coconut rice, it’s meant to be served with zingy salads 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 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 recipes from Myanmar, including Mi Mi Khaing’s recipe for homemade curry powder, and these recipes for Burmese street food-style fried chicken, Burmese coconut rice, and Burmese raw cabbage salad. You’ll find more links to Burmese recipes, along with Shan recipes, on the link below.

Classic Burmese Chicken Curry Recipe for an Aromatic Tomato Based Curry

Cambodian Banana Flower Salad Recipe

This recipe for a banana flower salad – also called a banana blossom salad – makes the Cambodian banana flower salad called gnoam trayong chek in Khmer, and it was another of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

A fragrant and crunchy salad that is all about the texture and aromas, our banana flower salad includes poached chicken, but you could make a vegetarian version. It’s a super-easy recipe to make, just work fast so your banana flower doesn’t brown

Like our Cambodian green papaya salad recipe, this banana blossom salad also has cousins in Thailand and Vietnam, which vary slightly. This delicious banana blossom salad recipe was published as part of our series on Cambodia’s wonderful salads that we’re recipe testing for our Cambodian cookbook.

The series included recipes for a crunchy green papaya salad that is full of texture, a very moreish Cambodian minced pork larb, a fragrant grilled beef salad, and, what has now become one of our favourite Cambodian salads, this light pork and jicama salad.

Classic Banana Flower Salad Recipe for Cambodia’s Gnoam Trayong Chek

Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe

This Cape Malay chicken curry recipe makes a richly spiced curry from Cape Town and it’s next on the list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023. Our recipe was inspired by the fragrant chicken curry we learnt to make in a Cape Malay cooking class in colourful Bo-Kaap, the heart of Cape Malay culture.

The gently spiced chicken curry is a cousin of the classic Cape Town tomato bredie, above. They’re dishes that locals here in Southeast Asia would describe as ‘same same but different’, sharing a lot of similar spices.

Eaten with aromatic Cape Malay yellow rice, buttery roti, and simple tomato, onion and cucumber sambals, it’s an incredibly delicious curry that you’ll be sorry to finish. Our advice: make double the amount, as it tastes even better as leftovers the next day.

Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe for a Richly Spiced Curry from Cape Town, South Africa

Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Almonds Recipe

This Moroccan lamb tagine with prunes and almonds recipe came direct from our riad kitchen in Marrakech, Morocco. Terence first learnt to make it from Jamila, our riad cook, way back in 2010, on the year-long grand tour that launched Grantourismo.

In fact it was early 2010, as our Marrakech was our first proper 2-week stop on that 12-month trip, making it one of the oldest recipes on this site, which makes it even more special that this was another of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

A Moroccan tagine is essentially a slow-cooked stew made from meat, generally lamb or chicken, but it can contain anything from duck to fish. We used lamb in the original recipe, which we’d bought from a local market, along with the vegetables and spice mix, although you can buy the Ras el Hanout spice mix online.

Tagines are traditionally cooked in a tagine pot, a glazed clay base and a large conical lid that’s designed to guide the condensation from cooking back into the pot, but if you don’t have one you can make this in a cooking pot.

Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Almonds Recipe from Marrakech

Comforting Chicken and Potato Soup Recipe

This easy chicken and potato soup recipe makes a homemade potato and chicken soup from scratch that is comforting and healing, and it was another of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

It’s a simple, hearty soup that’s subtly seasoned but given texture at the end with crunchy croutons and crispy fried onions, and is enlivened by fresh fragrant dill – or any aromatic herb of your choosing, as it’s also incredibly versatile.

The base of this warming winter soup is the easiest chicken stock you’ll ever make, made from perfectly poached chicken breasts, which you then pull apart and add to the broth near the end. It was a new recipe for 2023 so it was a delight to see it make this list.

Chicken and Potato Soup Recipe for a Comforting Soup that Starts with an Easy Stock

Hearty Irish Stew Recipe

This is the best Irish stew recipe for a deeply flavoured classic Irish stew with a rich gravy thanks to an easy roux – and half a bottle of Shiraz. Dishes don’t get more Irish than this traditional Irish stew, considered by many to be Ireland’s national dish, and it was next on the list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

Every year we use St Patrick’s Day as an excuse to cook Irish food. While Terence is the one with Irish ancestry and Irish stews were part of his mother’s repertoire, I usually take on Irish stew duties as I grew up eating and later cooking Russian stews and I have to confess to having a thing about stews. (Have you made my Russian beef stew?)

