Cooking is a secondary profession within WoW Classic. As the name suggests, you’ll use raw materials found in monsters and fishing to create food that can heal you and even give you combat bonuses. Because cooking can create valuable consumables at the highest level, it becomes an important skill in high demand. Check out the rest of this guide to level your kitchen from 1 to 300, regardless of your faction and whether you want to fish or not!
Because
culinary skill is a secondary profession, it won’t occupy one of your two main professional spaces, meaning any character, race, or class can learn to cook. To level your culinary skill, you’ll need raw meat that you can find in the corpses of specific beasts.
Cooking is an excellent skill for casual or serious players. The search, especially alone, is often difficult and requires frequent use of food to continue fighting. Unless you’re a magician, this means you’ll have to buy food from a vendor to stay sustained.
With the kitchen, you can prepare free food with meat that you will pick up simply by leveling up. At the maximum skill level, cooking is excellent for providing food with combat bonuses. These recipes require materials that are more difficult to obtain and the resulting foods are generally much more expensive.
When it comes to leveling methods, there are two traditional routes. You can level your kitchen using the standard method, which involves collecting beast meat all over Azeroth. Alternatively, you can also choose the pescetarian route by taking the fishing route. We’ll cover both strategies in this guide, as well as point out the key differences for Alliance and Horde players.
Trainer Locations
Training plays a huge role in leveling your kitchen, as you will need new recipes learned from trainers and suppliers to reach even higher levels. For any specific recipe you need to find, we’ll tell you where to find them in the section where you need them. For general kitchen trainers who offer you level limit increases, you can find them in these places:
- Apprentice (1-75) – Like most other professions, simply ask a guard in any major city where a cooking coach is. For Alliance, that means Stormwind, Iron Forging, or Darnassus. For the Horde, you can go to Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff or Undercity.
- Journeyman (75-150) – Go back to the same city where you originally learned to cook. This is the last time you will visit this coach!
- Expert (150-225) – To learn expert cooking, you’ll need to learn it from a cookbook! How appropriate. For Alliance players, you can buy that Shandrina book at Mystral Lake, Ashenvale, while Horde players can buy it from Wulan in Shadowprey Village, Desolace.
- Artisan (225-300) – Things take a different turn for artisanal cuisine, which you’ll have to complete a mission to unlock. You can purchase the mission: Clamlette Surprise by Dirge Quikcleave in Gadgetzan, Tanaris. This mission simply requires you to collect the following: 20 Alterac Swiss, 12 giant eggs, 10 spicy clam meat.
Before
you start cooking, there are a few key things to keep in mind! Depending on which faction you play and how you want to approach the level, you will have a very different experience!
Faction
Although both Alliance and Horde players have fairly similar leveling routes to reach 300 kitchens, there are several cases where a different recipe is used. The first and last 75 levels are identical for both factions, but the middle levels are where the route differs.
The exception to this are the Nightelves who do not have wolves or wild boars in their starting area. Instead, they acquire the Kaldorei Spider Kabob from a search of the same name in their starting area.
For those sections, each faction will have its own instructions.
One
of the
easiest ways to level the kitchen is to simultaneously level your fishing ability. You can get your way to 300 cooking from fishing alone, but this will require several hours of fishing to reach a high enough fishing level to catch the fish you’ll need for cooking.
If you already plan to level your fishing, this is a perfect opportunity for you to freely level your culinary skill at the same time. It is important to note that a fishing quest is also required to learn artisanal fishing, which you will need to catch the fish required to cover your kitchen.
Because fishing drastically changes the way the guide looks, there’s a completely separate cooking guide for if you want to fish instead of killing beasts.
Missions <img src="https://www.warcrafttavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WoW-Classic-Cooking-Fishing-Guide.jpg" alt="
Classic WoW Quest Icon” />
Throughout the guide, you’ll notice that there are
some quests you’ll need to do. These missions are necessary to learn the recipe you will use, but fortunately most missions are as simple as collecting a certain amount of ingredients and delivering them.
For any further advancements, we’ll illustrate how to complete the mission. In addition, we will mention when you need to buy a specific prescription from a supplier.
