Our 31 recipes to make in July 2026 include everything from dips, salads and veggie sides to stir-fries, fried chicken and potato fries. We also have recipes for moules frites, meatballs and ‘messy eggs’ — something to cook wherever you are, whether you’re in the midst of the sweltering northern hemisphere summer or the chilly southern hemisphere, where winter is well and truly underway. We’ve got recipes for ‘food days’ and holidays, from Bastille Day to Belgian National Day. Happy cooking — and eating!
As some of our regular readers said they were missing these long-running recipe series, after a few months hiatus, we shared our 30 most popular recipes of June, the most searched-for, most-clicked and (hopefully) most-cooked recipes on the site, and today I’m sharing the 31 recipes to make in July, one for every day of this month — although it’s actually a lot more than 31, as we have a whole collection of French recipes for Bastille Day, the National Day of France.
As usual, I’ve included a combo of recipes on this list of ideas, from dishes to cook for national holidays (like Belgium’s National Day, hence the Moules Frites recipe) and for ‘food days’, like National Mac ‘n’ Cheese Day on 14 July (we’ve got mac’n’cheese with bacon and caramelised shallots); National Hot Dog Day on 15 July (Med-inspired gourmet hot dogs); National Junk Food Day on 21 July (recipes for healthy fast food; yes, another collection).
And I’m filling the gaps with the most popular recipes right now. Whereas monthly round-ups are a compilation of the most popular recipes that month, these are the trending recipes on the site today. They’re the recipes visitors are searching for on the web that have brought them to Grantourismo, as well as recipes our regular readers are looking for; in recent days, they’ve included everything from homemade dips and potato salads to meatballs.
Now don’t forget: if you don’t finding cooking inspiration on this list, do dig into our recipe archives, which are brimming with thousands of recipes we’ve cooked, created and collected from around the world, from places we’ve lived, worked, travelled, and loved. And remember: when you find recipes you love, you can save them in a private account by clicking on the heart on the right of any post.
And before you scroll down to our 31 recipes to make in July 2026, we 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. Now let’s tell you about the recipes to cook this month.
Recipes to Make in July 2026 — Moules Frites, Meatballs, Messy Eggs, and More
These are our 31 recipes to make in July 2026, whether you’re in the northern hemisphere and you’re in the midst of summer, or you’re here in the increasingly chilly southern hemisphere where winter is well and truly underway.
Thai Tea Ice Cream Recipe + Easy No Churn Ice Cream Recipe for Any Flavour
The 1st July is Creative Ice Cream Flavour Day it seems, so topping our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026 is our Thai tea ice cream recipe for the easiest no churn ice cream that you’ll ever make using just four ingredients: Thai tea mix, whipping cream, condensed milk, and salt. The flavour will take you back to Thailand, where Thai tea is ubiquitous although you can really use any flavour with this easy no churn ice cream recipe.
But if you have been to Thailand and you tried the bright orange Thai iced tea at a coffee shop or local restaurant and you loved it, then you are going to love this Thai tea ice cream. If you tasted the soft serve Thai tea ice cream at Chatuchak market in Bangkok, then you’re going to adore this rich creamy ice cream.
You’ll need a teapot with stainless steel filter or if you don’t have a filter or infuser built into your teapot, you’ll need a Thai tea filter or tea strainer. You’ll also need a Thai tea brand, which you can buy from an Asian supermarket if you’re not in Southeast Asia. I use ChaTraMue Extra Gold Thai Tea Mix or Number One Brand Original Thai Tea Mix Red Label.
Thai Tea Ice Cream Recipe + Easy No Churn Ice Cream Recipe for Any Flavour
Thai Nam Prik Num Recipe for a Smoky Northern Thai Dip + More Homemade Dip Recipes
It’s the peak summer sports period, wherever you are on the planet — and not only is the Tour de France and Wimbledon on, there’s also the World Cup this year. So if you’re gathering sports-loving friends and family members around the tele this coming weekend, today is the time to start making some homemade dips, starting with this addictively delicious northern Thai dip.
Our Thai nam prik num recipe makes the smoky green chilli dip that’s one of the best known Northern Thai specialties — so much so it’s often called ‘Chiang Mai chilli relish’, named after the popular northern Thailand city, Chiang Mai. Made from green chillies grilled on a barbecue with garlic and shallots, nam prik num is typically served with crunchy pork crackling and sticky rice. If you’ve made our nam prik ong recipe and enjoyed that, you’ll love it.
Not a fan of spicy food? We have lots more recipes for homemade dips, from made-from-scratch French onion dip and a creamy Eastern European dill dip to a Syrian muhammara dip and easy Greek eggplant dip. We’ve long made dips from scratch, even if it was just for Terence and I to snack as we cooked dinner together. Homemade dips are so much more delicious, and they’re also healthier, as you know exactly what’s going in them.
I also have a guide to how to make a dip out of anything, which makes a case for keeping cans of tomatoes, chickpeas, kidney beans, and white beans in your pantry – along with good quality extra virgin olive oil and chilli oil, jars of tahini and olives, and spices, herbs, nuts, seeds, or crispy shallots to add fragrance, flavour and texture.