If you’re also a stew lover, you’re going to adore this Irish stew recipe. Terence did make a delicious Irish breakfast colcannon with bacon and eggs for Weekend Eggs, which I also encourage you to try.

Best Irish Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Traditional Irish Beef Stew

Juicy Italian Style Meatballs Recipe

My best meatballs recipe will make you the tastiest, juiciest Italian style meatballs inspired by the classic Southern Italian meatballs called polpette, made in Sicily and Calabria with ricotta, parmesan and pecorino cheeses, that are fried until brown then simmered in a tomato sauce.

First you’ll need to make my deliciously-rich homemade Italian tomato sauce recipe, which I like to use for pasta, meatballs, pizza, and parmas then pour it into your biggest fry pan or skillet and put it on the stove to heat up so you can simmer these juicy meatballs in the sauce after you’ve finished frying them.

This recipe was part of a series on my favourite classic southern Italian-influenced recipes, from my spaghetti with meatballs recipe, below, to my recipe for Italian-Australian chicken parmigiana or chicken parma, so once again I was chuffed to see it on this list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

Best Meatballs Recipe for the Tastiest Juiciest Italian Style Meatballs

Crunchy Chicken Schnitzel Recipe

Our chicken schnitzel recipe is next on our list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023 and it makes moist, tender chicken fillets with a super crunchy panko breadcrumb coating elevated with lemon zest and parmesan.

These old-fashioned Australian style chicken schnitties will take you right back to the 1970s. For a complete nostalgia trip, squeeze some lemon wedges over the schnitzels and serve with potato salad.

I recommend making extra chicken schnitzel fillets so you can make Terence’s chicken schnitzel burger the next day, topped with bacon, cabbage and tomato between soft burger buns, and served with our homemade dill pickles.

Chicken Schnitzel Recipe with Crunchy Panko Breadcrumb Coating with Parmesan and Lemon Zest

Cabbage Roll Casserole Recipe

Next on this list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023 is this baked cabbage roll casserole recipe for an unstuffed cabbage roll casserole or lazy cabbage rolls.

Blanched cabbage leaves are layered lasagna-like with a rich tomato sauce, farmer’s cheese, and a cabbage roll fried rice made from the savoury ground pork, onion, garlic and carrot filling usually stuffed in the cabbage leaves to make traditional cabbage rolls.

If you enjoyed my recipe for traditional cabbage rolls stuffed with savoury rice and mince, baked in a rich tomato sauce called golubtsy (голубцы), which are cooked in Russia, Ukraine and neighbouring countries, then you’re going to love this baked cabbage roll casserole recipe for unstuffed cabbage rolls or lazy cabbage rolls.

I also recommend trying my cabbage roll fried rice recipe, which is absolutely delish, even if I do say so myself, and my hearty cabbage roll soup recipe, which probably had my baboushka rolling in her grave when I published that, but it’s also a keeper! And we’ve got more cabbage recipes here.

Easy Cabbage Roll Casserole Recipe for an Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole or Lazy Cabbage Rolls

Cambodian Fried Rice Recipe for Bai Cha

Our Cambodian fried rice recipe makes bai cha (also written as bai tcha, bai char, bai chaa, bay cha) or fried rice – ‘bai’ is rice and ‘cha’ is to stir-fry – and it’s the most popular Chinese-style fried rice in Cambodia.

It’s distinguished by two quintessential breakfast ingredients, sausage and eggs, and Siem Reap sausage in particular, the local take on lap cheong, the Cantonese name for a smoked, sweetened, red Chinese sausage.

There seems to be as many Cambodian fried rice recipes as there are versions of Chinese-style fried rice across Southeast Asia. Bai cha is the most common fried rice cooked in local homes and sold at street food stalls and simple local eateries.

Cooks of Cambodian-Chinese heritage might use lap cheong in the Chinese-Cambodian bai cha, while Cambodians of Khmer heritage here tend to use Siem Reap sausage. Highly recommend doing what the locals do and sliding a fried egg on top.

Cambodian Fried Rice Recipe – How to Make the Best Bai Cha

Sticky Asian Pork Ribs Recipe

Another of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023 was this sticky Asian pork ribs recipe, which will make you finger-licking ribs of moist pork meat that cook on a grill in no time.

Plates of pork ribs are fantastic for feeding a crowd – whether it’s a casual get-together, game day gathering or backyard barbecue.

Here in Southeast Asia we often eat the pork ribs simply with stir-fried morning glory and steamed rice but typically they’d form one of an array of dishes as part of a shared family-style meal.

