Our recipes to cook in November 2025 include spring and autumn-fall recipes plus plenty of holiday meal ideas, from Mexican food for Day of Dead, and gourmet hot dogs, pies, sausage rolls and burgers if you’re feeding a crowd for the ‘race that stops a nation’ here in Australia, to roasts and vegetables sides for American readers celebrating Thanksgiving. Whether you’re cooking seasonal ingredients or using food days as a fun excuse to cook recipes you love, we’ve got ideas for you.

We’ve got lots of recipes to cook in November 2025 if you’re looking for inspo for holiday meals this month (Day of the Dead inMexico, Thanksgiving in the USA) or ideas for feeding a crowd if you’re having a gathering for the ‘race that stops a nation’ inMelbourne,Australia (gourmet hot dogs,burgers,homemade pies and sausage rolls), no matter where you are in the world and what your weather’s like, whether it’s already sweltering (salads) or freezing (warming soups, stews and curries). It’s meant to be spring, but feels like winter again where I am.

Once again we’ve used Food Days to give you a reason to get in the kitchen and cook, if you needed an excuse. That explains such a diverse compilation of recipes this month for often odd and obscure Food Days, which includesRussian devilled eggs, aJapanese egg sandwich,breakfast nachos,five-spice crispy pork belly,pickles recipes, and more. Who knew there was a ‘Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day’?? It’s 8 November and we’re proposingprahok k’tis for you.

And don’t forget, if you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, browse ourrecipe archives, which are heaving with many hundreds of recipes we’ve cooked, created and collected from around the world, from places we’ve lived, worked, travelled, and loved. Or browse ourmost popular recipes of October which were the most searched-for recipes on the site, the recipes where you all spent most of your time and hopefully cooked.

Now before you scroll down to our recipes to cook in November, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve enjoyed ourrecipes, please considersupporting Grantourismo by buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestleever; booking a cooking class or meal with locals onEatWith; or by buying something on Amazon, such as thesecookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, orgifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers. Now let’s tell you about our recipes to cook in November 2025.

Recipes to Cook in October November – Meatballs, Pies, Salads and Vegetable Sides

These are the recipes to cook in November 2025, whether you’re using seasonal produce as inspiration, a holiday or Food Day as an excuse to cook a dish you love, you’re cooking for a casual gathering of family or friends, or making a meal for one or two.

Easy Vinaigrette Recipe for the Best Salad Dressing

The 1st November isNational Vinegar Day so we’re sharing oureasy vinaigrette recipe for the best salad dressing ever. It’s our take on the classic French vinaigrette salad dressing and it’s incredibly delicious, delightfully tangy and super versatile. We use it on loads of salads (it’s perfection in thiscucumber salad recipe), I’ve been known to drizzle it onhummus, and I even add it tomy favourite braised chicken.

Shaken not whisked, our easy vinaigrette recipe is not strictly a classic French vinaigrette recipe – which is traditionally one part vinegar to three parts olive oil (considered the perfect combination of fat and acid), usesDijon mustard, and is whisked as the olive oil is poured into the bowl to emulsify it.

In addition towhite wine vinegar, we add freshly squeezed lemon juice; along with Dijon, we add wholegrain mustard – the French classicMaille a l’Ancienne Wholegrain Mustard – and instead of whisking, we simply shake the jar.

A classic French vinaigrette is made by whisking the ingredients as you pour the olive oil in to emulsify it, but the easy bit about making this vinaigrette is that you just transfer the ingredients to a well-sealed jar, such as avintage mason jar orclip-top Kilner jar, and shake, shake, shake. (Thank you, Gordon!)

Easy Vinaigrette Recipe for the Best Salad Dressing – Delicious, Tangy and Versatile

Mexican Food for Day of the Dead on 1 and 2 November

Mexico‘sDay of the Dead takes place on the 1st and 2nd November, which we’re using as an excuse to make Mexican food. This compilation of ourbest Mexican recipes include authentic recipes from Mexico, as well as Mexican dishes from north of the border, because Mexican-American cuisine and Tex-Mex cuisine are thehijos of the mother cuisine after all.

That means we have traditional Mexican recipes that we learnt to cook, developed and made in kitchens inMexico City (thistacos al pastor!) andSan Miguel de Allende (thishuevos revueltos con chorizo recipe, andsopa de tortilla, andmicheladas!), as well as recipes for Mexican dishes we became enamoured with on our first trip to Mexico in our late twenties when we backpacked all over Mexico (that’d be ourauthentic Mexican guacamole, thisMexican shrimp cocktail, andcorn on the cob (elotes), andstreet corn in a cup (esquites), andchilaquiles).

But we also have recipes for Mexican dishes from the USA, from aTex-Mex chilli con carne that Terence has been making since we first moved in together many moons ago to myultimate nachos, which I’ve been making for decades, which is a ‘loaded’ iteration of the far simpler Northern Mexican dish invented in the 1940s.

Best Mexican Recipes from Sopa de Tortilla to Tacos al Pastor

Russian Devilled Eggs Recipe for National Devilled Egg Day

November 2nd is alsoNational Devilled Egg Day which is reason enough to make myRussian devilled eggs recipe, which tops the list of recipes to cook in November 2025. My recipe makes Russian stuffed eggs with a creamy filling of hard-boiled egg yolks mashed with mayo, mustard, paprika, dill pickles, purple shallots, and perfumed dill.

