Sons of the Forest Cooking Recipes and Buffs
Cook at a cooking pot on a fire. Pick the dish by the job: Boiled Meat or Protein Shake for strength, Lumberjack Juice for chopping, Jam and Cooked Ramen Noodles for warmth.
- Recipes in the pot13the game's Cooking table
- Strength dishes5Boiled Meat, Greg and Liquid Battery
- Warm dishes4for the cold
- Cheapest1ingredient for Cooked Ramen Noodles
Six steps from the first pot to a full buff dish. The crafting page holds every card; clean water covers filling the pot.
On this page
The 6 steps at a glance
Steps 1 and 2 get you cooking. Steps 3 to 5 choose the dish for the job. Step 6 is the big dish for later.
- Set up the pot. Pot, water, fire.
- Cook the cheap dishes first. The five cheapest, up to 4 ingredients.
- Cook for strength and chopping. Boiled Meat, Greg and more.
- Cook for the cold. 4 dishes carry warmth.
- Cook for stamina, stealth and rest. Kitchen Sink, Liquid Battery and Cream of Mushroom.
- Keep the big dish for later. Liquid Battery takes 20 ingredients.
Step 1: Set up the pot
Meat dropped on a campfire sears quickly, but the pot is where the recipes live (GameRant). You find pots as pickups; the water guide has the map of cooking pots.
- Equip the pot and stand at a lake or pond until the interact icon shows, which fills it with water (GameRant).
- Break two sticks to build a fire and light it with the lighter.
- Put the pot on the fire and click the gear icon to open the recipe list.
- Choose a dish you hold every ingredient for, click the gear again to close the lid, and wait for the lid to fall off (GameRant).
- Take the dish out and eat it.
Pro tip
The stone fireplace (42 stones) cooks like a campfire, per our crafting data, so you can cook on it at base.
Step 2: Cook the cheap dishes first
The five cheapest recipes need 4 ingredients or fewer, and every one of them also cuts thirst.
| Dish | Ingredients | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked Ramen Noodles | 1 ramen noodles | thirst, hunger, health, warmth |
| Boiled Meat | 2 meat | thirst, hunger, health, strength |
| Chicken Noodle Soup | 1 arm, 1 ramen noodles | thirst, hunger, health, warmth, comfort |
| Cream of Mushroom | 1 fly amanita, 1 hydnum repandum, 1 king oyster, 1 shiitake | thirst, hunger, health, stealth |
| Kelvin Special | 3 fish, 1 oyster | thirst, hunger, health, chopping |
Step 3: Cook for strength and chopping
Boiled Meat, Greg, Liquid Battery, Lumberjack Juice and Protein Shake carry strength. Greg, Kelvin Special, Lumberjack Juice and Protein Shake carry chopping, and three of them (Greg, Lumberjack Juice and Protein Shake) carry both. The game says your health, melee damage and tree damage rise a little with every strength level ("Your health, melee and tree damage will increase slightly when you gain a strength level"), so a strength dish helps before a base-building day.
| Dish | Ingredients | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Boiled Meat | 2 meat | thirst, hunger, health, strength |
| Greg | 2 arm, 1 head, 2 leg | thirst, hunger, health, strength, stealth, chopping |
| Liquid Battery | 10 blueberries, 10 guarana berries | thirst, rest, stamina, strength |
| Lumberjack Juice | 5 chicory, 3 fish, 5 meat, 1 meds | thirst, hunger, health, strength, chopping |
| Protein Shake | 1 aloe vera, 1 fly amanita, 3 guarana berries, 1 meat, 1 meds, 1 turtle egg | thirst, hunger, health, strength, chopping |
| Kelvin Special | 3 fish, 1 oyster | thirst, hunger, health, chopping |
Not in the files
How large the strength or chopping bonus is and how long it lasts is not in our data. Test a dish yourself: the game shows a notice when the buff is active.
