What to Eat on a Trip to Bolivia
Like its varied landscapes, Bolivia is renowned for its many traditional recipes and culinary specialties.
Like its varied landscapes, Bolivia is renowned for its many traditional recipes and culinary specialties. Rich and generous, Bolivian gastronomy is also a way to discover the personality and history of the country! Wondering what dishes to eat on a trip to Bolivia? Here are 12 must-try dishes…
1. Majadito: a Bolivian dish made with charqui
Majadito is a traditional dish from Santa Cruz, made with stir-fried rice and charqui – a dehydrated and salted meat. It's an everyday dish, easy to carry, found along roadsides or in markets. It can be served with fried eggs or fried plantain bananas.
2. Sopa de Mani: THE traditional dish to eat on a trip to Bolivia
Sopa de mani is a peanut soup, enhanced with sweet potatoes, peas, and chunks of beef or chicken. Halfway through cooking, toasted pasta is added to the broth, along with spices and parsley leaves. Its specialty? When served, sopa de mani is topped with a few fries!
3. Anticucho: the specialty of La Paz
This Bolivian specialty (already present in La Paz in the 16th century) consists of skewers of marinated beef hearts. These are served with a very spicy peanut sauce. A tip? Enjoy your anticucho with a glass of chicha, THE typical Bolivian beverage, made from corn!
4. Silpancho: the must-try dish of Cochabamba
Originally from Cochabamba, silpancho is a kind of breaded beef cutlet, cooked with boiled potatoes and white rice, topped with a fried egg. It's a very hearty dish, served with a small salad of tomatoes and onions. In Cochabamba, some restaurants serve only this traditional dish! There's also a sandwich version, called Trancapecho.
5. Sonso de Yuca: a cassava-based snack
Sonso de Yuca is the flagship street food snack. It's made with cassava puree (or yuca, a plant typical of South America), butter, cheese, and milk. Everything is then grilled golden in the form of small skewers.
6. Humitas: a typical South American dish
While the origin of humitas remains unclear (do they come from Argentina, Peru, or Bolivia?), they are highly prized throughout South America. Steamed corn cakes, folded into papillote shape, contain a filling of onions, cheese, eggs, and cream. Humitas have many variations, so their filling can differ from one recipe to another – and sometimes even be sweet.
7. Chola Sandwich: the popular sandwich
Very popular in La Paz, the Chola sandwich is a traditional pork snack. The origin of its name is linked to the cholitas, young Bolivian women of indigenous culture who originally cooked this dish. Once cooked, the pork is enhanced with onions, tomatoes, and chili peppers.
8. Chancho a la Cruz: grilled pig
Chancho a la cruz is a whole roasted pig. Placed above a grill, it cooks for about a dozen hours over very low heat. This specialty is a festive dish, served during celebrations and holidays. Want to try it? Head to the city of Tarija, where chancho a la cruz is particularly beloved.
9. Chajchu: the emblematic dish of Potosí
A typical dish of Potosí, chajchu is a comforting meal that was once served to workers after a hard day's labor. Its recipe? It's shredded beef accompanied by chuño (dehydrated potatoes typical of the Andes), beans, chili peppers, fava beans, and tomatoes. This specialty is often served with a salad of onions, tomatoes, and quirquiña (a Bolivian plant similar to cilantro).
10. Kalapurka Soup: a potage with atypical cooking
Originating from Potosí, kalapurka soup is cooked in high-altitude regions to fight the cold. Very thick, it's served to miners to give them enough strength and warmth before facing their day's work. Its specialty? It's cooked on volcanic stones! While its recipe is kept secret, you'll recognize notes of corn, peas, and potatoes…
11. Cuñapé: traditional bread
Considered a dish in its own right by locals, cuñapé is bread made with cassava flour and cheese. Its specialty? In Bolivia, these traditional small breads are enjoyed with a cup of coffee or tea!
12. Salteñas: empanadas from Tarija
Salteñas are small pastries filled with vegetables, olives, and meat (beef or chicken). These empanadas take their name from a 19th-century author. Born in the province of Salta in Argentina, she fled dictatorship and settled in Tarija… It was there that, to make a living, she sold her empanadas… To accompany these delicious meat pastries? Order a paceña beer!
Frequently asked questions
Sopa de mani is often considered the quintessential traditional Bolivian dish. This peanut soup, filled with potatoes, peas, meat, and toasted pasta, is served with fries and is very widespread throughout the country.
Bolivia offers varied and tasty street food. Among the must-tries: sonso de yuca (cassava puree and cheese skewers), Chola sandwich (spicy pork sandwich, very popular in La Paz), and salteñas (empanadas filled with meat and vegetables). Majadito is also easily found in markets and on roadsides.
Chicha is the traditional beverage par excellence in Bolivia. Made from fermented corn, it pairs perfectly with dishes like anticucho. Paceña beer, a very popular local beer, is ideal for accompanying salteñas.
Each Bolivian city has its specialties: La Paz is known for anticucho and Chola sandwich, Cochabamba for silpancho, Potosí for chajchu and kalapurka soup, Tarija for chancho a la cruz and salteñas, and Santa Cruz for majadito.
Some Bolivian dishes can be adapted into vegetarian versions. Humitas (corn cakes filled with cheese and eggs) and cuñapé (cassava flour and cheese bread) are naturally meat-free. Sonso de yuca can also be suitable for vegetarians. It's advisable to confirm when ordering, as recipes vary by region.
Chuño is a dehydrated potato, typical of the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes. This ancestral preservation method consists of freezing potatoes at night in high altitude, then drying them in the sun. Chuño is notably used in the composition of chajchu, a specialty of Potosí.