You could serve the sticky pork ribs with fried spring rolls, some dumplings, fried rice, Chinese leafy greens, and a stir-fry or braise, such as Cambodian cashew chicken or Vietnamese braised pork belly.

Sticky Asian Pork Ribs Recipe for Chinese Style Baked Ribs with Sesame

Cambodian Green Papaya Salad Recipe

One of Cambodia’s favourite salads, our Cambodian green papaya salad recipe makes nhoam lahong or bok lahong, a fresh, aromatic, crunchy papaya salad that is a little funky, a little spicy, a little sour, a little salty, and a little sweet.

It’s a well-balanced salad and this is arguably what sets it apart from its bolder cousins in Laos (where pounded salads are called Tum Som), Thailand (Som Tam), and Vietnam (Gỏi Đủ Đủ), which are, respectively, a lot funkier, more fiery, and more fragrant.

Typically bought from a papaya salad stall at a market or on the street and enjoyed as a late afternoon snack, green papaya salads are also eaten in restaurants and made at home. This incredibly delicious and super-easy green papaya salad recipe makes another of Cambodia’s best salads. It’s not only scrummy, it’s also a cinch to prepare.

If you enjoy this recipe, do browse our series on classic Cambodian salad recipes, such as this Cambodian minced pork larb, an aromatic grilled beef salad, and, one of my favourites, a light and tasty pork and jicama salad.

Cambodian Green Papaya Salad Recipe for Cambodia’s Bok Lahong

Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta Recipe

I was so chuffed to see this spicy Italian sausage pasta recipe land on this list of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023. 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 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, which you can read more about in our guide to ’nduja and how to use it.

Traditionally, this classic Calabrian spicy Italian sausage pasta recipe calls for ’nduja, although you’ll also find Southern Italian pastas made with spicy Italian sausages at restaurants in Calabria 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 our ’nduja pizza made in a Dutch oven.

Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta Recipe from Calabria in Southern Italy

Spanish Oxtail Stew Recipe from Jerez

This melt-in-your-mouth Rabo de Toro oxtail stew recipe from Jerez in Southern Spain is a classic slow braised dish that requires a long cooking time, but rewards with rich, robust flavours.

Inspired by the rabo de toro that we ate at Bar Juanito here in Jerez, it’s one of our best stew recipes. It closely resembles bœuf bourguignon, only it’s tastier because the marrow from the ox tail adds depth to the gravy or sauce. The bone and marrow aren’t used in bœuf bourguignon.

If you love a good old-fashioned traditional stew, you’re going to love this, as obviously so many of our readers do, as it was another of our 23 most popular recipes of 2023.

Rabo de Toro Oxtail Stew Recipe from Jerez in Southern Spain

Best Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

Our best spaghetti and meatballs recipe makes an incredibly delicious version of the much-loved comfort food classic with juicy meatballs and a rich tomato sauce made from scratch.

The spaghetti is combined with the sauce before serving, and topped with the meatballs, plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh basil. Serve the second it’s ready with crusty bread

This is the best spaghetti and meatballs recipe as the key ingredients are made from scratch, from a rich deeply flavoured tomato sauce to the juiciest, tastiest homemade meatballs that simmer in the sauce, which the spaghetti is stirred in before being plated.

A generous sprinkle of Parmigiano Reggiano and fragrant fresh basil leaves complete this classic comfort food favourite. The only things we haven’t made are the dried pasta and Parmigiano Reggiano, because Italians do both better.

Best Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe for the Comfort Food Favourite from Southern Italy

Baked Potato Soup Recipe

This baked potato soup recipe is the last on our list of 23 most popular recipes of 2023 and another of our best recipes with potatoes. It makes a creamy potato soup topped with crispy bacon, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and spring onions or chives.

This potato soup recipe is not made with baked potatoes, rather it’s inspired by the traditional British baked potato or jacket potato with toppings first sold by hawkers on the streets of London back in the mid-1800s.

I grew up in Australia tucking into baked potatoes – or jacket potatoes as we also called them, as they were baked in their skins or ‘jackets’ – at family backyard barbecues or on holiday camping trips.

Whether oven-baked or buried in smouldering coals in the camp-fire, we’d put the toppings into small bowls – crispy bacon pieces, grated cheese, sour cream, and spring onions – and everyone would load up their own potatoes. This baked potato soup is based on those jacket potatoes and it’s absolutely delicious.