The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim grants players plenty of crafting choices like Alchemy, Smithing, and Enchanting. But one thing that most of the players turn a blind eye to is Cooking in Skyrim. While most of the cooked food items may seem worthless to you, they will be extremely beneficial, particularly if you plan to pursue the Survival Mode.
Unlike Raw Food, Cooked Food in Skyrim provides significant bonuses to the players, such as higher stamina and health restoration. The easy-to-find ingredients and lightweight food items compel us to prepare some cooking recipes in our play at least a few times.
Contrary to Alchemy, Cooking is an activity, not a skill. This means you can prepare any recipe in the game without learning to do so. You will not even have to level up for the sake of better food items.
In Survival Mode, you will feel really hungry after every short while and will need to eat a lot to keep your breath running, and cooked food can make things easier, for that matter. Below are some of the best cooked food recipes you can try in Skyrim.
Juniper Berry Crostata
| Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Butter | Build a house with a kitchen and keep a butter churn there (Take as much butter as you want). You can also purchase it sometimes from most of the innkeepers. |
| x3 Juniper Berries | Can be harvested from a tree-like bush in The Reach. |
| x1 Sack of Flour | You can produce it in a Grain Mill, using three pieces of Wheat. |
Juniper Berry Crostata is an Italian baked tart, which is one of the strongest healers among food items. Upon use, it replenishes four points of the user’s health and then slowly restores 2 more points per second for 60 seconds. This helps, especially in times when you’re busy in tough fights, and you need continuous HP boosts to survive till the end. Note that it only unlocks with the Hearthfire DLC expansion of Skyrim.
Snowberry Crostata
| Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Butter | Can be obtained from a butter churn from your house kitchen, or purchased from innkeepers. |
| x2 Snowberries | Found outdoors in snowy areas. You can expect to get them mostly in areas like Windward Ruins. Bloodlet Throne, and Driftshade Refuge. |
| x1 Sack of Flour | You can produce it in a Grain Mill, using three pieces of Wheat. |
Snowberry Crostata is another version of Juniper Berry Crostata, with a change in its qualities. It restores 10 points of your health and resists 4% of the Fire damage for the next 60 seconds. While health is a nice boost, the fire resistance is what makes this one of the elite food items in Skyrim. It can actually turn the tides of a battle where the opponent is adept in the fire element. Just like its other variant, Snowberry Crostata is only available to the Hearhtfire DLC owners.
Beef Stew
| Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Raw Beef | Found in many houses. You can also get it as a drop from cows. |
| x1 Carrot | Found primarily on dining tables in sacks and barrels. You can also purchase it from innkeepers. |
| x1 Salt Pile | Can be purchased from common sellers of food and alchemy ingredients. |
| x1 Garlic | Can be easily purchased from food sellers. It is abundantly found in Thalmor Embassy and Boulderfall Cave. |
Beef Stew increases your max stamina by 25 and replenishes 2 stamina every second, both for the next 720 seconds. This is longer than the duration of boosts you can receive from any potion. You can heavily benefit from Beef Stew in combat, as you can do more power attacks as well as sprint for longer distances without worrying about Stamina.
Salmon Steak
| Recipe and Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Salmon Meat | It can be found in containers, and near water bodies. Also, it can be purchased from vendors. |
| x1 Salt Pile | A very common item that you can buy from vendors or find abundantly in sacks and barrels. |
Salmon Steak is one of the most common cooked food items that you can find lying on dining tables and other gameplay areas. The food ingredients for its recipe in Skyrim are also quite abundant, including just the Salmon Meat and Salt Pile.
The effect of this meal is simple; it restores 5 points of your health. The thing that makes it extraordinary is its extremely low weight (0.1 per steak), due to which you can carry it in large amounts and take your survivability to the next level.
Salmon Steak is the best solution when you feel that raw food is not restoring your hunger in Skyrim. A single Salmon Steak provides 220 hunger points, which is much more than you get from any other food item.
Elsweyr Fondue
| Recipe and Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Ale | You can find/ purchase it in most of the taverns and inns. |
| x1 Eidar Cheese Wheel | You can get it at the Sleeping Giant Inn located in Riverwood. Three wheels can be found in the Hall of the Dead in Solitude. |
| x1 Moon Sugar | Can be bought from Khajiit Caravans or found in smuggler’s dens. |
Elsweyr Fondue’s ingredient, Moon Sugar, is considered illegal to have in the game, making the recipe somewhat difficult. However, this cheesy cooked food can easily make any mage drool for it. Why? Because it regenerates Magicka 25% faster for 12 minutes. On top of that, it instantly increases your Magicka by 100 for 12 minutes.
