As a Breath of the Wild fan, you’re in for a treat with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This sequel brings back beloved mechanics while elevating them to new heights, and cooking is one of those mechanics you’ll be blown away by with the sheer depth of it.
Not only will it keep Link fueled for battle, but it’ll also open up some game-changing perks if you know how to use it right. Here’s your go-to guide for cooking up everything from heart-restoring meals to buff-enhancing elixirs.
Why Should You Cook in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
In Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, food is more than just sustenance; it’s survival. While roaming Hyrule, you’ll take on monsters, endure harsh environments, and occasionally plunge into The Depths, which is a battle for survival at every turn.
With the proper meals, though, you can restore health, boost stamina, get temporary resistance to extreme conditions, and buff yourself with special effects that’ll come in handy more than you know it.
How to Cook in Zelda: ToTK?
You’ll find plenty of cooking pots scattered throughout Hyrule, and thanks to new Zonai devices, you even have portable pots. Whether making a simple snack or a full meal, you’ll use cooking pots to combine ingredients and experiment with different recipes:
Step 1: Hold Ingredients
Start by opening your inventory and heading to the Materials tab. Select the ingredient(s) you want to cook with, which could be anything from Apples to Skyshrooms, then select the “Hold” option for each ingredient. Link can carry up to five ingredients at once, which you can throw into your chosen cooking method.
Step 2: Choose Your Cooking Method
If you’re near a pot, drop your ingredients in and let the magic happen. You’ll get a more substantial meal using a pot than simply roasting over an open flame.
Roasting over an open flame is okay if you’re in a pinch, but you can only cook one ingredient at a time using this method, offering fewer benefits. On the other hand, a cooking pot can hold and cook five ingredients at a time, giving you more freedom to craft recipes with real benefits.
With the pot method, you’ll unlock recipes like the “Fruit and Mushroom Mix” by combining ingredients like the previously mentioned Apples and Skyshrooms. Experimenting is half the fun, so don’t be afraid to try various ingredient combos to see what benefits you can unlock.
Cooking = More Benefits
Eating raw ingredients works when you are in a hurry, but cooking substantially increases their Heart restorative value (depending on the combination). For example, a single Apple may restore half a heart when eaten raw, but cooking it provides double the health benefits.
Cooking also allows you to layer particular benefits, which means certain dishes can restore hearts and provide additional effects like heat resistance or stamina boosts. Mastering this is vital to surviving longer treks and more challenging battles as you progress through the game.
Hearts and any extra special effects appear in your Materials tab, so you’ll always know what you gain from each meal.
Recipes
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom encourages experimenting with different ingredients. As you mix materials, you’ll unlock new recipes.
However, actual recipes are scattered across Hyrule, often in handy spots like Stables or Shops. If you visit a town, check out the posters in these locations. They usually feature images of dishes with ingredient lists to inspire your next meal.
And since Tears of the Kingdom remembers your recipes, you can repeat them anytime you need to, even choosing “cook by recipe” to speed up the process if you’re preparing multiple meals.
Special Effects Meal
Beyond just health restoration, meals in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can give you a serious edge in combat and exploration. Look out for ingredients that offer buffs like elemental resistance, increased attack or defense, or any kind of extra protection when delving into The Depths.
To add a buff to your meal, mix in an ingredient with the desired effect to your usual recipe. You can detect the resulting buff such ingredients provide either through their name, their looks, or item description.
For example, if you want to run faster and longer, add Endura Carrot to your mix. About to face a tough enemy, cook a meal with Mighty Thistle to raise your attack. A more complex recipe example is for Snail Chowder. It requires a Sneaky River Snail, a Tabantha Wheat, a Goat Butter, and a Fresh Milk in return, it gives you a meal that gives you Stealth Up, meaning you can eat it to sneak, making it perfect for covert missions behind enemy lines.
Come up with your own recipes as and when needed, depending on your requirements.
Meals vs. Elixirs
Just like food, you can also use a cooking pot to concoct different Elixirs. These things grant no healing whatsoever but are only used to buff Link with special effects. Elixirs have some unique and more potent effects that meals can’t compare to. For example, the Sticky Elixir allows Link to slip less while climbing walls when it’s raining.
Meals rely only on standard food ingredients like fruits, vegetables, and meats, while Elixirs need Critters (insects and creepy crawlies) combined with any Monster Parts.
To make an elixir, hold a critter with the desired effect and pair it with a monster part, like you do for meal/food ingredients, throw it in a cooking pot, and wait for the elixir to brew. For example, hold either Hightail Lizard or Hot-Footed Frog and mix it with a monster part to create a Hasty Elixir that boosts Link’s speed.
The stronger the monster part, the more powerful the elixir’s effect or duration.
The Don’ts of Cooking
With everything said, there are two things to avoid when experimenting with cooking in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom:
- Do not mix Critters or Monster Parts with Food ingredients. Doing so will result in Dubious Food, which is basically rotten food. Critters and Monster Parts are for crafting Elixirs, and food/edible ingredients are used for meals or recipes.
- Avoid mixing ingredients with different effects, as attempting to get two special effects in one dish usually backfires. Instead of a mighty meal, you’ll likely end up with Dubious Food, which wastes valuable ingredients. Even if it doesn’t result in Dubious Food, the outcome will often just be a plain meal that only restores hearts, without any special buffs you were aiming for.
With these tips, you’re all set to make the most of cooking in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Test different recipes, build your cookbook, and watch as your cooking skills help Link conquer Hyrule.