This WoW Cooking guide will show you the fastest way how to level your Cooking skill from 1 to 525. This cooking guide uses a lot of vendor bought recipes, so be prepared to travel around because you have to buy cooking recipes and farm meats, eggs etc. a lot. Updated for WoW patch 4.3
I recommend to pick up Cooking as soon as you can, because killing level 10 boars when you are level 85...it's aint that much fun.
If you are low on gold, I recommend you to try this Gold Making Guide, it can help you to make loads of gold.
If you are still leveling your character or you just started a new alt, I recommend you to use a leveling guide. You can level your character to Level 85 in 5 days with this Guide.
Cooking guide sections:
Apprentice 1 - 80
Journeyman 80 - 130
Expert 130 - 225
Artisan 225 - 300
Master 300 - 350
Grand Master 350 - 450
Illustrious Grand Master 450 - 525
Cooking Leveling Guide 1 - 525
First, visit any trainer in the main cities of old Azeroth - just ask a guard, and learn Apprentice Cooking.
If it's November, you might want to check out my Pilgrim's Bounty cooking leveling guide. You can level cooking to 350 in about an hour.
You can make [Basic Campfire] to cook your food.
If you are not planning on to level cooking to 450 in one day, you should visit Marogg (Horde) or Robby Flay (Alliance). These NPCs will give you daily quests which you will have to complete in order to level cooking up to 525. Upon completing the quests, you will get 1-2 Cooking skill and one [Chef's Award]. Chef's Award can be used to purchase new cooking recipes from the Sous Chef in your home city, more on this later on when you reach 450.
If you click on any recipe in the guide, you will see where you can buy it.
1 - 40
60 x [Spice Bread] - 60 [Simple Flour], 60 Mild Spices
Please read the section above this part, if you didn't read it already. It is important.
40-80
40 x [Smoked Bear Meat] - 40 [Bear Meat]
Usually where bears are, there are Wolves too. Kill those and you can cook [Spiced Wolf Meat].
At 75, you have to visit your trainer in order to to learn Journeyman Cooking.
80 - 130
Learn Journeyman Cooking.
80 - 130
Go to Ashenvale and head to the Zoram Strand, where the sea is (north-west).
[Boiled Clams] - 1 Clam Meat, 1 Refreshing Spring Water - clam meat can be found in [Small Barnacled Clam]
[Crab Cake] - 1 Crawler Meat
Alliance:
Alliance players can buy the following recipe because the Crawlers drop Crawler Claws. (kind of obvious)
[Cooked Crab Claw] - 1 Crawler Claw
130 - 225
Learn Expert Cooking.
130 - 175
The Raptors will drop [Raptor Flesh], don't sell or destroy them because you will need them in the next step of the Cooking guide.
50 x [Curiously Tasty Omelet] - 50 [Raptor Egg]
175 - 225
50 x [Roast Raptor] - 50 [Raptor Flesh]
225 - 300
Learn Artisan Cooking.
225 - 250
25 x [Monster Omelet] - 25 Giant Egg
250 - 285
40 x [Juicy Bear Burger] - 40 [Bear Flank]
There is another really good recipe for the 275-300 part, but you have to run one Dire Maul east. The recipe is dropped by Pusillin and it's called [Recipe: Runn Tum Tuber Surprise].
When you enter the instance, you can find Pusillin at the entrance, he is on the left side, then you just have to go and talk to him then follow him and talk to him again as soon as you catch up to him. At the end the imp will become hostile and you can kill him (Finally! Annoying little bastard!).
You can solo this instance if you are around level 70, but it's a lot easier for higher levels. The recipe binds when picked up, this means it's a bit harder to get it with a group at low level, I would not recommend it to get a group of low levels just for this one recipe, you can level Cooking faster with the other recipes.
The recipe uses [Runn Tum Tuber] as material, you can find these in [Warpwood Pods], they are all around in the instance (read the first comments on wowhead). I could get 25 of them in one run, which is enough to level Cooking to 300 with this one recipe.
