Highlights
- Tears of the Kingdom introduced new recipes for cooking dishes, offering players a variety of ways to replenish health in the game.
- Different dishes have various effects, such as increasing speed, refilling stamina, providing heat or cold resistance, but health boosts remain essential for survival.
- The game’s success has led to the possibility of more open-world Zelda games in the future, with the potential for new dishes to be included.
Replenishing health in The Legend of Zelda series used to involve cutting grass and smashing rocks for stray hearts, downing a tall glass of Lon Lon Milk, or catching one fairy or another. Then Breath of the Wild introduced cooking dishes to the series, providing a new way to replenish health with more variety. Tears of the Kingdom keeps up the cooking with a whole host of new recipes to tuck into.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Cooking Includes Neat References to Classic Zelda Games
Tears of the Kingdom fans are discovering neat references to past Zelda games while cooking, and they are uploading them online.
Different dishes can provide other perks as well, like the Hasty dishes increasing speed, Energizing dishes refilling stamina, Chilly for Heat resistance, Spicy for Cold resistance, and more. While those may come in handy, it’s the health boosts that’ll keep Link and the player in the game. So, if players are looking for a way to recover, these are the best food recipes to heal Link’s health in Tears of the Kingdom.
Updated December 21st, 2023, by David Heath: In a year that was packed with high-profile releases, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom feels like it came out further back than it did. The game only came out in May 2023, but that might as well have been 2013 after the likes of Street Fighter 6, Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Final Fantasy 16, Hi-Fi Rush and more.
Nonetheless, TOTK was a smash hit, following up Breath of the Wild‘s formula in such a way that series producer Eiji Aonuma said the series may continue working with its formula. Which means there will likely be more open worlds for Link to roam in the future, and more dishes to cook. Until then, this list has been updated with some more dishes for Link to tuck into to recover health, along with a few info tweaks.
14 Spicy Fruit & Mushroom Mix
Recovers 5 Hearts
- Any Fruit.
- Any Mushroom.
- Spicy Peppers.
The simplest dishes can give Link back a heart or two, and sometimes less. But if players want ones that’ll give them more hearts for their buck, they’ll have to load up on ingredients. Grab a few Hylian Shrooms and Spicy Peppers, and the player can make the Spicy Fruit & Mushroom Mix.
It offers 6 & a half minutes of Cold Resistance for any wintry location, keeping Link going if there’s a blizzard going on or an icy cavern to explore.. More importantly, it’ll refill 5 of Link’s hearts. If push comes to shove in even temperate locations, this is a dish worth keeping in mind.
13 Spicy Sautéed Peppers
Recovers 5 Hearts
Unless they have a whole abundance of Spicy Peppers, that is. The mushrooms are fine enough, yet 5 Spicy Peppers are enough to make the Spicy Sautéed Peppers. It’ll also heal 5 hearts if the player needs to get Link out of a pinch.
It’ll also give Link 12 & a half minutes of Cold Resistance, so it might be best saved for when Link’s right in the thick of Gutanbac Shrine and other snowy areas. But if the player has more than enough Spicy Peppers to go around, then the Spicy Sautéed Peppers are worth consideration.
12 Spicy Pepper Steak
Recovers 3-7 Hearts
The Spicy Peppers are great for Cold Resistance, though when health is the name of the game, it’s worth mixing 3 Spicy Peppers with 2 Steaks to make the Spicy Pepper Steak. Aside from sounding tasty, it’ll recover up to 7 Hearts with the right meat (Prime to Gourmet).
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – How to Get Sand Boots & Snow Boots
Traveling the desert and mountains is made easy if players have the Sand Boots and Snow Boots, but where are they in Tears of the Kingdom?
This dish gives players more bang for their buck than the Spicy Sautéed Peppers, albeit at the cost of withstanding the snow and icy breezes. It only offers 8 & a half minutes of Cold Resistance, which is still a decent amount of time. It’s just worth keeping in mind if the player intends on hanging around in the snow or just needs a pick-me-up.
11 Honeyed Apples
Recovers 5-7 Hearts
- Courser Bee Honey.
- Any Apple (Golden Apples provide more health).
If fishing for crabs proves too tedious, players can head towards the woods and knock down enough Courser Beehives to get some honeycomb. They only need one to combine with the regular old apples to make Honeyed Apples, yet there’s no harm in stocking up.
The Honeyed Apples will also restore 7 hearts each, without any bonus effects. That can be enough if staying in the game against a tough boss or testing challenge is all the player is after. Golden Apples are harder to find, but they’ll also count towards this recipe, and provide more Hearts if used.
