ExploFood · Africa
What to eat in Burundi
Five dishes to try in Burundi, the most typical first. Four are vegetarian.
Five dishes to try in Burundi
Ugali Ubugari
Stiff dough of cassava flour, the everyday starch.
How to have it: Eaten with beans or a leafy sauce; tear and roll a piece with your fingers.
Isombe
Pounded cassava leaves stewed with palm oil, onion and peanuts.
How to have it: Shared with Rwanda; served alongside beans, plantains or ugali.
Ndagala
Small sardine-like fish from Lake Tanganyika, fried or sun-dried.
How to have it: Fried fresh along the lakeshore in Bujumbura; also sold dried in markets.
Mandazi
Lightly sweet fried dough, similar to a doughnut.
How to have it: Sold in markets and small shops in the morning; eat it with sweet milky tea.
Banana beer Urwarwa
Home-brewed beer of fermented bananas and sorghum.
How to have it: Shared from a communal pot at celebrations; bottled Primus lager is the bar alternative.
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Questions
What food is Burundi famous for?
Ugali (stiff dough of cassava flour, the everyday starch) comes first on our list, followed by Isombe, Ndagala, Mandazi and Banana beer.
What is the national dish of Burundi?
Ask ten people and you get several answers. The dish we put first for Burundi is Ugali: stiff dough of cassava flour, the everyday starch. Eaten with beans or a leafy sauce; tear and roll a piece with your fingers.
Which dishes in Burundi are vegetarian?
Four of the five on this page are vegetarian as usually made: Ugali, Isombe, Mandazi and Banana beer. Recipes vary, so ask about stock, lard or fish sauce.
What do people drink in Burundi?
Banana beer: home-brewed beer of fermented bananas and sorghum.
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.
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Get ExploDishes are hand-picked from general knowledge in the Explo app, with links to Wikipedia. Recipes and names vary by region.