Cooking in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom isn’t just a survival trick-it’s a clever art that can turn Link from fragile hero to unstoppable adventurer. From spicy stews to stamina-boosting skewers, these recipes don’t just fill hearts-they shape how you conquer Hyrule’s toughest challenges.
In order to keep your stomach full and your defenses in check, we’ve gathered the best recipes in Tears of the Kingdom. Remember, while you can only have the effect of one meal at a time, pairing it up with the best armor and best weapons will bring it all together nicely.
The best recipes in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Cooking in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is more than a side activity-it’s a practical way to survive and thrive in Hyrule. The best recipes give Link bonus effects like extra stamina, cold or heat resistance, and attack or defense boosts, all while restoring hearts. Dishes such as Hearty Fried Wild Greens or Spicy Pepper Steak can make challenging areas and boss fights far more manageable. Experimenting with different ingredients often leads to surprisingly powerful results, rewarding creative combinations and resourcefulness.
At a glance, here are the best food recipes in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom:
- Spicy pepper steak
- Sunny veggie porridge
- Hylian tomato pizza
- Enduring fried wild greens
- Porgy meunière
- Biting meaty rice balls
- Warding simmered fruit
- Apple pie
- Vegetable curry
In a similar fashion to the best elixirs, there are dozens of food recipes to discover and experiment with in Tears of the Kingdom. Depending on the situation you’re in, you might need to prioritize one effect over the other – if you’re heading over to Death Mountain, meals with cold resistance won’t make a difference.
As such, it’s important to remember that cooking with base ingredients and materials (the ones that don’t explicitly state an effect in their description) will make a regular meal. If there’s room to add at least one extra ingredient, that’s where you can play around with effects from other materials that have them.
Remember that the length of the effect, as well as the quality of the ingredients will affect the final result. You can use dragon materials, namely dragon horns, to get a 30-minute timer on a buff, for example, while opting for Prime Raw Meat instead of the regular type can increase how many hearts you’ll recover.
Last but not least, keep an eye out for Blood Moons, as you’ll get a critical bonus on a meal if you cook between 11:30 p.m. and midnight during one. For anything else, the portable pot will come in handy.
How to make spicy pepper steak
- Recipe ingredients: Any meat, and at least one spicy pepper
- Effect: Grants cold resistance
There are multiple ways to gain cold resistance in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. But if you want a quick solution, doing some meal prep with this recipe before venturing to the nearest icy mountain will help immensely.
Spicy peppers are fairly easy to come by, so if you can combine a handful of them with meat, go for it. As an example, I used one raw meat with four spicy peppers, and got a 10:30-minute buff against cold temperatures, which is quite decent.
How to make sunny veggie porridge
- Recipe ingredients: Any herb, hylian rice, fresh milk, and one sundelion
- Effect: Replenishes gloom-afflicted hearts.
You shouldn’t underestimate the power of meals that provide gloom resistance. That being said, there are situations where you’ll inevitably be in harm’s way, and lose a few hearts to gloom.
Don’t fret, as this recipe will replenish five hearts, as well as three additional hearts affected by gloom. If you’re curious about where to find the ingredients for it, our “Gloom-borne Illness” quest page has the details, as you need to prepare the dish to complete it.
How to make Hylian tomato pizza
- Recipe ingredients: Hateno cheese, Hylian tomato, rock salt, and Tabantha wheat
- Effect: Replenish health, and can be paired up with other ingredients for different effects.
Did you know you can make pizza in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? Link might be the witness of unspeakable horrors, but there’s nothing a pizza right off the oven can’t help with.
By default, eating a Hylian Tomato Pizza will only replenish hearts. That being said, there’s room for at least one ingredient that can add a specific buff – endura carrots to add temporary stamina, sundelions to heal gloom-afflicted hearts, and so on.
You can find Tabantha wheat by cutting the grass with a pointy weapon over at the Tabantha Frontier, south of Rito Village. As for Hateno cheese, head over to Hateno Village and toward Lake Sumac. At the boardwalk at the coordinates (3633, -2049, 0175), you can start the “A Letter to Koyin” quest, which culminates in Hateno cheese becoming available to purchase.
How to make enduring fried wild greens
- Recipe ingredients: The base ingredient consist of any herb
- Effect: Replenishes stamina, alongside health.
Fried wild greens are fairly common. You can toss a few hylian herbs or any other type in a cooking pot, and come out with a dish.
That being said, this enduring fried wild greens will replenish a ton of hearts, while also temporarily increasing your maximum stamina. I used two raw meat, two hylian herbs, and an endura carrot. With this, you’ll recover 12 hearts, and gain almost half of an extra stamina wheel, which will deplete once it’s consumed.