10 Hylian Tomato Pizza
Recovers 6 Hearts Minimum
- Hateno Cheese.
- Hylian Tomato.
- Tabantha Wheat.
With a whole range of international dishes somehow cropping up in the fantasy world of Hyrule, it’s no surprise they’d also have their own type of pizza. On its own, the Hylian Tomato Pizza is a simple cheese and tomato pizza. It just needs Hateno Cheese and Hylian Tomatoes, before using Tabantha Wheat for the base.
The basic pizza recovers 6 Hearts, but it can be topped with more than just cheese and tomato. The dish can provide more effects, and slightly more Hearts, if the player adds some Meat to the pizza. The Cheese alone is tricky to get, as it requires beating the Letter to Koyin sidequest to access it, so it’s worth saving some Prime Meat to pep up the pizza once that mission is complete.
9 Meaty Rice Balls
Recovers 7-10 Hearts
- Any Raw Meat.
- Hylian Rice.
If that seems a little fiddly, or if time is of the essence, then players might prefer to make some Meaty Rice Balls. With just some chunks of ordinary Raw Meat and 2 servings of Hylian Rice, Link can make his own version of onigiri, one of Japan’s top snack items.
10 Open World Games With The Best Cooking Mechanics
Cooking often plays a role to some extent in open-world games. These titles, however, incorporate the mechanic in fun and immersive ways.
A single portion can recover 7 hearts at the minimum, and up to 10 hearts if Link has some Prime or Gourmet Meat to use instead of the regular Raw Meat. The issue here is getting enough Hylian Rice. If players can’t afford to buy it from Beedle at the Wetland Stable, they’ll have to mow the tall grass on the Hylian Plains for a while.
8 Gourmet Poultry Pilaf
Recovers 10 Hearts Minimum
- Raw Whole Bird.
- Hylian Rice.
- Goat Butter.
- Bird Egg.
Pilaf, or Pilau Rice, is a very widespread dish with a lot of variations. Originating from Central Asia, it expanded to Eastern Europe, South Asia, East Africa, South America, the Caucasus, and now Hyrule. With some Hylian Rice, Goat Butter, a Bird Egg, and a Raw Whole Bird, Link can cook some Gourmet Poultry Pilaf.
It takes Gourmet Meat like the Raw Whole Bird to get the most out of the dish, as it recovers at least 10 Hearts, with a few more if the player throws in a Hearty item. Though if they’re not having much luck getting that Raw Whole Bird, they can use a Raw Bird Thigh for the Prime Poultry Pilaf and get 7 Hearts, or a Raw Bird Drumstrick for the plain Polutry Pilaf for just 6 Hearts.
7 Copious Meat Skewer
Recovers 10 Hearts
- 4-5 Different Chunks of Raw Meat.
There are enough dishes for players to experiment with. Players could even challenge themselves to a vegetarian, pescatarian, or vegan run of Tears of the Kingdom to see if it’s doable. It worked for Metal Gear Solid 3. That said, one of the few dishes that heals the most hearts in one go requires turning Link into an omnivore at least, or a full carnivore.
Kill enough boars, wolves, and more, and Link will get 5 different chunks of Raw Meat. Cooking them all together will produce the Meat Skewer, which will heal 10 hearts in one serving. It’s essentially a full heal for most of the game’s run and a very decent boost for the rest of it.
6 Honey Crêpe
Recovers 10 Hearts
- Courser Bee Honey.
- Bird Egg.
- Tabantha Wheat.
- Fresh Milk.
- Cane Sugar.
Still, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any vegetarian or pescetarian dishes in the game that don’t provide a decent heal. If players want to do those runs, or simply have a sweet tooth, they may want to tuck into the Honey Crêpe. Just one, fully made crêpe can recover 10 hearts, and recover a quarter of Link’s stamina too.
7 Games With The Best Cooking Minigames
Cooking minigames are a great way to reward players while giving them a break from the usual routine, and these are the games with the best minigame
However, it does require a lot of ingredients for a lot of Hearts. The Bird Egg, Tabantha Wheat, Fresh Milk, and Cane Sugar are essential and cannot be replaced. But if the player can’t get the Courser Bee Honey, they can use Wildberries instead. This will turn it into the Wildberry Crepe, and it’ll provide the same amount of Hearts.
5 Hearty Gourmet Meat & Seafood Fry
Provides Full Recovery and Bonus Hearts
- Raw Gourmet Meat.
- Any Seafood.