I must also mention that you could use this recipe to level up your Cooking to 325, just make a few more instance runs. This way you won't have to do the quests at the next part.
285 - 300
15 x [Smoked Desert Dumplings] - 15 [Sandworm Meat]
You have to complete two quests to get this cooking recipe.
Desert Recipe
Sharing the Knowledge
300 - 350
Visit your trainer and learn Cooking Master.
300 - 325
30 x [Ravager Dog] - 30 [Ravager Flesh]
or
30 x [Buzzard Bites] - 30 [Buzzard Meat]
You have to complete a quest chain to get this cooking recipe.
Ravager Egg Roundup
Helboar, the Other White Meat
Smooth as Butter
325 - 350
You have 3 choices now. I would farm Talbuk Venison and Clefthoof Meat because it is a lot easier to farm those.
You have to be neutral with the Mag'har(Horde) or Kurenai(Alliance) before you can talk the NPC in Nagrand.
35 x [Talbuk Steak] - 35 [Talbuk Venison ]
35 x [Roasted Clefthoof] - 35 [Clefthoof Meat]
35 x [Warp Burger] - 35 [Warped Flesh]
350 - 450
Visit your trainer and learn Cooking Grand Master.
350 - 365
Get the Northern Cooking quest at Northrend and complete it. It requires 4 Chilled Meat. Completing this quest will teach you how to create [Northern Stew]
If you click on the link above and scroll down, you will see all the quest givers that gives you the Northern Cooking quest. For both Horde and Alliance.
20 x [Northern Stew] - 20 Chilled Meat
365 - 375
The Cooking trainer will teach you a lot of recipes, all of them will turn green at 382 and gray at 415. Any of these recipes are good for skilling up Cooking. I recommend Rhino Dogs if you want to farm the materials. There are a lot of Rhinos around Warsong Hold in Borean Tundra, and they respawn really quickly.
If you want to buy the materials, you should check the prices for Rhino Meat, Worm Meat and Fangtooth Herring. These are usually the cheapest ones.
13 x [Rhino Dogs] - 13 [Rhino Meat]
375 - 400
Making one Kungaloosh costs 66 silver, so if you find out that Rhino Dogs, Worm Meat or Fangtooth Herring are cheaper than that, buy those instead.
You have to finish a quest chain first. It starts with the quest called Some Make Lemonade, Some Make Liquor and ends with The Taste Test. After you completed the quest chain, go to Dalaran and find the Washed-Up Mage, he is in the underbelly (sewers). He will teach you how to make [Kungaloosh]. After that, go to the Dalaran Fruit Vendor and you can just buy the materials from him.
400 - 415
Make that recipe what you made at the 365 - 375 part if you don't want to do the daily quests mentioned below. The recipe will be green which means you will not gain skill points for every craft, I only recommend this if you want to reach 525 as fast as possible.
The cooking recipe will be purchased with [Dalaran Cooking Awards] for this part, which are obtained by completing the daily cooking quest given by Katherine Lee (Alliance) or Awilo Lon'gomba (Horde) in Dalaran.
Choose one recipe from these, and make that until you reach 415. The recipes are sold by Derek Odds (Alliance) and Misensi (Horde). If you want to buy the materials, you should buy [Recipe: Critter Bites], Chilled Meat is usually the cheapest.
If you bought the recipe [Recipe: Critter Bites] and there are a lot of Chilled Meat and Northern Spices at the Auction House, you could try to make Critter Bites up to 450 or even 475, this way you will only need 6 [Chef's Award] in total.
415 - 430
15 x [Darkbrew Lager] - 30 Skin of Dwarven Stout, 15 Jug of Bourbon
You can actually make this one up to 440 if you want to. The reagents are sold by these vendors, don't buy them at the Auction House.
