Nshima is a stiff porridge of white maize meal and Zambia's staple food, served with nearly every main meal. It is eaten by hand, rolled into a ball and dipped into a relish of greens, beans, meat or fish.

Kapenta are small fish from Lake Kariba and Lake Tanganyika, dried in the sun and sold in every market. They are cooked with tomato and onion as a relish for nshima or eaten crisp.

What will I eat on safari in Zambia?

Meals on safari are taken at the camp, served around the morning and evening activities, often outdoors by a fire or the river. Many offer a Zambian dish such as nshima with relish alongside the rest of the menu.

Food guide

What to Eat in Zambia, From Nshima to Fish From the Lakes

Zambian cooking is built around nshima, a stiff porridge of white maize meal that is part of nearly every main meal, eaten with a relish of greens, beans, meat or fish. The relishes change with the region and the season, the fish come from the great rivers and lakes, and groundnuts thicken many of the sauces. Visitors on safari eat mostly at their camps, but a plate of nshima with relish in a town is the country's everyday meal.

Updated 2026-10-08

Nshima and its relishes

Nshima is served as a firm white mound, and a meal is eaten by hand: a piece is rolled into a ball, pressed with the thumb and dipped into the relish. The relishes are many: ifisashi, greens cooked in a sauce of pounded groundnuts; chibwabwa, pumpkin leaves; rape and other greens; okra; beans; and stews of chicken or beef. Hands are washed before the meal, often from a bowl of water brought to the table.

Fish from the rivers and lakes

Fish is eaten across the country. Bream, the tilapia of the rivers and lakes, is grilled or fried whole, and kapenta, small fish dried in the sun on the shores of Lake Kariba and Lake Tanganyika, is cooked with tomato and onion into a relish or eaten crisp. Dried fish is sold by the heap in every market.

Markets, the roadside and the season

Markets and roadside stalls sell roasted maize cobs, sweet potatoes, groundnuts and seasonal fruit, and at the right time of year mopane caterpillars, dried and fried, are a prized snack. Munkoyo, a lightly fermented drink made from maize and the roots of a local plant, is brewed at home and in villages, and maheu, a sweet, thick maize drink, is sold everywhere.

Dining at the safari camps

On safari, meals are part of the stay. Camps serve breakfast before the morning walk or drive, a long lunch in the heat of the day and dinner after the evening drive, often outside around a fire or on the riverbank, cooked in bush kitchens from what the camp gardens and the towns supply. Many camps put a Zambian dish such as nshima with relish on the table alongside the rest.

Visaja keeps this page's contact details and visa guidance under continuous review — still, requirements can change at short notice, so confirm the essentials with the mission or the official government portal before you travel.