Afghan cuisine shares much in common with Persian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Central Asian and South Asian cuisines due to Afghanistan's close proximity and cultural ties. The cuisine is halal and mainly based on mutton, beef and poultry with rice and Afghan bread. Accompanying these are common vegetables and dairy products, such as milk, yogurt, whey, and fresh and dried fruits such as apples, apricots, grapes, bananas, oranges, plums, pomegranates, sweet melons, and raisins. The diet of most Afghans revolves around rice-based dishes, while various forms of naan are consumed with most meals. Tea is generally consumed daily in large quantities, and is a major part of hospitality. The culinary specialties reflect the nation's ethnic and geographic diversity. The national dish of Afghanistan is Kabuli palaw, a rice dish cooked with raisins, carrots, nuts, and lamb or beef.

The cuisine of Afghanistan is halal and uses various herbs and spices including coriander, mint, dill, cumin, cardamom and turmeric as well as locally-grown saffron. Afghan dishes are typically mild in flavor.

A variety of rice dishes known locally as 'palao' are prepared with various fruits, nuts and legumes, and combine sweet and sour flavors central to Afghan cuisine. Dumpling and noodle dishes, meat and vegetable stews, legumes, and kebab dishes make up the bulk of Afghan cuisine.

Rice is a core staple food in Afghan cuisine and the most important part of any meal. Challow, or white rice cooked with mild spices, is served mainly with qormas (korma: stews or casseroles). Palaw is cooked similarly to challow, but a combination of meat, stock, qorma, and herbs are also mixed in before baking, resulting in the elaborate colors, flavors, and aromas from which the rice got its name. Sometimes caramelized sugar is used to give the rice a rich brown color. Examples of palaw include:

Afghan bread is flat and cooked in a tanoor or tandoor (a vertical ground clay oven). The bread is slapped onto a stone wall to cook. Tabakhai is a flatbread cooked on a flat upside-down pan.

There is a wide variety of dumplings. Known under the name khameerbob and often eaten as dumplings, they are rarely served at large gatherings, such as weddings. They are instead served on special occasions at home.^{[citation needed]}

Qormah (also spelled "korma" or "qorma") is an onion- and tomato-based stew or casserole usually served with challow rice. First, onion is caramelized, for a richly colored stew. Then tomato is added, along with a variety of fruits, spices, and vegetables, depending on the recipe. The main ingredient, which can be meat or other vegetables, is added last. There are hundreds of different types of qormahs including:

Afghan kabob is most often found in restaurants and at outdoor street vendor stalls. Most of the time, it contains lamb meat. Kabob is made with naan instead of rice. Customers have the option to sprinkle sumac or ghore angoor (dried ground sour grapes) on their kabob. Pieces of fat from the sheep's tail (jijeq) are usually added to the skewers to add extra flavor. Traditional Afghan kabobs are made with onion juice, lemon, yoghurt, black pepper and sometimes saffron for chicken.