ExploFood · Africa
What to eat in Botswana
Five dishes to try in Botswana, the most typical first. Four are vegetarian.
Five dishes to try in Botswana
Seswaa
Beef or goat boiled for hours then pounded into shreds with salt.
How to have it: The national dish, served at weddings and Independence Day with pap and greens.
Bogobe
Stiff porridge of maize or sorghum meal.
How to have it: Called pap or bogobe; eaten with your hand, rolled into a ball to scoop up meat and sauce.
Magwinya
Deep-fried dough balls, plain or filled.
How to have it: Sold from roadside stalls in the morning; eat with tea or stuffed with mince or polony.
Morogo
Wild leafy greens cooked down with onion and tomato.
How to have it: The usual side to pap and seswaa in local eateries and home cooking.
Dikgobe
Samp or sorghum cooked with beans until soft and creamy.
How to have it: Home-style food at family gatherings and in simple lunchtime canteens.
What to eat next door
Plan the trip
Questions
What food is Botswana famous for?
Seswaa (beef or goat boiled for hours then pounded into shreds with salt) comes first on our list, followed by Bogobe, Magwinya, Morogo and Dikgobe.
What is the national dish of Botswana?
Ask ten people and you get several answers. The dish we put first for Botswana is Seswaa: beef or goat boiled for hours then pounded into shreds with salt. The national dish, served at weddings and Independence Day with pap and greens.
Which dishes in Botswana are vegetarian?
Four of the five on this page are vegetarian as usually made: Bogobe, Magwinya, Morogo and Dikgobe. Recipes vary, so ask about stock, lard or fish sauce.
What street food should I try in Botswana?
Magwinya (deep-fried dough balls, plain or filled).
How reliable is this list?
The dishes are hand-picked from general knowledge in the Explo app, where you can also tick off the ones you have tried. Recipes vary by region and by family, so take it as a starting point.
Keep exploring
Practical · 3 min readEat your way through a country: how to find the national dishesFood is the fastest way into a place. How to find a country's signature dishes, order them well, eat safely and keep a record of what you have tried.
Planning · 4 min readHow to build a travel bucket list you'll actually useTurn a long wish list into a short plan: sort places by ease, season and effort, pick your next three, and keep the list alive after every trip.
Planning · 4 min readHow to choose the best time to visit anywhereWeather is only one part of it. Learn how to weigh seasons, crowds, prices and events, with real examples of the best months for popular destinations.- Country guidesCountry guidesBest months, weather, holidays and plugs for every country.
- Free toolWhere can I go?Every country your passport opens, sorted by how easy it is.
Tick off every dish you try in Botswana
Explo is a free app: light up the countries you have visited, keep the dishes you have tried, and check visa rules, weather and holidays before you go.
Get ExploDishes are hand-picked from general knowledge in the Explo app, with links to Wikipedia. Recipes and names vary by region.