Thai Nam Prik Num Recipe for Smoky Green Chilli Dip from Northern Thailand
Blistered Green Beans Recipe with Toasted Almonds on Garlic White Bean Purée
It’s Eat Your Beans Day on 3 July, which is a good excuse to make our recipe for lightly blistered green beans with toasted almonds, also one of our best nut recipes. (While we love slivered almonds, other nuts also work.) These beans are the perfect accompaniment to roasts and braises, such as this juicy braised lemon-garlic chicken, succulent Spanish style braised chicken with olives and capers, and Italian roast chicken with peppers and leeks.
They’re also a brilliant side to pan-roasted brined pork chops, côte de bœuf or chicken cacciatore. Feeding a crowd? Add another two or three vegetable side dishes, such as crunchy Hassleback potatoes or creamy mashed potatoes. Or eat even more beans and make these Italian green beans with pangrattato of crunchy breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, or this dish of roasted broccoli, zucchini and green beans with sesame seeds.
If canned beans are more your kind of bean, browse our best canned beans recipes for budget friendly meals that are not only easy and affordable but also healthy. Kidney beans, chickpeas or garbanzo beans, and white beans such as butter beans and cannellini beans are super-foods, high in fiber and packed with plant-based proteins, vitamins and minerals, such as potassium, manganese and iron.
Our best canned beans recipes make an easy authentic hummus recipe a Lebanese friend taught Terence when we lived in Abu Dhabi; my Antalya style Turkish white bean salad recipe with jammy soft boiled eggs; a hearty chorizo, cabbage and three bean stew recipe for my spicy take on kapustniak; a vegetarian bean chilli, which is essentially a chilli con carne sin carne (without meat); and my ultimate nachos, which I top with homemade red tomato salsa and Mexican guacamole, among other things; and lots more recipes.
Blistered Green Beans Recipe with Toasted Almonds on Garlic White Bean Purée
Pork Spare Ribs with Star Anise Recipe for Cambodian Style Pork Ribs
The 4th July is National Barbecued Spareribs Day apparently. It’s also American Independence Day, when many of our American readers will be tucking into barbecued ribs. We don’t have a recipe for American-style ribs, so I’m sharing our recipe for Cambodian-style pork spare ribs with star anise, probably my favourite Asian-style ribs.
Terence’s 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. I love to eat these finger-licking ribs with steamed rice and stir-fried morning glory.
We first shared this recipe for pork spare ribs with star anise as part of a 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. My mouth is watering. I’m wishing it was barbecue weather here…
It also has to be said that star anise is perfect with pork. It’s one of our favourite spices and you’ll find it in a lot of our pork recipes, including Terence’s pan-roasted, brined and marinated pork chops, which I swear are the best pork chops in the world. Now I’m craving chops…
Pork Spare Ribs with Star Anise Recipe for Cambodian Style Pork Ribs
Easy Beef Stir Fry with Noodles Recipe
I’m planning on making a spread of Chinese restaurant classics on Sunday, so next on this list of 31 recipes to make in July is this quick and easy beef stir fry with noodles recipe for a saucy stir-fried beef in a classic Cantonese style just like your favourite Chinese restaurant makes — with a couple of tweaks.
This recipe makes the best single bowl, grab-the-chopsticks, lazy night, lets-eat-on-the-sofa-while-watching-TV kind of dish. You’ll love this saucy stir fried beef with bean thread noodles if you’re a fan of old-school Chinese restaurant food and making those quick and easy stir fries that are on the table in minutes.
The beef is tender thanks to the Chinese velveting technique, the capsicums bring sweetness, the mushrooms earthiness, and the slippery noodles hold everything together. Please don’t be deterred by the long list of ingredients – half the ingredients make the marinade and stir fry sauce. Vegetables can also be substituted if you want to treat this as a bit of a clean-out-the-fridge-veggie-drawer dish.
I’ll be sharing more Chinese-Australian restaurant recipes. I’ve been spending a lot of time with my mum looking at photos from my childhood growing up in Western Sydney — my mum was recently diagnosed with dementia and it’s a great way to trigger and reinforce memories and slow down dementia — and we’ve been recalling a lot of delicious food memories, including meals at our local Chinese restaurant.
Easy Beef Stir Fry with Noodles Recipe for Saucy Tender Stir Fried Beef
Burmese Fried Chicken Recipe for a Spicy Street Food Snack from Myanmar
We love our fried chicken, which is probably evident from all our fried chicken recipes on the site. This Belles Hot Chicken Nashville-style Southern fried chicken recipe is a favourite. But the spicy street food fried chicken you get in Southeast Asian cities, such as Bangkok and Yangon, has a special place in our hearts – and stomachs!
The 6th July is National Fried Chicken Day, so next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026 is my favourite fried chicken recipe of all, and one of my favourite dishes from Myanmar. Our Burmese fried chicken recipe makes the gently spiced fried chicken drumsticks that are a popular street food snack in Myanmar, especially in the capital, Yangon, which is where we became smitten with them.
The finger-licking fried chicken pieces are sold at roadside stalls to take away or eat at plastic tables set up around the stall. We love to make these finger-licking fried chicken pieces at home and do as the locals do and dip them into homemade sweet chilli sauce. I adapted the recipe for these from one of my favourite cookbooks, the charming Cook and Entertain the Burmese Way (1978) by Mi Mi Khaing.
If you enjoy this Burmese fried chicken, do browse our other recipes from Myanmar, including recipes for Burmese coconut rice, Shan vermicelli noodle salad, Shan tomato salad, Burmese raw cabbage salad, Burmese egg curry, and ohn no khao swe, one of our favourite soups from Myanmar.
