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
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.