Nothing is better than entering a raid on a full stomach. Get all the best buffs from food by ranking up you’re Cooking and unlocking all the best recipes.
Most people tend to go for WotLK professions that are profitable and have a significant impact on gear and weapons. Many tend to forget about other trade skills, such as Cooking, because they don’t seem as flashy or impactful. However, hardcore raiders and life-skillers know how vital this profession is because of the various buffs it can potentially provide. If you want to get into Cooking and become a valuable member of any party, this guide will help you reach the max expertise in this field.
WotLK Cooking Overview
Cooking is one of the most underrated professions in World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Classic. Prepping food and meals is barely profitable compared to other trade skills and is usually done for personal use. Many gamers tend to stay away from it because they want to focus on gaining WotLK Classic gold. However, Cooking provides benefits that are essential for raiding parties, especially when you are in a guild.
Those with high Cooking levels are highly regarded in raiding parties because they can prep up a Feast. These large shareable meals provide massive bonuses like extra HP and Mana regeneration. Depending on the ingredients and recipes used, they can offer additional powerful buffs. Fish-based Feasts are very high in demand because they provide bonuses of +80 Attack Power, +46 Power, and +40 Stamina. Cooking these types of food can guarantee a spot in a raid even if you don’t have the best WotLK items.
Best Gathering Profession to Pair with Cooking
Most secondary professions are usually paired with a harvesting life skill that best complements each other. For Cooking, it is best paired with Fishing. While this profession can cook food using different ingredients, aquatic ingredients provide some of the best buffs when made into a hearty meal. Pairing Cooking with Fishing reduces your expenditure on buying components from the Auction House.
Cooking Trainers
There have been a lot of changes to Cooking over the years. The most notable is how Cooking Trainers replace books for learning and progress in this profession. There are tons of NPCs for each faction for this field that can teach you many things for this tradeskill. Here are all the Cooking Trainers for both Alliance and Horde players:
Alliance
• Stephen Ryback (Stormwind City)
• Daryl Riknussun (Ironforge)
• Alegorn (Darnassus)
• Gremlock Pilsnor (Dun Morogh)
• Tomas (Elwyn Forest)
• Zarrin (Teldrassil)
• Mumman (The Exodar)
Horde
• Zamja (Ogrimmar)
• Eunice Burch (Undercity)
• Aska Mistrunner (Thunder Bluff)
• Duhng (The Barrens)
• Mudduk (Stranglethorn Vale)
• Pyall Silentstride (Mulgore)
• Sylann (Silvermoon City)
WotLK Cooking Leveling 1-450 Guide
Progressing in Cooking can be complicated because you will need to find recipes for your meals, and there is food that may not guarantee a level up, so you have to make more. Ranking up is also quite expensive because you need tons of ingredients. If you don’t have Fishing as your primary profession, you will spend more. However, the trade-off to reaching max expertise is worth all the effort and investment.
The key to optimizing your progression is knowing where the recipes can be acquired and ensuring you have enough ingredients. Players must pay more attention to how long they spend counting their materials and running back and forth between harvesting nodes or the Auction House. It is better to gather excess ingredients to ensure you do not need to return and look for more.
Note: You do not need to cook every recipe listed there for each leveling bracket. You only need to focus on the type of meal to reach the next tier.
Level 1 to 40
For this stage, players need to make 60 Spice Bread. You can buy all the ingredients you need for this from nearby Cooking Supply Vendors. Avoid purchasing these basic materials from the Auction House because they are more expensive. Here is what you need for this:
Recipe
• 60 Simple Flour
• 60 Mild Spices
Level 40 to 65
There are multiple options for this bracket. There are at least five meals that you can consider cooking, and the materials needed for them can be easily bought from vendors. Here are the meals that you can make to get EXP:
35 Roasted Boar Meat
• Needs 35 Chunk of Boar Meat (bought from Trainers)
25 Smoked Bear Meat
• Needs 25 Bear Meat (bought from Andrew Hilbert or Drac Roughcut)
30 Spiced Wolf Meat
• Needs 30 Stringy Wolf Meat (bought from Trainers)
30 Brilliant Smallfish
• Needs 30 Raw Brilliant Smallfish (bought from Vendors)
35 Slitherskin Mackerel
• Needs 35 Raw Slitherskin Mackerel (bought from Vendors)
Level 50
After reaching rank 50, you can now learn Journeyman expertise for Cooking. Make your character level 10 to be eligible.
