Pokemon Quest recipes - What they are, which Pokemon they attract and what you'll need to make them

Pokemon in Pokemon Quest

We might not be getting the core Pokemon Switch RPG until at least next year, and we've got to wait until November to play Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee, but there is a new Pokemon game you can play right now. Pokemon Quest launched on Switch in May, but the game is now available for free on Android and iOS. 

It features Pokemon in pixelart form, and tasks you with going on expeditions to explore Tumblecube Island and to find ingredients to use in the various Pokemon Quest recipes that you'll need to use to attract new Pokemon to your base camp, which then you can use on Expeditions. It's a little gameplay loop that works quite well as a idle tapper. But what you will want to know is what Pokemon Quest recipes you need to cook in order to attract certain Pokemon, especially extremely rare ones like the Legendary birds, Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres, and even Mewtwo or Mew. 

So read on to learn more about the various elements of Pokemon Quest recipes, from breaking down the lingo, to cooking pots and ingredients. 

Pokemon Quest Cooking Pots

Cooking pot in Pokemon Quest

Before we even get to the actual cooking, you need to understand about the Cooking Pots in Pokemon Quest. At the start of the game, you'll only have access to the basic, default, and rather boring looking pot. But, as you progress through the various expedition levels, you'll gain access to better Cooking Pots that will power up your recipes, and allow you to attract rarer and higher level Pokemon. The better Pots do require more ingredients per slot, but they are the key to getting access to those better Pokemon. 

Here are all the Pokemon Quest Cooking Pots that you can get in the game, when you get them, what they require, and unlock:

Default Cooking Pot: Each slot requires three ingredients. Receive during the tutorial.
Bronze Cooking Pot: Each slot requires 10 ingredients. Attracts Pokemon level 20 and up. Receive after completing Backforth Brook.
Silver Cooking Pot: Each slot requires 15 ingredients. Attracts Pokemon level 40 and up. Receive after completing Pincushion Plain.
Gold Cooking Pot: Each slot requires 20 ingredients. Attracts Pokemon level 70 and up. Receive after completing the Chamber of Legends. 

Pokemon Quest recipes ingredients and terminology

Pokemon Quest

When it comes to making the recipes themselves, there's an unnecessary level of complexity to the way things are worded and explained. Some will hint at the ingredients you need to use, while others will indicate how much of each you'll need to use, and they're definitely not arbitrary. Not one bit. 

Here's how you'll know how much of each ingredient to use:

A whole lot: Four slots
A lot: Three slots
A few: Two slots
A little: One slot

Then, when it comes to the description of the ingredients, from small or precious, to hard things or sweet things, here's the items that you'll need to find:

Small: Tiny Mushroom, Bluk Berry, Apricorn, or Fossil
Precious: Big Root, Icy Rock, Honey, or Balm Mushroom
Very Precious: Rainbow Matter
Mystical: Mystic Shell
Red: Tiny Mushroom or Big Root
Blue: Bluk Berry or Icy Rock
Yellow: Apricorn or Honey
Grey: Fossil or Balm Mushroom
Soft Things: Tiny Mushroom, Bluk Berry, Big Root, Honey, or Balm Mushroom
Hard Things: Apricorn, Fossil, or Icy Rock
Mushroom: Tiny Mushroom, or Balm Mushroom
Mineral: Icy Rock, or Fossil
Plant: Apricorn, or Big Root

It's worth nothing that each recipe has a quality that determines the length of time the recipe will take to brew, and the rarity of the Pokemon that it'll attract to your base camp. Adding Precious, or Very Precious, ingredients to your recipe will increase its Quality Points - Small ingredients add one point, Precious adds two, Very Precious are worth three, and Mystical add four. Special Quality recipes are the ones you want to aim for if you're looking to attract rarer Pokemon. 

You can also use Rainbow Matter to add three points to the Quality of a Pokemon Quest recipe, but be careful, because certain recipes are impossible to boost without reducing all your ingredients to Mulligan. 