How to make porgy meunière
- Recipe ingredients: Tabantha wheat, goat butter, and at least one porgy
- Effect: Replenishes hearts, and increases attack for around 3:00 minutes.
We’re getting fancy with this one. If you’ve been hoarding porgy fishes (which can be found around Faron Sea and the Necluda Sea), combine them with Tabantha wheat and goat butter for a strong meal that also increases attack for around 3:00 minutes, depending on the amounts you use.
If you want a specific spot, the Komo Shoreline Cave at the coordinates (0490, -3832, 0010), located southwest of the Horse God Bridge south in the Faron Region, has a few swimming inside of it. Remember you can electrocute the water to catch them easily.
How to make biting meaty rice balls
- Recipe ingredients: The base ingredients are any meat and at least one Hylian rice
- Effect: Grants cold weather attack.
In order to make biting meaty rice balls, I cooked one Hylian rice, one raw meat, and two ice fruits. This granted me cold weather attack for 3:30 minutes. Similarly to the Frostbite Armor, Link’s melee attacks will deal cold damage in areas with cold weather.
How to make warding simmered fruit
- Recipe ingredients: Dark clump and any fruit
- Effect: Grants gloom resistance.
If you’re heading into the Depths to unlock Autobuild or search for the Miner’s Armor, it’s best to be prepared. Fruits are fairly common in Hyrule, so this recipe won’t prove difficult.
As an example, I mixed a dark clump with four Hylian tomatoes for a total of 4:30 minutes of gloom resistance. Using three tomatoes granted me 4:00 minutes instead, as reference.
How to make apple pie
- Recipe ingredients: Tabantha wheat, cane sugar, goat butter, and of course, an apple.
- Effect: Replenish health, and can be paired up with other ingredients for different effects.
By default, eating an apple pie will only replenish hearts. That being said, there’s room for at least one ingredient that can add a specific buff – endura carrots to add temporary stamina, sundelions to heal gloom-afflicted hearts, and so on. Plus, it looks delicious on its own.
How to make vegetable curry
- Recipe ingredients: A carrot or pumpkin, as well as Hylian rice and goron spice
- Effect: Replenish health, and grants a defense boost or a hasty effect depending on the ingredient you use.
By default, you only need Hylian rice and goron spice (purchased at the vendor in Goron City) to make a base for a curry. Then, you can add a carrot or a pumpkin, both of which you can purchase over at Hateno Village. If you opt for a pumpkin, you’ll obtain a defense boost. If you use a carrot, you’ll gain a hazy effect instead, increasing your movement speed.
Which recipes give the longest temporary hearts boost
In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, hearty recipes provide the longest-lasting temporary hearts boosts by fully restoring your hearts plus granting extras that persist until depleted or overwritten. These effects scale with more hearty ingredients (up to five per pot) and peak during critical cooks under a Blood Moon.
Maximum Boost Recipes
The top recipes deliver 20+ temporary hearts, outlasting other buffs like elixirs or status meals.
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Hearty Simmered Fruit: 5x Hearty Durian (20 temporary hearts; found in Faron region trees).
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Hearty Fried Wild Greens: 1x Big Hearty Radish + 4x Hearty Radish (17 temporary hearts; radishes in Sokkala Plains or sky islands).
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Full Hearty Meal: 5x Hearty Truffles or Big Hearty Truffles (up to 20 hearts; truffles in Hyrule Field caves).
Duration and Tips
These boosts last until hearts are lost in combat or exploration, far longer than short elixirs (e.g., Hearty Elixir with 5x Hearty Lizard for ~12 hearts). Farm ingredients via duping or sky island farming for reliability; mix only hearty items to avoid diluting effects.
Recipes that grant the most temporary hearts in Breath of the Wild
In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Hearty recipes fully restore hearts and add the maximum temporary hearts, scaling up to +20 with five Hearty ingredients. These yellow bonus hearts last until depleted by damage and are ideal for tough fights like Lynels or Ganon.
Top Recipes by Hearts
The highest yields come from maximizing a single Hearty ingredient type.
| Recipe | Bonus Hearts | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Hearty Simmered Fruit | +20 | 5x Hearty Durian |
| Hearty Fried Wild Greens | +17 | 1x Big Hearty Radish + 4x Hearty Radish |
| Hearty Durian Skewer | +20 | 5x Hearty Durian (alt. prep) |
| Hearty Truffle Skewer | +20 | 5x Big Hearty Truffle |
Locations and Tips
Hearty Durians grow abundantly in Faron Grasslands trees; Big Hearty Radishes appear in Hyrule Ridge and Akkala Highlands. Cook only Hearty items together in pots (no fillers) for full effect; stock multiple dishes for sustained boosts during exploration.