A feature on zakuski buffets before the elaborate banquets of Russian emperors, devilled eggs were popularised during Russia’s Soviet era. This easy recipe makes you my take on that Russian retro-classic which, likechicken Kiev andbeef Stroganoff, travelled the world with post-war Russian refugees. Devilled eggs would go on to feature on formica trays of hors d’oeuvres at every swinging soirée from Sydney to San Francisco in the 1960s and 1970s.

In Sydney in the 1970s, my groovy mum in her maxi-skirt, crocheted bikini-top and pig-tails offered Russian devilled eggs as finger food at weekend barbecues and dinner parties. My Russian-Ukrainian grandmother who served boiled eggs with caviar at Sunday family lunches toppeddevilled eggs with smoked salmon, caviar and dill for special occasions.

Russian Devilled Eggs Recipe for a Zakuski Table Fit for a Russian Emperor

Japanese Rolled Omelette Recipe for Tamagoyaki for Your Tamago Sando

It’sNational Sandwich Day on 3 November, which is a good reason to browse our best sandwich recipes or just make a tamago sando or Japanese egg sandwich, for which you’ll need Terence’sJapanese rolled omelette recipe for tamagoyaki, another of our top recipes to cook in November 2025.

The Japanese love to eat this soft, fluffy, rolled omelette between thick slices of Japanese bread and so do we! Japanese rolled omelettes are eaten everywhere in Japan, from izakayas to high-end sushi restaurants, but home-cooked tamagoyaki has a special place in the hearts of Japanese. And munching into a tamago sando or four always transports us right back toTokyo, Japan,

If you’re just starting your tamagoyaki adventure, you need a tamagoyaki pan. There are so many out there Amazon has adedicated page on Tamagoyaki pans. We’re old-school and likecast iron tamagoyaki pans with wooden handles. We found a small one at our Japanese Recycle Shop here in Siem Reap. It’son the Amazon Japan shop. But atamagoyaki kit is worth buying, as it has a brush for the oil for the pan and a silicone spatula with which to roll the omelette.

This Japanese Rolled Omelette Recipe Makes Tamagoyaki for Your Tamago Sando

Gourmet Hot Dog Recipes for Mediterranean Inspired Hot Dogs

Here in Australia, 4 November isMelbourne Cup Day, the so-called ‘race that stops the nation’. I’ll be busy writing, but if you have a day off work and you’re having a race day party or casual gathering and looking for food for feeding a crowd, consider my Mediterranean-inspiredgourmet hot dog recipes. (We also have homemade pies and sausage rolls (see below) andburger recipes.)

We Aussies love our hot dogs. My parents owned a take-away specialising in hot dogs when I was a teen, so I’m undoubtedly a hot dog lover. I enjoy a traditional hot dog spread with mayo and mustard and topped with generous squirts ofchilli sauce or ketchup as much as the next Australian. Add caramelised onions, bacon and melted cheese and I’m in heaven.

Although I have to confess to not being a fan of the frankfurter sausages used in hot dogs. So when I feel likehealthier fast food or hot dogs a bit fancier, I make these gourmet hot dogs with good quality butcher’s sausages, such as Italian herb sausages, Moroccan merguez and Lebanese makanek, and fill the hot dogs with salads and spreads. And that’s exactly what I’ve done here with these hot dogs inspired by the cuisines of Italy, Morocco and the Middle East.

Gourmet Hot Dog Recipes for Mediterranean Inspired Healthier Hot Dogs

Best Pie and Sausage Roll Recipes

Here’s another idea for feeding a crowd, if you don’t like the idea of gourmet hot dogs for your race day gathering:homemade pies and sausage rolls are hard to beat, and better than store-bought and more affordable than bakery pies. We’ve got a wonderfulclassic sausage roll recipe, based on our cookbook writer friend Jane Lawson’s recipe.

You could try myeasy seafood pie recipe for rustic pies filled with a creamy spring vegetable sauce and chunky pieces of salmon, sweet prawns and plump mussels that taste far better than they look. Terence is the baking expert in the family and has mastered the pie casing, but my fillings are pretty damn delicious. Or how about myfish pot pie recipe – no pastry needed, it has a crispy cheese lid. I have morepot pie recipes here.

Or make Terence’srecipes for meat pies and sausage rolls inspired by Southeast Asian dishes, particularly Cambodian specialties. They includecurry beef sausage rolls andcurried beef pie made with Cambodian Saraman curry, achicken curry pie based on Cambodian chicken curry, apepper steak pie inspired by Cambodian beef lok lak, andpork and eggplantsausage rolls based onCambodia’s char-grilled eggplant with minced pork. There are also meat pies and sausage rolls inspired by Thai and Vietnamese dishes.

Best Aussie Meat Pie and Sausage Roll Recipes Inspired by Southeast Asian Dishes

Breakfast Nachos Recipe with Fried Egg, Avocado, Escabeche, Chilli and Spicy Salsa

November 6 isNational Nachos Day. Yay! You could try myultimate nachos recipe, which will make you an addictively delicious nachos that makes use of leftoverchili con carne orvegetarian bean chilli, one of ourbest canned beans recipes. That’s topped with our rusticred tomato salsa, freshly-madeMexican guacamole, sour cream, and slices of jalapeños, spring onions and black olives.

Or make thisrecipe for breakfast nachos with fried egg, avocado, escabeche, chilli and spicy salsa – a cheesy nachos is topped with homemadeMexican escabeche or mixed vegetable pickles,vegetarian bean chilli, Terence’sspicy tomato salsa, avocado slices, and sour cream. It makes a fun, filling weekend brunch if you’re in need of comfort food – or a hangover cure – and it’s another of our recipes to cook in November 2025.

