The Bolivian food recipes featured below are for Bolivian main courses and meals. There really isn't any such thing as typical or traditional Bolivian foods that apply to the whole country. Each region has its own specific Bolivian food customs and traditions. Even the ingredients and spices used in Bolivian food differ in various parts of the country. So in the following Bolivian recipes we'll try to indicate what city or region the recipe is from.

Typically in the Western half of Bolivia, which is the country's Andes high, arid mountain and valleys region, food is more spicy than in the tropical Eastern lowlands. The tropics, which cover the greater part of northern and eastern Bolivia, are the country's agricultural center and there is a much wider variety of grains, fruits and vegetables. In fact, the department of Santa Cruz alone produces 64% of Bolivia's food. Eastern Bolivia is also the country's cattle ranching region. Because of the extreme differences in altitude, topography and climate between the two halves of Bolivia, Bolivian recipes differ greatly.