430 - 450
20 x [Blackened Surprise] - 20 Toughened Flesh
450 - 525
Visit your trainer and learn Cooking Illustrious Grand Master.
From this point, every recipe will be purchased with [Chef's Award], which are obtained by completing the daily cooking quest given by Marogg (Horde) or Robby Flay (Alliance). Once you have enough awards, you can visit Shazdar (Horde) or Bario Matalli (Alliance) and buy new recipes. One recipe usually cost 3 [Chef's Award].
450 - 475
Check the prices at the Auction House for the following items and choose the one that is the cheapest and you can buy about 28-35 of it. If you have Fishing, you should catch Striped Lurker at Twilight Highlands.
[Striped Lurker] - [Recipe: Lightly Fried Lurker] or [Recipe: Lurker Lunch]
[Lavascale Catfish] - [Recipe: Lavascale Fillet]
[Blood Shrimp] - [Recipe: Whitecrest Gumbo]
[Monstrous Claw] - [Recipe: Seasoned Crab]
[Snake Eye] - [Recipe: Salted Eye]
If you want to farm the reagents, the easiest item to farm is [Blood Shrimp]. Blood Shrimp can be found in [Abyssal Clam], which is dropped by most mobs in Vashj'ir.
475 - 500
Same as above, check the prices at the Auction House and choose the one that is the cheapest and you can buy about 28-35 of it. If you have Fishing, you should catch Highland Guppy at Twilight Highlands.
[Highland Guppy] - [Recipe: Pickled Guppy]
[Blood Shrimp] - [Recipe: Hearty Seafood Soup]
500 - 525
I'm not going to write it down again, you know what you should do!
[Algaefin Rockfish] - [Recipe: Baked Rockfish]
[Basilisk "Liver"] - [Recipe: Basilisk Liverdog]
[Crocolisk Tail] - [Recipe: Beer-Basted Crocolisk] or [Recipe: Crocolisk Au Gratin]
[Blackbelly Mudfish] - [Recipe: Blackbelly Sushi] or [Recipe: Mushroom Sauce Mudfish]
[Deepsea Sagefish] - [Recipe: Delicious Sagefish Tail] or [Recipe: Severed Sagefish Head]
[Dragon Flank] - [Recipe: Grilled Dragon]
[Lavascale Catfish] - [Recipe: Lavascale Minestrone]
[Fathom Eel] - [Recipe: Skewered Eel]
I hope you liked this Cooking Guide, GZ to 525!
-------------------Cooking + Fishing Guide-------------------
This Fishing and Cooking leveling guide will show you the easiest way to level Cooking and Fishing at the same time. Since leveling your fishing takes long time it's the best to level these professions together. If you only want to level Cooking, visit my Cooking leveling guide. Updated for WoW patch 4.3
If you are low on gold, I recommend you to try this Gold Making Guide, it can help you to make loads of gold.
If you are still leveling your character or you just started a new alt, I recommend you to use a leveling guide. You can level your character to Level 85 in 5 days with this Guide.
1 - 75
Before you start, you must buy the following 3 recipes!!! You can also check out the Auction House if you don't want to travel.
Go to Booty Bay, find Kelsey Yance(he is in the Old Port Authority) and buy these two recipes: [Recipe: Mithril Head Trout], [Recipe: Filet of Redgill].
You will also need to buy [Recipe: Baked Salmon]. Go to Feralas and find Vivianna - (Alliance) or Sheendra Tallgrass - (Horde).
If you are not planning on to level cooking to 450 in one day, you should visit Marogg (Horde) or Robby Flay (Alliance). These NPCs will give you daily quests which you will have to complete in order to level cooking up to 525. Upon completing the quests, you will get 1-2 Cooking skill and one [Chef's Award]. Chef's Award can be used to purchase new cooking recipes from the Sous Chef in your home city, more on this later on when you reach 450.