I shared that recipe for Terence’sWeekend Eggs series. If you’re a fan ofMexican breakfast eggs, do try our other Mexican egg breakfasts, including Terence’sbreakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, hisMexican migas recipe with a twist for a ‘Migas tortilla’, aclassic Mexican huevos rancheros, and our not-so-traditional Mexican-ish eggs recipes, such as thisfried eggs breakfast taco with chorizo, crunchy potatoes and spicy chorizo oil, andscrambled eggs breakfast taco recipe with avocado and chorizo, and Mexico City-inspired chorizo eggs.

Breakfast Nachos Recipe with Fried Egg, Avocado, Escabeche, Chilli and Spicy Salsa

Classic Lasagne alla Bolognese Recipe from Emilia Romagna

If you’re looking forcomfort food, try the ultimate comfort, lasagne! Terence’s lasagne alla Bolognese recipe is one of ourbest pasta recipes, and another of our recipes to cook in November 2025. It’s a very traditional lasagne in the style you’ll find in Bologna inEmilia Romagna inNorthern Italy, one of our favourite regions inItaly. That means thinner pasta sheets, sparing use of besciamella, Italy’s version of béchamel, no mozzarella, and a flavour profile more savoury than sweet.

Just a short drive from theItalian Lakes and its wonderfulgastronomy,grand hotels and gorgeousgardens and villas, the Northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna is a paradise for foodies and wine lovers. Home to Italian specialties such asParmigiano Reggiano (parmesan cheese),Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham) andbalsamic vinegar from Modena, along with wonderfulNorthern Italian wines, the region is Italy’s gastronomic heart, and Bologna its capital.

The origin ofMortadella, a tiny macaroni-like pasta called gramigna, andtagliatelle alla Bolognese (spaghetti is never used here), Bologna has also gifted the world lasagne alla Bolognese, or Bolognese lasagne – not lasagna, which refers to one sheet of pasta; lasagne is plural. Aside from being the most comforting of comfort foods, we reckon it’s one of thedishes that every cook should master to become a better cook.

Classic Lasagne alla Bolognese Recipe from Emilia Romagna for the Best Lasagne Ever

Cambodian Prahok Ktis Recipe for a Khmer Pork and Coconut Milk Dip

It’s ‘Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day’ on 8 November, which is the best excuse you need to make thisauthentic Khmer prahok ktis recipe for the deliciously rich Cambodian dip made from fermented fish, minced pork and coconut milk that’s eaten with fresh crispy vegetables.

Made withprahok fermented fish paste, yellowkroeung herb and spice paste, minced pork, pea eggplants, some chillies, and coconut milk, this prahok ktis recipe – or more accurately, prahok k’tis – is as authentic as they come. But it is also a recipe where you can tone down the amount of prahok as a mild concession to Western palates.

It makes a great introduction to the use ofCambodia‘s beloved prahok and the herb and spice paste called kroeung in authentic Khmer cuisine. It’s one of ourbest Cambodian recipes and one of ourbest coconut milk recipes.

Authentic Khmer Prahok Ktis Recipe for Cambodia’s Pork and Coconut Milk Dip

Tzatziki Recipe for an Authentic Greek Yoghurt Cucumber Dip

It’sNational Greek Yoghurt Day on 9 November, which I’m calling National Tzaziki Day, and oureasy tzatziki recipe makes the classic creamy Greek yoghurt and cucumber dip. It’s one of ourbest Greek recipes and one of ourbest cucumber recipes. Homemade tzatziki is so much more delicious than store-bought.

Cucumber and yoghurt are another one of those great ingredient couplings – likemelon and prosciutto andtomato and buffalo mozzarella. You’ll also find that cucumber and yoghurt combo in Arabic mezze inkhyar bi laban and in Indian cuisine inraita.

Tzatziki is to Greek food whathummus is to Middle Eastern food, gastronomically and culturally. Dip pita into tzatziki, just as Arabic flatbreads scoop up hummus or eat tzatziki alongside dips liketaramosalata, a Greek salad,Greek meatballs andsouvlaki. If you loveMediterranean food such asmezze, you’ll love tzatziki.

Tzatziki Recipe for an Easy Authentic Greek Yoghurt Cucumber Dip

Five-Spice Crispy Pork Belly Recipe for a Refined Dinner Party Dish

National Pork Belly Day is on 10 November and thisfive-spice crispy pork belly recipe is one of our favourite ways to cook pork belly. Terence perfected his version of this classic pork belly dish over a couple of years and it shows. His rendition of this traditional dish makes a refined version that’s perfect for a dinner party main course and it’s absolutely sublime.

This crispy pork belly recipe is Cantonese in origin so it’s usually served with some bok choy and a sauce. But Terence’s favourite way to serve this as a dinner party dish is to place a square of the pork belly on a rich creamy potato mash, lay some bok choy or cabbage on the side, and serve with a red wine sauce or hoisin sauce.

Note: this crispy pork belly recipe is very different to Terence’schar siu pork recipe and requires a lot more time before you get to taste it, but it’s worth the wait. If you enjoy this, try ourVietnamese braised pork belly and eggs recipe for thịt kho tàu, an essential dish on Vienamese family tables duringVietnam’sLunar New Year holiday of Tết or ourCambodian braised pork belly recipe with ginger, black pepper, palm sugar, star anise, and peanuts.

Five-Spice Crispy Pork Belly Recipe for a Refined Dinner Party Dish

Easy Russian Cabbage Rolls Recipe for a Petite Version of Baboushka’s Golubtsi

Myeasy Russian cabbage rolls recipe for golubtsi (голубцы) makes a more petite version of my baboushka’s bigger cabbage rolls – one cabbage roll was a meal in itself! – and as I cook the savoury pork, beef, carrot, and rice filling before stuffing the cabbage rolls, they bake much faster than the larger golubtsy filled with a raw meat mixture, yet they’re equally delicious.