Depending
on your method and faction, your material needs will be different. Keep in mind that totals will vary depending on your RNG, but these should serve as a good guide to what to expect. Here are the totals for each cooking leveling method:
Alliance Kitchen Materials
40x Fibrous Wolf Meat 35x Bear Meat 45x Small Spider Paw 10x Caterpillar Meat 15x Tracker Claw 60x Lean Wolf Flank 50x Raptor Egg 25x
- Turtle Meat 50x White Spider Meat
- 100x Giant Egg / Tender Wolf Meat
- Meat 30x
- Seasoning Herbs Storm
- Mild spices
- Soothing
- 25x
- 80x Spicy
25x Sandworm
wind 25x
50x Spicy spices 250x
spices Horde kitchen materials 40x Fibrous wolf meat 55x Bear meat 40x Dig Rat 55x Lion meat 25x Raptor meat 50x White spider meat 100x Giant egg / Tender wolf meat
Sandworm meat
- spices 225x Soothing
- 50x
Spices Fishing Materials
Raw Shiny Small Fish 60x Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper 85x Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish 80x Raw Spotted Yellowtail 30x Raw Sunscale Salmon 30x Large Raw Mightfish 30x Hot Spices 30x
- Soothing
- Spices
Standard Guide
1-75 (Apprentice
)
Both factions
1-40
Charred wolf meat/roasted boar meat
Kaldorei Spider Kabob x40 (1x fibrous wolf meat / piece of wild boar meat / small spider leg) Welcome to
the wonderful world of cooking! Where taste is king and quality is never an afterthought! Just kidding, you’ll use any old cut of meat you can find! For their first cooking recipe, both factions will make any combination of charred wolf meat and roasted wild boar meat to reach 40 cooking. You can kill wild boars and wolves found around the forest of Elwynn and Mulgore/Durotar. If you’re playing as a night elf, wolves and wild boars aren’t an option, so hunt spiders all over Teldrassil to get the legs you need for a Kaldorei favorite!
40-75
Smoked Bear Meat x35 (1x Bear Meat)
For the next recipe, you will need to buy it from a supplier. Alliance players will head to Drac Roughcut in Thelsamar, Loch Modan. Horde players can find theirs in Andrew Hilbert at The Sepulcher, Silverpine Forest. It kills bears from surrounding areas. Smoke enough bear meat to reach at least 75 cooking, feel free to follow until 90 if you are Horde.
75-150 (Journeyman
) 75-150 (
Alliance) 75-85
Crab Cake x10 (1x Crawler Meat + 1x Mild Spices)
Now things start to get a little different! Learn how to cook officially, while also learning this ingenious little recipe for a delicious crab pie. Make only 10 of them, but don’t eat them all at once! Don’t forget to buy mild spices from a kitchen vendor near your trainer. You can find some pinched trackers in Westfall, near the coast.
85-100
Cooked crab
claw x15 (1x caterpillar claw + 1x soft spices)
The crab
festival continues, but now you are cooking whole crab claws. Pick up this recipe from Kendor Kabonka in Stormwind. Cook the crab claws until it reaches triple digits for its cooking level! These also fall from trackers, so keep growing them in Westfall.
100-130
Whipped Wolf Kabob x30 (2x Lean Wolf Flank + 1x Storm Wind Seasoning Herbs)
Yes, the wolf is actually quite a versatile meat. Now you’ll turn it into a skewer, requiring you to complete a mission to learn the recipe for the seasoned wolf skewer. After finishing it, collect the lean wolf flanks again from the wolves in Duskwood.
To complete: Experienced Wolf Packers, take the mission of Chef Grual in Darkshire, Duskwood. Collect 10 Lean Wolf Flank from wolves in the area. Pick Felicia Gump’s Stormwind seasoning herbs at a flower shop in the Canal District, then return to Chef Grual to finish.
130-150
Curiously tasty omelette x20 (1x Raptor egg + 1x spicy spices)
For this next part, you’ll actually have to head to a few places. First you will need the recipe for a curiously tasty omelette, which can be purchased once again from Kendor Kabonka in Stormwind. To make these omelets, you’ll need eggs (surprise!), but more specifically, raptor eggs! You can get them from birds of prey around the Arathi Highlands, but you might have more luck with raptors in the wetlands north of Grim Batol. Don’t forget to buy hot spices from a kitchen vendor!
After you reach 150, you’ll have to buy a cookbook to unlock the expert kitchen. You can find it at Mystral Lake, Ashenvale from a vendor named Shandrina.
75-150 (Horde
)
75-90
Smoked Bear Meat x20 (1x Bear Meat)
Continue to kill and cook bears, until you’ve reached 90 in the kitchen. You can still get the bear meat quite easily at Silverpine Forest and you’ll already be there, so it’s convenient. If you are looking for a higher drop rate and have a high enough level (at least 28), the giant bear Ashenvale drops the meat at a rate of 71%, which is the highest.
90-130
Dig
Rat Stew x40 (1x Dig Rat)
While the
Alliance can make some tasty crab dishes, the Horde gets the pleasure of delicacy that is dig rat stew. This requires you to complete the simple Dig Rat Stew mission, but then you’ll simply have to kill digging rats and cook them using the recipe you get as a mission reward until you’ve reached 125 in the kitchen.
To complete Dig Rat Stew, pick up Grub’s mission in The Barrens. You’ll find it in one of the towers hugging the mountain north of the road between Ratchet and The Crossroads. Once you have Grub’s mission, head south to the Bael’dun excavation site at The Barrens and collect 8 dig rats at Bael Modan to fulfill the mission requirements.
