The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild best recipes

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Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild cooking recipes

The best Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild recipes for food, meals and elixirs can do a lot to change your odds against Ganon's dark forces, boosting stats, restoring health and giving you resistances to certain effects and attacks. There's no shortage of recipes to make, but some are definitely better than others. For that reason, we've compiled all the best recipes for food and elixirs in BOTW here, what they do and what you'll need to make them.

What you can actually cook though depends on what you're cooking on. If you only have a campfire, jump to the roasted and frozen dishes section to see what you can make. The other recipes require a cooking pot, so don't bother trying to make those without one.

There's one important rule though – insects and monster parts make elixirs, while food and seasonings make meals. Mixing them will result in failed dishes and waste your ingredients, so always keep them separate and get cooking!

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How to add effects to BOTW recipe dishes

Cooking in Breath of the Wild is simple. You just throw some ingredients in a pot and 99% of the time, you'll get a meal out of it. But if you want to utilise your ingredients to make dishes with particular buffs, like increased speed, or stamina regeneration, it gets slightly more involved.

There are 11 different effects available and you can achieve them by adding a particular ingredient, like a herb, nut, or vegetable, to a dish. For example, cooking a fish in a pot on its own will turn it into a fish skewer that will restore two hearts. But if you throw a fish and a spicy pepper into a pot, you'll get pepper seafood, which will restore three hearts as well as providing a measure of cold resistance.

Once you know the effects and the ingredients that bestow them, you can prepare dishes for any occasion.

The ingredients also have a potency grade that essentially make the buff better, but it varies slightly within the categories. Grade E is the weakest, while A is the strongest.

Hearty recipe ingredients

These ingredients fully restore your HP gauge and buff it with extra hearts. The amount of extra hearts depends on the potency, ranging from one yellow heart (grade E) to five yellow hearts (grade A). The effects stack so you can throw in two grade E hearty ingredients for more yellow hearts.

It's worth noting that cooking a single hearty ingredient will produce an item of food that will fully replenish your HP gauge, regardless of how many hearts it's made up of, so these are particularly handy for later in the game when things get really tough.

Hearty Durian, B - West Necluda, Faron Grasslands
Big Hearty Truffle, B - Hebra Mountains, Mount Lanayru
Hearty Truffle, E - Hebra Mountains, Great Hyrule Forest
Big Hearty Radish, A - Hebra Mountains, Gerudo Highlands
Hearty Radish, C - Akkala Highlands, Lanayru Great Spring

Energizing recipe ingredients

Energizing ingredients restore stamina. The amount recovered depends on the potency grade of the ingredient, but effects stack, so the more you add, the more stamina will be replenished.

Stamella Shroom, C - Great Hyrule Forest, Hyrule Field
Courser Bee Honey, B - Shoot down or hit any beehive found in trees in Hyrule

Enduring recipe ingredients

Enduring ingredients will give you extra stamina, temporarily increasing the size of your stamina wheel. The effects stack, so the more you add to a recipe, the bigger the extra yellow stamina bar will be.

Endura Shroom, C - Hyrule Ridge, Hyrule Field
Endura Carrot, A - Kakariko Village

The following categories of materials can be stacked in recipes to increase the level of the finished dish, with one being the lowest, and three being the highest. These dishes produce an effect which generally last for a set amount of time, so higher levels will mean that the effect lasts longer.

Using ingredients with higher potency grades also increases the level of the final dish, so stack ingredients or use grade A or B to get a level three meal.

Hasty - Movement speed up
Sneaky - Stealth up
Mighty - Attack up
Tough - Defense up
Spicy - Cold resistance
Chilly - Heat resistance
Electro - Shock resistance
Fireproof - Flame guard

Hasty recipe ingredients

Fleet-Lotus Seeds, B, 60 - Lanayru Wetlands, Lanayru Great Spring
Rushroom, E, 60 - Great Hyrule Forest, Tabantha Frontier
Swift Carrot, E, 60 - Hyrule Ridge, Faron Grasslands

Sneaky recipe ingredients

Silent Shroom, C, 120 - Hyrule Field, Akkala Highlands
Swift Violet, A, 60 - Hebra Mountains, Gerudo Highlands

Mighty recipe ingredients

Mighty Bananas, B, 50 - Faron
Razorshroom, B, 50 - West Necluda, East Necluda
Mighty Thistle, E, 50 - West Necluda, Faron Grasslands

Tough recipe ingredients

Ironshroom, B, 50 - Lanayru Great Spring, West Necluda
Fortified Pumpkin, B, 50 - Hyrule Field, West Necluda
Armoranth, E, 50 - Akkala Highlands, Hyrule Ridge

Spicy recipe ingredients

Spicy Pepper, E, 150 - Gerudo Desert, Tabantha Forest
Sunshroom, C, 150 - Deep Akkala, Gerudo Highlands
Warm Safflina, E, 150 - Gerudo Desert, Hyrule Ridge

Chilly recipe ingredients

Hydromelon, E, 150 - Gerudo Desert, Faron Grasslands
Chillshroom, C, 150 - Eldin Canyon, Gerudo Highlands
Cool Safflina, E, 150 - Gerudo Desert, Hyrule Ridge

Electrov recipe ingredients

Voltfruit, D, 150 - Gerudo Desert, Gerudo Highlands
Zapshroom, A, 150 - Gerudo Highlands, Hyrule Ridge
Electric Safflina, D, 150 - Gerudo Desert, Hyrule Ridge

Now that you know the effects imbued by these ingredients, you can cook up a storm. Just add them to any of the listed recipes to get the benefit or buff you need, for any occasion.