Step 4: Cook for the cold
Chicken Noodle Soup, Cooked Ramen Noodles, Egg Nog and Jam carry warmth, and Chicken Noodle Soup, Egg Nog and Jam also carry comfort. Cold limits your vitality ("Tip: being cold will limit your vitality"), so these are the winter dishes. The winter survival guide puts them in context with clothing.
| Dish | Ingredients | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken Noodle Soup | 1 arm, 1 ramen noodles | thirst, hunger, health, warmth, comfort |
| Cooked Ramen Noodles | 1 ramen noodles | thirst, hunger, health, warmth |
| Egg Nog | 4 turtle egg, 1 vodka bottle | thirst, hunger, warmth, comfort |
| Jam | 5 blueberries, 5 salmonberries, 5 twinberries | thirst, hunger, warmth, comfort |
Step 5: Cook for stamina, stealth and rest
Stamina: Kitchen Sink and Liquid Battery. Stealth: Cream of Mushroom and Greg. Rest: Kitchen Sink and Liquid Battery.
| Dish | Ingredients | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen Sink | 2 fish, 2 king oyster, 2 meat, 2 oyster, 1 ramen noodles, 2 turtle egg | thirst, hunger, rest, health, stamina |
| Liquid Battery | 10 blueberries, 10 guarana berries | thirst, rest, stamina, strength |
| Cream of Mushroom | 1 fly amanita, 1 hydnum repandum, 1 king oyster, 1 shiitake | thirst, hunger, health, stealth |
| Greg | 2 arm, 1 head, 2 leg | thirst, hunger, health, strength, stealth, chopping |
Step 6: Keep the big dish for later
Liquid Battery takes 10 blueberries, 10 guarana berries, 20 items in all, for thirst, rest, stamina, strength. That many berries means a garden: the plant guide shows how the berry plants keep giving.
Greg is the cannibal stew: 2 arm, 1 head, 2 leg. It is the only dish in the table that carries strength, stealth and chopping together.
Common mistakes
- Starting without the ingredients. A recipe works only when you hold every one of them (GameRant).
- Skipping the water. The pot needs water before it can cook.
- Waiting for a buff number. The files give none.
- Cooking the rare ingredients early. Keep fly amanita and turtle eggs for the dishes that need them.
All 13 recipes
Open all 13 cooking-pot recipes
| Dish | Ingredients | Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Clean Water | 1 water (from a river, lake or rain catcher) | thirst |
| Boiled Meat | 2 meat | thirst, hunger, health, strength |
| Chicken Noodle Soup | 1 arm, 1 ramen noodles | thirst, hunger, health, warmth, comfort |
| Cooked Ramen Noodles | 1 ramen noodles | thirst, hunger, health, warmth |
| Cream of Mushroom | 1 fly amanita, 1 hydnum repandum, 1 king oyster, 1 shiitake | thirst, hunger, health, stealth |
| Egg Nog | 4 turtle egg, 1 vodka bottle | thirst, hunger, warmth, comfort |
| Greg | 2 arm, 1 head, 2 leg | thirst, hunger, health, strength, stealth, chopping |
| Jam | 5 blueberries, 5 salmonberries, 5 twinberries | thirst, hunger, warmth, comfort |
| Kelvin Special | 3 fish, 1 oyster | thirst, hunger, health, chopping |
| Kitchen Sink | 2 fish, 2 king oyster, 2 meat, 2 oyster, 1 ramen noodles, 2 turtle egg | thirst, hunger, rest, health, stamina |
| Liquid Battery | 10 blueberries, 10 guarana berries | thirst, rest, stamina, strength |
| Lumberjack Juice | 5 chicory, 3 fish, 5 meat, 1 meds | thirst, hunger, health, strength, chopping |
| Protein Shake | 1 aloe vera, 1 fly amanita, 3 guarana berries, 1 meat, 1 meds, 1 turtle egg | thirst, hunger, health, strength, chopping |
FAQ
How do you cook in Sons of the Forest?
Fill a cooking pot with water, put it on a lit fire, choose a recipe you hold the ingredients for, close the lid and wait until it drops off.
How many cooking recipes are there?
13 in the game's Cooking table, including Clean Water.
Which dish gives strength?
Boiled Meat, Greg, Liquid Battery, Lumberjack Juice and Protein Shake.
Which dish helps in winter?
Chicken Noodle Soup, Cooked Ramen Noodles, Egg Nog and Jam carry warmth.
What is the cheapest recipe?
Cooked Ramen Noodles: 1 ramen noodles.
How long do cooking buffs last?
The files we hold do not say, so we give no number.
Pages to keep open
Related pages
Sources
- Sons of the Forest on Steam (build read: client 53951)
- GameRant: How to cook food (pot steps)
- Sons of the Forest Wiki (Fandom): Cooking Pot, CC BY-SA 3.0, paraphrased
- GameBrief: Sons of the Forest cooking guide
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