Cooking isn’t just a basic necessity for survival, it can actually be a pretty fun hobby. It’s like magic, adding basic ingredients together to form a delicious meal that wou🤡ld otherwise not exist without your input. It’s fun, and fulfilling in more way🐭s than one.
Of course, life is busy, and the arrival of DoorDash and UberEats has definitely made the idea of ordering food that you don’t have to cook a far too tempting prospect. However, there’s something relaxing about the process of cooking, and if you’re lacking inspiration, there are endless cookbooks to get you started.
If you’re a gamer, there a🧸re a select few official cookbooks (and hundreds of unofficial ones that we don’t talk about) to inspire your mind and make your stomach growl,🐠 and I’ve got an entire shelf filled with a collection that’s ever-growing.
Here a🎀re 14 of the best gaming-inspired cookbooks, all of which are official to the franchise that they represent.
Fallout: The Vault Dweller’s Official Cookbook
Ever wondered a🦩bout the secret recඣipe that goes into every bottle of Nuka Cola? Perhaps you want to make your own Stimpaks, cook up some BlamCo Mac & Cheese, or even some Baked Bloatfly (don’t worry, it’s actually vegetarian meatloaf).
Well, the official offers all of these recipes and more that are perfectly themed to the lore of the Fallout universe, along with vintage style art, and even some “handwritten” annotations from Vault dwellꦯers of the past t🌺o help you along the way.
Each recipe also provides S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, which is a nice lore-preserving touch, and suggests other recipes to cook alongside if you🦄 want to make a complete multi-course meal. Everything in this cookbook is delicious, and most importantly, surprisingly quick and easy to cook up.
The Official Stardew Valley Cookbook
If you’re more into the cozy side of gaming, the mi☂ght be the perfect option, especially if you’re a vegetarian or vegan. Sticking admirably close to the themes of the game, not one of the 52 recipes in this cookbook contains meat, and while not all of the recipes are exactly as they are in-game, you can make Pink Cake, or even a Lucky Lunch.
The artwork is beautiful and effective in keeping with the whole cozy vibe that Stardew Valley brings to the table. This makes an amazing Stardew themed gift and, best of all, if you aspire to cook just one recipe from the book a week, you’ll have a whole year’s worth of weekly Pelican-Town-inspired dishes to chow down on.
Minecraft: Gather, Cook, Eat! An Official Cookbook
When you think of Minecraft, cooking might not be the first thing that comes to mind, but there is an official cookbook to accompany the best selling video game of the 20th century. Admittedly, if you go into this expect🎶ing your food to be entirely constructed of cubes then you migh𓃲t be a little disappointed. Then again you could always take the extra time to make it happen, but even I’m not that dedicated to the culinary arts.
There are💧 a total of 40 recipes included in , with something for everyone to make regardless of skill level, including everything from Baked Potato Bites to Suspicious Pie. I would recommend confining your gathering endeavors to the local supermarket, but again, that’s up to you.
The Necronomnomnom: Recipes and Rites from the Lore of H.P. Lovecraft
I know what you’re thinking, this one isn’t based on a game ✱so why is it on this list? Listen, I know, but Lovecraftian horror themes have shown up in hundreds of games over the years, and the gaming sphere wouldn’t be what it is without H.P. Lovecraft’s influence. So I’m willing to bend my own rule꧟s here ever so slightly to include this gem of a cookbook.
Plus, with a name like “The Necronomnomnom”,ไ it can’t fail to put a smile on your face, before you’ve even got to the food.
The artwork is stunning and you’ll enjoy simply looking at the pages of , but wh𝕴ere this cookbook really shines, as it should, is through the food. Everything in this cookbook looks and tastes absolutely incredible, and is amazing if you want to look like a real chef even if you’re simply good at following instructions.
Final Fantasy XIV: The Official Cookbook
It’s well known by now that I’m an avid FFXIV player, so when this cookbook was announced I immediately bought it even if it was only destined to sit on my collection shelf and look pretty. However, when I opened it, it sent me down a wormhole. It’s actually what sparked my love of cooking in the first place.
There’s something for everyone in the , regardless of dietary requirements (there’s a handy table at the back that details which recipes are suitable for who), and each recipe is either directly out of FFXIV itself, or heavily inspired by events throughout the main scenario story. With everything from Farmer’s Breakfast to The Minstrel’s Ballad: Almond Cream Croissants (which is as difficult to get right as any of the extreme trials, just as the name suggests), these recipes will make a skilled Culi𒆙narian out♉ of you in no time.
The Witcher Official Cookbook
Sure, The Witcher was originally a staggeringly successful book series by Andrzej Sapkowski, but at t𓄧his point I’d argue that most people think of the games as the heart of the series (at least, us game💟rs do), so gets a well-deserved place on this list.
There are a lot of recipes available to cook in this cookbook, and each of them is easy to follow but somehow results in absolutely divine meals for your efforts. A fan favorite is the Chicken Sandwich, but there’s something for all tastes, all accompanied by glorious shots of the desired end result and little nods to the lore of The Witcher’s universe.
Assassin’s Creed: The Culinary Codex
Whether you’re a fan of the Ezio trilogy, or you prefer more recent additions to the Assassin’s Creed timeline, will give you plenty 💝of delicious meals to cook up and devour while you hop in and out of the Animus.
