Petit Planet Cooking Guide: Recipes, Kitchenware and Strength

Cooking is the bridge between farming and neighbor gifts. It turns crops, fish and forage into dishes, and dishes are some of the strongest gifts in the game. It is also one of the easiest systems to overcomplicate.

This guide is the practical version. For the system-level explanation, see Cooking and Crafting.

What you need

• A kitchenware station that matches the recipe: cooking pot, oven, blender, and so on.
• The ingredient categories listed on the recipe.
• A free moment to cook; the Final Beta did not require a long real-time wait for basic dishes.

Recipes use broad categories such as Fruit, Flower, Fish, Meat or Veggie. You do not need one exact item unless the recipe names it. That makes cooking forgiving, especially early when your farm is small.

Quality, strength and gift value

Each dish has a quality tier and a strength value. Higher quality tends to mean higher strength, but the exact curve is not published. Gift value is driven by the neighbor’s preference first:

• A loved dish is the best gift, even if a different dish has higher strength.
• A liked category (for example, “Grilled Dish”) works with any qualifying dish.
• A high-strength dish is a good all-purpose gift, but it is not a substitute for a loved item.

Do not assume “Stellar” means “give this to everyone.” Check the neighbor.

Kitchenware priorities

The Final Beta recipes use several stations. The practical order is:

1. Cooking Pot — the broadest station, with soups, stews, teas and everyday dishes.
2. Oven — baked dishes, pies and breads.
3. Blender — drinks and juices.
4. Other stations — unlock when a recipe you actually want requires them.

If you only have the pot, you can still build a useful recipe book. Do not buy an expensive station for one dish unless that dish solves a gift problem.

Dishes worth learning first

The exact “best” dish depends on your neighbors. A sensible early set:

• A simple drink — cheap, uses a common crop or fruit, and works as a liked gift for several neighbors.
• A loved dish for your main neighbor — check the gift finder first.
• A high-strength everyday dish — for your own meals or a generic gift.
• A dish that uses a crop you are already growing — avoid planting a new crop just for one recipe.

Examples from the Final Beta data:

Dish	Type	Kitchenware	Why it is useful
Aromatic Fruit Tea	Drink	Cooking Pot	Simple fruit tea; a low-cost everyday drink
Bamboo Apple Slushie	Drink	Blender	Loved by Yunguo
Granny’s Veggie Fried Rice	Main Dish	Cooking Pot	Loved by Yunguo; uses vegetables
Seafood Clay Pot Rice	Main Dish	Cooking Pot	Seafood and rice; a stronger meal
Tidal Wave Yogurt	Dessert	—	Loved by Nerina

Check the dish database for the full list and the exact recipe recorded for each dish.

Cooking for gifts vs. cooking for yourself

The same dish can serve both purposes, but the opportunity cost is different:

• For a gift: cook the loved dish for the neighbor you are raising. One dish per day is enough.
• For yourself: cook the highest-strength dish you can make from surplus ingredients. Do not burn a rare ingredient on a dish you will give away.
• For a party: cook a batch of a liked category rather than many different loved dishes. It is easier to track.

A simple weekly cooking plan

1. Harvest whatever is ready.
2. Check which neighbor you are raising this week.
3. Cook one loved dish for them.
4. Cook one generic high-strength dish for yourself.
5. Sell or store the surplus; do not let ingredients rot in the pantry.

Common mistakes

• Cooking a loved dish for the wrong neighbor. Preferences are per character.
• Assuming strength equals gift value. It does not.
• Buying every kitchenware station immediately. Unlock the station your recipe book actually uses.
• Ignoring ingredient categories. You may already have a valid substitute.
• Trusting a beta recipe as final. The launch recipe book can change.

Related pages

• Dish database — 120 recipes and stats.
• Gift finder — who loves what.
• Farming guide — grow the ingredients.
• Cooking and Crafting system — the full rules.