Recipe Quality goes as follows:

Basic:
Quality level - 1-5 points
Iron Pot brew time - 2 Turns
Bronze Pot brew time - 2 Turns
Silver Pot brew time - 3 Turns
Gold Pot brew time - 4 Turns

Good:
Quality level - 6-7 points
Iron Pot brew time - 4 Turns
Bronze Pot brew time - 4 Turns
Silver Pot brew time - 5 Turns
Gold Pot brew time - 6 Turns

Very Good:
Quality level - 8-9 points
Iron Pot brew time - 5 Turns
Bronze Pot brew time - 5 Turns
Silver Pot brew time - 6 Turns
Gold Pot brew time - 7 Turns

Special:
Quality level - 10+ points
Iron Pot brew time - 6 Turns
Bronze Pot brew time - 6 Turns
Silver Pot brew time - 7 Turns
Gold Pot brew time - 8 Turns

The full list of Pokemon Quest recipes 

Pokemon Quest

For every recipe, you'll need to put five sets of ingredients into the pot, which the actual number required depending on which pot you're using. Most recipes can be made in a variety of different ways, depending on which kind of items you need. Plus, it's good to remember that one ingredient can satisfy multiple criteria at once. For example, a tiny mushroom can be a Soft and a Mushroom ingredient for the Sludge Soup.

Here's the full list of Pokemon Quest recipes, what you need to make them, and what Pokemon they'll attract:

Mulligan Stew a la Cube
Description
: Whatever ingredients you like
Ingredients: 5x any ingredients
Pokemon attracted: An assortment of low level Pokemon

Red Stew a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of red
Ingredients: 4x Red ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Reddish Pokemon

Blue Soda a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of blue
Ingredients: 4x Blue ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Bluish Pokemon

Yellow Curry a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of yellow
Ingredients: 4x Yellow ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Yellowish Pokemon

Grey Porridge a la Cube
Description
: A whole lotta grey
Ingredients: 4x Grey
Pokemon attracted: Greyish Pokemon

Mouth Watering Dip a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of soft things and a lot of blue
Ingredients: 4x Soft and 3x Blue ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Water-type Pokemon

Plain Crepe a la Cube
Description
: A lot of sweet things and a few grey
Ingredients: 3x Sweet and 2x Grey ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Normal-type Pokemon

Sludge Soup a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of mushroom and a lot of soft things
Ingredients: 4xMushroom and 3x Soft ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Poison-type Pokemon

Mud Pie a la Cube
Description
: A few minerals and a whole lot of soft things
Ingredients: 2x Mineral and 4x Soft ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Ground-type Pokemon

Veggie Smooth a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of plants and a few soft things
Ingredients: 4x Plant and 2x Soft ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Grass-type Pokemon

Honey Nectar a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of sweet things and a lot of yellow
Ingredients: 4x Sweet and 3x Yellow ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Bug-type Pokemon

Brain Food a la Cube
Description
: A lot of sweet things and a few hard things
Ingredients: 3x Sweet and 2x Hard ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Psychic-type Pokemon

Stone Soup a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of hard things and a few minerals
Ingredients: 4x Hard and 2x Mineral ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Rock-type Pokemon

Light-as-Air Casserole a la Cube
Description
: A lot of minerals and a few plants
Ingredients: 3x Mineral and 2x Plant ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Flying-type Pokemon

Hot Pot a la Cube
Description: A lot of mushrooms and a little red
Ingredients: 3x Mushroom and 2x Red ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Fire-type Pokemon

Watt a Risotto a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of soft things and a lot of yellow
Ingredients: 4x Soft and 3x Yellow ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Electric-type Pokemon

Get Swole Syrup a la Cube
Description
: A lot of sweet things and a few mushrooms
Ingredients: 3x Sweet and 2x Mushroom ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Fighting-type Pokemon

Ambrosia of Legends a la Cube
Description
: A whole lot of mystical things
Ingredients: 4-5x Mystical ingredients
Pokemon attracted: Extremely rare Pokemon

It's worth noting that you can only attract first level evolutions and non-evolving Pokemon using recipes made in Cooking Pots. You can only evolve Pokemon by levelling them up on Expeditions. 

Sam Loveridge
Global Editor-in-Chief, 12DOVE

Sam Loveridge is the Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar, and joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.