Burkina Faso’s cuisine embodies its vibrant culture, centred around simple, hearty foods made from local staples like millet, sorghum, rice, and peanuts. Meals are communal, rich in tradition and flavour.
Breakfast
Burkinabé breakfast is typically filling yet straightforward. Common foods include millet porridge, sometimes flavoured with lemon or peanut sauce, and millet cakes. Street vendors offer beignets—sweet fried dough balls—served fresh in the mornings. Baguettes with shea butter recall colonial influences. Fermented millet yogurt is a probiotic-rich drink to start the day. Eggs, mostly hard-boiled, are less common.
Lunch
Lunch is often a substantial affair, either quick street food or sit-down meals. Fried plantains and spicy goat or beef skewers are popular snacks. The national dish, riz gras, consists of rice cooked in tomato sauce with vegetables and chicken or mutton, delivering rich, robust flavours. Another favourite is poulet yassa, lemon-marinated chicken grilled with onions, offering a tangy, aromatic experience.
Dinner
Dinner is shared communally and includes dishes like tô, a thick millet or cornmeal porridge served with flavourful sauces such as peanut or okra stew. Fufu, which is a yam or cassava mash, is another staple, paired with stews and grilled fish or meat. Vegetarian dishes, though less common, feature okra or leafy greens. Alcoholic beverages like dolo, traditional sorghum beer, often accompany the evening meal, fostering conviviality.
Typical dishes
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Tô : A thick porridge made from millet or cornmeal, eaten by hand by rolling it into balls and dipping it into rich sauces such as peanut (sikassè) or okra stew (gombo). Tô is the country's beloved comfort food, found in markets and family homes alike.
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Riz gras : Often called “fat rice”, this dish layers fluffy rice with savory stews made from tomatoes, vegetables, and tender chunks of chicken or mutton. It is a national favourite and a hearty meal.
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Mafe : A rich and creamy peanut butter stew featuring meat like chicken, lamb, or beef, cooked with local vegetables and fragrant spices. It’s a savoury and satisfying dish.
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Ragout d’igname : This yam stew combines root vegetables and meats into a hearty, nutritious dish that’s loved across the regions for its filling nature.
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Poulet yassa : Originating in urban centers like Bobo-Dioulasso, this is lemon-marinated chicken grilled with onions, creating a tangy and aromatic delicacy.
Drinks
Traditional drinks include dolo (sorghum beer), bissap (hibiscus juice), and zoom-kom (fermented millet yogurt). While alcohol is generally welcome in urban areas, public drinking is viewed cautiously in more conservative locales. Drinking bottled or purified water is advised for health reasons.
