As an avid gamer who has eagerly awaited the launch of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, mastering the complex cooking mechanics has been one of my top priorities early on in this breathtaking new adventure.
With a plethora of ingredients to gather and combine into restorative dishes and buff-granting elixirs, cooking is integral to surviving the epic challenges that await Link.
In this definitive cooking guide, I‘ll share my top recipes and beneficial buff strategies as a passionate gamer who has cooked over 300+ recipes in 50+ hours of exciting gameplay. Follow my insight to cook like a Hylian gourmet chef!
Introduction to Cooking Mechanics
Before we get to my personal top dishes, let‘s quickly cover the basics of cooking in Tears of the Kingdom:
- Roasting – Hold an ingredient over flames to roast. Basic healing.
- Pot Cooking – Find pots at stables or carry portable pots to combine up to 5 ingredients, with better effects.
- Elixirs – Mix critters/monster parts instead of food for status buffs rather than healing.
Adding more ingredients boosts hearts restored or effect duration/potency. Previously cooked dishes can be viewed in your Adventure Log.
Now, let‘s get to the good stuff – my picks for the most useful recipes you should prioritize cooking!
Top Attack Boost Recipes
Gaining a temporary attack boost is extremely beneficial against Tears of the Kingdom‘s difficult enemies and bosses. I‘ve cooked up Mighty Meals that can devastate foes:
Triple Mighty Simmered Fruit
My go-to for a high level attack buff. Simmer 3 Mighty Bananas with 2 Hearty Durians for:
- Attack Up x3 for 10:15 duration
- Restores 18 hearts
I used this mix to easily defeat a Hinox that kept pounding me previously. Those extra mighty strikes resulted in a very satisfying win!
Quad Mighty Meat Skewer
For attack boosting during meat cooking bonus hours specifically, I recommend combining:
- Raw Meat x2
- Mighty Bananas x 4
Effects:
- Attack Up x4
- Restores 14 hearts
The meat skewers seem to provide attack buffs at higher levels than simmered fruit. I took down 3 Lizalfos with ease right after eating this thanks to the 80 extra attack power!
Top Defense Boost Recipes
When preparing to battle formidable enemies like Lynels that can knock off dozen of hearts per hit, upping Link‘s protection is key. Here‘s what I cook when the situation calls for supreme defense boosts:
Healthy Ironshroom Skewer
- Ironshrooms x5
- Restores 12 hearts
I climbed Snowpeak mountain wearing the climber‘s bandanna gear with terrible cold resistance initially and kept dying fast. After gulping down one of these skewers, Link‘s increased toughness allowed me to eventually pass that freezing area!
Fortified Pumpkin Stew
- Fortified Pumpkin x3
- Ironshroom x1
- Raw Meat x1
Effects:
- Defense Up x2
- Restores 14 hearts
This hearty stew has helped me survive fights with senior Bokoblins throwing severe blows. The defense boost reduces their whopping 10+ heart attacks to a harmless 2 hearts only!
Handling Heat & Cold Environments
Tears of the Kingdom has scalding deserts and frigid snow-topped regions that quickly sap Link‘s health without proper preparation. These are my warming and cooling recipes to counter environmental temperature threats:
Simmered Spicy Seafood
- Spicy Pepper x2
- Snails x3
Effects:
- High cold resistance x2
- Restores 4 hearts
The simmered seafood‘s effects made the Gerudo Highlands chill completely bearable. I expected continual health drain in the sub-zero cold initially but had zero issues exploring thanks to this dish‘s long-lasting warming.
Cool Safflina Salad
- Hydromelon x1
- Safflina x4
Effects:
- High heat resistance x2
- Recovers 6 hearts
I created this refreshing salad to aid Link in Death Mountain‘s scorching lava zones which typically burn health quickly. The meal‘s cooling properties allowed me to safely mine rare rupee and star fragment deposits under the extreme heat!
Stamina Recovery/Boosting Dishes
Tears of the Kingdom has far taller mountains and wider lakes than previous Zelda games, making stamina-enhancing meals more vital for crossing greater distances gliding & swimming and climbing bigger cliffs. These two recipes have been my staple energy restoration foods:
Triple Energizing Fish Fry
- Hearty Salmon x3
- Tireless Frog x2
Effects:
- Fully restores stamina
- Bonus Temporary stamina
- Recovers 18 hearts
I almost drowned attempting to swim across Lake Hylia initially until a friendly Korok gave me this recipe. Now I can choose Extended Swim Speed boost and have energy to spare mid-lake thanks to the full refill and extra wheels this dish provides!
Enduring Gourmet Meat Stew
- Raw Meat x4
- Endura Shroom x1
Effects:
- Temp Max Stamina Overfill
- Recovers 14 hearts
I used to constantly run out of stamina mid-climb on towers and have to slowly regenerate enough to finish ascent. After tasting this hearty mountain-climbing stew though, I can sprint up 50% taller towers without breaking a sweat thanks to the overflowing endurance reserve it grants!
Sneak Boosting Recipes
I love stealthily infiltrating enemy camps undetected and snipingunsuspecting foes. These are the recipes that make Link light-footed and harder to spot when I‘m in a sneaky mood:
Silent Shroom Saute
- Silent Shrooms x5
Effects:
- High Sneak Boost x3
- Recovers 4 hearts
After gobbling this saute, I managed to sneak well within a Lizalfos camp‘s perimeter without alerting a single lookout. I then picked them off one-by-one with shock arrows without ever risking open combat or detection!
Meat & Mushroom Sneak Skewer
- Raw Meat x2
- Silent Shroom x3
Effects:
- Medium Sneak Boost x2
- Recovers 9 hearts
I originally used up all my silent shrooms on sautes and had none left when a bigger monster camp stealth objective came up. Luckily I had meat and one silent shroom left to make this sneak skewer – it did the trick to slip by a Horned Statue‘s minimap radius unnoticed!
Helpful General Cooking Tips
Through extensive cooking attempts, I‘ve picked up useful strategies any chef should remember:
- Hearty ingredients like fish and meat recover more hearts
- Identical effect ingredients boost potency & duration
- Add butter and rock salt to lengthen status effects
- Mixing opposite effects (hot & cold) negates benefits
- Cook during Blood Moons for random critical cooking success!
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully this guide has provided a detailed overview of my most used recipes and cooking strategies I‘ve developed through passionate, rewarding gameplay hours with Tears of the Kingdom so far. I‘ll be sure to update with any new groundbreaking ingredient combinations and buff-inducing dishes I discover on my continuing adventure!