I adore my baboushka’s Russian cabbage rolls recipe for golubtsi (голубцы) – cabbage rolls stuffed with a savoury minced pork, beef, carrot, and rice filling, and cloaked in a rich homemade tomato sauce. They were a feature of countless family meals – along withRussian pelmeni andvareniki,beet potato salad,Russian garden salad,borscht, and more – and this is another of our recipes to cook in November 2025.

But baba’s cabbage rolls were a meal in themselves. They were so filling that as a child I would eat one and then I’d struggle to fit anything else in, my eyes darting around the table at the abundance of food and all the other Russian dishes that I disappointingly couldn’t fit in. Of course, I would squeeze a bit of everything in, because that’s what we did at family meals. I just wished they’d been smaller, so I’ve made a couple of tweaks.

Easy Russian Cabbage Rolls Recipe for a Petite Version of Baboushka’s Golubtsi

Chorizo, Cabbage and Three Bean Stew Recipe for a Spicy Take on an Eastern European Stew

If it’s stew weather where you area, thishearty chorizo cabbage and three bean stew recipe makes my spicy take on a traditional Eastern European stew my Russian grandmother cooked that’s called kapustniak, kapustnyak or kapusniak in Russia, Ukraine and Poland. Originally made with kielbasa and sauerkraut, I use chorizo to add warmth and deep flavours, and three types of beans to add texture.

I think half the time I cook myRussian family recipes – and anycabbage recipes, as baboushka was always cooking cabbage! – I do it as much for a taste of the past and to spark those memories of simpler times, as I do for a chance to savour baba’s delicious food, or something that resembles it. I’d give anything to be in that house again with my family tucking into bowls of baba’s stews and soups.

If you’re a fellow stew lover, do browse ourbest stew recipes for recipes for this deeply flavouredold-fashioned chicken stew, theRussian beef stew called Solyanka, aSpanish rabo de toro oxtail stew, aFrench cassoulet, atomato bredie, a classic Cape Town stew, atraditional Irish beef stew, anIrish beef and Guinness stew with dumplings, theHungarian stew porkolt (often confused goulash), and aCambodian pork stew with star anise and ginger.

Chorizo, Cabbage and Three Bean Stew Recipe for a Spicy Take on an Eastern European Stew

Ginger Scallion Sauce Recipe for Ginger Scallion Noodles, Momofuku’s Take on a Chinese Classic

Looking for quick and easy noodles? Try thisginger scallion sauce recipe for ginger scallion noodles. It 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. Terence has been making these delicious ginger scallion noodles with the sauce ever since, well before their last comeback. You should too.

Before we knew it as the Momofuku ginger scallion sauce for ginger scallion noodles from chef David Chang’sMomofuku: A Cookbook published way back in October 2009, Chang said it was “the secret sauce” served up in Cantonese joints all overNew York City. You know the kind of restaurants, as they’re endearingly the same in every Chinatown around the world.

Brightly lit, with an illuminated sign out front, and glossy roast ducks andchar siu pork hanging in the window to get you salivating. Faded newspaper reviews taped to the glass window at the entrance, and a laminated English language picture menu, with only a third of the dishes from the menu that Cantonese speakers get.

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, it made a comeback in 2021, and it’s popularity seems only to be increasing. If you haven’t made it yet, give it a try.

Ginger Scallion Sauce Recipe for Ginger Scallion Noodles, Momofuku Take on a Chinese Classic

Our Best Pickles Recipes for National Pickle Day

It’sNational Pickle Day on 14 November, which is a great excuse to celebrate pickles and make some of ourbest pickles recipes. Our recipes make a range of homemade pickles but most are ‘refrigerator pickles’ or ‘quick pickles’, which don’t take long to prep.

We’ve got recipes for Mexican pickles, including Yucatan pink onion pickles,quick pickled red cabbage andpickled jalapeños, all of which are fantastic onMexican dishes such astacos,tostadas andnachos and Tex-Mex favourites such aschilli con carne andburritos andMexican escabeche or mixed vegetable pickles to munch on with cold Mexican cervezas.

We’ve also got recipes forEastern European style dill pickles, which my Russian-Ukrainian family served with every meal and are brilliant withfish and chips andfried chicken. Pickles are also fantastic for adding zing, tang and crunch topotato salads (or anysalads),tartare sauce, or your favouriteburgers,sandwiches andhot dogs.

Our Best Pickles Recipes for Easy Delicious Refrigerator Pickles and Quick Pickles

Old-Fashioned Vegetable Barley Soup Recipe for a Clean-Out-the-Fridge Soup

November 15 isNational Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, so try our easyvegetable barley soup recipe for a versatile clean-out-the-fridge soup that’s deliciously filling and deeply flavourful. It’s another of our recipes to cook in November 2025. Follow our recipe or use whatever you have that’s looking wilted, shrivelled and forlorn for the ultimate clean-out-your-veggie-drawer meal made for these economically challenging times.

One of ourbest potato soup recipes, this old-fashioned vegetable barley soup is inspired by a soup my nanna made to use up excess veggies from pop’s backyard garden. When Terence and I would return from trips away to a fridge full of limp vegetables and herbs that had seen better days, instead of despairing I see it as an opportunity to make a hearty clean-out-the-fridge soup.

