Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: Zess T. Cooking Guide


Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: Zess T. Cooking Guide - All Recipes 1
Image: Nintendo Life

Cooking is a minor but very useful side feature in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Though it isn’t available from the start, you’ll end up using it a lot for some side quests and just for general healing.

After unlocking Zess T.’s shop, you’ll be able to bring her ingredients that she can cook into meals. There are 57 of these meals in total, and each one you cook will be added to the Recipe book section of your Journal.

We’ve put together a list of every recipe in the game, plus how to unlock Zess T. and even upgrade her cooking facilities.

How to unlock Cooking

At the beginning of the game, Zess. T will block the entrance to west Rogueport. She’s looking for a contact lens she dropped – no matter what you do, Mario will step on and break it. You’ll have to head to Rogueport’s item shop and ask the shopkeeper to order a new lens.

The lens will be in stock after completing Chapter 1. From there, you can purchase a lens for 10 Coins and return it to Zess T. to unlock her cooking and access to western Rogueport.

How to upgrade Cooking

At first, Zess T. can only use one ingredient to cook meals. After clearing Chapter 4, however, she’ll post a notice at the Trouble Center that she’s searching for a legendary cookbook. Said cookbook is in the Creepy Steeple’s treasure room, which you can access by rolling into a hole at the entrance of the building.

Once you’ve given her this cookbook, she’ll gain the ability to cook recipes with more than one ingredient – and many of the ones we’ve listed below require two of them.

All Recipes

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: Zess T. Cooking Guide - All Recipes 3
Image: Nintendo Life

Once you’ve cooked a recipe, you can find the name of the finished meal plus its ingredients in the Recipes section of your Journal. There are 57 unique recipes in total.

We’ve organized all the recipes based on the order they appear in your Journal – that should make keeping track of the ones you still need easy! You can also sort the recipes alphabetically or by ingredient if you wish.

Recipe Ingredient(s)
Shroom Fry Mushroom or Super Shroom
Shroom Roast Life Shroom or Slow Shroom
Shroom Steak Ultra Shroom
Honey Shroom Mushroom + Honey Syrup
Maple Shroom Mushroom + Maple Syrup
Jelly Shroom Mushroom + Jammin’ Jelly
Honey Super Super Shroom + Honey Syrup
Maple Super Super Shroom + Maple Syrup
Jelly Ultra Ultra Shroom + Jammin’ Jelly
Zess Dinner Mushroom + Horsetail
Zess Special Ultra Shroom + Slow Shroom
Zess Deluxe Golden Leaf + Whacka Bump
Spaghetti Fresh Pasta
Koopasta Fresh Pasta + Turtley Leaf
Spicy Pasta Fresh Pasta + Hot Sauce
Ink Pasta Fresh Pasta + Inky Sauce
Spicy Soup Fire Flower
Fried Egg Mystic Egg
Omelette Meal Mystic Egg + Horsetail
Koopa Bun Turtley Leaf + Keel Mango
Healthy Salad Turtley Leaf + Horsetail
Meteor Meal Shooting Star + Shroom Fry
Couple’s Cake Snow Bunny + Spicy Soup
Mousse Cake Cake Mix
Shroom Cake Mushroom + Cake Mix
Choco Cake Cake Mix + Inky Sauce
Heartful Cake Cake Mix + Ruin Powder
Fruit Parfait Keel Mango + Peachy Peach
Mango Delight Keel Mango + Cake Mix
Love Pudding Mystic Egg + Mango Delight

Zess Cookie

Cake Mix + Gradual Syrup
Shroom Crepe Ultra Shroom + Cake Mix
Peach Tart Cake Mix + Peachy Peach
Koopa Tea Turtley Leaf
Zess Tea Golden Leaf
Shroom Broth Slow Shroom + Golden Leaf

Fresh Juice

Honey Syrup

Inky Sauce

Hot Sauce + Turtley Leaf
Icicle Pop Honey Syrup + Ice Storm

Zess Frappe

Maple Syrup + Ice Storm

Snow Bunny Golden Leaf + Ice Storm
Coco Candy Coconut + Cake Mix

Honey Candy

Honey Syrup + Cake Mix

Jelly Candy

Jammin’ Jelly + Cake Mix

Electro Pop

Cake Mix + Volt Shroom
Fire Pop Cake Mix + Fire Flower

Space Food

Dried Bouquet + any HP-restoring item
Poison Shroom Slow Shroom + Inky Sauce
Trial Stew Couple’s Cake + Poison Shroom
Courage Meal Courage Shell + Zess Dinner
Coconut Bomb Coconut + Fire Flower
Egg Bomb Mystic Egg + Fire Flower
Zess Dynamite Egg Bomb + Coconut Bomb
Mistake Any ingredient combination not listed above

For more hints, tips, and walkthroughs, check out our full Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door guide.


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