Horde
Go to Thunder Bluff and learn both Cooking and Fishing then head over to Bloodhoof Village in Mulgore. Ask the guards for the trainer's location.
Find Harn Longcast, just click and the link the see his location. Buy the following two recipes from him:[Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish], [Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper] and you should also buy a Fishing Pole. Fish from Stonebull Lake until your fishing skill reaches 75. Catch about 30 [Raw Brilliant Smallfish] and 20 [Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper].
Learn Journeyman Fishing from Uthan Stillwater.
Alliance
Go to Goldshire in Elwynn Forest and learn Apprentice Cooking from Tomas, he is in the inn's kitchen. Find Tharynn Bouden in the centre of Goldshire, buy [Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish], [Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper] and a Fishing Pole.
Learn Apprentice Fishing from Lee Brown, he is by the lake east of Goldshire. Fish from any lake near Goldshire until your fishing skill reaches 75. Catch about 30 [Raw Brilliant Smallfish] and 20 [Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper].
Visit Lee Brown again and learn Journeyman Fishing.
75 - 165
Horde
Go back to Thunder Bluff and fish in the pond near Thunder Bluff's auction house until your skill reaches 165. Do not forget to visit your trainer between fishing skill 125 and 150. You should catch about 30 [Raw Brilliant Smallfish], 100 [Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper], and 40 [Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish].
Learn the recipe [Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish] and cook all your fish. This should take your cooking skill to 50. If you do not reach 50, fish a little longer. Go to the cooking trainer and learn the next rank of Cooking.
Learn [Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper], and cook all your Longjaw Mud Snapper. Your cooking skill should rise to above 100. If you do not reach 100, fish for more until you reach it.
Buy and learn [Recipe: Bristle Whisker Catfish] from Naal Mistrunner then cook all your Bristle Whisker Catfish.
Your cooking skill must reach at least 125. Learn the next rank of Cooking.
Alliance
Travel to Stormwind City and Fish in the canals of Stormwind until your skill reaches 165. Don't forget to visit your trainer Between fishing skill 125 and 150. You should catch about 30 [Raw Brilliant Smallfish], 100 [Raw Longjaw Mud Snapper], and 40 [Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish].
Learn the recipe [Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish] and cook all your fish. This should take your cooking skill to 50. If you do not reach 50, fish a little longer. Go to the cooking trainer and learn the next rank of Cooking.
Learn [Recipe: Longjaw Mud Snapper], and cook all your Longjaw Mud Snapper. Your cooking skill should rise to above 100. If you do not reach 100, fish for more until you reach it.
Buy and learn [Recipe: Bristle Whisker Catfish] from Leland then cook all your Bristle Whisker Catfish.
Your cooking skill must reach at least 125. Learn the next rank of Cooking.
165 - 225
Go to Western Plaguelands. Fish inland open water from fishing skill 165 to 225. You need to catch about 80 [Raw Bristle Whisker Catfish], and about 80 [Raw Mithril Head Trout].
Cook all the Bristle Whisker Catfish. Your cooking skill will rise close to 175. If you don't reach 175 cooking skill, catch more fish.
Learn the recipe for [Recipe: Mithril Head Trout], and cook Mithril Head Trout until your cooking skill reaches 225.
Go to Undercity/Ironforge and learn the next rank of Cooking and Fishing.
225 - 275
At the end of this section your fishing skill does not need to reach 275, only Cooking.
Travel to Eastern Plaguelands and fish in any inland open water, until you have caught 35 Raw Redgill, a few Raw Mithril Head Trout, and a combined total of 20-25 Raw Nightfin Snapper and/or Raw Sunscale Salmon.
Cook all remaining Mithril Head Trout. Then learn [Recipe: Filet of Redgill], and cook all your fish. Your cooking skill must reach at least 250.
Go to Undercity/Ironforge learn the next rank of Cooking and learn these two recipes from your trainer: [Poached Sunscale Salmon], [Nightfin Soup].