While the vegetables you chuck in the soup will vary depending on what you’ve got that has to be used up, you will need to make sure you have pearl barley in the pantry for such times or sub it for another whole grain, rice, noodles, or pasta. If you enjoy slurping soups as much as I do, do check out our other soup recipes. We have collections ofchicken soups,noodle soups,chicken noodle soups,fish soups,warming winter soups, andcold summer soups.

Old-Fashioned Vegetable Barley Soup Recipe for a Clean-Out-the-Fridge Soup

Healthy Fast Food Is Home Cooked Fast Food

It’sNational Fast Food Day on 16 November so why not try some of ourfavourite healthy fast food recipes? These days they’re called ‘fakeaway’. Healthy fast food is home cooked fast food. Whether you’re cooking your ownburgers andfries,fried chicken, batteredfish and chips,meat pies and sausage rolls, orsauces and condiments, when you make fast food at home you know exactly what’s going into them plus they taste infinitely better.

Fakeaway recipes are 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 here. 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.

If you want healthier fast food you have to cook it at home, because home cooked fast food is fresher, more nutritional, less fatty, and made with real ingredients, not ‘pink slime’ or ‘tuna’ with no tuna DNA. Below you’ll find our favourite healthy fast food recipes for everything from fish and chips to burgers and fries and meat pies and sausage rolls. Plus some spicy sauces to go on those.

Healthy Fast Food Is Home Cooked Fast Food – Recipes for Burgers, Fries, Pies and More

Ultimate Guide to Sourdough Baking – All You Need to Know About Baking Sourdough

It’sHomemade Bread Day on 17 November, which is as good an excuse as any to start your sourdough journey if you’re not already baking your own homemade sourdough bread. Terence’s ultimate guide to sourdough baking covers everything you need to know about baking sourdough.

Terence has got a guide tohow to bake a perfect sourdough loaf, aneasy sourdough bread recipe for beginners, a guide tobaking sourdough in a toaster oven, lots ofsourdough starter discard recipes (crumpets, crispycrackers,spicy crackers,scallion pancakes) and lots ofideas for things to do with sourdough. If you’ve been intimidated by sourdough baking, Terence’s guides should give you confidence and inspire you.

Critics have said that sourdough baking is too hard and not worth the trouble. Try your hand at baking sourdough and you’ll soon realise it’s very much worth any effort. Terence, the sourdough baker in our house, has written about hisdelight and deep satisfaction from making sourdough, from the ritual as much as results. Me? I’m just happy inhaling the heavenly aromas that waft through our home.

Ultimate Guide to Sourdough Baking – All You Need to Know About Baking Sourdough

Chicken and Leek Soup Recipe and Creamy Leek and Bacon Gnocchi Recipe (Two for One Day)

It seems it’sNational Vichyssoise Day on 18 November. If you’re not au fait with the rich creamy soup created by French chef Louis Diat at the Ritz Carlton in the early 20th century, vichyssoise is a rich and creamy soup made with puréed leeks, potatoes, onions and cream.

Typically served chilled as an appetiser, Terence made a rich, dense rendition of vichyssoise, dolloped with black caviar and sprinkled with chives, which he presented in shot glasses or espresso cups to kick off our multi-course dinner parties. We don’t have a vichyssoise recipe on the site, but we do have a couple of dishes with leek and potatoes you should like, so here are two more recipes to cook in November 2025.

Myeasy chicken leek soup recipe makes a speedy version of the Scottish cock-a-leekie soup that features on menus atBurns Suppers, dinners to celebrate Scottish poet Robert Burns. A traditional cock-a-leekie soup recipe calls for a whole chicken, but adding shredded poached chicken orrotisserie chicken saves time without sacrificing flavour.

You could also try mycreamy leek and bacon gnocchi recipe for a quick and easy pasta that’s super versatile. It’s a wonderfully comforting dish for autumn-winter, but you could skip the cream in spring-summer and drizzle on plenty of good extra virgin olive oil. Serve with a simpletomato salad and crustysourdough for mopping up the creamy sauce.

Chicken Leek Soup Recipe for an Easy Scottish Cock-a-Leekie Soup

Easy Baked Meatballs Recipe with Middle Eastern Baharat Seven Spice Blend

An American friend told me that November is ‘meatball month’ for her family. Frankly, I can eat meatballs any day of the year. My easybaked meatballs recipe with Middle Eastern baharat or seven spice blend 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 baked meatballs recipe is one of my favouriteMiddle Eastern recipes and one of ourbest meatball recipes. If you enjoyed ourbeef kofta recipe but find squeezing the mince around a skewer fiddly (some do), you’ll love these. 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 dipshummus andbaba ganoush and salads such asfattoush andtabbouleh. I love to roll them up in soft warm pita spread withcarrot ‘hummus’ orbeetroot ‘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

Old Fashioned Chicken Lentil Soup Recipe with Potatoes, Carrots, Celery and Dill

This easy recipe forchicken lentil soup with potatoes, carrots, celery and dill makes one of those endearingly old-fashioned chicken soups that will transport you back to simpler times. It’s a quick and easy soup to make, especially if you use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken and canned lentils. We poach chicken breasts and use the liquid as the soup stock.

One of myfavourite chicken soup recipes, it will make you a healthy, light, comforting, and nourishing soup that’s perfect if you’re ‘feeling poorly’, as my English friends say. Packed with healthy vegetables and clean flavours, thanks to at simple clean chicken stock, loads of fresh fragrant dill, and a little pickle juice, the soup is lightly seasoned.