130-150
Curiously tasty omelette x20 (1x raptor egg + 1x spicy spices)
The easiest way for horde players to get the recipe for this one is to take the Orgrimmar zeppelin to Grom’gol base camp in the Arathi highlands and buy it from Nerrist. You can also get it from Keena in Hammerfall and you might want to, as hunting raptors for the eggs for this recipe can be done from the Arathi highlands, or more efficiently from the wetlands, just north of the road to Grim Batol.
Once you’ve reached the 150 limit, head to Shadowprey Village, Desolace to buy an expert Wulan cookbook.
150-225 (Expert
) 150-225 (Alliance) 150-175
Curiously tasty omelette x30 (1x Raptor egg + 1x spicy
spices) Nothing new here, you made 20 of these to get to
150
. Continue to grow raptor eggs from Arathi Highlands to
175!
175-200
Soothing Turtle Bisque x25 (1x turtle meat + 1x soothing spices)
Once you reach 175 kitchens, you’ll find another recipe search! This is to soothe the turtle biscuit, which requires turtle turtle meat at Hillsbrad Foothills.
To complete Soothing Turtle Bisque, speak to Chef Jessen at Southshore, Hillsbrad Foothills. You’ll need 10 turtle meat, which is found on turtles around the river to the north. Return to Chef Jessen once you’re done.
200-225
Spider
Sausage x25 (2x White Spider Meat)
Do spiders even have meat to make a sausage? Don’t try to understand it, but make 25 spider sausages with white spider meat. The spiders in Dustwallow Marsh are a great source for this.
150-225 (Horde
)
150-175
Hot Lion Chops x30 (1x Lion Meat + 1x Spicy Spices) Keep
making those lion chops like you did to get to 150 in the kitchen. Once again, he kills the mountain lions found throughout the foothills of Hillsbrad to collect the necessary lion meat.
175-200
Roast Raptor
x25 (1x Raptor Meat + 1x Spicy Spices)
Have you ever thought about what a raptor would taste like? Now is your chance to find out! Head to Grom’gol Base Camp in Stranglethorn Vale to find Nerrist. Buy the roasted raptor recipe and don’t forget some spicy spices! Roast some raptor from the surrounding jungle until you’ve reached 200 in the kitchen.
200-225
Spider Sausage x25 (2x White
spider meat) It still doesn’t make
sense how white spider meat can make a tasty sausage, but your character doesn’t seem to complain. Make 25 piped meats to reach 225 in the kitchen, unlocking the quest for artisanal cuisine! You can find these spiders in Dustwallow Marsh.
Search for artisanal cuisine
If you’ve made it this far, great job! But you’ve probably also noticed that there’s no obvious way to unlock artisanal cuisine. This is because you need to complete a mission to do it! Both Alliance and Horde players must be at least level 35 and head to Gadgetzan, Tanaris, and collect Dirge Quikcleave’s Clamlette Surprise. As a side note, don’t forget to buy the recipe for tender wolf steak as well.
The search itself is simple, but it requires you to acquire ingredients that may consume your time. You will have to collect: 20 Alterac Swiss, 12 giant eggs and 10 spicy clam meat. Giant eggs can be found in owls at The Hinterlands. Spicy clam meat can be found in clams looted from turtles in Tanaris. The alterac swiss can be purchased from Ben Trias at Stormwind or Innkeeper Pala at Thunder Bluff.
Once you have all the items, return to Dirge to unlock the artisanal kitchen! If you didn’t do it before, buy the tender wolf steak recipe! The rest of your kitchen leveling journey is fairly straightforward, although it will take you a long time to grind the materials.
225-300 (Craftsman
) 225-300 (Both factions)
225-275
Monster Omelet/Tender Wolf Steak x100 (1x giant egg/tender wolf meat + 2x soothing spices)
Both factions
will cook the same recipes to reach 300 in the kitchen. For the next part, you will need to buy two separate recipes. The recipe for tender wolf steak can be purchased at Dirge Quikcleave in Gadgetzan, Tanaris. The monster omelette recipe can be found in Felwood. Alliance players can head to Malygen in Talonbranch Glade, while Horde players can go to Bale in Bloodvenom Post. The recipe can also be purchased at Everlook, Himmik’s Winterspring. This is a great time to stock up on soothing spices.
While you only need 50 skill points to reach 275 kitchens, you won’t get a skill for every piece of food you cook. You’ll have to cook a combination of around 100 monster tortillas or tender wolf steaks. You can stop at 275! Giant eggs and tender wolf meat can be found in Felwood. Wolves drop meat while owl beasts drop eggs.
