The Best Tears of the Kingdom Recipes (2024)

Food is crucial for survival in “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” (TotK), and cooked meals are much better for you than raw snacks. In fact, a single cooked dish can restore multiple hearts and provide various status boosts, too. However, if you want to get the best benefits from cooked food, you’ll need to learn some recipes.

This guide will introduce you to some of the most effective recipes in TotK.

The Best Recipes to Try in TotK

If you want to refill your health bar, guard against damage, and boost Link’s attack power, these are the recipes to try. Some of them may involve rare ingredients, while others are easy to make with common raw foods. Try them all to enjoy their effects in-game.

Fried Wild Greens

Recipe: Any combination of flowers and herbs

Fried Wild Greens is one of the best recipes for refilling hearts on Link’s health bar. You can restore a huge percentage of your health bar, depending on which herbs and flowers you use.

Plus, the best part is that it’s so easy to make, as flowers and herbs are some of the most common ingredients you can find all over Hyrule.

Spicy Pepper Steak

Recipe: A piece of meat and a Spicy Pepper

The Spicy Pepper Steak isn’t only good for restoring some hearts; it also provides Link with a limited amount of cold resistance.

This is super useful when you’re venturing into some of the world’s cold and frosty areas. It’ll help you travel up snow-capped mountains more safely and comfortably.

Bright Fish Skewer

Recipe: Glowing Cave Fish

This recipe is really useful when you want to explore the darker areas of Hyrule, like the shadowy underground Depths, where Gloom creatures lurk. It makes Link grow, giving you a natural lantern in the darkness. This means you won’t have to worry as much about using Brightbloom Seeds to light the way.

All you need to make it is some Glowing Cave Fish, which you can find in ponds or streams flowing in and around caves.

Sunny Veggie Rice Balls

Recipe: Hylian Rice and Sundelions

Here’s another really useful recipe for the Depths. This one not only restores your regular hearts, but it also repairs and heals any cracked hearts that you may have suffered due to Gloom enemies.

It’s also worth noting that Sundelions can be used in many other recipes to make “Sunny” foods. Any time you see the word “Sunny” in a recipe name, it means that it can be used to heal Gloom-damaged hearts.

Enduring Fried Wild Greens

Recipe: An Endura Carrot, usually mixed with meat and herbs

Fried Wild Greens is a simple but effective recipe, and there are many ways you can modify it to add special effects. With the aid of an Endura Carrot, you can craft Enduring Fried Wild Greens, which give you some bonus stamina.

Depending on which ingredients you use, you may be able to obtain an entire additional stamina wheel or two. This can be very useful when you’re preparing for a long glide, climb, or some other activity that needs lots of stamina.

Warding Fried Wild Greens

Recipe: Hyrule Herb mixed with Dark Clumps

Here’s another variation of the classic Fried Wild Greens. If you mix a Hyrule Herb with some Dark Clumps from the Depths, you’ll get this recipe, which offers Gloom resistance.

The way this works is simple: the recipe actually gives you a few extra green hearts on the end of your health bar. If you take any Gloom damage, those bonus hearts will soak it up, leaving your regular hearts intact. It’s a must-have meal for extended exploration in the Depths.

Mighty Meat And Mushroom Skewer

Recipe: Mighty Thistle mixed with meat and mushroom

If you want to feel even stronger and do more damage with every hit, whip up one of these skewers. The key ingredient is the Mighty Thistle, and you can mix it with different types of meat to get slightly different effects.

It provides a notable boost to Link’s attack power, letting you hit enemies harder. In other words, it’s a perfect snack before a big boss battle, or when raiding an enemy camp.

Vegetable Curry

Recipe: Hylian Rice, Goron Spice, and either carrot or pumpkin

You only need some Hylian Rice and Goron Spice to prepare some tasty curry in TotK. However, if you mix in a vegetable or two, your curry will be given additional properties and effects.

qBy adding a carrot (sold in Hateno Village), you can get a haste effect, which allows you to move faster across the world. If you mix a pumpkin (also in Hateno Village) with your curry, Link will be granted a bonus to his defense.

Energizing Meat and Mushroom Skewer

Recipe: Stamella Shrooms and meat

This skewer is ideal for regaining a lot of hearts, especially if you use prime meat. However, that’s not all it can do. As the name suggests, the Energizing Meat and Mushroom Skewer can also restore some of your stamina.

If you can build up a good supply of these skewers, along with “Enduring” meals, like the Enduring Fried Wild Greens, you won’t have to worry about running out of stamina.

Sneaky Elixir

Recipe: Sunset Firefly and Monster Part

It’s also possible to brew elixirs in TotK using the many Monster Part items you’ll pick up during your adventure. Elixirs don’t usually provide much or any healing, but they will give you status boosts.

The Sneaky Elixir boosts your stealth, letting you move quietly and stay undetected. This is great for infiltrating enemy camps or sneaking up on someone. It’s also handy while hunting.

Sticky Elixir

Recipe: Sticky Lizard or Sticky Frog and Monster Part

Here’s another super elixir to make, and all you need is a Monster Part and a Sticky Frog or Lizard, which you can often find around caves and wetlands.

The Sticky Elixir improves your slip resistance for a certain period. This makes it much simpler to climb up wet walls. Mix in more frogs or lizards to extend the effect.

FAQs

How to find recipes in TotK

You can discover recipes by talking to certain NPCs or by viewing them on posters in some of the towns and villages around Hyrule. It’s also possible to discover them on your own by experimenting with random ingredients to see what works. You can also find entire recipe lists online that show you exactly how to make any meal in the game.

How do you cook in TotK?

To cook something in TotK, you’ll need to gather ingredients and find a cooking pot. You can also use your own portable Zonai pot if you have one. Go into the menu and select your ingredients from the Materials tab. Click to “Hold” each ingredient (you can carry up to five at a time) and then exit the menu and press “A” to cook them in the pot.

Can I alter the recipes in this list?

Yes, one of the fun things about TotK’s cooking system is that many of the recipes can be altered a little to produce slightly different effects. For instance, the Spicy Pepper Steak recipe only requires a single pepper and a piece of meat, but you can add bonus peppers to make it more effective.

Cook Up a Storm in TotK

If you want the best chance of surviving the harsh challenges, deadly terrain, and big boss battles of TotK, it helps to be prepared. Use these recipes and discover more of your own to stock up on restorative steaks and status-boosting elixirs.

Have you been experimenting with the cooking system in TotK? Found any rare ingredients or useful recipes not featured in the list above? Share your ideas in the comments.