A Complete Guide to Gluten Free Bolivian Restaurant Dishes

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Before visiting Bolivia, we did zero research into restaurant food and regretted it deeply. The menus were indecipherable, even with a working knowledge of Spanish. It was difficult to work out what each dish contained, never mind whether it was gluten free or not.

On our first visit to a restaurant, we ended up ordering blind — something that never goes well. Our hearts sank when we were served a breaded piece of meat.

To help other coeliacs, we’ve put together a list of dishes commonly found in Bolivia, describing what each one is and whether or not it is naturally gluten free. Think of this post as a quick-reference guide for when you’re next in a restaurant in Bolivia.

Gluten-Free Bolivian Dishes

Dish	Description	Risks
Mondongo	A tender and flavourful pork stew served with potatoes and hominy.	None.
Anticuchos	Marinated and grilled beef heart skewers served with potatoes and peanut sauce.	Sometimes served with bread. The marinade should be gluten free.
Sopa de Maní	Peanut soup packed with vegetables and sometimes beef.	Sometimes thickened with flour.
Charque	Dried meat served with potatoes, hominy, and hot sauce.	None.
Picante de Pollo	A spicy chicken and vegetable dish, usually served with rice.	Can sometimes be served with pasta — double-check.
Picante Mixto	Similar to picante de pollo, but with mixed meats including beef tongue.	Can sometimes be served with pasta — double-check.
Caldo de Pollo	A soup made with bone-in chicken and vegetables.	None.
Caldo de Cardán	Bull’s penis soup with other meats or vegetables.	None.
Jak’a Lawa	A thick and creamy corn soup, with corn used as the thickener.	Other types of lawa can contain gluten. Be wary.
Sajta de Pollo	A chicken, vegetable, and potato soup or stew.	None.
Cazuela	A chicken, vegetable, and rice broth.	None.
K’allu	A salad of peppers, onions, tomatoes, and herbs, often served with rice or potatoes.	Check what it is served with.
Lechón al Horno	Roasted pork, often cooked as a whole pig.	None.
Costillar	Roasted ribs (pork or lamb) served with rice or fried potatoes.	None.
Lamb Thimpu	Lamb served with potatoes, chuño, and rice.	The sauce should be gluten free.
Llama Steak	Grilled llama steak served with potatoes, rice, or corn.	None.
Wallake	A traditional fish soup from Lake Titicaca.	None.
Chuño Phuti	Chuño stir-fried with egg and cheese.	None.
Papas a la Huancaína	Potatoes served with a creamy chilli sauce.	The sauce is naturally gluten free.
Jakonta	A beef and lamb soup containing vegetables, potatoes, and chuño.	None.
Keperi	Slow-cooked beef brisket with a citrus-lime flavour, served with rice and yuca.	None.
Quinoa Phisara	Toasted quinoa cooked in a beef and vegetable broth.	None.
Humintas	Steamed or baked corn cakes, sometimes flavoured with anise or filled with cheese.	None.
Tamales	Corn dough mixed with vegetables, spices, or meat and wrapped in a banana leaf.	None.
Locro	A corn-based soup with chicken and vegetables.	None.
Majadito	Dried meat served with rice, egg, and plantain.	Occasionally made with soy sauce.
Masaco	Mashed plantain or yuca mixed with beef and cheese.	None.
Dunucuabi	Fish wrapped in leaves and grilled.	None.
Sopa de Arroz	Rice soup made with a meat-based broth.	None.

Potentially Gluten-Free Bolivian Dishes

Dish	Description	Risk
Chairo	An Andean soup made with chuño and vegetables.	Often contains wheat grains.
Pique Macho	Beef, sausages, chips, onions, peppers, eggs, and a spicy sauce.	The sausages can contain wheat.
Lawa	A thick and creamy corn or grain soup.	Other grains, including wheat and barley, may be used.
Saice	A beef, vegetable, and cumin stew served over rice or pasta.	Check that it is served over rice, not pasta.
Planchita	A selection of meats, sausage, and vegetables cooked on a griddle and served with potatoes or fries.	The sausage can contain gluten.
Quinoa Soup	A soup made with quinoa.	May contain wheat flour as a thickener.

Gluten-Containing Bolivian Dishes

Dish	Description	Where does the gluten come from?
Salteñas	Baked empanadas filled with meat or vegetables.	Wheat pastry.
Silpancho	Breaded beef served with rice, potatoes, and a fried egg.	Breaded meat.
Fricasé	A spicy pork broth with hominy.	Often thickened with breadcrumbs.
Ají de Pollo	Chicken in a thick, creamy, usually spicy sauce.	Bread used to thicken the sauce.
Sopa de Verduras	A vegetable soup containing macaroni.	Pasta.
Sopa de Fideo	A tomato-based soup with noodles.	Noodles.
Lawa Uchu	A chicken and egg broth thickened with flour.	Wheat flour used as a thickener.
Pescado Frito	Fried fish served with rice or potatoes.	Often breaded or battered.
Trucha a la Plancha	Fried trout served with rice and potatoes.	Can be battered.
Pacu Frito	Fried river fish from the tropical lowlands.	Usually battered.
Yuca con Queso	Mashed yuca filled with cheese, breaded, and fried.	Breadcrumb coating.

Bolivian Street Food

Dish	Description	Gluten free?
Salchipapas	Sausages and fries.	Possibly
Empanadas	Pastries with fillings.	❌
Cuñapé	A cheese bread roll made from cassava flour.	✅
Pan de Queso	Bread with cheese.	❌
Buñuelos	Fried dough with syrup.	❌
Pastel de Queso	Cheese pastry.	❌
Rellenos de Papa	Deep-fried potatoes with fillings, usually coated in breadcrumbs.	❌
Tripitas	Grilled intestine.	✅
Chicharrón	Fried pork chunks.	✅
Tucumanas	Fried empanadas.	❌
Api con Pastel	A hot corn drink served with a pastry.	❌