There is no cooking experience more fundamental and universal than grilling food over an open flame. All over the world you will find people using fire to give their food smoky, charred flavor. From Middle Eastern kebabs to Thai chicken to Swedish shallots, we’ve rounded up our favorite global grilling recipes.
Skewered meat is a favorite for throwing on the grill across the planet. Our simple Middle Eastern shish kabobs use chicken, plus vegetables like mushrooms, tomatoes, and zucchini. Our Mediterranean chicken shawarma are marinated in yogurt, which tenderizes the meat and adds just a touch of sweetness. In Turkey you’ll find simit kebap, garlicky kebabs made of ground lamb, bulgur, and pistachio.
Grilling a whole, spatchcocked chicken makes the bird moist and smoky. There are endless ways to season a grilled chicken. Trying turning to Iraq for inspiration—we have a recipe that uses a vibrant yellow spice rub packed with coriander, cumin, sumac, fenugreek, cardamom, and more. Or go with our Cuban-inspired adobo chicken flavored with garlic, oregano, and Spanish smoked paprika. Cooking it on a plancha placed over the grill and weighing it down with a foil-wrapped brick gets the skin super crispy.
Seafood also takes well to the grill. In Thailand, charred squid served with a tangy garlic and chile sauce is a classic roadside treat. Vietnamese summer rolls are a wonderful warm-weather treat—try our grilled shrimp version with mango, avocado, and a chile-lime dipping sauce.
Find all of these dishes and more in our collection of global grilling recipes.
Test kitchen director Farideh Sadeghin learned to make these simple grilled kebabs from her father, which he likes to serve with rice and shirazi salad.
Ssäm, which is Korean for “wrapped,” refers to the lettuce wraps that enclose spicy grilled fish in this recipe from Matthew Rudofker, executive chef at New York City’s Momofuku Ssäm Bar. Get the recipe for Fish Ssäm with Spicy Chile Sauce »
Pork collar is a great cut for a long marinade and a quick cook time—it gets nice and crispy on the outside and stays juicy inside, thanks to its marbled fat. Get the recipe for Vietnamese-Style Pork Collar »
Chef Chris Fischer fell in love with the simple, robust marinades common to many Japanese dishes after traveling to Japan for work. Here he marinates fluke steaks—have your butcher cut them for you, or substitute flounder or sea bass steaks—in a sticky mixture of soy sauce, mirin, and honey. Get the recipe for Soy-and-Honey-Glazed Fluke Steaks »
Soak up the flavorful juices of these Mediterranean-spiced chicken skewers by resting them on grilled pita during the final stages of cooking in this dish from Ana Sortun, who uses yogurt’s natural acidity to tenderize tough cuts of meat. Get the recipe for Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Shawarma »
Seka Salamun, a home cook in Tisno, Croatia, uses olive wood to impart a mild smokiness to this grilled fish. Though delicious with just a squeeze of lemon, it also pairs beautifully with classic French fish sauces. Get the recipe for Whole Grilled Fish with Lemon (Riba na Rostilju) »
Milder than their cousin the onion, shallots are ideal for grilling. For a midsummer cookout in Sweden, home cook Asa Johanson tosses shallots in butter and olive oil, wraps them in foil with dill, and cooks the package slowly on the grill until the shallots soften and caramelize, taking on a deep, sweet flavor.
