Cuisine
Botswana
Botswana’s cooking grew out of a herding tradition, and beef holds a special place in it, above all seswaa, slow-cooked pounded meat served at weddings and holidays. Everyday meals are based on bogobe, a porridge of sorghum or maize eaten with morogo greens. Phane caterpillars are a seasonal delicacy, and dried biltong is popular throughout the country.
- 5 dishes
- Main dishes: 2
- Snacks and street food: 1
- Sides, sauces and spreads: 2
- vegetarian: 2
Dishes associated with the country, not official national dishes – we use the “national dish” label only with a basis. What do the labels mean?
-
main dish
national dish Seswaa
Beef simmered for hours with nothing but salt, then pounded into shreds – Botswana’s national dish.
-
snack
Biltong
Air-dried strips of beef or game cured in vinegar with coriander and pepper – the region’s favourite snack.
-
side · vegan
Morogo
Wild or garden leafy greens braised with onion and tomato – the constant companion of maize porridge.
-
main dish
Mopane worms
Dried caterpillars from mopane trees, crunched as a snack or stewed with tomatoes and onion.
-
side · vegan
Ugali
A firm, kneaded porridge of white maize flour – the everyday staple of meals across East Africa.
Botswana on other Ominuvo maps
- World in NumbersPopulation: 2.6 million (2025)Source: World Bank – WDI: UN World Population Prospects (CC BY 4.0)
- Languages of the worldEnglish, Tswana · official languagesSource: Unicode CLDR (Unicode License v3)
- Prices around the worldBotswana pula (BWP)Source: ISO 4217
- Time zones mapUTC+2Source: IANA tz database (public domain)
- Plugs and sockets of the worldType D, G · 230 V · 50 Hz
- Plants of the world8 characteristic plants
- VPN provider mapServers of 2 VPN providersSource: VPN Map (Ominuvo) (CC BY 4.0)