Don’t make this soup recipe if you’re looking for a big bold bowl of broth that’s brimming with flavour and texture or intensely spiced. You’ll find plenty of recipes in our archives for those, such as a whole collection of spicy noodle soups from Southeast Asia, such as thisSingapore curry laksa and thiskhao soi gai recipe for a Chiang Mai curry noodle soup.

Old Fashioned Chicken Lentil Soup Recipe with Potatoes, Carrots, Celery and Dill

Cambodian Roast Chicken Recipe with Aromatic Herb Stuffing

So it’sNational Stuffing Day on 21 November, which I’m using as an excuse to make my best roast chicken recipe with stuffing, which is another of our recipes to cook in November 2025. I developed this recipe in those crazy early days of the pandemic when we were staying at home in Siem Reap andcooking our way through Covid. It’s hard to believe that was almost six years ago.

A roast chicken is one of thosedishes that every cook should master to become a better cook and that’s exactly what I set out to do. This recipe came naturally after so many years living in Cambodia. And like so many of the recipes we developed that first year of the pandemic, it’s our Cambodian-inspired take on a classic – like Terence’sCambodian-inspired Aussie meat pies and sausage rolls and mySoutheast Asian pesto andSoutheast Asian-inspired Japanese furikake.

This roast chicken and stuffing recipe makes a fragrant, flavoursome and moist roast chicken thanks to a Cambodian inspired herb butter and a stuffing made withyellow kroeung, an aromatic Khmer herb and spice paste pounded from fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime zest, galangal, turmeric, garlic, and shallots. Baby carrots, corn, potatoes, and shallots are cooked with the chicken for a comforting Cambodian-inspired roast chicken dinner.

It’s worth making a batch of Khmer yellow kroeung, which you treat the same way you do a Thai curry paste. It’s used in thisCambodian lemongrass chicken stir-fry, as the basis for hearty soups such assamlor machou kroeung sach ko (sour soup with morning glory and beef), as an ingredient in these wonderfulfragrant fish cakes, as a marinade for smokygrilled skewers, and in Cambodia’s famousfish amok, a rich steamed fish curry.

Best Roast Chicken Recipe with Aromatic Cambodian Herb Butter and Stuffing

Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews Recipe for Cambodia’s Cashew Chicken

November 22 isNational Cashew Day so we’re sharing thisstir-fried chicken with cashews recipe makes the Cambodian dish cha moan krop svay chanti, which has its origins in China. The delicious dish is a cross between a Sichuanese dish and a Cantonese dish that’s found elsewhere in Southeast Asia, including Thailand. It’s a cousin to a dish known as ‘cashew chicken’ in the USA and Australia.

Our stir-fried chicken with cashews recipe for the Cambodian dish cha moan krop svay chanti will make you a dish of Cambodian-Chinese provenance that’s incredibly flavourful and full of flavour and texture. It’s one of our favouriteCambodian recipes. We make it a lot in our kitchen here inCambodia’sSiem Reap. And thanks to the crunchy cashews, it’s also one of ourbest recipes with nuts.

You’ll spot this dish elsewhere in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, and if you live outside Southeast Asia, particularly in the USA or Australia, you might be familiar with a dish that’s very similar called ‘cashew chicken’, part of the Chinese-American and Chinese-Australian repertoire. This Cambodian stir-fried chicken with cashews recipe makes an even tastier dish.

A few more recipes for cashew lovers: our spiced Middle Eastern style rice with dried fruit and nuts, starring cashews and pistachios; my richpumpkin chickpea curry with cashews and coriander, which can be made with ared Cambodian spice paste,Cambodian saraman curry paste,Thai massaman curry paste, or Thai red curry paste; and this classic Cantonese-stylestir-fried chicken with cashews with crunchy asparagus.

Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews Recipe for Cambodia’s Cashew Chicken

Broccoli Bacon Salad Recipe with Cranberries, Pine Nuts and Pangrattato

It’sEat a Cranberry Day on 23 November and because I don’t know how anyone can eat just one cranberry, I’m sharing a recipe that has a heap of cranberries and that’s mybroccoli bacon salad recipe with cranberries, pine nuts, andpangrattato andgremolata for a more Italian-ish take on the classic American deli-style broccoli salad or broccoli crunch salad.

If you’re a fan of the American broccoli salad — or broccoli crunch salad, as it’s also known, as it’s traditionally made with crunchy raw broccoli — then try my rendition. Full of flavour and texture, my broccoli salad recipe makes one of ourbest broccoli recipes. It’s fantastic eaten on its own, but it’s also a brilliant side tojuicy meatballs,roast chicken, barbecue sausages, or agreat hunk of steak.

Whether insoup,pasta oromelettes, broccoli and bacon is one of those great ingredient couplings, especially in Italy — liketomato and mozzarella andprosciutto and melon, two more great Italian pairings. Try thisbroccoli rabe with pancetta and sausage and tell me I’m wrong.

More recipes with cranberries: ourpersimmon salad recipe with mixed lettuce, bocconcini, and purple shallots that’s sprinkled with pepitas and cranberries, and showered with fresh basil; thispumpkin lentil salad recipe with beetroot, goat cheese, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, and fresh mint; and myRussian spiced pumpkin porridge made with butternut pumpkin, barley, spices, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries.

Broccoli Bacon Salad Recipe with Cranberries, Pine Nuts and Pangrattato

Spanish Tomato and Sardine Salad Recipe for Ensalada de Tomate y Sardinas

November 24 isNational Sardines Day and we have loads ofcanned fish recipes, including tinned sardines recipes – from asardine salad with celery, cos, capers, and mustard dressing andsardine pasta with capers and gremolata, to thisfancy sardines on toast. But I thought I’d share thisSpanish tomato and sardine salad recipe for ensalada de tomate y sardinas.

