'Breath Of The Wild' Recipe And Cooking Guide: Here's All The Ingredient Effects, Ranks And Tips You Need

By Mo Mozuch Published 03/04/17 EST

The world map in 'Breath of the Wild' is huuuuge Nintendo

This Breath of the Wild recipe and cooking guide isn’t designed to spell out recipes for you. Instead, we break down all the various ingredients in Hyrule so you know what to reach for in your bag when you stand at the cooking pot. We’ve logged something like 80 hours at iDigi in Breath of the Wild so far and, trust us, you need to know what your stuff does – not the obvious recipes like eggs+rice= rice with egg. Plus, it’s really rewarding to try new combos and get creative as there are more than 125 recipes in the game. All you need to do is find a campfire (or make your own) or use a cookpot at a Bokoblin camp or in a village to get started. Just go into your inventory, hold ingredients in your arms (up to 5) then drop them in the pot/fire. Easy!

Because Breath of the Wild cooking is more like a Witcher -esque system of buffs and special effects that you will NEED for lots of moments in the game. You’ll want of know how to cook up cold resistance grub for those treks through snowy mountains or stamina replenishment meals for long climbs up tricky towers. Breath of the Wild does a pretty poor job of conveying how effects work and how long they last. So, this Breath of the Wild recipe guide organizes ingredients by effect category, as well as their “rank” i.e. potency and duration time. You also can’t stack effects in a recipe, so don’t mix a stamina boost with a defense boost, for example.

A few notes first. Duration times don’t stack on the same specialty ingredients, so try not to double up. Anything with a “low duration” adds an initial 50-90 seconds of time to a dish, anything with a “high duration” adds between 120-150. The duration times for basic ingredients don’t stack either, but diminish to a flat 30 seconds when combined. So while Bird Eggs add 90 seconds to a dish’s duration, two bird eggs only add 120, three bird eggs 150, etc.

We’ve also included the HP values for base ingredients but not specialty ingredients. It’s been our experience that the overwhelming majority of dishes you produce, especially in the first 15-20 hours of the game, will replenish more hearts than you have in your heart meter. The values listed are for cooked ingredients, too, which are double what you’d get if you eat them raw. Don’t eat them raw. It’s a waste of good resources.

Ingredient rank also determines the potency of the dish, so you’ll see either one, two or three symbols next to its name. Early in the game you rarely need anything that delivers more than the first level of resistance/buff, so its worthwhile to sell higher level dishes for serious rupees. When mixing ingredients of different ranks know that there’s a limit, so you’ll need a rank A or B ingredient to get a level 3 effect, but stacking multiple E, D or C items can produce a level 2.

One last tip - always cook during a Blood Moon. It greatly increases the chance a dish will have a critical success, meaning it will add bonus effects to the finished product: five minutes of extra duration, a bump in level effect (i.e. from one to two or two to three), an extra ⅖ stamina wheel refill, three extra hearts or an extra yellow heart. You’ll know you had a crit success because there will be a little bit of music that plays when you finish the dish. So save those Rank A ingredients for late night cooking sessions (and keep a bundle of wood in your pack so you’re ready to cook at a moment’s notice, too).

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Base Ingredients

These are the staple ingredients found across Hyrule. They don’t provide special effects, but replenish HP and add duration time to your Breath of the Wild recipes. Meats can be acquired by hunting the animals around you, but things like milk, butter, sugar, spice and eggs need to be purchased from vendors. Grains can be found in fields though. Hylian Rice can be harvested by cutting grass in Hyrule Field, Tabantha Wheat can be acquired by cutting grass in the Tabantha region. Both can also be bought from various vendors. Rock salt is found at vendors or from cracking open boulders in your quest for sweet, sweet gemstones.

Hylian Shroom: refills 1 heart, 30 seconds of duration.

Hyrule Herb: refills 2 hearts, 30 seconds of duration.

Raw Gourmet Meat: refills 6 hearts, 30 seconds of duration.

Raw Whole Bird: refills 6 hearts, 30 seconds of duration.

Raw Prime Meat: refills 3 hearts, 30 seconds of duration.

Raw Bird Thigh: refills 3 hearts, 30 seconds of duration.

Raw Meat: refills 2 hearts, 30 seconds of duration.

Raw Drumstick: refills 2 hearts, 30 seconds of duration.

Hylian Rice: refills 2 hearts, 60 seconds of duration.

Acorn: refills ½ heart, 50 seconds of duration.

Chickaloo Tree Nut: refills ½ heart, 40 seconds of duration.

Bird Egg: refills 2 hearts, 90 seconds of duration.

Tabantha Wheat: refills 2 hearts, 60 seconds of duration.

Fresh Milk: refills one heart, 80 seconds of duration.

Cane Sugar: no health, 80 seconds of duration.

Goat Butter: no health, 80 seconds of duration.

Goron Spice: no health, 90 seconds of duration.

Rock Salt: no health, 60 seconds of duration.

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Hearty Ingredients

What do hearty ingredients do? They overclock your heart meter to give you bonus hearts and completely refill your hearts, too. There’s no duration time for hearty ingredients, and they range from adding one yellow heart (Grade E) up to five yellow hearts (Grade A). They do stack additively so don’t be afraid to double or triple up.