Burmese Fried Chicken Recipe for a Spicy Street Food Snack from Myanmar
Afternoon Chocolate Delight Recipe for the Catalan Treat Pa Xocolata Oli i Sal
The 7th July is World Chocolate Day, which is as good an excuse as any to share Michelin-starred Barcelona chef Jordi Artal’s super simple recipe for an ‘afternoon chocolate delight’. Made with bread, chocolate, olive oil and salt (that’s it!), it’s ‘pa, xocolata, oli i sal’ in Catalan.
The Catalan people have a long tradition of consuming chocolate, especially in the form of drinking melted chocolate or xocolata, the Catalan style of hot chocolate, generally enjoyed for breakfast and usually with churros. But chef Jordi shared a traditional Catalan after-school treat his grandmother used to make him, which inspired one of the creative contemporary desserts the chef serves at his restaurant, Cinc Sentits.
We fell in love with the dessert when we dined at the restaurant way back in 2010 on the yearlong global grand tour that launched Grantourismo, and asked Jordi to share the recipe. We’d met Jordi the previous summer after a wonderful lunch at Cinc Sentits when he answered our endless questions about his cuisine and the Barcelona dining scene.
Jordi was the first chef we thought of consulting for Terence’s series called The Dish on the quintessential dishes of places. However, when we turned up so Jordi could teach Terence how to make a dish that represented the new wave of creative Catalan cooking in Barcelona, Jordi took a u-turn.
Jordi said many of the restaurant dishes he creates are based upon the food he grew up eating in the family home. Instead of teaching Terence a contemporary dish that would be complicated and difficult to make, Jordi wanted to show us how to make something anyone could make: the classic Catalan snack that inspired one of the most sublime desserts we’ve ever tasted. It turned out to be a brilliant idea. I’ve been making it ever since.
Afternoon Chocolate Delight Recipe for the Catalan Treat Pa Xocolata Oli i Sal
Ukrainian Sweet Varenyky Recipe for Dumplings with Mixed Berries and Sour Cream
It’s National Blueberry Day on 8th July, so next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026 is my Ukrainian sweet varenyky recipe with mixed berries (including blueberries) and sour cream, which makes delicious boiled dumplings filled with farmers cheese and berries, which my family has long eaten for dessert.
We serve the varenyky with a sweet, syrupy fruit jam-like sauce of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and red currants, called pyatiminutka (five-minute jam), which is drizzled on the dumplings, which I then dollop with plenty of sour cream. Also eaten in Russia, where they’re called vareniki, and in Poland, whey they’re called pierogi, varenyky are thought to have originated in Ukraine.
If you’re a dumpling lover, we have more recipes for the dumplings my Russian-Ukrainian grandmother often served for our weekend family meals and holiday feasts, including Russian pelmeni filled with savoury ground beef and pork and onion, mashed potato and caramelised onion vareniki that are much loved in both Russia and Ukraine, and the cabbage varenyky of Ukraine. Leftover dumplings? See this fried dumplings recipe for tips.
Ukrainian Sweet Varenyky Recipe for Dumplings with Summer Berries and Sour Cream
Xiu Mai Recipe for Vietnamese Meatballs in Rich Tomato Sauce with Coriander
One of our most popular recipes right now, our xiu mai recipe makes Vietnamese style meatballs in tomato sauce that are eaten with crusty baguettes, dunked in the rich sauce and used to scoop up the meatballs. ‘Xiu mai’ is Vietnamese for ‘meatballs’ and in Vietnam xiu mai are eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner, in cold or warm climates, from the cooler Central Highlands to the tropical Mekong Delta in the sultry south. Leftover xiu mai? Make banh mi xui mai.
In Vietnam, xiu mai is a much-loved street food dish that’s also eaten in the home. You could order a single bowl of xiu mai from a street food stall, which will be served with a demi baguette for you to break up and dunk into the rich sauce and scoop up the meatballs. In your own home, you could serve xiu mai with bread or with noodles or steamed rice.
But xiu mai is also a dish that’s popular to go out and eat with friends, especially on a chilly evening in Dalat, in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. A former French colonial hill station, established for its cooler climate, and set amidst mountains, forests and lakes, Dalat is famed for its delicious produce, coffee and tea, grown on the farms, orchards and plantations surrounding the city that’s become a foodie and coffee destination.
You’ll love this xiu mai recipe for Vietnamese meatballs in tomato sauce if you’re a meatball lover – if you are, here are our best meatball recipes – especially if you’re a fan of Italian style meatballs in tomato sauce and a devotee of Vietnamese food, especially Vietnamese street food. Yes to all of those? Then this xiu mai dish is for you.
Xiu Mai Recipe for Vietnamese Meatballs in Rich Tomato Sauce with Coriander
Best Shoestring Fries Recipe for the Perfect Side for Burgers and Beef Stroganoff
Next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026 is Terence’s best shoestring fries recipe for super-crunchy matchstick fries. They’re the perfect side for everything from fried chicken and burgers to beer-battered fish and beef Stroganoff.
You can tuck into these extra-crispy skinny potato fries as you would potato wedges or hand-cut fries — and it’s actually National French Fries day on 10th July, which I’m using as an excuse to share this recipe — and sprinkle them with your favourite salts or spices or douse them in homemade condiments such as Thai Sriracha or sweet chilli sauce.
