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Low-calorie recipes

Under 350 kcal per serving, without the sad-diet energy. Real flavour, careful fat, plenty of vegetables — the kind of light cooking you actually want to make again.

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Yakitori (Japanese Grilled Chicken Skewers) with chicken thighs, soy sauce and mirin — Japan recipe

🇯🇵JapanMedium

Meat Dishes

Yakitori (Japanese Grilled Chicken Skewers)

Yakitori (焼き鳥, yaki = grilled, tori = bird) is one of Japan's most beloved street foods and izakaya staples — bite-sized pieces of chicken threaded onto bamboo or metal skewers and grilled over charcoal, seasoned with either coarse salt (shio style) or brushed repeatedly with tare, a soy-mirin-sake glaze that caramelizes into a lacquered, sweet-savory coating. Authentic yakitori is cooked over binchotan (白炭), a white oak charcoal that burns at very high temperature with minimal smoke, allowing the fat dripping from the chicken to produce fragrant vapour rather than flare-ups. The two defining skewer styles covered here are negima (ねぎま) — chicken thigh alternated with long onion — and the plain momo (もも) thigh skewer. Both are grilled in multiple passes, dipped in tare, returned to the grill, and repeated until the exterior is lacquered dark and the interior is cooked through.

60 min310 kcal4 serves

💪High protein

Zaalouk with eggplant, tomato and garlic — Morocco recipe

🇲🇦MoroccoMedium

Salads

Zaalouk

Zaalouk is a Moroccan cooked salad — eggplant and tomatoes slow-cooked together with garlic, cumin, paprika, and plenty of olive oil until they collapse into a thick, jammy paste. Not quite a dip, not quite a side dish. The Moroccan kitchen serves it alongside tagines, spooned onto bread, or as part of a mezze spread of small salads that open a meal. Charring the eggplant before cooking it is optional but does add a smoky note that the straight-cooked version lacks. It tastes better the next day, and keeps for four days in the fridge.

50 min145 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free

Zefir (Russian Apple Marshmallow) with apples, agar and egg white — Russia recipe

🇷🇺RussiaMedium

Sweet Dishes

Zefir (Russian Apple Marshmallow)

Zefir is a light Russian confection — thick apple purée whipped with egg white and set with an agar-sugar syrup into airy, meringue-like rosettes. A descendant of pastila, it sets at room temperature rather than in the fridge, giving a delicate crust outside and a soft, springy centre. Naturally fat-free and gluten-free, it's dusted with powdered sugar and served in sandwiched pairs. The 60 minutes cover the hands-on work only: the purée has to cool completely first, and the piped zefir then dries at room temperature for 6–12 hours — overnight is easiest.

60 min220 kcal12 serves

🌾Gluten-free🌿Vegetarian

Zhur with rye sour starter, smoked pork ribs and dried marjoram — Belarus recipe

🇧🇾BelarusAdvanced

Soups

Zhur

A traditional Belarusian sour soup whose tang comes from fermented rye (or oat) flour rather than vinegar. The starter is cooked with smoked pork, potatoes, root vegetables, and marjoram, then served with a hard-boiled egg and sour cream.

50 min320 kcal6 serves

Zimtsterne (German Cinnamon Star Cookies) with almonds, egg whites and cinnamon — Germany recipe

🇩🇪GermanyAdvanced

Flour and Confectionery Products

Zimtsterne (German Cinnamon Star Cookies)

Zimtsterne are star-shaped German Christmas cookies made without any flour: the dough is ground almonds, cinnamon and a meringue of egg whites and powdered sugar, and part of that same meringue becomes the white glaze on top. They come from Swabia in southern Germany and are chewy and soft inside, closer to marzipan than to a biscuit. They bake at a low 140°C so the glaze stays snow white. The 90 minutes cover whipping, cutting, glazing and two trays in the oven; the sticky dough also rests 45 minutes in the fridge before rolling. Makes about 40 stars, four to a serving, and they are naturally gluten-free.

90 min350 kcal10 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free

Zucchini Fritters with zucchini, eggs and flour — USA recipe

🇺🇸USAMedium

Vegetable and Mushroom Dishes

Zucchini Fritters

Grated zucchini, squeezed hard, mixed with egg, flour, parmesan, scallions, and garlic, then fried in a hot pan until crisp and golden. Zucchini is mostly water, so the entire recipe is really about getting that water out first. Do that correctly and the rest takes care of itself.

30 min220 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick

Zwiebelkuchen (German Onion Tart) with onion, flour and sour cream — Germany recipe

🇩🇪GermanyAdvanced

Flour and Confectionery Products

Zwiebelkuchen (German Onion Tart)

Zwiebelkuchen is a savoury onion tart from the wine villages of southern Germany (Swabia, the Palatinate, Baden, Franconia), eaten through September and October with Federweisser, the cloudy young wine that is still fermenting in the glass. Underneath the topping is yeast dough rather than pastry, a thin bread base pressed into a sheet pan, which is how it is sold at the autumn wine festivals. On top goes well over a kilo of onions sweated until they collapse, bound with sour cream and eggs, seasoned with caraway and studded with smoked bacon. The dough needs about an hour to rise before any of that begins, so the timing below does not include it.

80 min350 kcal12 serves

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