Quick Answer: Cookbooks in Elden Ring unlock crafting recipes when picked up. Categories: Nomadic Warrior (general consumables), Armorer (greases for weapons), Glintstone Craftsman (magic consumables), Missionary (religious items), and Perfumer (perfumes). Read the recipe at any Site of Grace by selecting Crafting. Materials gathered from the world’s flora and corpses.
Welcome to the EldenGuide Cookbooks Wiki. Cookbooks unlock the recipes that let you craft useful items on the go. This page explains how cookbooks and crafting work.
What Are Cookbooks?
A Cookbook is an item that, once obtained, permanently unlocks a set of crafting recipes. Each cookbook teaches a themed group of recipes — combat items, support items, throwables, and more. The more cookbooks you collect, the wider your crafting options become.
How Crafting Works
To craft, you need the Crafting Kit, an early-game item bought from a traveling merchant. Once you have it, you can craft anywhere using gathered materials. Open the crafting menu, pick a recipe you have unlocked, and combine the required materials into the finished item.
Crafting Materials
Recipes consume materials gathered from the world — plants, animal parts, mushrooms, and other resources scattered across every region. Materials are picked up automatically as you explore and from defeating certain creatures. Because materials regenerate over time, crafting is a renewable, low-cost way to keep yourself supplied.
What You Can Craft
Cookbooks unlock recipes across several categories:
- Offensive items — throwing pots and items that deal Fire, Lightning, Magic, or Holy damage;
- Status items — items that inflict or cure Poison, Bleed, Sleep, and other effects;
- Support items — buffs, stat boosts, and utility consumables;
- Resistance items — boosts that protect against hostile environments and status effects.
Where to Find Cookbooks
Cookbooks are found throughout the world — in chests, dropped by enemies, and sold by merchants. Traveling merchants in particular sell many cookbooks, so visiting every merchant you encounter is the best way to expand your recipe collection.
Why Crafting Matters
Crafted items are a flexible, renewable toolkit. Throwable damage items help against enemies weak to a specific element, status-curing items save you in hostile regions, and buff items give an edge before a tough fight. For status-focused players, crafted items that inflict Bleed or Poison support the strategy covered in our status effect weapons guide.
Building Crafting Into Your Playthrough
Make a habit of buying every cookbook you find and gathering materials as you explore. The investment is small, and a well-stocked crafting menu means you always have an answer — whether that is a curative for Scarlet Rot or a pot of fire for an enemy weak to it.
Final Notes
Cookbooks turn the world’s raw materials into a renewable arsenal. Collect them from merchants and exploration, gather materials as you travel, and craft the tools each challenge demands. Browse our Cookbooks Wiki to plan your crafting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many cookbooks are in Elden Ring?
A: Approximately 30+ cookbooks total across all categories. Each unlocks 3-8 new crafting recipes.
Q: Where to start crafting?
A: Buy the Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook 1 from the Kalé merchant in northern Limgrave for 500 runes. It unlocks basic consumables.
Q: What’s the most useful cookbook?
A: Armorer’s Cookbook line — unlocks weapon greases (Blood Grease, Magic Grease, etc.) that add temporary status effects to your weapon.