275-300
smoked desert dumplings x25 (1x sandworm meat + 1x soothing spices)
You’ve finally come to the latest recipe! But if you thought it was that simple, think again! You will have to complete another mission, this time a short chain of three missions. Once you’re done, simply cook around 25 smoked desert dumplings, using the dredging worms around Silithus to reach maximum cooking. Congratulations on your freshly maximized culinary skill!
To complete the kitchen attendance, first head to Cenarion Hold, Silithus to speak with Calandrath. Accept the first mission: Desert Recipe. To complete this mission, simply head west to the Twilight Hammer Camp.
Accept the second mission: Sharing knowledge. Just return to Calandrath in Cenarion Hold to hand on the ripped recipes page. Accept the third and final mission: Kitchen Assistance. For this one, you will have to collect 10 sandworm meat and turn it into smoked desert dumplings to finish the mission.
Cooking guide with fishing
1-75 (Apprentice)
1-50
Brilliant Smallfish
x50 (1x Raw Brilliant Smallfish)
The best place for bright little fish is in Elwynn Forest for Alliance players and Mulgore for Horde players. The recipe is available from various providers, depending on the career you are playing, you can see this list of providers. Trainers also sell recipes for Brilliant Smallfish and Longjaw Mud Snapper. Buy both and cook shiny small fish until the 50s are cooked. Fish directly next to the fishing trainer to collect raw shiny small fish and raw long-jawed mud snappers.
50-75
Longjaw Mud Snapper
x25 (1x Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper)
Once you reach 50 years in the kitchen, you can start cooking those pesky mud snappers! You should have bought these recipes in the same place where you bought your brilliant small fish recipe. Keep fishing in the same place.
75-150 (Journeyman
)
75-100
Longjaw Mud Snapper
x35 (1x Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper)
The mud snappers are back! They won’t disappear until you’re at least 100 years old cooking, so keep catching and cooking until you get there! There is no need to change fishing locations unless you want a change of scenery.
100-150
Bristle Whisker Catfish x50 (1x Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish)
Both Alliance and Horde players will now converge on Hillsbrad Foothills. Both factions will seek to fish off the river east of Southshore. Alliance players will want to pick up Donald Rabonne’s recipe for moustache sow catfish and mithril head trout in Southshore. Horde players must pick up the recipe for bristle whisker catfish from Derak Nightfall in Tarren Mill.
Once you reach 150, don’t forget to unlock the expert kitchen! For Alliance, purchase your Shandrina cookbook at Mystral Lake, Ashenvale. Horde players can search for Wulan in Shadowprey Village, Desolace.
150-225 (Expert
)
150-175
Brisle Whisker
Catfish x35 (1x Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish)
Continue fishing and cooking raw bristle whisker catfish from Hillsbrad Foothills. Once you reach 175, you’ll be ready for the next fish!
175-225
Mithril Head Trout x80 (1x Raw Mithril Head trout)
At this point, the players of the Alliance and the Horde will split once again. Alliance players have already purchased Donald Rabonne’s mithril head trout recipe in Southshore, so they are free to fish for raw mithril head trout from Arathi Highlands.
Horde players must collect Wulan’s mithril head trout recipe in Shadowprey Village, Desolace. Horde players will also fish in Shadowprey Village. This step will take a while, so don’t be surprised if more than 100 fish are needed.
After reaching 225 cooking and fishing, you will have to do missions to unlock artisanal cuisine and fishing. You can find instructions for finding artisanal cuisine above.
225-300 (Craftsman
)
225-250
Spotted Yellowtail
x30 (1x Raw Spotted Yellowtail)
Both factions converge once again, this time in the sunny desert of Tanaris. Head to Steamwheedle Port and purchase Gikkix’s spotted and poached yellowtail salmon recipe. You can easily catch the spotted yellow tail directly from the dock. Keep cooking them until you reach 250 in the kitchen!
250-275
Poached Flake Salmon x30 (1x Raw Salmon Solar Scales)
Alliance and Horde players will now migrate to Bloodvenom Falls in Felwood. You should have already bought Gikpix’s poached poached salmon recipe at Steamwheedle Port. Cook some salmon until you have reached at least 275 in the kitchen! A takeaway recipe!
275-300
Mightfish
Steak x30 (1x Large Raw Mightfish + 1x Hot Spices + 1x Soothing)
The latter is a bit silly, but worth it. Alliance players will have to go to The Feathermoon Stronghold in Feralas to buy Vivianna’s mightfish steak recipe. Horde players must head to Camp Mojache in Feralas to purchase it from Sheendra Tallgrass. This is also a great time to stock up on spicy and soothing spices!
Once you have the recipe, you can catch powerful fish in Scalebeard’s cave, Azshara! Because Azshara requires a minimum of 250 fish, lures could be a good idea for faster farming. Either way, after about 30 mightfish, you should reach maximum cooking. Congratulations!