Terence likes to serve these as a companion to fried fish (they’re fantastic dipped into our easy homemade tartare sauce) and meat pies and sausage rolls, while I love to serve them with Stroganoff (any of my many Stroganoff recipes) and a classic garden salad. Shoestring fries were the original side to that centuries-old dish served in the grand palaces of St Petersburg.
Best Shoestring Fries Recipe for the Perfect Side for Burgers and Beef Stroganoff
Ultimate Tuna Melt Recipe for the Best Tuna Melt Ever
Another of our most popular recipes right now, Terence’s ultimate tuna melt recipe takes the often-limp grilled cheese and tuna toasted sandwich, and by replacing the milk bread with fresh home-baked sourdough bread turns it into a café-worthy gourmet open sandwich – which in our opinion is the best tuna melt we’ve ever eaten.
When Terence first shared his ultimate tuna melt recipe during the pandemic, the tuna melt sandwich appeared to be making a comeback. Was it nostalgia for the simpler life we had in the 1970s and 1980s when the tuna melt reigned supreme? Or was it because life appeared to be returning to normal (it wasn’t!), that everyone had pantries full of tinned tuna to use up? Not to mention bathrooms over-stocked with toilet paper.
And if you’re a fan of canned tuna or any canned fish, you might also like our recipes for tuna pasta with scallions and capers and fresh herbs, my sardine salad with capers, celery, cos lettuce, and a mustard dressing, this sardine pasta with capers and gremolata, and my Russian mimosa salad which has a layer of tuna.
Ultimate Tuna Melt Recipe – How to Make the Best Tuna Melt Ever
German Potato Salad Recipe for a Warm Potato Salad with Bacon, Celery, 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 winter, warm in autumn-fall, or serve it at room temperature in summer or spring. It’s next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026.
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 schnitzel or our schnitzel burger.
And who doesn’t love a potato salad?! Potato salads are one of those classic global dishes that pop up in so many cuisines – we love this Japanese potato salad, which is like a cross between potato salad and mashed potatoes; this Burmese potato salad brightened with fresh fragrant mint and textured with crunchy fried shallots; and (I’m biased) but I love my family’s pink beetroot potato salad and fancy potato salad with salmon.
German Potato Salad Recipe for a Warm Potato Salad with Bacon, Celery, Scallions
Best French Recipes from Cassoulet to Cote de Boeuf for Bastille Day
While we don’t need an excuse to make French food, it’s the French National Day or Bastille Day this 14th July, so that’s as good an excuse as any. My parents had a casual beachside French restaurant when I was a child, so I grew up regularly eating French bistro classics.
These iconic French recipes to cook for the French holiday include quintessentially French dishes, such as a hearty French onion soup, classic salade Lyonnaise, a traditional olive tapenade from Provence, a classic Toulouse cassoulet, and an aromatic cote de boeuf courtesy of chef Pierre Gagnaire.
I’ve been making the French onion soup a lot in recent weeks. When I developed the recipe, I’d been a lifelong French onion soup lover but not a maker. Terence has long been the cook of the French onion soups in our household. The wonderful hearty French onion broth he made for decades was based on Julia Child’s recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
The French onion soup of my childhood was similar, made by mum and based on the Larousse Gastronomique recipe. (I vividly recall Dad and I buying mum the book for her birthday and Mother’s Day in the 1970s – along with Joy of Cooking!) My recipe is based on Raymond Blanc’s onion soup recipe, which adds toasted flour for nuttiness. Having lived in Southeast Asia for so long, I add star anise for aroma and flavour and another Asian ingredient for umami to create a deeply-flavoured onion soup.
Classic Mac and Cheese Recipe with Crispy Bacon and Caramelised Shallots
It’s also National Mac and Cheese Day on 14th July, so we’re sharing one of our best Italian pasta recipes, a recipe for a quick and easy mac and cheese with crispy bacon and caramelised shallots. It’s a classic stovetop macaroni and cheese to which we’ve added crunchy bacon and shallots for texture, umami and sweetness.
There are few pasta dishes as comforting as mac and cheese. The dish of pasta and cheese originated in Ancient Rome, was first documented in 14th century Latin and English cookbooks, taken to the Americas and Australia with European settlers, and evolved as it travelled the globe. Macaroni cheese recipes appeared in Australia’s oldest cookbooks.
And our mac and cheese recipe is nothing if not versatile. Ground paprika adds gentle spice, but add a kick of heat with chilli flakes, use mature cheddar or whatever combo of cheeses you have in the fridge, add even more crunch with pangrattato, or some fragrance and zing with gremolata.
I first shared this as part of a series on speedy pastas that included recipes for a creamy tomato pasta sauce with gnocchi, my penne Bolognese for a ‘cheat’s Bol’, an asparagus, mushrooms and bacon gnocchi, a cherry tomato feta pasta recipe, a spaghetti pangrattato, my sardine pasta with caper gremolata and pangrattato, tuna pasta with scallions, capers and fresh herbs, this lemon pasta recipe for pasta al limone, my pesto pasta with green beans and potatoes, and fusilli with creamy pumpkin pasta sauce.
