In the world ofThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, players have the option of doing just about anything they want. From going on adventures toenchanting weaponsand even catching fish or cutting wood at a mill, all the daily activities of a regular Skyrim citizen are available for the player to partake in for a bit of money.
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However, one activity often gets overlooked for not being very profitable: cooking. While it’s true that in terms of health and status-boosting effects, the art of alchemy and enchanting are much better, for a survivor playing on the hardest difficulty, food can make all the difference. Here are some tips on what to cook and what to pass on.
Updated June 04, 2025, by Jerrad Wyche:The next mainline Elder Scrolls game is likely still years away at this point, but fans of the series are biding their time with both Elder Scrolls: Online and The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Collector’s Edition. The latter packs together both the base experience and the game’s DLC expansions, giving players access to all of the content released for Skyrim, including various cooking recipes that were once only available as DLC.
14Horker & Ash Yam Stew
By purchasing theDragonbornexpansion forSkyrim, players not only get access to a myriad of new content, but the ability to cook Horker and Ash Yam stew is an added benefit. It may not look like the most appetizing meal, but it boosts the player’s health and also gives a shot to their stamina.
AnySkyrimplayer knows the stress of spam eating during a fight in an attempt to fight off certain death, and so this stew is worth the small investment that it takes to cook it. Its easy-to-find ingredients make it one of the best cooked foods inSkyrim.
13Juniper Berry Crostata
Many of the other cooked dishes inSkyrimare foods that most people have heard of. That’s probably not the case here though. The Juniper Berry Crostata sounds a bit fancy, but it is simply an Italian tart that is baked and molded to look like an open-faced pie.
Both of the game’s crostata dishes are unlocked with theHearthfire DLCexpansion and require the same ingredients of butter and a sack of flour. The defining difference between the two is the effect that the type of berry used has on the player. The Juniper Berry variant restores the player’s health slowly over time, allowing them to focus on the enemies in front of them as their vitality is refueled.
12Snowberry Crostata
The Snowberry Crostata, like the Juniper Berry version, is only available to owners ofSkyrim’s Hearthfireexpansion. Players who have a sack of flour and butter laying around will simply need to get their hands on some Snowberries to cook this fanciful tart dish.
It’s best saved for when an enemy that deals in the element of fire is being approached in combat as the fire resistance can alter the advantages on the battlefield. There’s nothing quite like stuffing one’s face into an open-faced pie with little to no regrets.
11Braided Bread
Becoming over-encumbered InSkyrimis a common occurrence for most players, as not everyone plans ahead for their adventures. Having something like Braided Bread that increases one’s carrying capacity can provide enough time for the player to fast travel to a location where they can store all of their goods.
With the only ingredients needed being a pile of salt and some flour, the hardest part about cooking Braided Bread is having access to the Hearthfire DLC expansion needed to access the ability to cook it. Those with the Anniversary Edition of the game need not worry about this though, as the DLC is included.
10Vegetable Soup
Vegetable soup is a pretty cheap and easy recipe to make since vegetables are simple enough to find in most locations when looting sacks and barrels. Extra servings of the soup can be sold for a price of 5 gold.
All things considered, it’s a pretty nice recipe for a bit of regeneration. For Stamina-reliant character builds this is a really solid choice of cooked food to make since players can continuously perform heavy attacks.
9Apple Cabbage Stew
The combination of apple and cabbage might be a bit strange for some players. However, the effects of this recipe make it a food well worth cooking in Skyrim, even over some more “normal” foods.
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Its effects are instant, restoring a bit of Stamina and Health to the player. They’re a nice food to carry when Health Potions are a rarity. Plus, its ingredients are some of the easiest to find and most common in the game, so it’s like having a cheap Health Potion at hand almost all the time.
8Venison Stew
Players who are particularly talented in archery will be greatly rewarded if they take the time to turn their deer into venison stew. Leftover stew sells for 8 golds as well, which is a nice extra if the player is saving up forsomething expensive.
The venison is probably the hardest to acquire, but it’s a great way topractice archery. The effects that the dish offers definitely make cooking it worthwhile though, particularly for those with a big battle looming on the horizon.
7Apple Dumpling
Another great addition by theHearthfireDLC is the apple dumpling. These tasty treats only give players a bit of health when consumed, but they’re the perfect food for any aspiring archers and bow users.
And given how obsessed most fans are with the stealth archer build, there’s no excuse for players to try this recipe out. Apple dumplings will sell for 3 gold but are usually worth keeping for the tiny bow damage boost that they provide.
6Horker Stew
Horkers are great not only for alchemy but also for food. They can be found around thenorthern coastal areas, and are surprisingly aggressive when approached. For some exotic horker stew, players will just a few additional cheap ingredients.
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The stew gives a great boost, though it does require players to actually find horkers first, which might make cooking it a bit more difficult. Overall, it’s a very powerful recipe particularly for character relying on their Stamina pool. Players can also sell it for 8 gold.
5Garlic Bread
Garlic bread might sound like a simple snack without much to it, but it’s actually one ofthe best foods inSkyrimdue to its unique ability to cure all diseases. Diseases can be extremely annoying to deal with in the game since they give debuffs to players that can make combat and gaining experience tedious.
Moreover,Potions of Cure Diseaseare extremely rare in loot and very expensive to buy, so being able to make this treat that’s included in theHearthfireDLC is a huge advantage for the Dragonborn. They sell for only 2 gold.