Cooking without a pot - roasted and frozen food

When there isn't a cooking pot in sight, and you need food, you can make do with roasting or freezing certain ingredients. Roasting an item requires an open flame; it can be a campfire or, in a pinch, some grass you've set fire to, or a flammable wooden crate. Once roasted, the food will increase the amount of HP replenished by 50% of the base, uncooked value. On the downside, any effects the food might have bestowed is removed.

Freezing food won't increase the amount of hearts refilled when you eat it, but it will produce the cold resistance effect. To freeze food, you can drop it into the snow, shoot it with an ice arrow; anything that exposes it to freezing temperatures will do the trick.

Chuchu jelly is particularly handy for starting fires or freezing things, as dropping the jelly and hitting it causes an explosion of that element. White Chuchu jelly will freeze things, red will start fires (great for when you don't have any flint), and yellow is electric. Dropping neutral blue jelly into the snow or a fire, will turn it into the jelly of that element. Although roasted and frozen foods aren't brilliant, they do stack in your inventory unlike all of the other dishes, which is handy.

Frozen Food

Icy Meat
Icy Prime Meat
Icy Gourmet Meat
Frozen Bird Drumstick
Frozen Bird Thigh
Frozen Whole Bird
Frozen Bass
Frozen Hearty Bass
Frozen Hearty Salmon
Frozen Trout
Frozen Carp
Frozen Porgy
Frozen Crab
Frozen River Snail
Icy Hearty Blueshell Snail

Roasted Food

Seared Steak
Seared Prime Steak
Seared Gourmet Steak
Roasted Bird Drumstick
Roasted Bird Thigh
Roasted Whole Bird
Roasted Bass
Roasted Hearty Bass
Roasted Hearty Salmon
Roasted Trout
Roasted Carp
Roasted Porgy
Blackened Crab
Sneaky River Escargot
Blueshell Escargot
Campfire Egg
Hard Boiled Egg (drop into hot water)
Toasty Hylian Shroom
Toasty Endura Shroom
Toasty Stamella Shroom
Toasty Rushroom
Toasty Razorshroom
Toasty Ironshroom
Toasty Silent Shroom
Toasted Hearty Truffle
Toasted Big Hearty Truffle
Toasty Chillshroom
Toasty Sunshroom
Toasty Zapshroom
Baked Apple
Roasted Acorn
Roasted Tree Nut
Charred Pepper
Roasted Hearty Durian
Baked Palm Fruit
Roasted Voltfruit
Roasted Hydromelon
Roasted Wildberry
Roasted Mighty Bananas
Roasted Lotus Seeds
Roasted Big Radish
Roasted Radish
Roasted Endura Carrot
Roasted Swift Carrot
Roasted Amoranth
Baked Fortified Pumpkin
Roasted Mighty Thistle

It's always better to make actual meals in a cooking pot, but if you can't travel to one, are stuck for inventory space, or need to cool down sharpish, then roasting and freezing food is a good fallback.

Meat and Poultry recipes

Killing medium sized animals like large birds, boars, goats, and deer, will reward you with meat of varying qualities. Meat doesn't add any special effect to a dish but will replenish your heart gauge to varying degrees. Once they're cooked, the number of hearts they refill will increase.

Raw bird drumstick and raw meat are at the low end of the meat scale, restoring four HP. Raw bird thigh and raw prime meat are in the middle, restoring six HP. Raw whole bird and raw gourmet meat are the top tier of meats, restoring 12.

The recipes are listed from the least to most beneficial, but if a combo might result in more than one dish, the outcome will be the better quality dish.

