Cooking | Monster Hunter Wilds Wiki

Cooking in MH Wilds

In Monster Hunter Wilds, you can cook meals for yourself with rations or other ingredients by using the Portable BBQ Grill out in the field or via the BBQ Menu in your tent.

Meals will temporarily increase stats such as health, stamina, and attack power. The effects differ depending on the ingredients used. Grilled meals require rations, you can talk to Tom at the Ingredient Center for some free Ration. Come back later and he will gift you more. Or, you can acquire rations by killing and carving small monsters.

To prepare a meal, open the BBQ Menu, you can select from Recommended Meal (offers a meal with pre-determined ingredients), Custom Meal (lets you create your own meal by combining ingredients), and Favorite Meal (allows you to save and cook your favorite combinations of ingredients. You can save up to 40 custom recipes).

Meals require rations (meat, fish, veggies, etc). After that you can add additional ingredients to your dishes, they'll increase the efficacy, extend the length of Meal Effects, and activate Food Skills. (Note, additional ingredients adds 20 min to meal duration and one Food Skill. )

On top of additional ingredients, you can add finishing touches to a dish, further increasing Meal Effects. (Finishing touches adds 5 extra Element Resistances and one Food Skill)

To get these ingredients, you need to progress the stories of each tribe in different regions. Then new trade options will appear and allow you to offer them special items for ingredients. In addition to that, you can acquire ingredients from quest rewards. (Note, some gears with Geologist skill can help you farm the special items.)

How to Get Well-done Steak in Monster Hunter Wilds

The Well-done Steak is a consumable item that you can get by grilling Raw Meat. The Well-done Steak is a good food option when you're in a hurry, as opposed to Cooking full meals that will require up to 3 Ingredients. Cooking requires more time for preparation and they grant Food Skills, Health & Stamina boost, and other status effects that can buff your character for 50 - 60 minutes. You can find more information about Ingredients for Cooking and their respective Food Skills here. In contrast, the Well-done Steak will set both Health and Stamina to Max Gauges, without the need to eat a full meal. The Well-done steak can be prepared in advance by cooking the Raw Meat using the BBQ Grill, then choose the "Grill Meat" option.

The Grill Meat comes with a mini-game where you'll control your character as they move around the meat to grill the meat perfectly. Successfully hitting the button at the right time will get you the best results. To get the Well-done Steak, wait for the meat to turn into the perfect color and let it turn golden brown. If you miss the timing by pressing too early, you'll get a mix of "Raw Steaks" and "Well-done Steaks", and if you press too late, you'll receive a mix of "Burnt Meat" and "Well-done steaks". Then, soon after your character flips the meat, the texture of the meat will change.

(Watch closely when the color changes to get the best results and listen to the audio cues to get the right timing.)

For the second stage of this minigame, you must cut the meat into pieces by following a specific tempo. Listen to the music and cut the steak five times in perfect timing; this will yield up to 12 Well-done Steaks. You will hear "SO TASTY!" if you get everything right.

Cooking Ingredients in MH Wilds

After Monster Hunter Wilds moved away from the Canteen experience that was brought about in previous titles, the game now requires player to gather Cooking Ingredients to prepare meals that are optimal for hunting. There are 3 types of meal ingredients: Ration, Additional Ingredients, and Finishing Touches. These 3 parts will make up your meal and will determine the Meal Effects and Food Skills that you will be getting. The Ration is simple and you can use Meat, Fish, or by buying Ration from Merchants. The slightly more complicated is the Additional Ingredients, while the Finishing Touches can be more elusive.

These cooking ingredients can be found while out exploring, or by capturing Endemic Life. However, some of these ingredients can be hard to track down, and luckily, there are NPC Traders in MH Wilds that lets you trade items for Cooking Ingredients. Below is a list of all traders and some of available Cooking Ingredients:

• Delishroom and Droolshroom can be acquired by trading with Gawdygog in Scarlet Forest.
• Fluffy Egg and Airy Egg can be acquired by trading with Sekka in Suja Peaks of Accord.
• Kunafa Cheese and Sharp Kunafa Cheese can be acquired by trading with Kilama in Kunafa Windsong Village.
• Truffle Du Conga can be acquired by trading with Rove in Cliffs Base Camp.
• Kunafa Cheese and Sharp Kunafa Cheese can be acquired by trading with Kilama in Kunafa Windsong Village.
• Wild Herb can be traded with Gawdygog in Scarlet Forest. and Musharpeye in Scarlet Forest.

Meal Invitations/ Village Meals

As you grow closer with villagers they may offer you a meal. These meals will give you longer-lasting and more effective stat boosts than BBQ grilling. When your relationship with the Villagers improves, these meals may become even more powerful.

Wudwud Bonfire Cooking

After progressing the story far enough, you can trade with the Wudwud at the bonfire. Hand over an item and they'l fry it up on the spot. You can hand them up to five items (mostly monster parts) and get tons of rewards, like rations and hunting items .

Portable BBQ in Monster Hunter Wilds

In Monster Hunter Wilds, the Portable BBQ Grill allows hunters to cook meals with their Palico companions anytime, anywhere. Whether you’re in the dense jungles or atop a snowy peak, you can roast meat to perfection, scarfing it down while soaking in the world around you. This feature underscores the series’ commitment to immersing players in its vibrant ecosystem.

"Depicting the act of eating, a central part of life, is more important than anything when giving a sense of reality to the ecosystems of these monsters and the world they share with hunters," says Kaname Fujioka, Executive Director and Art Director of Wilds.

Food Buffs and Gameplay Integration in MHW

A significant change in Wilds is the shift from quest-based food buffs to time-based ones. Hunters no longer eat exclusively in Felyne-run canteens but prepare meals in camps or directly in the field. This change aligns with Wilds’ seamless gameplay loop, where players transition fluidly between exploration and hunting. Food buffs now last a set duration, which ranges from 50 to 60 minutes, encouraging strategic timing and resource management.

Hunters receive rations from the Felyne-run Ingredient Center, which can be transformed into meat, fish, or vegetable-based dishes. This flexibility ensures no resources go to waste and allows players to tailor their meals to their preferences. Rations are supplemented with spices and ingredients found in the field, adding an element of exploration to meal preparation.

Monster Hunter Wilds Food Realism

Fujioka and the development team have consistently strived to make the food in Monster Hunter not only functional but mouth-wateringly realistic. From the golden sheen of roasted meat to the subtle puff of steaming cabbage, the team blends real-world culinary knowledge with artistic exaggeration. “Something isn't necessarily going to look delicious just because it's realistic,” explains Fujioka. Instead, lighting, effects, and even motion capture are meticulously crafted to make food look and feel irresistible.

Village Feasts in Monster Hunter Wilds

While field cooking emphasizes survival, village feasts in Monste Hunter Wilds showcase the cultural richness of the game’s world. Each settlement offers unique dishes reflecting local traditions and ingredients. For example, in the Windward Plains, hunters are treated to a cheesy naan-like dish by the desert-dwelling Kunafa villagers. This meal, with its crispy exterior and gooey interior, symbolizes the warm hospitality and resourcefulness of its creators.

Felynes role during Cooking in Monster Hunter Wilds

Although Wilds moves away from the centralized canteens of previous games, Felynes remain an integral part of the culinary experience. At base camps, they deliver rations and provide logistical support. Their natural curiosity and dedication make them indispensable to both the hunters they serve and the food culture of the game’s world. Fujioka hints at the lore of legendary Felyne chefs, though they’ve yet to appear in-game.