Stardew Valley - how to cook

Want to get cooking in Stardew Valley? We've compiled a complete list of all the culinary delights that Pelican Town - and beyond! - have to offer.

The ability to cook in Stardew Valley is an exceptional way to regain health and earn perks and boosts for yourself, but to also make some money. Once you've upgraded your house to include a kitchen, courtesy of Robin the Carpenter, you'll be able to start whipping up some recipes in no time.

In this guide, we're going to show you exactly how you can do it.

Read More: Stardew Valley - how to build a barn

How to cook in Stardew Valley

There are a few steps that you need to follow in order to be able to cook delicious recipes in Stardew Valley. Cooking is a great way of using up your excess produce before the season ends (if you don't want to sell it as is). It's also a good way of restoring your energy and health throughout the day.

1. Get the kitchen extension

When you start the game, your house will only be one room with no kitchen. So in order to be able to cook, you need to buy a kitchen extension (house upgrade) from Robin. To get the upgrade, you will need the following:

• 10000g
• 450x wood

It may sound like a lot but there are plenty of ways to earn some quick money in Pelican Town. For instance, if you follow our fishing guide, then you'll start gaining a lot of money the more fish you can sell. You can also get wood by chopping down trees around your farm. But if you've depleted your own resources, Cindersnap Forest is directly to the south of your farm, so you can go and chop as many trees down as you wish.

So when you have the necessary materials and the correct amount of gold, head to the Carpenter's shop to speak with Robin. The shop can be found in the northeast section of Pelican Town. Walk into the building and interact with the till if Robin is standing behind it. Select the "Upgrade house option" then select "yes". Your house upgrade will take 3 days to complete. To make sure Robin is there before you trek up the mountain to her, be sure to check out our character hub which details the locations of every NPC.

2. Collect recipes

You need to know a recipe to be able to cook it! Luckily, there are multiple ways in which you can learn recipes in Stardew Valley.

• Watch "Queen of Sauce" on your TV. New recipes are televised on Sundays, and you can catch the re-run on Wednesdays. Be sure to always check your television when you wake up for the day!
• Buy recipes from Gus at the Stardrop Saloon. When you go to buy a food or beverage from the till, scroll down and you'll see that there are recipes for sale, too.
• When you upgrade your skills, you can sometimes be rewarded with new food recipes.
• Some recipes can only be obtained from exploring new areas, such as Ginger Island.
• Villagers can also give you recipes if your friendship level is high enough.

Once you learn a recipe it will be accessible from your stove or cookout kit, providing you have the correct ingredients. Missing ingredients will be highlighted in red, so you know what you need in order to craft the food item. When you hover over a food item, like with any other consumable in the game, it will also tell you what perks you get from eating or drinking it!

3. Collect ingredients to cook with

When you know the recipe you want to cook you need to collect your ingredients. This is where being a farmer comes in useful as you can grow almost all of the ingredients for the recipes. However, you may need to buy certain supplies that you haven't managed to grow yet from Pierre (or JojaMart as a last resort).

4. Get cooking!

After collecting your recipes and ingredients, you will then be able to cook. To do this, simply walk up to your stove in your house and interact with it. You should be shown a menu that looks like this:

click to enlarge

This shows you all of the recipes that you know and the ones that are in full colour are the ones you are able to cook. Simply select the one you want to cook and the item will be automatically crafted. The finished dish will end up in your inventory for you to either eat, gift to another villager or you can even put one on your kitchen table in pride of place.

Cooking is a great way of using up your produce and making friends in Stardew Valley. So if you want to know the cooking dishes each villager likes, be sure to check out our villager gift guide. Cooking certain dishes is also a requirement for repairing the community center, so make sure to check out our guide on it!