This is the best dish on Earth for 2025
It’s the so-called Mount Rushmore of international munchies.
The best food in the world might seem subjective — one person’s trash is another’s epicurean treasure. However, travel guide TasteAtlas has nonetheless taken a stab by revealing its annual list of the 100 best dishes on Earth for 2024, which includes roast pig, Neapolitan pizza and Brazilian-style beef.
How does one definitively compose such a divisive list? TasteAtlas did some culinary crowdsourcing, basing their countdown on “367,847 valid ratings for 11,258 dishes” in their database.
1. Lechona (Colombia)
As Vinnie so perfectly put it in “Goodfellas,” [pork] “that’s the flavor.” The swine-based treat of the year, per the Taste Atlas, was lechona, which boasted an impressive 4.78 out of five stars on the site.
The succulent Colombian centerpiece “involves butchering, marinating, and layering pork, split peas, and caramelized onions inside the pig’s salted skin” like a crackling meat piñata.
“The skin is sewn tightly to encase the rich filling, then slow-roasted for hours to achieve a golden, crispy exterior and tender, flavorful interior,” they write. “Brushed with bitter orange juice during cooking, the skin develops its signature crunch and tang.”
Their top restaurants for this pigskin pouch of goodness are lechonería Donde Jimmy (Bogotá), Lechoneria Donde and Pacheco (Bogotá) and Restaurante Boquerón (Ibagué).
2. Pizza Napoletana (Italy)
The basis for the ubiquitous New York-style pie, 2nd place winner Neapolitan pizza scored a 4.75 out of 5. For those who’ve been living under a gastronomic rock, the most recognizable version of this minimalist dish involves a thin crust slathered with tomato-based sauce flavored with garlic and oregano. This is topped with the holy trinity of tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves, whose colors are said to represent the Italian flag.
While all the restaurant recommendations were — perhaps understandably — in Naples, Manhattan’s own Una Pizza Napoletana perhaps deserves a bigger slice of the pie given that it was ranked No. 1 globally by 50 Top Pizza in June.
3. Picanha (Brazil)
Good beef might seem synonymous with high-grade Japanese Wagyu, however TasteAtlas devotees voted this staple of all-you-can-eat Brazilian spots the best in this high-steaks competition.
Also known as the sirloin cap, picanha (which boasts 4.68 out of five stars) is situated on back side of the animal, above the butt, where it adorns a veritable glacier of fat. It’s a fixture of churrascarias, where these ingots of meat are grilled and sliced off a skewer to serve.
Coincidentally, the cut itself is quite devoid of marbling, so chefs must cook it perfectly to prevent it from becoming too chewy during the rump roast.
4. Rechta (Algeria)
Coming in fourth with 4.68 out of five stars is rechta, an Algerian dish of thin, flat noodles and chicken sauce.
“The noodles are made with a combination of flour, salt, and water, while the sauce is made with chicken pieces, onions, garlic, oil, chickpeas, cinnamon, turnips, potatoes, and zucchini” and other ingredients, TasteAtlas writes. “The dish is especially popular during festive events such as weddings, Eid al Fitr (end of Ramadan), and Ashura.”
5. Phanaeng curry (Thailand)
Rounding out the top five was phanaeng curry (4.65 out of 5), surprisingly the only Asian dish to make the top five.
This fragrant oasis in a bowl consists of meat — generally beef, chicken, duck, or pork — that’s stewed with coconut milk, makrut lime leaves, fish sauce, palm sugar and Thai curry paste.
This is then garnished with thinly sliced makrut lime leaves, Thai spur chili slices, and a splash of coconut milk to bring the symphony of flavors into HD.
The origins of phanaeng curry are as opaque as the curry itself.
“It is often associated with the Malaysian state of Penang, but there is little evidence to support this claim,” TasteAtlas writes.
“However, the earliest known recipe is found in Maawm Sohm Jeen’s book Tam Raa Gap Khao, dating back to 1890.”
We’ve listed the top ten dishes below
- Lechona (Colombia)
- Pizza Napoletana (Italy)
- Picanha (Brazil)
- Rechta (Algeria)
- Phanaeng Curry (Thailand)
- Asado (Argentina)
- Çökertme kebabı (Turkey)
- Rawon (Indonesia)
- Cağ kebabı (Turkey)
- Tibs (Ethiopia)
