A staple of Bhutanese cuisine is Bhutanese red rice, which is like brown rice in texture, but has a nutty taste. It is the only variety of rice that grows at high altitudes. Other staples include buckwheat and increasingly maize.

Buckwheat is eaten mainly in Bumthang, maize in the eastern districts, and rice is eaten across the country. The diet in the hills also includes chicken, yak meat, dried beef, pork, pork fat, and lamb. Soups and stews of meat, rice, fiddle heads, lentils, and dried vegetables, spiced with chili peppers and cheese, are a favorite meal during the cold seasons. Zow shungo is a rice dish mixed with leftover vegetables. Ema datshi is a spicy dish made with large or small green or red chili peppers in a cheesy sauce (similar to chile con queso), which might be called the national dish for its ubiquity and the pride that the Bhutanese have for it. Other foods include jasha maru (a chicken dish), phaksha paa (dried pork cooked with chili peppers, spices, and vegetables, including turnips, greens, or radishes), thukpa, puta (buckwheat noodles), bathup, and fried rice

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