There is a simple fact that every explorer knows. An adventure is only ever as good as the food you eat along the way. Say what you will about a fancy steak dinner, a thin slice of pizza at midnight, or a dubious cylinder of meat slow roasted over a campfire, food matters.
Fans of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom see evidence of this fact every time Link hums his familiar tune over a pot of dancing ingredients. Link's melody might run short and the food ingredients may be a bit tedious to track down, but the effect a good recipe can have on Link’s adventure should never be underestimated.
10. Icy Meat
Icy Meat Recipe Card
The weather system in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the most frustrating early game puzzles for players to figure out. As the weather fluctuates, players are forced to consume resources for nothing more than the opportunity to continue exploring. Fortunately, the Icy Meat recipe presents a simple solution for players exploring the hottest regions of Hyrule. To create this recipe, players only need to drop a piece of meat in a frozen region and let it freeze. The resulting meal will give players a heat resistance buff and cost them nothing more than a single cooking material.
- A simple recipe that grants heat resistance for players exploring arid regions.
- Can be created with any food material (It doesn’t even have to be meat).
- Doesn’t require a cooking pot, just a cold region and a single cooking material.
- Imagine Link chewing through a frozen piece of meat.
- Also functions as a great shield surfing fusion option.
Recipe Details
- Miscellaneous cooking material.
- Freezing temperatures
9. Spicy Pepper Steak
Spicy Peppered Steak Recipe Card
Like the previously mentioned icy meat recipe, the Spicy Pepper Steak allows players to bypass the game's weather system by granting them a cold resistance buff. It may not be as convenient to make as the icy meat recipe, but it's significantly easier to chew and offers players the ability to adjust the recipe to prioritize heart recovery or cold resistance. Until players are able to afford the Snowquill armor in Rito Village, they would be wise to keep a few Spicy Pepper Steaks in their inventory.
- The recipe can be adjusted to prioritize heart recovery over cold resistance.
- Can be maxed out at 10 minutes and 30 seconds of cold resistance.
- Base recipe heals 6 hearts.
Recipe Details
- Raw Meat
- Spicy Pepper X4
8. Enduring Fried Wild Greens
Enduring Fried Wild Greens Recipe Card
Turning tail and running in the other direction may not be the most heroic way to end a battle, but a strategic retreat shouldn’t be underestimated. This is especially true if players have the right meal prepared for the occasion. Enduring Fried Wild Greens combine health regeneration with an increase to a player's maximum stamina. With this, players will be able to outrun or outclimb their foes until they are in a better position to take them out with their next attack.
- Use when facing the Frox to outrun their suction attack and restore lost hearts.
- Can be adjusted to prioritize either stamina or heart containers.
- Base recipe heals 12 hearts
- Base recipe max restores stamina and adds ⅓ of a temporary stamina wheel.
Recipe Details:
- Raw Meat X2
- Hylian Herb X2
- Endura Carrot
7. Apple Pie
Apple Pie Recipe Card
While there are a number of recipes in TOTK that offer stronger in-game buffs, there are few that are as versatile and delicious as Apple Pie. Besides the fact that Link gets to chomp down on a piece of apple pie, the best part about this recipe is that it only requires 4 ingredients. While this might not seem important, that 5th ingredient spot can be used to turn a simple piece of apple pie into a versatile recipe that players can adjust to their specific in-game needs.
Need a stamina boost? Throw in an endura carrot. Looking for slip resistance? Try a sticky frog. It might sound like a good way to ruin a perfectly good slice of apple pie, but if it can save you from falling off the side of a mountain it’s fair to say it was worth it.
- Nobody in their right mind can say Link doesn’t occasionally deserve a slice of apple pie.
- Only requires 4 ingredients which allows players to add an effect of their choice.
- Base recipe heals 5 hearts.
Recipe Details
- Golden Apple
- Tabantha Wheat
- Cane Sugar
- Goat Butter
6. Sunny Fried Wild Greens
The shiny Sundelions that players can find on the new sky islands floating around Hyrule are more than just pretty. The sky flowers can be used to conquer the depths as long as players cook them into a meal of Sunny Fried Wild Greens before dropping into the darkness below Hyrule. With 5 Sundelions, players can recover from a hefty degree of gloom damage, but the real strength of this recipe is its ability to heal hearts alongside combatting the effects of gloom.