Classic Mac and Cheese Recipe with Crispy Bacon and Caramelised Shallots
Gourmet Hot Dog Recipes for Mediterranean Inspired Healthier Hot Dogs
It’s National Hot Dog Day on 15th July, so next on the list of 30 recipes to make in April 2026 are my gourmet hot dog recipes for healthier hot dogs inspired by the Mediterranean cuisines of Italy, Morocco and the Middle East. Planning on making hot dogs for a summer sports game day gathering or casual weekend get-together but looking for healthier hot dog recipes beyond the classic hot dog? Try our Italian-, Moroccan- and Middle Eastern-inspired hot dogs.
I enjoy a traditional hot dog spread with mayo and mustard, topped with generous squirts of chilli sauce or ketchup as much as the next person. Add caramelised onions, bacon, and melted cheese, and I’m in heaven. But when I feel like healthier fast food or hot dogs that are a bit fancier, I make these gourmet hot dog recipes.
My parents owned a holiday town take-away specialising in hot dogs when I was a teen, so I’m a hot dog lover from way back. Although I have to confess to not being a fan of classic frankfurter sausages used in hot dogs. I prefer to buy good quality butcher’s sausages, such as Italian herb sausages, Moroccan merguez and Lebanese makanek and fill the hot dogs with salads and spreads. But you can also make these with classic hot dog sausages.
Gourmet Hot Dog Recipes for Mediterranean Inspired Healthier Hot Dogs
Cambodian Banana Coconut Tapioca Pudding Recipe with Sesame and Star Anise
The 15th July is National Tapioca Pudding Day, which is a great excuse to try this banana coconut tapioca pudding recipe, one of my favourite Cambodian recipes. This sweet and creamy aromatic dessert of stewed banana in coconut milk and tapioca pearls is perfumed with star anise. We garnish it with grated coconut, add a drizzle of coconut cream, and sprinkle it with sesame seeds before serving. It’s sweet Cambodia in a bowl and it’s sublime.
If you enjoyed our mango sago pudding recipe, you’re going to love this banana coconut tapioca pudding recipe, which makes one of my favourite Asian desserts. Our recipe makes a deliciously simple yet much loved Cambodian dessert called chek ktis – chek means banana in Cambodia’s Khmer language, and ktis, or more correctly k’tis or k’tiss, means coconut and covers coconut milk and coconut cream.
If you’ve travelled to Siem Reap and dined at one of the city’s many outstanding Cambodian restaurants, chance are high that if you saved room for dessert, you might have tried a variation of this banana in coconut milk with tapioca or sago. If you did a Cambodian cooking class, then there’s an even greater chance that this was the dessert you made, as it’s one of the most popular sweets in Cambodia.
Cambodian Banana Coconut Tapioca Pudding Recipe with Sesame and Star Anise
Thai Corn Fritters Recipe for Tod Man Khao Pod with Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
It’s also National Corn Fritter Day on 16th July, so next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026 is Terence’s Thai corn fritters recipe for tod man khao pod. Fantastic dipped into Thai sweet chilli sauce, the crunchy, chewy corn fritters are gently spiced with a little chilli paste. Eaten as a snack in Thailand and neighbouring countries, you could serve these corn fritters as finger food or as an appetiser. Got leftovers? Make Terence’s corn fritter burgers.
I have to confess: this is one of our favourite summer corn recipes. June-July is corn season in Cambodia, when most corn is harvested across the country, and we see a variety of corn in the local markets and supermarkets, from a pale lemon-coloured fibrous corn to a sweet yellow juicy corn. I think I love corn season almost as much as mango season.
Regular readers might recall some of my other corn recipes: inspired by the traditional Cambodian street food corn snack, poat dot, I shared a recipe some years ago for fantastic grilled corn on the cobs with lime, butter and lemongrass mayonnaise, then used the leftover corn cobs to create a delicious grilled corn salad with lime, chilli, lemongrass mayo, and croutons.
I also shared recipes for our favourite Mexican street corn dishes, including the smoky Mexican grilled corn on the cob recipe for elotes, a Mexican grilled corn salad that’s great for barbecues, and the Mexican corn in a cup called esquites or elotes en vaso, which takes us right back to Mexico City.
Thai Corn Fritters Recipe for Tod Man Khao Pod with Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe for a Richly Spiced Cape Town Curry
It’s Nelson Mandela International Day on 18th July, a United Nations declared day to honour the former South African president that’s dedicated to inspiring global citizens to volunteer 67 minutes of their time to community service, especially to activities that combat poverty and inequality. Why 67 minutes? One minute for every year of Mandela’s 67 years of service to the public.
The idea is to give a little of your time and do something close to your heart to make a difference in someone else’s life. Things you could do might include anything from helping out at a shelter or donating blankets to the homeless to reading to someone who can’t or sharing a meal. There are lots more ideas here on the UN site and on the Mandela Day site here.
If you like the idea of sharing a meal with someone, why not cook this tomato bredie recipe for a classic Cape Town stew and/or this richly-spiced Cape Malay chicken curry recipe, inspired by the chicken curry we learnt to make in a Cape Malay cooking class in colourful Bo-Kaap, the heart of Cape Malay culture in Cape Town. Serve them with this aromatic yellow rice and plenty of roti to mop up the sauces.
Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe for a Richly Spiced Cape Town Curry
Devilled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Caviar Recipe for Elegant Canapés
It’s also National Caviar Day on 18th July, so next on the list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026 I’ve got this recipe for devilled eggs with smoked salmon and caviar for the ultimate elegant cocktail party canapés or a luxurious treat for Sunday brunch to savour with sparkling wine. You could save these retro hors d’oeuvres for special occasions, but why not indulge in them at home from time to time?