I’d planned to share this tomato sardine salad recipe with you when we settled into anapartment rental for two weeks inJerez de la Frontera in Andalusia in the south of Spain way back in 2010, when we launched Grantourismo with our yearlong trip dedicated to slow, local and experiential travel. Terence shared recipes forhuevos con chorizo andrabo de toro oxtail stew from Jerez, but I was so focused on theflamenco,markets andchurros that I ran out of time.

This salad originated in Southern Spain and it’s enormously popular in summer, although you can happily eat this salad year-round if you can source good tomatoes. Sweet tomato wedges and sardines are scattered with sliced shallots, salty capers, Spanish green olives, fresh parsley, and a zingy vinaigrette. Serve withcrusty sourdough to mop up the tomato-ey salad juices.

Spanish Tomato and Sardine Salad Recipe for Ensalada de Tomate y Sardinas

Fresh Herb Salad Recipe for Yum Chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant Bangkok

Thisfantastic fresh herb salad recipe makes a big fragrant bowl of yum chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant, Bangkok, and comes courtesy of owner-chef Chalee Kader. While more akin to a European-style green salad than a Thai salad, it’s nevertheless distinctly Southeast Asian in its sweet and sour flavours and zesty-ness, and it’s another of our recipes to cook in November 2025.

I’d been hankering to make this fragrant fresh herb salad recipe for yum chee since we first tasted it at chefChalee Kader’s100 Mahaseth restaurant, a casual nose-to-tail eatery inBangkok‘s hip Charenkroeung neighbourhood that is one of the Thai capital’s mostsustainable restaurants.

Focused largely on food from Thailand’s NortheasternIsaan region, 100 Mahaseth was originally conceived as a pho joint after the chef and his partner fell in love with the Vietnamese soup while studying overseas. 100 Mahaseth’s menu features a hearty pho, and, um, a spicy hot dog, so this fresh green salad that looks more European in style (it reminds me of the herbyGreek lettuce salad called maroulosalata), but is made with Southeast Asian herbs, isn’t out of place.

It’s a simple yet ingenious salad that like a lot of yums or yams, uses the ingredients of the classic northern Southeast Asian dipping sauce found in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – fish sauce, palm sugar and lime juice – as the salad dressing. Plus you have the bite of the birds-eye chillies and the texture of the crushed peanuts and dried shrimp sprinkled on at the end.

Fresh Herb Salad Recipe for Yum Chee from 100 Mahaseth Restaurant Bangkok

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe with Creamy Hummus, Crispy Chickpeas, Pickled Shallots and Mint

If you’re looking for deliciousvegetable side dishes to serve with family meals, try myroasted cauliflower recipe. It will make you one of ourbest Middle Eastern style dishes. Cauliflower florets are oven-roasted in a spiced olive oil, piled onto a spread ofcreamy hummus, and topped with crunchy fried chickpeas, zingy pickled shallots, and fresh mint leaves.

The recipe will make you a cauliflower side dish that’s meant to be shared. Serve it at the centre of the table and let guests help themselves. But it’s so substantial it could easily be served as a vegetarian main. I can happily eat this roasted cauliflower on its own and be perfectly satisfied.

I love to serve it with thisbraised chicken with olives and capers, one of ourbest chicken recipes, and thesegrilled baby carrots on dill yoghurt with dukkah and fresh herbs. If we’re feeding a crowd, we’ll also serve this dish ofroast broccoli, zucchini and green beans on a butter bean spread and someHassleback potatoes orcreamy mashed potatoes on the side, and maybe thisradish cucumber salad with feta, rucola and fresh herbs.

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe with Creamy Hummus, Crispy Chickpeas, Pickled Shallots and Mint

Rabo de Toro Oxtail Stew Recipe from Jerez in Southern Spain

Terence’srabo de toro oxtail stew recipe from Jerez in SouthernSpain makes a classic slow braised dish that requires a long cooking time, but rewards with rich, robust flavours and melt-in-your-mouth meat. It’s inspired by the rabo de toro that we ate at Bar Juanito inJerez.

“Just likethe Moroccan tagine that I made inEssaouira, this rabo de toro oxtail stew recipe is not a dish you start thinking about making at 6.30pm and expect to serve the same night,” Terence writes. “If you attempt this dish at 6.30pm, you had better have the number of a pizza place on speed dial. However, while these are dishes thatdo take time, they don’t necessarily require effort, or the expertise of a Michelin-starred chef.”

And if you love a good old-fashioned traditional stew, do check out our collection of ourbest stew recipes. We have recipes for a deeply flavouredold-fashioned chicken stew, theRussian beef stew called Solyanka, aFrench cassoulet, atomato bredie, a classic Cape Town stew, atraditional Irish beef stew, anIrish beef and Guinness stew with dumplings, theHungarian stew porkolt (often confused goulash), and aCambodian pork stew with star anise and ginger.

Rabo de Toro Oxtail Stew Recipe from Jerez in Southern Spain

Grilled Baby Carrots and Our Best Vegetable Sides

Our American friends and readers are celebrating Thanksgiving on 27 November, so I thought I’d share some of our best vegetable side dish recipes, including this recipe forgrilled baby carrots on dill yoghurt withdukkah and fresh aromatic herbs. It makes a Middle Eastern style side dish loaded with texture, flavour and fragrance that’s fantastic with grilled or roast meats and garlicky chicken.