- Base recipe gives +15 gloom recovery.
- Recipe can be adjusted to prioritize heart recovery so gloom is removed and heart containers are refilled at the same time.
- Take immediately after taking damage in the depths to avoid losing your place in the darkness.
Recipe details
- Sundelions X5
5. Warding Simmered Fruit
Warding Simmered Fruit Recipe Card
The only thing better than healing the gloom debuff is avoiding it entirely. To ensure that your heart containers are left untouched by the gloom, a full helping of Warding Simmered Fruit will grant players an extra heart of gloom resistance. Pair this with a few pieces of the Depths Armor Set and players will be able to explore the depths with their full set of heart containers and 3 extra gloom resistant hearts.
- Grants players a heart of gloom resistance
- Pair this with the Depths Armor set when encountering Gloom Hands
- Can be adjusted to focus on healing or gloom resistance.
- Base recipe heals 8 hearts
Recipe Details
- Hylian Tomato X4
- Dark Clump OR Monster Extract
4. Hasty Steamed Mushrooms
Hasty Steamed Mushrooms Inventory Slot
As well as being a healthy vegetable dish, Hasty Steamed Mushrooms offer players the ability to move quickly through the vast world of Hyrule. Players hoping to minimize their travel times and increase the speed of their most recent zonai creation should keep this recipe close. With a level 3 speed boost, players will be flying through Hyrule without a care in the world for the Moblins and Lizalfos left in the dust.
- Increasing movement speed reduces stamina usage making stamina buffs unnecessary.
- Travel further and faster with a level 3 speed boost.
- Base recipe heals two hearts.
- Recipe can be adjusted to prioritize heart recovery over the speed boost.
Recipe details
- Rushrooms X3
- Swift Violet X2
3. Hylian Tomato Pizza
Hylian Tomato Pizza Recipe Card
Pizza in TOTK is not the strongest recipe in terms of healing heart containers or combatting a specific debuff, but it is a recipe that can be used to teach players how flexible the recipe system truly is. With only four ingredients required to make this meal, players can use the 5th slot to add whatever effect they want to their pizza. The resulting meal might not look like pizza every time, but it will be far from the dubious concoctions that they’ve made Link scarf down in the past.
- As flexible as the player's imagination.
- Players can rest easy knowing that the people of Hyrule aren’t that different than them.
- Base recipe restores 6 heart containers
Recipe Details
- Tabantha Wheat
- Rock Salt
- Hateno Cheese
- Hylian Tomato
2. Mighty Steamed Fruit
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Link, Bokoblin Mask
If players are having a bit of trouble tracking down all the pieces of the Fierce Deity or Barbarian armor set they may want to look into cooking up a few servings of Mighty Steamed Fruit. This recipe grants players an incredibly long lasting attack buff that will make them a force to be reckoned with while scouring the fields of Hyrule. The Level 3 attack up buff that comes with this recipe will be add a 50% damage boost to every attack.
- To complete this recipe you have to get up close to a dragon!
- Base recipe offers a level 3 attack up boost, increasing the potency of your attacks by 50%
- Will make you feel like a Fierce Deity without forcing you to don the mask.
Recipe Details
- Mighty Banana X3
- Mighty Thistle
- Dragon Horn
1. Hearty Fried Wild Greens
Here to check on the field?
While there are literally hundreds of recipes in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, none stand out quite as much as Hearty Fried Wild Greens. If made correctly, Hearty Fried Wild Greens have the potential to max restore your heart containers and potentially double your current health with temporary hearts. Players looking to max out Link's constitution before a battle should start hoarding hearty radishes asap.
- Cook between 11:30PM and 12:30AM on a Blood Moon to increase the effects of the dish
- Base recipe offers max heart recovery.
- Recipe has the potential to add 25 temporary hearts.
- Hearty Radishes can be grown in Hateno Village after completing the School Quests
- Players can substitute a hearty radish for another ingredient to add additional effects.
Recipe Details
- Big Hearty Radish X5