Level 65 to 110
There are still multiple options to get to level 110, but Horde players have more choices because some meals use ingredients native to their territory. Fortunately, the other essential food ingredients are also easily accessible for Alliance gamers. Here is the food that you can cook at this level:
65 Boiled Clams
• Needs 65 Clam Meat (bought from Trainers)
• Needs 65 Refreshing Spring Water (purchased from Vendor)
65 Coyote Steak
• 65 Coyote Meat (bought from Trainers)
65 Longjaw Mud Snapper
• 65 Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper (bought from Vendors)
65 Bat Bites (Horde)
• 65 Bat Flesh (bought from Master Chef Mouldier)
65 Strider Stew (Horde)
• 65 Strider Meat (bought from Tari’qa)
Level 110 to 130
For this stage, Alliance players gain the benefit of having one more additional meal that is suitable for leveling up. There are at least three options for both factions, so cooks should be able to rank up quickly. Here are the meals you can cook to level up:
30 Crab Cake
• Needs 30 Crawler Meat (bought from Trainers)
25 Dry Pork Ribs
• It needs 25 Dry Pork Ribs (bought from Trainers)
20 Bristle Whisker Catfish
• Needs 20 Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish (bought from Vendors)
23 Cooked Crab Claw (Alliance)
• Needs 23 Crawler Claws (bought from Kendor Kabonka)
Level 130
Upon reaching this rank, you can learn Expert Cooking from any related NPC Trainers.
Level 130 to 175
50 Curiously Tasty Omelet (recipe bought from Kendor Kabonka)
• Needs 50 Raptor Egg
50 Bristle Whisker Catfish (recipe bought from Catherine Leland, Naal Mistrunner, Kilxx, Sewa Mistrunner, Ronald Burch, Lindea Rabonne, and Derak Nightfall)
• Needs 50 Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish (bought from Auction House)
50 Hot Lion Chops (recipe bought from Zargh)
• Needs 50 Lion Meat
Level 175 to 225
50 Roast Raptor (recipes bought from Hammon Karwn and Keena)
• Needs 50 Raptor Flesh
50 Soothing Turtle Bisque (recipe is a reward for the “Soothing Turtle Bisque” quest from Chef Jessen and Christoph Jeffcoat)
• Needs 50 Turtle Meat
50 Mithril Headed Trout (recipe is bought from Vendors)
• Needs 50 Raw Mithril Head Trout
Level 225
Upon reaching 225, you should head to the nearest Trainer and learn Artisan Cooking.
Level 225 to 250
25 Undermine Clam Chowder (recipe is bought from Jabbey Tanaris)
• Needs 50 Zesty Clam Meat
25 Spotted Yellowtail (recipe is bought from Gikkix in Tanaris)
• Needs 25 Raw Spotted Yellowtail
25 Monster Omelet (recipe is bought from Himmik in Winterspring at Everlook)
• Needs 25 Giant Egg
25 Tender Wolf Steak (recipe is bought from Vendors Dirge Quikcleave in Tanaris)
• Needs 25 Tender Wolf Meat
25 Filet of Redgill (recipe is bought from Kelsey Yance at Booty Bay)
• Needs 25 Raw Redgill
Level 250 to 285
40 Juicy Bear Burger (recipe is bought from Bale or Malygen in Felwood)
• Needs 40 Bear Flank
40 Poached Sunscale Salmon (recipe is bought from Gikkix)
• Needs 40 Raw Sunscale Salmon
40 Nightfin Soup (recipe is bought from Gikkix)
• Needs 40 Raw Nightfin Snapper
Level 285 to 300
15 Smoked Desert Dumplings (recipe is obtained from finishing the Desert Recipe and Sharing the Knowledge quests in SIlithus)
• Needs 15 Sandworm Meat
15 Baked Salmon (recipe is bought from Vivianna or Sheendra Tallgrass in Feralas)
• Needs 15 Raw Whitescale Salmon
15 Lobster Stew (recipe is bought from Vivianna or Sheendra Tallgrass in Feralas)
• 15 Darkclaw Lobster
Level 300
Upon reaching 300, you should look for either Baxter (Horde) in Thrallmar or Gaston (Alliance) in Honor Hold, both at the Hellfire Peninsula. Learn Master Cooking from them before you proceed with your leveling.