Meat Skewer - Any meat
Meat and Mushroom Skewer - Any meat + Any mushroom
Steamed Meat - Any meat + Any herb, vegetable, or flower
Pepper Steak - Any meat + Spicy Pepper
Meat and Seafood Fry - Raw Meat or Raw Bird Drumstick + Any seafood
Prime Meat and Seafood Fry - Raw Prime Meat or Raw Bird Thigh + Any seafood
Gourmet Meat and Seafood Fry - Raw Gourmet Meat or Raw Whole Bird + Any seafood
Copious Meat Skewers - Any combination of four different meats
Salt-Grilled Meat - Raw Meat or Raw Bird Drumstick + Rock Salt
Salt-Grilled Prime Meat - Raw Prime Meat or Raw Bird Thigh + Rock Salt
Salt-Grilled Gourmet Meat - Raw Gourmet Meat or Raw Whole Bird + Rock Salt
Spiced Meat Skewer - Raw Meat + Goron Spice
Prime Spiced Meat Skewer - Raw Prime Meat + Goron Spice
Gourmet Spiced Meat Skewer - Raw Gourmet Meat + Goron Spice
Glazed Meat - Any meat + Courser Bee Honey
Meat-Stuffed Pumpkin - Any meat + Fortified Pumpkin
Meaty Rice Balls - Any meat + Hylian Rice
Meat and Rice Bowl - Raw Meat or Raw Bird Drumstick + Hylian Rice + Rock Salt
Prime Meat and Rice Bowl - Raw Prime Meat or Raw Bird Thigh + Hylian Rice + Rock Salt
Gourmet Meat and Rice Bowl - Raw Gourmet Meat or Raw Whole Bird + Hylian Rice + Rock Salt
Poultry Pilaf - Raw Bird Drumstick + Hylian Rice + Bird Egg + Goat Butter
Prime Poultry Pilaf - Raw Bird Thigh + Hylian Rice + Bird Egg + Goat Butter
Gourmet Poultry Pilaf - Raw Whole Bird + Hylian Rice + Bird Egg + Goat Butter
Creamy Meat Soup - Any meat + Any herb, vegetable, or flower + Fresh Milk + Rock Salt
Meat Pie - Any meat + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter + Rock Salt
Poultry Curry - Raw Bird Drumstick + Hylian Rice + Goron Spice
Meat Curry - Raw Meat + Hylian Rice + Goron Spice
Prime Poultry Curry - Raw Bird Thigh + Hylain Rice + Goron Spice
Prime Meat Curry - Raw Prime Meat + Hylain Rice + Goron Spice
Gourmet Poultry Curry - Raw Whole Bird + Hylain Rice + Goron Spice
Gourmet Meat Curry - Raw Gourmet Meat + Hylain Rice + Goron Spice
Meat Stew - Raw Meat or Raw Bird Drumstick + Fresh Milk + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
Prime Meat Stew - Raw Prime Meat or Raw Bird Thigh + Fresh Milk + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
Gourmet Meat Stew - Raw Gourmet Meat or Raw Bird Thigh + Fresh Milk + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
Monster Stew - Any meat + Any seafood + Monster Extract

Fish and Seafood recipes

Fish and seafood can be found lurking in and around any body of water in Hyrule. The crudest but quickest way to harvest multiple fish is to lob a bomb into the midst of them and detonate it, leaving you free to swan in and scoop up their carcasses.

Otherwise, swimming or creeping slowly up to them and snatching them up is your other option, as well as shooting them with arrows from afar.

The recipes are listed from the least to most beneficial, but if a combo might result in more than dish, the outcome will be the better quality dish.

Fish Skewer - Any fish
Seafood Skewer - Any crab or snail
Fish and Mushroom Skewer - Any Fish + Any mushroom
Steamed Fish - Any Fish + Any herb, vegetable or flower
Pepper Seafood - Any seafood + Spicy Pepper
Meat and Seafood Fry - Any seafood + Raw Meat or Raw Bird Drumstick
Prime Meat and Seafood Fry - Any seafood + Raw Prime Meat or Raw Bird Thigh
Gourmet Meat and Seafood Fry - Any seafood + Raw Gourmet Meat or Raw Whole Bird
Copious Fish Skewers - Any combination of four different fish
Salt-Grilled Fish - Any fish + Rock Salt
Salt-Grilled Crab - Any crab + Rock Salt
Crab Stir-Fry - Any crab + Goron Spice
Glazed Seafood - Any seafood + Courser Bee Honey
Seafood Rice Balls - Any fish + Hylian Rice
Seafood Fried Rice - Hearty Blueshell Snail or any porgy + Hylian Rice + Rock Salt
Seafood Meuniere - Any seafood + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
Porgy Muniere - Any porgy + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
Crab Omelet With Rice - Any crab + Hylian Rice + Bird Egg + Rock Salt
Creamy Seafood Soup - Any seafood + Fresh Milk + Rock Salt + Any herb, vegetable, or flower
Crab Risotto - Any crab + Hylian Rice + Goat Butter + Rock Salt
Salmon Risotto - Hearty Salmon + Hylian Rice + Goat Butter + Rock Salt
Salmon Muniere - Hearty Salmon + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
Fish Pie - Any seafood + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter + Rock Salt
Seafood Curry - Hearty Blueshell Snail or Any porgy + Hylian Rice + Goron Spice
Clam Chowder - Hearty Blueshell Snail + Fresh Milk + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
Monster Stew - Any seafood + Any meat + Monster Extract
Seafood Paella - Hearty Blueshell Snail + Any porgy + Hylian Rice + Goat Butter + Rock Salt

Veggie, Rice, and Egg recipes

Herbs, fruit, and veggies can be foraged in the forests and fields of Hyrule. Ingredients like nuts and acorns can be dropped by small birds, while mushrooms can grow at the base of trees or sprout out of cliffs and high rocks.

Any recipes that call for meat, poultry, fish, or seafood won't be included here, so jump to the relevant section if you have a fish that you want to turn into something delightful. You can get your hands on rice by cutting tall grass in Hyrule Field.