Cooking in Heartopia turns basic crops, foraged items, and fish into some of the best money-makers and energy refills in the game. It also ties directly into Gardening and Fishing, so understanding how recipes work pays off quickly.
How cooking works in Heartopia
Cooking is one of Heartopia’s hobbies. You unlock it through the Developer’s Guild (DG) using Hobby Expansion Tickets and then learn recipes from the mentor NPC, Massimo, in the town center.
Core rules of the cooking system:
- You can only cook known recipes. There’s no free-form “throw items into a pot” system. Every dish starts from a recipe in your collection.
- Many recipes support variants. If a slot says “Any Vegetable”, “Any Mushroom”, or “Any Fruit”, swapping in a specific item can create a named variant (for example, Mixed Jam → Apple Jam).
- Variants count as separate discoveries. Each variant fills a unique slot in the Cooking collection and gives extra experience when discovered.
- Cooking uses a simple QTE. While a dish cooks, a circular timer appears above the stove. Sometimes it changes to a spatula icon with a green countdown ring. Tap or click it before the ring empties to “adjust heat” and protect the dish.
- Failed QTEs burn food. If the timer runs out, the dish becomes Bizarre Food or Bizarre Drink. You still keep that as a recipe discovery, but the result is effectively a ruined dish.
Different recipes ask for different numbers of spatula checks, and higher-level dishes usually trigger more of them. Staying near the stove until cooking finishes keeps you from losing expensive ingredients.
How to unlock the Cooking hobby
Step 1: Progress the Developer’s Guild to DG Level 5. Your first two Hobby Expansion Tickets are reserved for Fishing and Gardening, but from DG Level 5 onward, you can choose between Cooking, Insect Catching, and Birdwatching.
Step 2: Talk to Massimo in the town center, outside his café. Give him a Hobby Expansion Ticket to start the Cooking hobby. He also introduces the basic systems and provides access to his shop.
Step 3: If you skip Cooking at DG Level 5, you can still unlock it later with another Ticket at DG Level 8 or 11.
Massimo gifts you a stove and the blueprint so you can craft additional stoves for your home. You can also cook at the outdoor stove next to him.
How to actually cook in Heartopia
Step 1: Gather ingredients. Most come from three places: crops grown through Gardening, fish and shellfish from the Fishing hobby, and forageables like fruit and fungi around the map. Massimo sells dairy and baking staples in limited daily quantities.
Step 2: Interact with a stove, either in your home or beside Massimo. Choose Cooking, then pick a recipe from your unlocked list.
Step 3: Fill each ingredient slot. If a slot supports alternatives, a small swap icon appears; tap it to replace the current ingredient with another valid choice. Using specific items often creates recipe variants (for example, four Apples instead of mixed fruit turns Mixed Jam into Apple Jam).
Step 4: Start cooking. Watch the circular progress icon above the stove. When it changes into a spatula with a green countdown ring, tap it before the ring empties. Missing this burns the dish.
Step 5: Collect the finished dish once the timer fills. The quality and star rating depend mainly on the ingredient quality and whether you hit all heat checks.
All base recipes, ingredients, and unlock methods
The table below focuses on the concrete recipes and ingredients that are fully documented, including how each dish is unlocked. Many have additional variants listed in later sections.
| Recipe | Ingredients | Unlock method |
|---|---|---|
| Bizarre Food | Any food recipe, burned | Fail a heat check while cooking any food |
| Bizarre Drink | Any drink recipe, burned | Fail a heat check while cooking any drink |
| House Salad | 2 × Any Vegetable (tomatoes count) | Granted when Cooking hobby is unlocked |
| Fish and Chips | 2 × Any Fish, 2 × Potatoes | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 1 |
| Cheesecake | 1 × Cheese, 1 × Milk, 1 × Wheat | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 1 |
| Smoked Fish Bagel | 1 × Any Fish, 1 × Cheese, 1 × Any Vegetable, 1 × Wheat | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 2 |
| Seafood Risotto | 2 × Any Shellfish, 1 × Wheat, 1 × Tomato | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 3 |
| Rustic Ratatouille | 1 × Tomato, 1 × Potato, 1 × Lettuce | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 3 |