Horker & Ash Yam Stew
| Recipe and Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Ash Yam | Can be purchased from Geldis Sadri or Garyn Ienth. Also, available in the Ascadian Isles region of Vvardenfell. |
| x1 Horker Meat | Can be looted from Blood Horker bandits or bought from meat sellers. |
| x1 Garlic | Can be easily purchased from food sellers. It is abundantly found in Thalmor Embassy and Boulderfall Cave. |
Available to the Dragonborn DLC holders, the Horker & Ash Yam is another handy stew when it comes to surviving in tough scenarios. It restores 16 points of the user’s health as well as his stamina by 12 points. Although it has small benefits compared to some other meals, it will be worth it once you need some stamina/ health boost and don’t have the time to look for rare ingredients.
Apple Dumpling
| Recipe and Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Green Apple | Can only be purchased from merchants or found inside barrels. |
| x1 Red Apple | Usually found in dungeons and houses. Also, you can buy it from food sellers. |
| x1 Sack of Flour | You can produce it in a Grain Mill, using three pieces of Wheat. |
Apple Dumpling is one of the simpler cooked foods and gives only a minor boost (5 points) to the user’s health. The Archers know its actual value, as it boosts the damage from their bows by 5% for 60 seconds. This seriously helps players who desire to try some archer builds for their gameplay journey.
Garlic Bread
| Recipe and Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Bread | Can be found lying around almost everywhere, including inns, campsites, forts and houses. |
| x1 Garlic | Can be easily purchased from food sellers. It is abundantly found in Thalmor Embassy and Boulderfall Cave. |
| x1 Butter | Get be obtained a butter churn from your house kitchen, or purchased from innkeepers. |
Using just bread, butter, and garlic in the Hearthfire DLC, you can make food in your house that is also recognized by many in the real world. This oven-baked snack produces two loaves of garlic bread, both of which yield the same outcomes. Consuming one garlic bread cures all the in-game diseases, which is pretty good considering that you can frequently suffer from diseases. The good thing is that its ingredients are much easier to find as compared to the Cure Disease Potions.
Homecooked Meal
Ingredients: The player’s spouses cook this food item, so the ingredients are unknown.
Homecooked Meal, as the name suggests, is a consumable only to be found in your home and can be presented to you by your spouse. This somewhat unique food is quite versatile, as it boosts your Magicka, health, and stamina by 25% for 600 seconds. You can request this cooked food once a day from your spouse. Getting married in Skyrim isn’t that bad after all, eh?
Vegetable Soup
| Recipe and Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Tomato | You can find these in containers and also buy them from merchants. |
| x1 Cabbage | You can find two of these in a cart in Helgen Keep. These can also be purchased from merchants or harvested from cabbage plants. |
| x1 Leek | Sometimes found at dinner tables. It can also be bought from food sellers. |
| x1 Potato | Can be found at the Thalmor Embassy and Understone Keep. Also, you can harvest it in Rorikstead and around Solitude Sawmill. |
Vegetable Soup is among the best cooked food recipes in Skyrim that stamina users can count on in the play. It allows the user to power attack or shield bash infinitely, making it a delight for all non-casters. Vegetable soup also reduces 380 hunger, which is one of the highest effects of any meal you will taste in the game.
Lavender Dumpling
| Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Lavender | Usually found in Grassy lands. A large quantity can be obtained from Whiterun and Chillwind Depths. |
| X2 Snowberries | Found outdoors in snowy places. You can also get them in areas like Windward Ruins. Bloodlet Throne, and Driftshade Refuge. |
| x1 Sack of Flour | Can be created it in a Grain Mill, using three pieces of Wheat. |
| x1 Moon Sugar | Can be bought from Khajiit Caravans or found in smuggler’s dens. |
Lavender Dumpling is the best shield you could have asked for against the powerful mages and dragons. This yummy recipe provides 10 Magicka points and resists 10% damage from magic attacks, both for 60 seconds. You also get 5 health instantly after consuming this dumpling. It also comes with the exclusive Hearthfire DLC content.
Venison Stew
| Ingredients | Where to Find |
| x1 Venison | Found by killing a deer, a buck, or a stag, which are mostly in Whiterun area. It can also be found in barrels and containers. |
| x1 Potato | Can be found at the Thalmor Embassy and Understone Keep. Also, you can harvest it in Rorikstead and around Solitude Sawmill. |
| x1 Salt Pile | Can be purchased from common sellers of food and alchemy ingredients. |
| x1 Leek | It is sometimes found at dinner tables and can also be bought from food sellers. |
Venison Stew is your reliable friend if you are an aggressive player who wants to tear through enemies using power attacks and shield bashes. It restores 1 stamina (and health) point per second for the next 12 minutes, allowing you to make unlimited power attacks and shield bashes per second for 720 seconds. Apart from the Vegetable Soup, no other cooing recipe provides such benefits in Skyrim.
