How do you cook food in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?

Keeping your health, defense, attack power, or stamina up at any time is one of the most crucial elements in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Whether you’re in the middle of a fight and need some quick HP or exploring out in the wild, food is going to be one of your most-used items by the time the end credits roll. But the process of cooking food is not readily apparent in Tears of the Kingdom, especially to players new to the series.

If you’re interested in how to cook food and become the best chef in Hyrule, then you will want to read our guide below. Once you know how to add food to your inventory, you will have one less thing to worry about.

Cooking food in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, explained

The first things you need before you can even think about making food are a fire and a cooking pot. The fire comes from Flint and Wood, which are plentiful in most spots on the map in Tears of the Kingdom. You can combine those resources close to each other on the ground and swing your weapon at them to ignite a fire. You can throw other resources, such as pine cones, to make your fire even bigger.

Next, you need to find a cooking pot. This item is found in several locations around Hyrule, including in villages, enemy camps, and stables, for starters. Just look around the first few towns you visit to eventually stumble across one and add it to your inventory.

Luckily, Tears of the Kingdom has added a portable cooking pot, meaning you can take it with you wherever you go.

Read more: How to save in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

With those two items, you will then need something to cook. This can be a vegetable, meat, plants, or anything else that you have acquired while exploring the map. Using your food items of choice, place them in the cooking pot by placing the food near the fire. Combining food ingredients will produce food that has stronger buffs for Link. Once the food has been properly cooked, it will be added to your inventory.

Cooking without a pot and using the Recipe Book

If you don’t have access to a cooking pot for whatever reason, you can cook food ingredients individually on a fire.

The end result won’t be as powerful as food items that contain multiple ingredients, but a single food item can be nice if you’re in a pinch and need something quick.

Luckily, if you do combine food ingredients into a pot, Tears of the Kingdom keeps track of everything you make in the new Recipe Book. This will allow you to track what ingredients make what and which food offers certain buffs. To add more recipes to the Recipe Book, you will need to experiment with more food combinations in TOTK.

Regardless, you can now go on your journey knowing full well how to make all kinds of food.