| Black Truffle Cream Pasta | 1 × Black Truffle, 2 × Wheat, 1 × Milk | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 3 |
| Seafood Pizza | 1 × Cheese, 1 × Tomato Sauce, 1 × Wheat, 1 × Any Fish | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 4 |
| Meat Sauce Pasta | 1 × Wheat, 1 × Tomato, 1 × Cheese, 1 × Meat | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 4 |
| Carrot Cake | 2 × Carrots, 1 × Eggs, 1 × Wheat | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 5 |
| Apple Pie | 2 × Flour, 1 × Sugar, 4 × Apples | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 5 |
| Corn Soup | 1 × Milk, 1 × Butter, 2 × Corn | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 5 |
| Tiramisu | 1 × Coffee, 1 × Eggs, 1 × Milk, 1 × Cheese | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 6 |
| Deluxe Seafood Platter | 2 × Shellfish, 2 × Fish | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 6 |
| Afternoon Tea | 1 × Tiramisu (plus additional ingredients in-game) | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 7 |
| Picnic Set | Seafood Pizza, Apple Pie, Fish and Chips, Any Beverage | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 7 |
| Crayfish Sashimi | TBD in-game, uses crayfish | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 8 |
| Meat Burger | TBD in-game, uses Meat | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 8 |
| Candlelight Dinner | TBD in-game | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 9 |
| Baked Eggplant w/ Meat | TBD in-game, uses Eggplant and Meat | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 9 |
| Steamed King Crab | TBD in-game, uses King Crab | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 10 |
| Mellow Black Tea | TBD in-game, uses black tea leaves | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 11 |
| Refreshing Green Tea | TBD in-game, uses green tea | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 12 |
| Exquisite Afternoon Tea | TBD in-game, upgraded tea set | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 12 |
| Shrimp Avocado Cup | TBD in-game, uses Shrimp and Avocado | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 13 |
| Cheese Shrimp Stuffed Crab | TBD in-game, uses Crab, Shrimp, Cheese | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 13 |
Jams and sauces (all fruit and chocolate variants)
The jam system is one of the simplest ways to fill out your Cooking collection and farm experience. Mixed Jam is the base recipe, and every time you use a single fruit type instead of a mix, you unlock a named variant.
| Recipe | Ingredients | Unlock method |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed Jam | 4 × Mixed Fruits (any fruit, including tomatoes) | Granted when Cooking hobby is unlocked |
| Apple Jam | 4 × Apples | Cook Mixed Jam using only Apples |
| Raspberry Jam | 4 × Raspberries | Cook Mixed Jam using only Raspberries |
| Blueberry Jam | 4 × Blueberries | Cook Mixed Jam using only Blueberries |
| Mandarin Jam | 4 × Mandarins | Cook Mixed Jam using only Mandarins |
| Pineapple Jam | 4 × Pineapples | Cook Mixed Jam using only Pineapples |
| Grape Jam | 4 × Grapes | Cook Mixed Jam using only Grapes |
| Strawberry Jam | 4 × Strawberries | Cook Mixed Jam using only Strawberries |
| Tomato Sauce | 4 × Tomatoes | Cook Mixed Jam using only Tomatoes |
| Chocolate Sauce | 4 × Cocoa | Cook Mixed Jam using only Cocoa |
Mushroom Pies and variants
Mushroom Pie is one of the few recipes tied to a specific side quest with Massimo. Once you have it, every type of mushroom can become its own named pie.
| Recipe | Ingredients | Unlock method |
|---|---|---|
| Mushroom Pie | 2 × Any Mushroom, 1 × Wheat, 1 × Eggs | Complete Massimo’s Gossip Quest about mushroom picking |
| Oyster Mushroom Pie | 2 × Oyster Mushrooms, 1 × Wheat, 1 × Eggs | Cook Mushroom Pie using only Oyster Mushrooms |
| Shiitake Pie | 2 × Shiitake Mushrooms, 1 × Wheat, 1 × Eggs | Cook Mushroom Pie using only Shiitake Mushrooms |
| Button Mushroom Pie | 2 × Button Mushrooms, 1 × Wheat, 1 × Eggs | Cook Mushroom Pie using only Button Mushrooms |
| Penny Bun Pie | 2 × Penny Bun Mushrooms, 1 × Wheat, 1 × Eggs | Cook Mushroom Pie using only Penny Bun Mushrooms |
| Boletus Pie | 2 × Boletus Mushrooms, 1 × Wheat, 1 × Eggs | Cook Mushroom Pie using only Boletus Mushrooms |
| Black Truffle Pie | 2 × Black Truffles, 1 × Wheat, 1 × Eggs | Cook Mushroom Pie using only Black Truffles |
Grilled Mushrooms and variants
Grilled Mushroom is another key base recipe. As with pies, every specific mushroom can become its own grilled variant.
