Main dishes are usually centered on a sauce or stew of groundnuts, beans, chicken or beef. The starch traditionally comes from ugali (maize meal) or matooke (steamed and mashed green banana) in southern regions, or an ugali-like dish made from millet, which is more common in the northern areas. Ugali/posho is cooked up into a thick porridge for breakfast and is the typical school meal.

For main meals, white maize flour is added to the saucepan and stirred into the ugali/posho until the consistency is firm. It is then turned out onto a serving plate and cut into individual slices (or served onto individual plates in the kitchen). Cassava, yam, and African sweet potato are also eaten; the more affluent include white (often called "Irish") potato and rice in their diets. Soybeans were promoted as a healthy food staple in the 1970s and they are eaten especially for breakfast. Chapati, an Asian flatbread, is also part of Ugandan cuisine.

In a restaurant the type of stew selected determines the price of the food.

A typical tourist food is called a rolex…..made of chapatti and eggs. Ugandans say “We don’t wear a rolex, we eat them!