Low-calorie recipes

🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free🌶️Spicy

★4.4

🇷🇺RussiaEasy

Sauces and Dips

Khrenovina

A raw Siberian horseradish-and-tomato sauce, also called gorloder, known for its burning heat. Fresh tomatoes, horseradish root, garlic, and hot pepper are ground together uncooked and seasoned with salt. It is served with pelmeni, meat, fish, and on black bread.

20 min15 kcal20 serves

🇺🇦UkraineAdvanced

Flour and Confectionery Products

Khvorost (Ukrainian Fried Pastry)

Light, crispy deep-fried pastry strips dusted with powdered sugar. The dough is rolled paper-thin and shaped into twists or roses. A splash of brandy keeps the pastry extra crunchy and prevents it from absorbing oil. A beloved tea-time treat.

90 min65 kcal10 serves

🌿Vegetarian

🇰🇷KoreaMedium

Vegetable and Mushroom Dishes

Kimchi

Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish — fermented Peking cabbage with spicy spices and seasonings. Characterized by a bright tangy flavor with sour notes, crisp texture and intense aroma.

45 min50 kcal4 serves

★4.9

Appetizers and Sandwiches

Korean Carrot Salad

A spicy marinated carrot salad where the carrots stay firm while vinegar, garlic and spices create a rich, tangy flavor. Best after marinating overnight in the refrigerator.

90 min150 kcal8 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌶️Spicy🌱Vegan

Meat Dishes

Korean Fried Chicken

The crispiest fried chicken you will ever make — double-fried for a glass-thin shatteringly crispy crust, then glazed in a sticky sweet-spicy gochujang sauce with honey, garlic, and soy sauce. A Korean street food icon that became a global obsession.

40 min320 kcal2 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free

Salads

Korean Marinated Daikon

A refreshing Korean side dish of daikon sliced into rounds, salted to draw out moisture, then marinated in a sweet-tangy soy dressing with garlic and chili. Served cold as banchan alongside rice or grilled meats.

90 min90 kcal2 serves

★4.5

🌿Vegetarian🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free

Salads

Korean Soy Asparagus

A classic Korean banchan made from dried soy asparagus (fuchju) soaked, briefly boiled, and marinated in a savory soy-garlic-sesame dressing. Served cold as a side dish alongside rice and other Korean dishes.

360 min160 kcal4 serves

★4.8

🇰🇷KoreaMedium

Fish and Seafood Dishes

Korean Spicy Squid Stir-Fry

A bold Korean stir-fry of tender squid with carrot, bell pepper, and onion in a spicy-sweet gochujang sauce. Fast, fiery, and deeply savory — ready in under 10 minutes once the vegetables are prepped. Serve with rice and kimchi.

35 min240 kcal2 serves

🌶️Spicy🌾Gluten-free💪High protein

🌾Gluten-free🌿Vegetarian🌱Vegan

🇺🇦UkraineMedium

Soups

Kulish

A hearty Ukrainian Cossack soup of millet cooked with salo and onion, somewhere between a soup and a porridge. Potatoes, carrot, and herbs round it out; rendered salo and golden onion give it its deep, smoky-savoury character. It is served hot with dill and cracklings.

45 min330 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

🇱🇧LebanonMedium

Sauces and Dips

Labneh with Sizzled Tomatoes

Labneh is strained yogurt — drained overnight until it's thick, tangy, and spreadable. The tomatoes are the opposite: cooked fast in very hot oil with garlic and cumin until they blister and burst, then poured while still sizzling over the cold labneh. The contrast is the point. Cold and creamy against hot and jammy. You can buy labneh at most Middle Eastern grocery stores and save the overnight step, but making it yourself takes nothing except time.

30 min180 kcal4 serves

🇹🇭ThailandMedium

Salads

Larb

Thai minced meat salad dressed with lime juice, fish sauce and toasted rice powder. Explosively fresh, herby and spicy — one of the most vibrant dishes in Southeast Asian cuisine.

35 min220 kcal2 serves