| Recipe | Ingredients | Unlock method |
|---|---|---|
| Grilled Mushroom | 4 × Any Mushrooms | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 1 |
| Grilled Oyster Mushroom | 4 × Oyster Mushrooms | Cook Grilled Mushroom using only Oyster Mushrooms |
| Grilled Shiitake | 4 × Shiitake Mushrooms | Cook Grilled Mushroom using only Shiitake Mushrooms |
| Grilled Button Mushroom | 4 × Button Mushrooms | Cook Grilled Mushroom using only Button Mushrooms |
| Grilled Penny Bun | 4 × Penny Bun Mushrooms | Cook Grilled Mushroom using only Penny Bun Mushrooms |
| Grilled Boletus | 4 × Boletus Mushrooms | Cook Grilled Mushroom using only Boletus Mushrooms |
Coffee, Latte, and Milkshakes
Coffee and Milkshakes follow the same pattern as jams: start from a flexible base and swap in specific fruits or dairy combinations to reveal more entries.
| Recipe group | Recipe | Ingredients | Unlock method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coffees | Coffee | 4 × Coffee Beans (or 3 × Coffee Beans + 1 × Milk) | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 2 |
| Latte | 2 × Coffee Beans, 2 × Milk | Cook the Coffee recipe using this ingredient mix | |
| Milkshakes | Milkshake (base) | 2 × Any Fruit, 2 × Milk | Buy from Massimo at Cooking Level 11 |
| Strawberry Milkshake | 2 × Strawberries, 2 × Milk | Cook Milkshake using only Strawberries | |
| Pineapple Milkshake | 2 × Pineapples, 2 × Milk | Cook Milkshake using only Pineapples | |
| Mandarin Milkshake | 2 × Mandarins, 2 × Milk | Cook Milkshake using only Mandarins | |
| Raspberry Milkshake | 2 × Raspberries, 2 × Milk | Cook Milkshake using only Raspberries | |
| Blueberry Milkshake | 2 × Blueberries, 2 × Milk | Cook Milkshake using only Blueberries |
Roll Cakes and color variants
Roll Cakes are unlocked in a different way from most recipes: through the traveling merchant Doris, who appears only during certain weather events and usually takes Star Fragments as payment.
| Recipe | Ingredients | Unlock method |
|---|---|---|
| Original Roll Cake | 1 × Eggs, 1 × Milk, 2 × Any Sugar | Buy the recipe from Doris for 50 Wish Stars |
| Red Roll Cake | 1 × Eggs, 1 × Milk, 2 × Red Sugar | Cook Original Roll Cake with Red Sugar only |
| Orange Roll Cake | 1 × Eggs, 1 × Milk, 2 × Orange Sugar | Cook Original Roll Cake with Orange Sugar only |
| Yellow Roll Cake | 1 × Eggs, 1 × Milk, 2 × Yellow Sugar | Cook Original Roll Cake with Yellow Sugar only |
| Violet Roll Cake | 1 × Eggs, 1 × Milk, 2 × Violet Sugar | Cook Original Roll Cake with Violet Sugar only |
| Green Roll Cake | 1 × Eggs, 1 × Milk, 2 × Green Sugar | Cook Original Roll Cake with Green Sugar only |
| Blue Roll Cake | 1 × Eggs, 1 × Milk, 2 × Blue Sugar | Cook Original Roll Cake with Blue Sugar only |
| Indigo Roll Cake | 1 × Eggs, 1 × Milk, 2 × Indigo Sugar | Cook Original Roll Cake with Indigo Sugar only |
Where to get ingredients for Heartopia recipes
Collecting ingredients is often the real bottleneck for cooking, especially for high-level dishes that require multiple hobbies.
- Vegetables and grains: Buy seeds from Blanc once your Gardening level is high enough, then grow them on your plots. Examples include Potatoes, Carrots, Wheat, and Corn.
- Fruit: Found growing naturally across Heartopia. You need to explore rather than follow map markers. Pineapple seeds, for example, become available around Gardening Level 4.
- Mushrooms and truffles: Each major direction on the map has its own mushroom species near trees. Truffles appear as diggable mounds on Forest Island.
- Fish and shellfish: Caught through the Fishing hobby in any body of water. Higher Fishing levels unlock better fish and shellfish species for recipes like Seafood Risotto or Deluxe Seafood Platter.
- Dairy and staples: Massimo’s shop sells items such as Milk, Cheese, Butter, Wheat flour, Sugar, and Coffee Beans in limited daily amounts, which reset over time.
- Rare baking ingredients and recipes: Doris, the traveling merchant, sells the Original Roll Cake recipe and colored sugars during special weather (Rain, active Snowfall, Rainbows, and Meteor Showers). She appears in different locations depending on the weather, including central town streets and Onsen Mountain.
Cooking in Heartopia is built around a small set of flexible base recipes—Mixed Jam, Mushroom Pie, Grilled Mushroom, Coffee, Milkshake, and Roll Cake—and a long tail of variants created by committing to a single ingredient type in each slot. Once you understand how those bases work and where to find Massimo’s and Doris’s recipes, filling out the rest of the collection becomes a matter of harvesting, fishing, and repeating your favorites for experience.
