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!
Zelda: Breath of the Wild tips | Breath of the Wild Old Man locations | Breath of the Wild Korok Seed locations guide | Breath of the Wild Shrine guide | Breath of the Wild Captured Memories locations guide | Breath of the Wild unbreakable sword and shield locations | Breath of the Wild horses tips
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.
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.
- Rock Hard Food - Wood or any gemstone
- Honey Candy - Courser Bee Honey
- Sauteed Peppers - Spicy Pepper
- Sauteed Nuts - Any nut
- Simmered Fruit - Any fruit
- Fried Wild Greens - Any herb, vegetable, or flower
- Mushroom Skewer - Any mushroom
- Warm Milk - Fresh Milk
- Omelet - Bird Egg
- Fruit and Mushroom Mix - Any fruit + Any mushroom
- Steamed Fruit - Any fruit + Any herb, vegetable, or flower
- Steamed Mushrooms - Any mushroom + Any herb, vegetable, or flower
- Fried Wild Greens - Any herb, vegetable, or flower + Any herb, vegetable, or flower
- Copious Mushroom Skewers - Any combination of four different mushrooms
- Copious Simmered Fruit - Any combination of four different fruits
- Copious Fried Wild Greens - Any combination of four different herbs, vegetables, or flowers
- Salt-Grilled Mushrooms - Any mushroom + Rock Salt
- Salt-Grilled Greens - Any herb, vegetable, or flower + Rock Salt
- Wheat Bread - Tabantha Wheat + Rock Salt
- Herb Saute - Any herb, vegetable, or flower + Goron Spice
- Fragrant Mushroom Saute - Any mushroom + Goron Spice
- Honeyed Fruits - Any fruit + Courser Bee Honey
- Honeyed Apple - Apple + Courser Bee Honey
- Glazed Veggies- Any vegetable + Courser Bee Honey
- Glazed Mushrooms - Any mushroom + Courser Bee Honey
- Hot Buttered Apple Apple + Goat Butter
- Veggie Rice Balls - Any herb, vegetable, or flower + Hylian Rice
- Mushroom Rice Balls - Any mushroom + Hylian Rice
- Fried Egg and Rice - Bird Egg + Hylian Rice
- Curry Pilaf - Hylian Rice + Goron Spice + Goat Butter
- Vegetable Omelet - Any herb, vegetable, or flower + Bird Egg + Goat Butter + Rock Salt
- Mushroom Omelet - Any mushroom + Bird Egg + Goat Butter + Rock Salt
- Carrot Stew - Any carrot + Fresh Milk + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
- Cream of Vegetable Soup - Any herb, vegetable, or flower + Fresh Milk + Rock Salt
- Veggie Cream Soup - Any carrot or pumpkin + Fresh Milk + Rock Salt
- Cream of Mushroom Soup - Any mushroom + Any herb, vegetable, or flower + Fresh Milk + Rock Salt
- Mushroom Risotto - Any mushroom + Hylian Rice + Goat Butter + Rock Salt
- Vegetable Risotto - Any carrot or pumpkin +Hylian Rice + Goat Butter + Rock Salt
- Fruit Pie - Any fruit + Tabantha Wheat + Cane Sugar + Goat Butter
- Fried Bananas - Mighty Bananas + Tabantha Wheat + Cane Sugar
- Egg Pudding - Bird Egg + Fresh Milk + Cane Sugae
- Egg Tart - Bird Egg + Tabantha Wheat + Cane Sugar + Goat Butter
- Apple Pie - Apple + Tabantha Wheat + Cane Sugar + Goat Butter
- Plain Crepe - Bird Egg + Tabantha Wheat + Fresh Milk + Cane Sugar
- Honey Crepe - Bird Egg + Tabantha Wheat + Fresh Milk + Cane Sugar + Courser Bee Honey
- Wildberry Crepe - Bird Egg + Tabantha Wheat + Fresh Milk + Cane Sugar + Wildberry
- Carrot Cake - Any carrot + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter + Cane Sugar
- Pumpkin Pie - Fortified Pumpkin + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter + Cane Sugar
- Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter + Cane Sugar
- Vegetable Curry - Any carrot or pumpkin + Hylian Rice + Goron Spice
- Pumpkin Stew - Fortified Pumpkin + Fresh Milk + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
- Creamy Hearty Soup - Hydromelon + Any radish + Voltfruit + Fresh Milk
- Monster Soup - Monster Extract + Fresh Milk + Tabantha Wheat + Goat Butter
- Monster Cake - Monster Extract + Tabantha Wheat + Cane Sugar + Goat Butter
- Monster Rice Balls - Monster Extract + Hylian Rice + Rock Salt
- Monster Curry - Monster Extract + Hylian Rice + Goron Spice
- Fruitcake - Any fruit + Apple or Wildberry + Tabantha Wheat + Cane Sugar
