The canteen is a thing of the past in Monster Hunter Wilds; for the most part, you’ll have to cook your own meals. Previous games used to allow you to simply order your pre-hunt nosh at a lunch counter owned and operated by Felynes, usually accompanied with a little song-and-dance number. You could choose the components of your meal, and every ingredient you chose would affect the stat bonuses the meal gave you, but the preparation was left up to a crack team of professional chefs.
But in Wilds, you do all your own cooking: the function of the Portable BBQ Grill, previously used to whip up monster steaks for a quick mid-hunt refresher, has been greatly expanded here. Now, you can add all sorts of ingredients to your cooking, and every ingredient you use grants you special bonuses to your stats. Knowing which ingredients to use when is half the battle – but there are a select few ingredients that stand out among the best. Here’s how to make the mightiest meals in Monster Hunter Wilds.
How To Cook In Monster Hunter Wilds
Using The Portable BBQ Grill
In order to cook a meal in Monster Hunter Wilds, you’ll need to use an item called the Portable BBQ Grill. This is unlocked automatically, and is always in your toolbar; simply hold L1/LB and scroll through the menu with Square/X and Circle/B until you find it. It may also be placed into your quick-access item wheel for ease of use. Use the grill by pressing Square/X once you’re out of the toolbar, and a menu will pop up.
You should make a point of cooking before every hunt, as the bonuses it provides to you max HP and stamina are necessary for many of the game’s tougher battles. Do note that you can only have one set of meal effects active at a time; the cooking menu will tell you if you already have one so you don’t double up.
You’ll have the opportunity to select three ingredients along three pre-set categories: Rations, Additional Ingredients, and Finishing Touches. Rations tend to be the headliners, main ingredients, and to date, I’ve only found three types – meat, fish, and veggies. You can get additional rations by talking to the Support Counter Felynes at Base Camp. Additional Ingredients might be side dishes, aromatics, or bonuses, like adding cheese or a runny egg to your burger. Finishing Touches are all seasonings – things like Wild Herbs, Truffles du Conga, or Eastern Honey in Monster Hunter Wilds.
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But once you’ve chosen your ingredients, simply sit back and watch the magic. Unlike World, there’s no mini-game involved in cooking, so don’t worry about the timing. However, be careful when cooking during hunts, as you can be interrupted mid-meal if a monster decides to horn in on your dinner. Make sure you put sufficient distance between you and any hosile monsters before you fire up the grill.
The Best Ingredients In Monster Hunter Wilds
Sharp Kunafa Cheese
A variant of regular Kunafa Cheese, this Additional Ingredient has the same effect – Defender Meal. Defender Meal has a chance to decrease the damage taken every time you take a hit, but owing to the richer taste of Sharp Kunafa Cheese, it has a much higher chance of activation. You can find Sharp Kunafa Cheese by trading with Kilama in the Kunafa Windsong Village, within the Plains region of Monster Hunter Wilds’ map.
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This is the case for most of the best ingredients: you’ll have to trade for them using the Item Trades feature. You unlock new traders throughout the game, as you clear further story missions revolving around the many villages scattered throughout the Forbidden Lands in Monster Hunter Wilds. Keep in mind that not every trader will always have the item you want, and the item they ask for in exchange may be particularly difficult to obtain. In this case, Kilama seems to accept Great Windward Aloe (found during Succulent Emergences) and Thundering Fulgurite (found during Fulgurite Emergences) as trades for her cheese.
Delishroom
In a similar vein, Delishrooms are the upgraded version of Droolshrooms, significantly reducing your stamina consumption. They’re great for users of high-stamina weapons – typically highly acrobatic options like the Insect Glaive, or especially heavy ones like the Great Sword. You can find these by trading with Musharpeye and other Wudwuds in the Scarlet Forest.
Airy Egg
Airy Eggs work just like Fluffy Eggs, only better – they randomly grant you an attack boost, which is much more powerful than that provided by Fluffy Eggs. Sekka, in Suja, will accept Large Goldenscale Vases, which you can find during Remarkable Relic Emergences, for trade.
Specialty Sild Garlic
Again, this is an upgraded version of Sild Garlic – sensing a pattern? Both of these ingredients effectively give you an extra life, preventing you from fainting one time without affecting your rewards for the hunt. However, where regular old Sild Garlic leaves you at 1 HP immediately afterwards, Specialty Sild Garlic actually heals you back up. Trade with Ren in Wyveria to find some; he’ll take a Genesis Opal, which you can find throughout the region.
Best Finishing Touches
Finishing Touches are a little different – no upgraded versions with better effects. Wild Herbs simply lessen the potency of any status effects you’re inflicted with. You can obtain them from Yabran in Azuz, or Musharpeye and Gawdygog in the Forest. Sometimes, you’ll find them while gathering regular Herbs. They’re not necessary for every hunt, but they’re great against monsters that inflict status effects, like Jin Dahaad.
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For high-damage fights, use Eastern Honey to increase the potency of your healing items. Ren will trade you some for a Fossilized Fire Opal, but you can also obtain some by capturing Giant Vigorwasps, or, occasionally, from Honey gathering points. Truffle du Conga, traded by Rove in the Iceshard Cliffs or fished from Gastronome Tuna gives you a chance to find extra items while gathering, so it’s great for more free-form exploration.
There are a handful of other cooking ingredients in Wilds, but they’re either not quite as good as their upgraded counterparts, or are only useful during very specific hunts. Still, they’re worth collecting and experimenting with whenever possible. There’s no such thing as a useless cooking ingredient in Monster Hunter Wilds, even though some of them are better than others.
Systems
Released
February 28, 2025
ESRB
T For Teen // Violence, Blood, Crude Humor