Level 300 to 325
30 Ravager Dog (recipe is bought from Cookie One-Eye for the Horde or Sid Limbardi for the Alliance in the Hellfire Peninsula)
• Needs 30 Ravager Flesh
30 Buzzard Bites (recipe is obtained after completing the Ravager Egg Roundup, Helboar, the Other White Meat, and Smooth as Butter quests from Legassi in the Hellfire Peninsula)
• Needs 30 Buzzard Meat
Level 325 to 350
40 Talbuk Steak (recipe is bought from Nula the Butcher or Uriku in Nagrand)
• Needs 40 Talbuk Venison
40 Roasted Clefthoof (recipe is bought from Nula the Butcher or Uriku in Nagrand)
• Needs 40 Clefthoof Meat
40 Warp Burger (recipe is bought from Innkeeper Grilka or Supply Officer Mills in Terrokar Forest)
• Needs 40 Warped Flesh
Level 350 (Entering WotLK Classic Cooking)
Once you have hit the stage, you can start learning WotLK Classic Cooking. Here are the NPCs you should look for:
Alliance
• Brom Brewbaster (Howling Fjord)
• Rollick MacKreel (Borean Tundra)
• Katherine Lee (Dalaran
Horde
• Thomas Kolichio (Howling Fjord)
• Orn Tenderhoof (Borean Tundra)
• Awilo Lon’gomba (Dalaran)
Level 350 to 365
23 Northern Stew (recipe can be obtained from completing the Northern Cooking quest from any Cooking Trainer in the Howling Fjord or the Borean Tundra)
• Needs 23 Chilled Meat
Level 365 to 400
70 Worm Delight
• Needs 70 Worm Meat
70 Shoveltusk Steak
• Needs 70 Shoveltusk Flank
70 Roasted Worg
• Needs 70 Worg Haunch
70 Rhino Dogs
• Needs 70 Rhino Meat
70 Mammoth Meal
• Needs 70 Chunk o’ Mammoth
70 Smoked Salmon
• Needs 70 Glacial Salmon
70 Poached Nettlefish
• Needs 70 Nettlefish
Level 400 to 450
For the final push to Level 450, you must get recipes that can only be obtained through daily quests in Dalaran. These cookbooks can be bought from Derek Odds (Alliance) and Misensi (Horde) for 3x Epicurean’s Awards each. The tokens can be acquired by accepting the dailies from Katherine Lee (Alliance) or Awilo Lon’gomba (Horde) in Dalaran.
Aside from these, players should note that any recipe bought with Epicurean’s Award will always need at least one Northern Spice to cook. You can buy this ingredient from the Auction House or with one token at a Vendor near the Cooking Trainer in Dalaran. Here are the meals you need to make to reach level 450:
60 Spiced Mammoth Treats
• Needs Chunk o’ Mammoth
60 Tracker Snack
• Needs 60 Shoveltusk Flank
60 Blackened Worg Steak
• Needs 60 Worg Haunch
60 Critter Bites
• Needs 120 Chilled Meat
60 Hearty Rhino
• Needs 60 Rhino Meat
60 Cuttlesteak
• Needs 60 Moonglow Cuttlefish
60 Firecracker Salmon
• Needs 60 Glacial Salmon
60 Imperial Manta Steak
• Needs 60 Imperial Manta Ray
60 Poached Northern Sculpin
• Needs 60 Musselback Sculpin
60 Blackened Dragonfin
• Needs 60 Dragonfin Angelfish
60 Spicy Blue Nettlefish
• Needs 60 Nettlefish
60 Spicy Fried Herring
• Needs 60 Fangtooth Herring
After reaching level 450, you have the max expertise in this profession. Make sure to advertise yourself as a Master Cook when trying to join Raids. While parties might be cautious about your gear, they will gladly accept anyone that can provide them with excellent and beneficial Feasts.
