Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom - Use This Recipes List For The Best Food In The Game

Cooking is one of the many vitally important mechanics in "Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom." Players might get a brief tutorial on how it works from a few of the constructs that can be found on Great Sky Island near the beginning of the game, but these Zonai-powered machines don't offer a whole lot of information about what ingredients are combined in order to get specific meals.

This is because the game wants players to experiment by combining the dozens of different ingredients that can be found throughout the Kingdom of Hyrule, the islands floating above, and the Depths lurking below. Of course, this is all well and good for some players, but others might prefer to know what they're making rather than simply casting armfuls of their painstakingly gathered resources into a pot and hoping for the best.

There are a lot of really useful recipes in "Tears of the Kingdom." All of them are helpful for restoring Link's depleted hearts, but some can also induce other effects, which can aid the fabled hero. Some foods are useful for navigating treacherous terrain while others can grant bonuses to stamina or combat abilities. Here are a few of the recipes for the best foods that players can make.

Ingredients: Stamella Shrooms, meat

One of the key factors in navigating the open world in "Tears of the Kingdom" is Link's stamina gauge. Sure, he has the ability to teleport through ceilings whenever he feels like it now, but there's still a fair amount of gliding, climbing and swimming he'll inevitably have to do, and it can be quite dangerous to allow that gauge to get too low — lest Link drown or fall to his untimely demise. The Energizing Meat and Mushroom Skewers provide a bountiful boost to Link's heart meter, but they're also useful food for restoring stamina.

Players can make this food by combining Stamella Shrooms with any sort of meat harvested in the game. These green little mushrooms can be found in grassy areas near trees in the Hyrule Ridge and Hyrule Field areas. More meat will add to the food's health benefits, but it's the number of Stamella Shrooms used that determines how much stamina the food will recover. Having a few of these in the player's inventory will make exploration considerably less stressful as Link will be able to traverse the heights of the islands in the sky without fear of running out of stamina between him and plummeting all the way to Hyrule.

Ingredients: Ironshrooms

Some of the enemies that Link has to fight hit pretty hard. It can be very discouraging for the player to fail a single dodge and manage to lose more than half their health all in one blow. This is especially worrying when healing food stores get low. That's why it's important for players to store food that can keep Link's defense stats high in addition to his health pool. The Tough Mushroom Skewer does just that. It's a single-ingredient recipe made from Ironshrooms, which can usually be found growing near trees or on shady hillsides in the Necluda region.

In addition to its base healing properties, it grants a high-level defense boost. This lasts for varying amounts of time depending on how many Ironshrooms the player uses to make the skewer. The defense boost likewise gets stronger the more mushrooms are used. Once the player has Link eat the skewer, the Hylian warrior will take less damage from enemy attacks until the timer runs out. This is an excellent food to keep in stock and save for troublesome boss battles.

Ingredients: Mighty Bananas

Defense is all well and good, but some say that the best defense is a good offense. Dealing as much damage as quickly as possible can be the most efficient strategy in certain fights. Crafting a good weapon is incredibly important in that regard, but boosting Link's attack stats can take it even further. In order to do this, players will want to cook themselves up a pot of Mighty Simmered Fruit.

This dish is made using Mighty Bananas, which are primarily located in the tropical Faron Region, south of Central Hyrule. As with other single-ingredient recipes, the amount of healing the food generated, the strength of the buff, and the length of its duration are all determined by the number of bananas the player throws into the pot when they make the meal. The ability to boost the amount of damage dealt by the player can be invaluable in any number of fights — though it's generally best saved for those special battles when they're struggling to deal as much damage to a powerful foe as they would like.

Ingredients: Sundelions, Hylian Rice

One of the first times in the game that the player actually needs to use the cooking mechanics in "Tears of the Kingdom" is when they're about to cross the snowy mountains on the Great Sky Island, and they're told by one of the constructs to make food that will keep them warm. Players will encounter several other formulas that will likewise give them the ability to survive certain harsh terrains, but none will be more vital than those that allow players to traverse the Gloom-filled Depths.

The Sunny Veggie Rice Balls have the ability to restore hearts that have been damaged by Gloom, which otherwise require the player to journey to a Lightroot — or else leave the Depths until Link's hearts are naturally repaired by the sun.  The Hylian Rice used to make this dish is quite common, but the Sundelions can only be found growing at high altitudes where it is busy absorbing the sunlight. Still, it's worth climbing the heights of Hyrule to gather them if you want to be able to safely explore its Depths.

Ingredients: Hearty Radishes

There are a lot of amazing effects that players can get from food in "Tears of the Kingdom," but keeping Link alive is the ultimate goal for all of them at the end of the day. To that end, the best food in the game has to be the Hearty Fried Wild Greens. This amazing meal will fully recover any amount of hearts and also add a number of temporary additional hearts. This is particularly useful in the early parts of the game when the player hasn't managed to gather many hearts yet as it could as much as double their health pool, but it's also invaluable in the late game. Nothing is so revitalizing as coming back from the brink of death with a health-pool that's even fuller than usual when in the midst of a difficult battle.

Players will need to gather a supply of Hearty Radishes in order to make the Hearty Fried Wild Greens. These can be found growing out of the ground on Hyrule Ridge. They are easily recognizable by the distinct pink flower that grows out of them. Once they've collected them, players will be able to make Link as hale and hearty as he can possibly be.