Cooking is a crucial aspect of gameplay in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as it offers numerous benefits to the players. It allows you to combine ingredients found throughout Zelda BOTW to cook various dishes through recipes that can restore health, provide temporary boosts to your abilities, or protect you from environmental hazards.
Each Zelda: Breath of the Wild recipe has its own set of effects, and the better the ingredients used, the stronger its recipes will be. Additionally, making recipes is a great way to clear up inventory space and use excess ingredients that may otherwise go to waste.
For more help on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, check out our Runes Guide, Vah Ruta Dungeon Guide, and Items Drops Guide.
How to cook in Zelda BOTW
In order to cook, Link requires various ingredients. You can get ingredients from hunting animals for meat or gathering fruit, nuts, mushrooms, and vegetables. The animals will run away as soon as Link gets too close, so you will need to be sneaky to get close to them and kill them.
Once all the ingredients are collected, all you have to do is find a place to cook food like a cooking pot. Sometimes the fire under the pots will not be lit so Link will have to find a way to light it. If it is raining and the place is not covered then you will just have to wait.
The final step is to cook the food with the ingredients collected in the hot cooking pot you just found. All you have to do is select the ingredients you possess and cook food and that is it.
Roasting
There are also other methods to Cook food like roasting and environmental cooking. Roasting is very helpful if you are in a need of a quick health boost and you can’t find a cooking pot around then find a more common fire and simply drop ingredients in the fire to roast.
However, you will have to quickly, as it will burn if left in the fire for a prolonged period. In addition, roasting does not give as much health boost as properly cooked food.
Environmental cooking
As for environmental cooking if, you are in a hot climate like inside a volcano. Just drop the ingredient and they will be cooked. In cold areas, some food will flash-freeze into something even more delicious and beneficial to Link.
Some ingredients can be roasted straight from the source, all you have to do is keep the torch under and as it is cooked, collect it.
Cooking in Breath of the Wild is simple enough; however, it is not a mindless task of throwing in the ingredients and making something from them. You will have to mix the ingredients carefully to cook the most efficient dishes in Zelda BOTW.
Zelda Breath of the Wild best recipes
In order to cook in Hyrule, you need fire to roast items while a pot is needed to cook a proper recipe. Link carries a pot with him so start up a fire and use the pot to cook.
You need different ingredients to cook and these are spread across the entire map.
Best heart recipes
Hearts in Zelda BOTW increase your chances of survival, allowing you to participate in high-risk missions for huge rewards. You do not have to worry that much about the negative outcomes of the battle or mission if you possess an ample supply of hearts.
For this purpose, you should be aware of the following heart-boosting recipes.
| Dish Name | Recipe | Effects |
| Copious Seafood Skewers | 2 Hearty Salmon, 1 Hearty Bass+ 1 Hyrule Bass+ 1 Sanke Carp | Full Recovery + 10 Extra Hearts |
| Fish and Mushroom Skewers | 3 Big Hearty Truffles, 2 Hearty Salmon | Full Recovery + 20 Extra Hearts |
| Glazed Meat | 4 Raw Gourmet Meats, 1 Courser Bee Honey | Maximum 28 Hearts |
| Glazed Mushrooms | 4 Big Hearty Truffles+ 1 Courser Bee Honey | Maximum 28 Hearts |
| Steamed Fruit | 4 Hearty Durian+ 1 Endura Carrot | Maximum 28 Hearts |
| Fish Skewer | Hearty Bass + Hearty Salmon | Full Recovery + 5 Extra Hearts |
Best stamina recipes
The gameplay of Breath of the Wild requires tremendous stamina to keep up with the climbing of mountains and running from deadly enemies. Link can get exhausted in the hefty game environment and conditions, even with a max stamina wheel. Hence, you should know some valuable recipes to maintain your stamina needs.
| Dish Name | Recipe | Effect |
| Enduring Fried Wild Greens | 5 Endura Carrots | 2 Extra Stamina Wheels |
| Enduring Steamed Mushrooms | 2 Endura Carrots+ 3 Endura Shrooms | 1 Extra Stamina Wheel |
| Enduring Steamed Meat | 2 Endura Carrots+2 Endura Shrooms, 1 Raw Gourmet Meat | 1 Extra Stamina Wheel |
| Energizing Honey Candy | 5 Courser Bee Honey | Maximum 2 4/5 Stamina Wheels Refilled |
| Energizing Salt-Grilled Fish | 2 Staminoka Bass+ 2 Stamella Mushrooms+ Rock Salt | Maximum 3 Stamina Wheels Refilled |
Best environmental-assisting recipes
In Zelda Breath of the Wild, Link must prepare cold, heat, and electric-resistant foods to survive different climates. Recipes labeled as “spicy” have an “old resist effect, “chilly” “have a “eat resist effect, and “electro” has an “electric resist.