If you’re a fan of those Middle Easternvegetable side dishes of vegetables served atop labneh or hummus, you’ll love these grilled carrots on a bed of dill yoghurt, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled withdukkah (the crunchy Arabic nut, seed and spice condiment), and showered with fresh aromatic herbs. Sometimes I’ll stir a little pesto through the olive oil.

And if you are a lover of thoseMiddle Eastern dishes, try these traditionalhummus-based dishes, such as this balela salad (a salad on hummus with chickpeas) andhummus bil lahme (spiced minced beef on hummus). Or this TurkishAntalya piyaz for a tomato salad with boiled eggs on white bean purée. Or thisroasted cauliflower on hummus,green beans on white bean purée,cucumber salad on creamy butter bean purée, or thisbeetroot, arugula, feta, and walnut salad on butter bean purée. They’re all so good!

Grilled Baby Carrots on Dill Yoghurt with Dukkah and Fresh Fragrant Herbs

Russian French Toast Recipe for Grenki Just Like My Russian-Ukrainian Grandma Made

It’sNational French Toast Day on 28 November and we have a few French toast recipes you could make. Thisquick and easy French toast recipe makes old-fashioned French toast – stale bread dipped into whisked eggs and fried in butter until golden brown. We serve it with a berry sauce, made in minutes with fresh or frozen berries and jam, dollops of cream or sour cream, and sifted icing sugar. It makes a simple, sweet weekend breakfast or dessert.

Or, you could try myRussian French toast recipe for grenki just like my Russian-Ukrainian grandmother and mother made. This Russian take on French toast is easy to make, with just a handful of ingredients. Eaten for breakfast, brunch or dessert, you can serve grenki sweet, with sugar, honey, golden or maple syrup, or sour cream.

We’ve also got asavoury French toast recipe for classic French toast that’s flavoured with garlic, onion, sea salt, pepper, and a little chilli, piled with pan-fried cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and fragrant dill. It’s a fabulous weekend breakfast, brunch or lunch dish.

Russian French Toast Recipe for Grenki Just Like My Russian Grandmother Made

Thai Grilled Eggplant Salad Recipe with Red Shallots, Fragrant Mint and Soft-Boiled Eggs

ThisThai grilled eggplant salad recipe makes a delightful dish of smoky pieces of creamy eggplant with sweet red shallots, aromatic mint, the umami of fish sauce, a sublimejammy soft-boiled egg, and a kick of chilli, and it’s another of our recipes to cook in November 2025. This salad is best when the eggplant is straight from the grill or barbecue, and combined with the other ingredients just before serving.

You won’t find thisDavid Thompson dish on a cookie-cutter Thai restaurant menu, so if you’re craving goodThai food as much as we have been lately – ah, we’d give anything to be able to hop on a plane toThailand and dine atDavid Thompson’s restaurant Aksorn inBangkok – then you’ll need to make this smoky grilled eggplant salad yourself.

If you’re Australian, you may remember it from Thompson’s Sailor’s Thai restaurant inSydney. Or you may have tried it atNahm Bangkok when the restaurant was helmed by David. You might also have spotted it in hisThai Food cookbook. Thompson calls the dish yam makreua yao inThai Food, although you’ll mostly see ‘eggplant salad’ spelled as yam makeua yao (no ‘r’) – a ‘yam’ is salad and ‘makeua’ is eggplant.

The eggplants need to be done over a barbecue or grill to get the smoky notes that make this dish stand out. We use eco-friendlycoconut shell charcoal BBQ briquettesfor ourtraditional clay brazier on the balcony, which we grill the eggplants on, as they don’t smoke and ash as much as traditional charcoal, and they’ll stay hot enough to cook with for a couple of hours.

Thai Grilled Eggplant Salad Recipe with Red Shallots, Fragrant Mint and Soft-Boiled Eggs

Fig Salad with Prosciutto, Buffalo Mozzarella, Chicken and Balsamic Glaze

Fig season starts soon here in Australia (yay!) and fresh seasonal figs are the star of thisfig salad with prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella and chicken with a balsamic glaze dressing. While you’ll see this Mediterranean salad made with spiced stewed figs, if you’ve got juicy fresh figs the last thing you want to do is cook them. Serve this versatile fig salad on its own as a light meal or as an appetiser or side salad as part of a Mediterranean feast.

The best figs I’ve ever tasted were plucked from a tree in the front yard of our hospitable driver in Southern Lebanon’s beautiful, ancient Phoenician city of Tyre. I’ll never forget biting into the plump, warm, sun-kissed fig he handed to me, the sticky juices of the sweet, luscious fruit dripping down my chin and wrist. It was a revelation.

It’s hard to beat a plate of fresh sweet figs served with a soft white cheese and slices of salty cured ham, and this easy fig salad with prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella and chicken, dressed with a balsamic glaze, is essentially a more elaborate and more filling version of that fantastic snack that screams summer in the Mediterranean.

I shared this fig salad recipe as part of a series of recipes for the salads I’ve had on rotation here in Australia, including thisItalian melon, buffalo mozzarella and prosciutto salad (a fancier version ofprosciutto e melone, the classicaperitivo snack and appetiser fromItaly), my Med stylechicken salad with spring vegetables and a garlicky lemony Middle Eastern dressing, this refreshingGreek watermelon feta salad with fresh mint and dill, and mypersimmon salad with bocconcini, pepitas and cranberries.

Fig Salad with Prosciutto, Buffalo Mozzarella, Chicken and Balsamic Glaze

Please do let us know if you make any of our recipes to cook in November 2025 as we’d love to know how they turn out for you.

AUTHOR BIO