This devilled eggs with smoked salmon and caviar recipe makes a more luxurious take on the classic Russian devilled eggs recipe. Devilled eggs were served as part of a spread of zakuski or appetisers that were the prelude to a traditional feast, with smoked salmon and caviar added for more lavish meals for special occasions and holidays such as Orthodox Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Although it seemed like my Russian-Ukrainian grandparents had a jar of caviar on the table for almost every family meal. Admittedly, it was the more affordable lumpfish caviar or lumpfish roe. But feel free to go all out and use the expensive stuff or the larger salmon roe that has more pop in the mouth.
And If you enjoy things topped with dollops of caviar, try these classic Russian blini with smoked salmon and caviar for a DIY blini spread, potato latkes with smoked salmon (or trout), caviar, sour cream, and dill, or Terence’s scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and caviar, perfect for Christmas breakfast.
Devilled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Caviar Recipe for Elegant Canapés
Moules Frites Recipe for Belgian Steamed Mussels with Fries
Terence and I spent a fair bit of time in Belgium over the years, initially on holidays and later authoring a first edition Brussels Bruges Antwerp and Ghent travel guide for Lonely Planet, when we spent a month in a Brussels penthouse apartment rental with sweeping city views to write up the book. It was the perfect assignment for fans of Belgian beer, gypsy jazz and moules frites.
The 21st July is Belgian National Day, so why not try our moules frites recipe for Belgian steamed mussels with fries, Belgium’s national dish. It’s the first thing we’d eat after landing in Brussels, when we’d make a beeline for the seafood bistros in Sainte-Catherine, the former fish market district.
Once seated we didn’t even need to look at a menu. We’d order big pots of juicy sweet mussels steamed in a creamy white wine sauce with crunchy fries, homemade mayo and crusty bread — all washed down with Belgian beer. This recipe makes those moules frites and it’s another of the 31 recipes to make in July 2026.
Home Cooked Fast Food – Recipes for Burgers, Fries, Pies and More
It’s also National Junk Food Day on 21st July, so I thought I’d share this collection of recipes for healthy fast food, which is home cooked fast food. Whether you’re cooking burgers and fries, fried chicken, battered fish and chips, gourmet hot dogs, or meat pies and sausage rolls, when you make fast food at home you know exactly what’s going into the food, plus it tastes infinitely better.
These are our favourite healthy fast food recipes. These days they’re called ‘fakeaway’ recipes here in Australia and they are absolutely everywhere at the moment. Fakeaway is freshly made takeaway cooked at home because it’s healthier and more affordable.
While fakeaway recipes include fast food chain copycat recipes that’s not something you’re going to see on our site. We prefer to share our recipes for nostalgic fast food favourites and our takes on classic fast food like burgers, hot dogs and meat pies.
Healthy Fast Food Is Home Cooked Fast Food – Recipes for Burgers, Fries, Pies and More
Easy Baked Meatballs Recipe with Middle Eastern Baharat Seven Spice Blend
This easy baked meatballs recipe with Middle Eastern baharat or seven spice blend is next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026. Our recipe makes moist, melt-in-the-mouth, tender meatballs gently spiced with the classic Arabic sabaa baharat or seven spice mix, these meatballs are fragrant and flavourful. The small size ensures they cook quickly and baking instead of frying makes them healthier.
This meatball recipe makes one of my favourite Middle Eastern recipes and one of our best meatball recipes. If you’ve made and enjoyed our beef kofta recipe, but find squeezing the mince around a skewer fiddly (some do), you’ll love these little meatballs. Formed in minutes, due to their small size the meatballs bake quickly in the oven, remaining moist.
They’re also versatile. Serve the meatballs with toothpicks at a social gathering or eat them as an appetiser or a main with Middle Eastern dips hummus and baba ganoush and salads such as fattoush and tabbouleh.
I love to roll them up in soft warm pita bread, spread with carrot hummus or beetroot hummus, sprinkled with loads of fresh mint and parsley. They’re also fantastic stuffed into crispy baguettes on layers of hummus, shredded lettuce and pickles for a Middle Eastern style banh mi.
Easy Baked Meatballs Recipe with Middle Eastern Baharat Seven Spice Blend
Ginger Scallion Sauce Recipe for Ginger Scallion Noodles
This ginger scallion sauce recipe for ginger scallion noodles makes the much-copied Momofuku homage to the classic Southern Chinese sauce that chef David Chang and food writer Francis Lam popularised outside China well over a decade ago. I’ve been making these delicious ginger scallion noodles with the sauce ever since, well before their recent comeback. You should too. Add whatever protein you prefer, such as pork, chicken, or shrimp.
Before we knew it as the Momofuku ginger scallion sauce for ginger scallion noodles from Chang’s Momofuku: A Cookbook published back in October 2009, Chang said it was “the secret sauce” served up in Cantonese joints all over New York. You know the kind, as they’re endearingly the same in every Chinatown around the world: brightly lit, with an illuminated sign, and glossy roast ducks and char siu pork hanging in the window to get you salivating.
Whether you know it as your neighbourhood Chinese restaurant’s ‘secret sauce’ traditionally served with poached chicken, the Momofuku ginger scallion sauce for ginger scallion noodles that every Asian food lover was cooking back in 2010, or the classic Southern Chinese sauce found everywhere from Fujian to Hong Kong which made a comeback during the pandemic, it’s popularity seems to be increasing again. It’s next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026.
