Northeastern food reflects the influence of neighboring Laos in a number of dishes. As in Laos and the north, glutinous rice is the staple. It is eaten both as a base for other dishes and as a sweet when steamed in bamboo with coconut milk and black beans.

Northeasterners like their food highly seasoned. Many connoisseurs of Thai cooking particularly esteem regional specialties like "Laab", "Som Tam" (green papaya salad), and "Gai Yang" (BBQ chicken).

Meat is often scarce in villages. Freshwater fish and shrimp are therefore the principal source of protein, sometimes cooked with herbs and spices and sometimes fermented.