The cookbook itself is split into sections for each of the series’ main characters that existed prior to 2017 (sorry Odyssey and Valhalla 💟enjoyers). Each section features four recipes relevant to the time period and geographical location in which their associated games were set. Ezio has Il Duomo Semifreddo, which is a Strawberry ice cream cake with Amaretti, while Edward Kenway has a recipe for Banana’s Flambéed in Rum and vanilla, aptly named Buccaneer’s Bananas.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Cookbook
Sometimes you don’t want to cook high-brow dishes fit for a family feast. Sometimes you want to make the kind of food that usually comes with slightly sticky floors and stainless💎 steel booth-style tables, and that’s what’s on offer in the .
As you’d expect from a cookbook based on a video game that’s set in a dingy pizza joint, there are plenty of pizza recipes on offer in this cookbಌook, alongside burgers, tacos, and all of the usual dishes such venues might offer. If you’re looking for something more suitable for the entire family, including younger members with less refined palates, then this one is definitely a safe bet.
The Elder Scrolls: The Official Cookbook
is 192 pages long, and packed to the brim with recipes directly out of the universe of The Elder Scrolls, including meals you’ll likely recognize from Oblivion, Skyrim, and beyond. This is a hefty boo🍌🎐k, and every recipe is worth making at least once.
Split into multiple sections that cover everything from the basics (such as seasonings and condiments) to more complicated and time-consuming dishes like Elsweyr Fondue and Horker Loaf, so whether you’re after something sweet or savory, there’s something in here that will get you wanti🤪ng to cook.ಞ
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Cookbook
In the same vein as the Five Nights at Freddy’s cookbook I mentioned earlier, the official is probably most useful if you’ve got a hoard of children to feed (imagine the torture of self-catered kids’ birthday parties), or you simply just want something basic yet delicious to quickly cook and enjoy.
Of course, Sonic’s favorite Chili Dogs are a prominent feature, and that should let you know what to expect from the rest of the included recip🧔es. There are some surprises along the way, such as the Soleanna Princess Special, which actually results in a really pretty apple salad, but most of the recipes are what I’d immediately consider “comfort food”.
That’s far from a bad thing, I actually reach for⛄ this cookbook pretty often, and you will too.
Magic: The Gathering: Cuisines of the Multiverse
is filled with more than 70 recipes inspired by the many planets and planes that together form the Multiverse of Magic: The Gathering. The book is split into different locations, from Dominari🌼a to Zendicar, and each location comes with many recipes t🍨o try and enjoy.
Whether you want a Magic-inspired starter, a main course to wow your collective din🎀ers, or a drink to round off the evening, there’s a recipe for every taste or skill level. Each recipe is given a difficulty rating, so you’ll know whether you’re in for an easy time or a challenge before you even start cooking, and the photos of the finished meals are inspiring, to say the leas🅠t.
Pokémon Cookbook
If you want a cookbook that will help you drag your kids into the kitchen with you, then this is the perfect one. Even my daughter, a notoriously fussy eater and mess avoider, will very quickly begin throwing flour around the room while we cook recipes from the together🏅, and what’s more, she actually likes around 50% of the recipes we make.
𒈔That might not sound like a solid endorsement for this book, but she would otherwise gladly live off of cheese and potatoes, so it’s actually a huge compli⛄ment.
From an utterly adorable Pikachu Lemon Tart to a stack of pancakes that somehow end up resembling Furret (albeit usually in a charming, wonky sort of way), recipes in this cookbook are separated into the different regions of past generations. Each section features recipes based on Pokémon originally found in that region, and they are all adorable and delicious. What’s better than that combination?
Catan: The Official Cookbook
Venturing away from screen gaming, we take to the tabletop. The offers a variety of recipes including everything from game night snacks that can be eaten while playing any board game, to more difficult-to-produce but n🅷o less incredible main courses and desserts.
My favorite thing about the Catan cookbook is that it somehow manages to make me feel nostalgic of the cookbooks my grandma had in her kitchen during the 90s, despite being fresh and new. The photographs showcase the recipes perfectly, and while the recipes themselves might not be directly from Catan itsel♔f,൲ the inspiration is definitely clear in the names and ingredients used.
BONUS: Pac-Man: The Official Cookbook
I’ve saved the best, and possibly most confusing cookbook for last. The isn’t actually out yet, although it is available to pre-order, with various preview pages already online to peruse. From everything we’ve shown so far, this cookbook will likely go into the same “more fun and less pretty” pile, alongside Five Nights at Freddy’s and Sonic the Hedgehog.
The thing that caught my attention about this cookbook, and immediately had me pressing the pre-order button, was the fact that to make it relate to the source material of Pac-Man, the writers have done some very bizarre things. Think taking a pizza, cutting a slice out of it, and then calling it Pac-Man. Or dropping some loosely eye-shaped food items into a bowl of tomato soup and calling it Blinky. That kind of thi✱ng.&𒉰nbsp;
Outside of that, there are recipes for burgers and hot dogs that make my stomach rumble just thinking about them, and this💟 cookbook is definitely o🦄ne to consider adding to your collection once it releases on May 13, 2025.
Published: Jan 28, 2025 11:16 am