Best Comfort Food Dishes From Around the World

Best enjoyed with a slice of crusty bread, French onion soup is comfort food at its best.

While onion soups date back to ancient times, the beloved dish we know today got its start in Parisian cafes in the 18th century.

Rich, warm, and generously blanketed with creamy cheese, French onion soup can make even the worst day slightly more bearable.

Beef bourguignon, popularized in the US by chef Julia Child after she learned to cook in France, is a beef stew made with carrots, onions, garlic, pearl onions, and bacon, all cooked down in red wine. It’s often paired with crusty bread, making for the perfect winter meal.

From the sodium-heavy instant packs found in every American college dorm to award-winning ramen restaurants in Tokyo, ramen has developed into a global obsession. Over 100 billion servings of ramen are consumed globally each year.

Here are some instant-ramen hacks to help you level up your next bowl.

We have Montreal to thank for Canada’s unofficial national dish, poutine, which also sometimes goes by its informal nickname, “Canadian salad.” The iconic dish consists of crispy, golden fries topped with cheese curds and drenched in gravy.

Chilaquiles translates to “in a sauce of chiles,” and is a dish consisting of heaps of crisp tortilla triangles tossed in a pan with salsa, and then piled with crumbled cheese and crema.

Chilaquiles are also often enjoyed for breakfast.

If you’re harboring any reservations about just how delicious battered fish and crispy fries taste when dipped in a creamy tartar sauce, do yourself a favor and embark on a mission to make your own fish and chips at home.

A standard “full English” — also called a fry-up — includes things like roasted tomatoes, fried eggs, sausage, and baked beans, sometimes piled onto toast.

Wiener schnitzel, the national dish of Austria, consists of boneless, mallet-thinned meat, usually veal, that is then breaded and deep-fried until it reaches prime crispiness.

Originally from the region of Lazio, which is around Rome, this decadent spaghetti is a creamy mix of guanciale, velvety olive oil, fatty egg yolk, and nutty Parmesan cheese.

Think of these Aussie favorites like the larger, heartier, and more sophisticated version of pigs-in-a-blanket.

Pierogies are boiled dumplings that are typically filled with a mixture of potatoes and cheese curds, and often enjoyed with a generous dollop of sour cream and caramelized onions.

Matzo balls — which are made from matzo meal and eggs, and often consumed during Passover — are doughy, rich soup dumplings that have a delicious tendency to soak up all the flavors of the broth in which they’re submerged.

Congee — a soothing type of rice porridge that is so extensively cooked that the individual grains of rice coalesce into an almost homogeneous base — is popular in many East Asian countries, and is often fortified with different garnishes and ingredients to amplify the flavor.

The simple comfort mainstay known as the grilled-cheese sandwich can come dressed up or au naturel — just as long as it comes with a side of tomato soup for dunking.

Here’s how to make the perfect grilled cheese, according to a cheese expert.

This pizza is more pie-like, with a hearty serving of sauce and a stuffed crust. 

The exact origins of the dish are debated, but Eater Chicago calls Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria “one of the original inventors of the Chicago deep dish.”

Arguably Germany’s most widely valued culinary contribution, bratwursts are thick German-style sausages that are frequently paired with stewed sauerkraut and a tall, cool beer.

Kare-kare gets its signature flavor from a thick and savory peanut sauce. 

Rich, smoky, vibrant, and nourishing, Valencians take their paella, a rice dish topped with seafood, seriously — it is Spain’s best-known culinary export, after all.

NPR reported that Khichuri, also called Khichdi, is an ancient Indian comfort dish made from rice and lentils that is typically prepared in one pot. 

Butter chicken, otherwise known as murgh makhani, is made with chicken in a creamy tomato and butter sauce.

Butter chicken is similar to the British-Indian dish chicken tikka masala, but The Indian Express reported that butter chicken originated in New Delhi.

Mofongo, a ball-shaped dish of pickled, fried, and then smashed plantains that are flavored with garlic, salt, and oil in a wooden pilón, is a Puerto Rican staple usually served alongside a hearty stew or broth.

Moussaka, a baked dish that can be described as Greece’s version of lasagna, typically features layers of fried eggplant, potatoes, ground meat, and spices, all topped off with grated cheese and a cream sauce such as béchamel.

Shakshuka is a stew of eggs poached in a spicy sauce of tomatoes, chiles, and onions flavored with cumin. While it likely originated in North Africa, it is a popular dish throughout the Middle East.

Picadillo, a Cuban-style hash, routinely features a base of ground beef and tomatoes, but you’ll find different renditions of the dish depending on which region you’re eating it in. Some prefer it with olives for a salty kick; others enjoy it with raisins for sweetness. 

Goulash is a hearty, paprika-flavored stew with cubes of seared beef, parsnips, carrots, and potatoes.

Swedish meatballs are served at most holidays and special events in Sweden. The meatballs are commonly made with a mixture of ground beef and pork, swimming in a delicious gravy of meat juices, flour, and butter.

IKEA, founded in Sweden, famously sells its own, too — and it sells a lot of them: around 1 billion meatballs globally each year.

Thick, stick-to-your-ribs soups make up the backbone of Iranian cooking. Ash Reshteh, a noodle soup full of beans, herbs, and yogurt, is arguably the most famous type.

Soft, pillowy, and marked with gorgeous golden spots, naan, which is baked in a hot tandoori clay oven, is a type of bread that’s perfect for dipping or relishing on its own.

Jamaica’s national fruit, the ackee, is the star of ackee and saltfish, the island’s national dish, a salty and savory sautée that’s often served with fried plantains and rice. 

Borscht, a sour soup with a vibrant red color, thanks to its primary ingredient of beets, is traditionally made with meat or bone stock, sautéed veggies, and fermented beetroot juice, although there are countless variations of the dish.