As Link fights off Hyrule’s monsters, he’ll get different types of meat drops from them. The regular and Prime Meats can produce the plain and Prime Meat & Seafood Fry, but if players want more Hearts, they’ll need to use the Gourmet Meat. With just 1 Gourmet Meat, then some seafood like the Hyrule Bass or Sanke Carp, Link will get the standard Gourmet Meat & Seafood Fry to regain 8 hearts.
Either fish can be replaced with others to gain perks, like the Chillfin Trout to gain heat resistance. The best fish to use for health recovery is the Hearty Bass or Hearty Salmon to make the Hearty Gourmet Meat & Seafood Fry and get those extra hearts to temporarily stand up against big foes for longer.
4 Hearty Copious Seafood Skewers
Provides Full Recovery and Bonus Hearts
- Use 4 Different Kinds of Seafood for 10-Heart Recovery.
- Use Hearty Salmon, Hearty Bass, or Hearty Blueshell Snail for Hearty Effects.
For anyone preferring to give that pescatarian run a go, they’ll be rewarded with the recipe for the Copious Seafood Skewers. It’s pretty easy to make too. Grab 4 different kinds of fish, chuck them into the pot, and out they’ll come. They’ll recover a minimum of 10 hearts per serving, making it as effective as the Meat Skewers.
Like the Meat & Seafood Fry, different fish will grant different effects, like Cold/Heat resistance, increased speed, etc. Using the Hearty Salmon, Hearty Bass, and Hearty Blueshell Snail will produce the Hearty Copious Seafood Skewers, which will fully heal Link and throw in bonus hearts too. Maybe Link should stick to seafood after all.
3 Hearty Fish & Mushroom Skewer
Provides Full Recovery and Bonus Hearts
- Any Fish.
- Any Mushroom.
- Hearty Bass, Hearty Salmon, Hearty Truffle and/or Hearty Durian.
The player doesn’t need Spicy Peppers and Steaks to just recover 7 hearts. Just for Cold Resistance. If the player just wants the health recovery, they can get that with a few Bright-Eyed Crabs and Mushrooms to make the Fish & Mushroom Skewer. It’ll perk Link right back up in more ways than one, as the Bright-Eyed Crabs alone can also replenish Link’s stamina.
13 Most Immersive Cooking Games
You’ll feel the heat of the kitchen while playing these immersive cooking games.
They can be bought from traveling merchants or caught in their old haunts from Breath of the Wild like Lanayru Great Spring. Zora’s Domain is also a good spot for them, particularly if players want to complete the “Crabulous Deal” side quests. If the player springs for some Hearty Bass, Hearty Salmon, the Hearty Truffles, or Hearty Durian too, it’ll become the Hearty Fish & Mushroom Skewer, and double the amount of hearts Link gets.
2 Hearty Fried Wild Greens
Provides Full Recovery and Bonus Hearts
- Any Wild Green Plants.
- Hearty Plant (e.g. Hearty Radish).
On their own, the Fried Wild Greens can restore a fair number of hearts, going up to 5 & a half or so. It only requires some Wild Green plants like the Chickaloo Tree Nuts and Hyrule Herbs to put together too, and it can also be combined with other items for additional perks, like Sundelions for Gloom Resistance.
With a few Hearty items, like the Hearty Radish, the dish will become the Hearty Fried Wild Greens, which provide full recovery and add some temporary bonus hearts. While they can’t be replenished, they’ll extend Link’s health until the player can find the requisite Heart Containers to make them permanent.
1 Hearty Mushroom Skewer
Provides Full Recovery and Bonus Hearts
- Use 4 Different Kinds of Mushroom for 4-Heart Recovery.
- Use the Hearty Truffle for Full Recovery and 1 Bonus Heart.
- Use the Big Hearty Truffle for Full Recovery and 5 Bonus Hearts.
But what do players planning a vegetarian run have to pull them out of trouble? They may have trouble finding the right recipes to fit the bill. Even more so if they fancy kicking things up a notch and going vegan, which means cutting out the honey, eggs, and other animal products too. Luckily, the Hearty Truffle, while not a plant, isn’t animal-based and is thus vegetarian/vegan-friendly.
Both it and the Big Hearty Truffle are hard to find, appearing one by one in caves and wells, or in bunches at Sturnida Springs. But one is all Link will need. A single Hearty Truffle will produce the Hearty Copious Mushroom Skewer, fully recovering all hearts and granting 1 bonus heart. Using the Big Hearty Truffle will provide 5 bonus hearts instead. It might be a lot of work to get it, but the reward is worth it.