| Dish Name | Recipe | Effect |
| Spicy Fish Skewer | Sizzlefin Trout + 3 Fairies+ Any Dragon Horn Shard | 30-Minute Cold Resistance |
| Spicy Steamed Mushrooms | 3 Sunshrooms + Warm Saffina +Shard of Farosh’s Horn | 30-Minute Cold Resistance |
| Chilly Fruit and Mushroom Mix | 3 Chillshrooms + Hydromelon + Shard of Farosh’s Horn | 12:30 Minute Cold Resistance |
| Spicy Fruit and Mushroom Mix | 4 Spicy Peppers+ Sunshroom | 30 Minutes of Heat Resistance |
| Spicy Sauteed Peppers | 5 Spicy Peppers | 12:30 Minute Cold Resistance |
| Chilly Veggie Rice Balls | 4 Cool Saffina+ Hylian Rice | 11 Minutes Heat Resistance |
| Electro Fish and Mushroom Skewer | 3 Voltshroom+ Zapshroom, Shard of Farosh’s Horn | 30-Minute Electric Resistance |
| Electro Simmered Fruit | 4 Voltfruit+ Monster Extract | 30-Minute Electric Resistance |
| Electro Fish Skewer | 2 Voltfin Trout+ 2 Fairies, Shard of Any Dragon Horn | 30-Minute Electric Resistance |
Best stealth recipes
Stealth is quite an essential factor in Breath of the Wild as it allows players to sneak past enemies, gather undetected resources, and initiate surprise attacks, increasing their chances of survival and success in the game.
| Dish Name | Recipe | Effects |
| Sneaky Fried Wild Greens | 3 Silent Princesses, Fairy, Shard of Farosh’s Horn | 10-Minute Stealth Boost |
| Sneaky Steamed Fish | Silent Princess, 2 Silent Shrooms, 2 Sneaky River Snails | 30-Minute Stealth Boost |
| Sneaky Fried Wild Greens | 5 Silent Princesses | 10-Minute Stealth Boost |
Best recipes for attacking and defense
The more you progress through the gameplay, the tougher the enemies come your way. For increasing the attack stat of Link, you must consume “mighty” dishes, while “tough” labeled dishes enhance the defense power.
| Dish Name | Recipe | Effect |
| Tough Omlet | 4 Ironshroom+ Bird Egg | 4:50 Minutes High-Strength Defense Boost |
| Tough Salt-Grilled Fish | Ironshroom, Fresh Milk+ Rock Salt+ 2 Armored Porgy | 4:50 Minutes High-Strength Defense Boost |
| Tough Porgy Meunière | Tabantha Wheat, Goat Butter+ 3 Armored Porgy | 4:50 Minutes High-Strength Defense Boost |
| Mighty Simmered Fruit | 4 Mighty Bananas+ Shard of any Dragon Horn | 30 Minutes High-Strenth Attack Boost |
| Mighty Herb Sautè | 2 Mighty Porgy+ Mighty Thistle+ Bird Egg+ Goron Spice | 5:30 Minutes High-Strength Attack Boost |
| Mighty Simmered Fruit | 4 Mighty Bananas+ Monster Extract | 10 Minutes High-Strenth Attack Boost |
Best Elixir recipes
Elixirs are consumable items that provide various temporary effects to the player’s players, such as increased speed, resistance to specific elemental damage, and enhanced stealth. Elixirs combine different ingredients with critters or monster parts, which can be found throughout the Zelda Breath of the Wild world.
| Elixir Name | Ingredient | Effects |
| Fireproof Elixir | Smotheringwing Butterfly+ Fireproof Lizard | Provides Flame Guard |
| Hasty Elixir | Hot-Footed Frog+ Hightail Lizard | Increases Movement Speed |
| Sneaky Elixir | Sunset Firefly | Increases Stealth |
| Energizing Elixir | Restless Cricket+ Energetic Rhino Beetle | Restores Stamina |
| Enduring Elixir | Tireless Frog | Extra Stamina |
| Hearty Elixir | Hearty Lizard | Grants extra Hearts |
| Chilly Elixir | Winterwing Butterfly+ Cold Darner | Provides Heat Resistance |
| Mighty Elixir | Bladed Rhino Beetle | Increases Attack Power |
| Tough Elixir | Rugged Rhino Beetle | Increases Defense |
| Electro Elixir | Thunderwing Butterfly+ Electric Darner | Provides electric Resistance |
| Spicy Elixir | Summerwing Butterfly+ Warm Darner | Provides Cold Resistance |