Classic Margarita Recipe for the Quintessential Mexican Cocktail
The 24th July is National Tequila Day, so next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026 is this classic Margarita recipe, which we think should be one of the first classic cocktail recipes a cocktail lover learns to make, especially if they’re a fan of all things Mexican, as we have long been.
Popular around the globe, we learnt to make this classic Margarita recipe on our first trip to Mexico way back in the 1990s and still make it, wherever we are in the world. Long considered a drink of gringos back in the day, on our last trip to Mexico, we noticed a lot of younger Mexicans sipping the cocktail as much as the gringos did.
Come sunset, whether in our apartment rental in Mexico City or our cute casita in San Miguel de Allende, I would reach for the tequila, Triple Sec, and limes, and mix us some classic Margaritas. If, like most travellers to Mexico, once back home you find yourself nostalgic for those evenings sipping Margaritas overlooking the Zocalo, try this classic Margarita recipe.
Classic Margarita Recipe for the Quintessential Mexican Cocktail
Sausage Mushroom Pasta Recipe to Celebrate Wild Mushroom Season
One of our best mushroom recipes, this sausage mushroom pasta recipe is inspired by the popular pasta dishes of Calabria’s mountain town of Camigliatello Silano in Calabria, Italy’s southernmost mainland region and wild mushroom capital. There, dishes are made with spicy Calabrian sausages and local porcini or another earthy wild mushroom. We use meaty shiitake mushrooms, piquant Italian sausages, chilli flakes and celery leaves, which bring freshness.
We spent an all-too-brief but glorious time in Camigliatello Silano on our months-long road trip, researching and writing the first English language guidebook to Calabria many years ago, and falling in love with Calabrian food. If you haven’t been to Camigliatello Silano, like many Italian towns, alimentari or small goods shops selling prodotti tipici or typical specialties dot the streets of the lovely town.
Another Calabrian inspired dish is this spicy Italian sausage pasta recipe, one of our best pasta recipes, which makes a rich, spicy, tomato-based sauce traditionally made with Calabria’s famously fiery spreadable pork sausage paste called ’nduja, red onions from Tropea, and peperoncino Calabrese or Calabrian chilli peppers from Diamante.
Sausage Mushroom Pasta Recipe to Celebrate Wild Mushroom Season
Easy Dill Dip Recipe for a Creamy Eastern European Style Dip that’s a Retro-Classic
This classic dill dip recipe is next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026. It makes an easy, creamy Eastern European style dip made from tangy dill pickles, zingy purple shallots, garlic chives, and loads of fragrant fresh dill stirred into sour cream and cream cheese, and seasoned with salt and white pepper. Make sure to garnish it with more fresh dill.
Our homemade dill dip recipe makes another one of those delicious retro-classic dips from the 1970s that deserves a comeback. Along with this French onion dip, my smoked salmon dip, and our olive dip, it’s one of our most delicious homemade dip recipes. This is such an easy dill dip recipe, too. Make it once and you’ll never buy a store-bought dill dip again.
Serve our dill dip, any any of those other retro dips, with crunchy crudités (I love cucumber spears and carrot batons), homemade pita chips, sourdough crackers, spicy sourdough crackers, crunchy potato crisps or your favourite crackers. Or you could always continue the retro Seventies theme with our favourite Australian savoury biscuit, Jatz.
Easy Dill Dip Recipe for a Creamy Eastern European Style Dip that’s a Retro-Classic
Cabbage Salad with Apples, Cucumber, Radish and Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
Our recipe for a cabbage salad with apples, cucumber, radish and creamy poppy seed dressing makes a crunchy Russian salad popularised in the diaspora in Australia thanks to an iconic Soviet-era cookbook. This salad comes in infinite variations giving you the freedom to get creative: add celery, replace apples with pears, and the creamy dressing with mustard vinaigrette. It’s next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026.
You’ll love this cabbage salad with apples, cucumber and radish if you’re a fan of cucumber salads, cabbage salads and coleslaws, if you’re fond of fruit in vegetable-driven salads, and you like salads with creamy dressings, such as this Russian cucumber sour cream salad.
What I love about this salad is that it’s essentially crunchy and creamy, but you can get creative with whatever you have on hand. Add even more crunch with nuts, such as walnuts or pecans. Purple cabbage is pretty but use white cabbage if that’s what’s in the fridge. Celery adds freshness. Grapes are a great addition for another texture.
This is a brilliant year-round salad and while I’m happy to munch on a bowl of this for lunch, when I’ll often add shredded poached chicken, it makes a fantastic side salad. My family served it alongside a Russian garden salad and beetroot potato salad, with chicken cutlets, such as kotleti and chicken Kiev. It’s also fantastic with barbecued meats, meatballs, roast chicken, or fried chicken.
Cabbage Salad with Apples, Cucumber, Radish and Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
Cambodian Pork Larb Recipe for Laab Sach Chrouk Fragrant Pork Mince Salad
Next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026 is our Cambodian laab sach chrouk recipe for a Cambodian pork larb, which makes a lightly spiced minced pork salad with fragrant herbs, crispy vegetables and steamed rice. It’s one of our quick weeknight dinner ideas from our Southeast Asian kitchen. While it has more famous spicier cousins in Thailand and Laos, Cambodia’s larb is a delicious dish that will appeal if you prefer more gentle levels of spice.