Big Hearty Radish
Extra Hearts
Rank A

Hearty Durian
Extra Hearts
Rank B

Big Hearty Truffle
Extra Hearts
Rank B

Hearty Salmon
Extra Hearts
Rank B

Hearty Radish
Extra Hearts
Rank C

Hearty Blueshell Snail
Extra Hearts
Rank C

Hearty Bass
Extra Hearts
Rank D

Hearty Truffle
Extra Hearts
Rank E

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Heat Resistance Ingredients

Heat resistance will help keep you alive in the Gerudo Desert or as you approach the Goron City near Death Mountain. In our experience, there are a lot more cold areas than hot, which might explain why they’re a bit harder to find. You can also beat the heat by jumping into some water, but wet clothes dry out after a few minutes so it’s not a solution for traveling long distances (like finding the Great Fairy in the Gerudo Desert.)

Chillfin Trout
Heat Resistance
Rank C
Duration High

Chillshroom
Heat Resistance
Rank C
Duration High

Cool Safflina
Heat Resistance
Rank E
Duration High

Hydromelon
Heat Resistance
Rank E
Duration: High

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Cold Resistance Ingredients

Cold resistance is really crucial in the early game, as the very first tutorial area requires you to brave some wintery winds to get to a shrine. You can also fight the cold by carrying a lit torch or wearing some specialty gear.

Sunshroom
Cold Resistance
Rank C
Duration High

Sizzlefin Trout
Cold Resistance
Rank C
Duration High

Spicy Pepper
Cold Resistance
Rank E
Duration High

Warm Safflina
Cold Resistance
Rank E
Duration High

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Shock Resistance Ingredients

Shock resistance can literally be a lifesaver. When Link gets zapped by electricity he spasms and drops his equipped weapons, a major pain during heated battles. We recommend keeping at least one shock resistance dish on you at all times. You never know when some bullshit floating wizard thing is going to show up and wreck you.

Zapshroom
Shock Resistance
Rank A
Duration High

Voltfin Trout
Shock Resistance
Rank A
Duration High

Voltfruit
Shock Resistance
Rank D
Duration High

Electric Safflina
Shock Resistance
Rank D
Duration High

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Movement Speed Up Ingredients

Faster is better than slower. These ingredients can be used to increase Link’s movement speed, which can be a huge benefit during some of the time sensitive side quest challenges. Anytime someone wants you to run around and light torches or catch cuccoos, you’ll be glad you had a speed boost handy.

Fleet-Lotus Seeds
Movement Speed Up
Rank B
Duration Low

Swift Carrot
Movement Speed Up
Rank E
Duration Low

Rushroom
Movement Speed Up
Rank E
Duration Low

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Attack Up Ingredients

Breath of the Wild is HARD. There’s no visible levels on any enemies so you never know until it's too late if a new foe can take down all your health in one or two swipes. Attack up dishes are crucial for helping you get out of a sticky situation, and can cut down on weapon loss too since you’ll be swinging less to do more damage.

Mighty Porgy
Attack Up
Rank A
Duration Low

Razorclaw Crab
Attack Up
Rank B
Duration Low

Mighty Bananas
Attack Up
Rank B
Duration Low

Razorshroom
Attack Up
Rank B
Duration Low

Mighty Carp
Attack Up
Rank B
Duration Low

Mighty Thistle
Attack Up
Rank E
Duration Low

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Extra Stamina And Stamina Restoration

Like with hearty ingredients, stamina effects stack additively so you can produce some very potent stuff if you mix correctly. We found the stamina dishes to be among the most useful in the game, particularly during difficult climbs. These are one-off effects so they have no duration.

Staminoka Bass
Stamina Restoration
Rank A

Endura Carrot
Extra Stamina
Rank A

Courser Bee Honey
Stamina Restoration
Rank B

Bright-Eyed Crab
Stamina Restoration
Rank B

Endura Shroom
Extra Stamina
Rank C

Stamella Shroom
Stamina Restoration
Rank C

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Defense Boost

Just like with Attack Up, a Defense Boost can be exactly what you need to get out of a boss fight or monster challenge that is just a little more than your puny heart meter can handle.

Armored Porgy
Defense Boost
Rank A
Duration Low

Ironshroom
Defense Boost
Rank B
Duration Low

Fortified Pumpkin
Defense Boost
Rank B
Duration Low

Armored Carp
Defense Boost
Rank B
Duration Low

Armornath
Defense Boost
Rank E
Duration Low

Ironshell Crab
Defense Boost
Rank B
Duration 50

‘Breath Of The Wild’ Recipe And Cooking Guide: Stealth Boost

Breath of the Wild isn't a stealth game, technically, but it has a decent stealth system that becomes vital to getting through numerous quests, including some on the main storyline. So while you won't always need to sneak you'd be wise to keep a spare meal or two in your inventory for the dungeons and giant monsters that require a silent strategy.

Swift Violet
Stealth Boost
Rank A
Duration Low

Silent Princess
Stealth Boost
Rank A
Duration High

Silent Shroom
Stealth Boost
Rank C
Duration High

Stealthfin Trout
Stealth Boost
Rank C
Duration High

Blue Nightshade
Stealth Boost
Rank E
Duration High

Sneaky River Snail
Stealth Boost
Rank E
Duration High

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