We’ve been cooking and eating Thai larb since the 1980s when we first began cooking and eating Thai food in Australia, but it wasn’t until we moved to Siem Reap, Cambodia, from Vietnam in 2013 that we first tasted Cambodia’s wonderful pork laab – also spelt as larb and lab here in Cambodia.
Like the Cambodian-Chinese rice porridge called borbor, which we’ve also shared, Cambodians have really made their take on the larb their own. It’s very much a case of ‘same same but different’ when you compare the Cambodian laab sach chrouk minced pork salad to the larb minced salads from Thailand and Laos.
The differences between this pork larb recipe and other larb salads are subtle. The Thai larbs are more spicy, the Lao larbs are more earthy, and the Cambodian larbs are more fragrant. We love them all. But if you’re a fan of fiery chillies you’re going to prefer the Thai larb. If you’re a lover of earthy flavours and offal, you’ll be drawn to the Laotian larbs.
Cambodian Pork Larb Recipe for Laab Sach Chrouk Fragrant Pork Mince Salad
Lasagne alla Bolognese Recipe from Emilia Romagna for the Best Lasagne Ever
It’s National Lasagne Day on the 29th July, although I never need an excuse to make lasagne, especially Terence’s classic lasagne alla Bolognese recipe, which makes the best lasagne recipe ever. Rich and comforting, this traditional lasagne Bolognese begins with a great ragù alla Bolognese (Bolognese sauce) that’s layered between flat pasta sheets and besciamella, Italy’s béchamel sauce, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
This lasagne alla Bolognese recipe makes one of our best pasta recipes, a very traditional lasagne in the style that you’ll find in Bologna in Emilia Romagna in Northern Italy, one of our favourite regions in Italy. That means thinner sheets of pasta or lasagne sheets; a sparing use of besciamella, Italy’s version of France’s béchamel sauce; no mozzarella; and a flavour profile that’s more savoury than sweet.
Just a short drive from the Italian Lakes and its wonderful gastronomy, grand hotels and gorgeous gardens and villas, Emilia Romagna is a paradise for foodies and wine lovers. Home to Italian specialties such as Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan cheese), Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham) and balsamic vinegar from Modena, along with wonderful Northern Italian wines, the region is Italy’s gastronomic heart, and Bologna its capital.
With the weather starting to get really cold here in the southern hemisphere where we’re in the midst of winter, I’m making a lot of comfort food recipes and this lasagne recipe is one of them. If you haven’t made lasagne from scratch at home, do try it. As far as we’re concerned, it’s one of the dishes that every cook should master to become a better cook, and it’s next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026.
Lasagne alla Bolognese Recipe from Emilia Romagna for the Best Lasagne Ever
Rose Mascarpone Cheesecake Tart Recipe with Mixed Berries and Fresh Mint
It’s National Cheesecake Day on 30th July so next on our list of 31 recipes to make in July 2026 is this rose mascarpone cheesecake tart recipe with mixed berries for the easiest no bake cheesecake. Made with cream cheese and mascarpone, flavoured with rose for a taste of the Middle East, generously topped with mixed berries — summer berries or winter berries, depending where you are — it’s garnished with fresh mint leaves.
Time poor? To make it even easier, use a store-bought cheesecake base, which I sometimes have to do, as my time is not my own these days. But the ever-reliable no-bake biscuit crust doesn’t take long to make and is made to a traditional recipe. Cheesecake recipes appeared in Australia’s earliest cookbooks, including The Colonial Cookbook published in 1864, which I adore, through to the classic 1970s cookbooks of Margaret Fulton (Australia’s Julia Child), which I also love.
And if you’re looking for more sweets or dessert recipes with berries, please try our recipes for Scottish cranachan with whiskey, honey, oats, raspberries and cream, or my sweet varenyky with berries for Ukrainian dessert dumplings, or easy French toast with berries and whipped cream.
Rose Mascarpone Cheesecake Tart Recipe with Mixed Berries and Fresh Mint
Fried Eggs with Chorizo and Potatoes Recipe for Basque Style ‘Messy Eggs’
This fried eggs with chorizo and potatoes recipe for Basque style ‘messy eggs’ makes the perfect weekend hangover cure that’s made for a late breakfast after a long night of pintxos bar-hopping in the old town of San Sebastián, one of our favourite summer destinations. It also makes a warming breakfast or brunch in winter.
Yes, we’re guilty of dreaming of travelling again. We’d give anything to wind back the clock to the days when we’d escape our home in the sweltering Middle East in July for a sultry summer on the Mediterranean, island-hopping in Greece or tapas-bar hopping in Spain.
Terence shared this recipe in his Weekend Eggs series on quintessential breakfast eggs dishes from around the world, which we launched with Grantourismo back in 2010, which he rebooted during the pandemic after a several year hiatus. Recipes published in the rejuvenated series included a Thai fried egg salad recipe for yam khai dao and Japanese rolled omelette recipe for tamagoyaki to Turkish çılbır poached eggs and Singapore’s half-boiled eggs with kaya jam and toast.
Fried Eggs with Chorizo and Potatoes Recipe for Basque Style ‘Messy Eggs’
Please do let us know if you cook any of our 31 recipes to make in July 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. And please do share your feedback, tips and tweaks.