Cook all your Raw Sunscale Salmon and Raw Nightfin Snapper. Your cooking skill must reach 275.
275 - 300
Go to Blasted Lands. You can use the Blasted Lands portals in every major city, they are near the portal trainer.
Fish open water in The Tainted Forest until you have caught 25 [Raw Whitescale Salmon]. Learn [Recipe: Baked Salmon] and cook Baked Salmon until your cooking skill reaches 300. If your fishing skill is below 275, keep fishing until 275.
300 - 350
Ride through the huge Dark Portal in the centre of Blasted Lands and go to Cenarion Refuge, Zangarmarsh. Find Naka in the inn and learn Master Cooking then go to Juno Dufrain by the lake and learn Master Fishing.
Buy the following recipes:
Alliance:
[Recipe: Blackened Trout] and [Recipe: Feltail Delight] - sold by Doba in Orebor Harborage, Zangarmarsh. Requires neutral reputation with Kurenai. (if you don't have neutral reputation, you can check the Auction House or just skip the recipe later and cook the meat I recommend in my Cooking leveling guide)
[Recipe: Golden Fish Sticks] - sold by Innkeeper Biribi in Allerian Stronghold, Terokkar Forest.
Horde:
[Recipe: Blackened Trout] - sold by Gambarinka in Zabra'jin, Zangarmarsh.
[Recipe: Feltail Delight] - sold by Zurai in Swamprat Post, Zangarmarsh.
[Recipe: Golden Fish Sticks] - sold by Rungor in Stonebreaker Hold, Terokkar Forest.
Go to Terrokar Forest and fish at this lake until until your fishing skill reaches 315. Click on the link to see the location. You should catch at least 15 [Golden Darter], 75 [Barbed Gill Trout], and 15 [Spotted Feltail].
Learn the recipe for Feltail Delight, and cook all the Feltail. Learn the recipe for Blackened Trout, and cook all your fish until your cooking skill reach 320.
Go to Shattrath, find Kylene in the inn on the north-east side of the Shattrath's Lower City. Learn Stewed Trout then cook all the remaining Barbed Gill Trout.
Learn the recipe for Golden Fish Sticks, and then cook Darter until your cooking skill is at least 350. You must reach at least 350 cooking skill. If not, keep fishing in Terokkar Forest.
350 - 450
Visit the nearest Cooking trainer, learn Grand Master Cooking and the following 3 recipes: [Baked Manta Ray], [Dalaran Clam Chowder], and [Smoked Rockfin].
Travel to Borean Tundra and fish open coastal water from fishing skill 315 to 375, you must fish a named area of coastal water. Simply if you start catching [Bonescale Snapper], you are in the wrong place!
You should catch at least 60 [Borean Man O' War], 30 [Darkwater Clam] (open these), 60 [Imperial Manta Ray], and about 100 [Rockfin Grouper].
Cook your catch in this order:
1. Rockfin Grouper as [Smoked Rockfin]
2. Succulent Clam Meat as [Dalaran Clam Chowder]
3. Imperial Manta Ray as [Baked Manta Ray]
4. At cooking skill 400 find Orn Tenderhoof for Horde or Rollick MacKreel for Alliance and learn to create Black Jelly, then cook all your Borean Man O' War as [Black Jelly].
You must reach at least 415 cooking skill.
Train [Darkbrew Lager] from a cooking trainer. The reagents are sold by these vendors, don't buy them at the Auction House. Make Darkbrew Lager up to 435.
Return to the cooking trainer, and learn [Blackened Surprise]. The recipe requires [Toughened Flesh], which can be looted from many wild animals in Cataclysm-level zones or you can buy some at the auction house. The recipe will be orange all the way up to 450, so you will only need 15 Toughened Flesh.
450 - 525
Train Illustrious Cook from the cooking trainer and learn the next rank of Fishing if you didn't already.
From this point, every recipe will be purchased with [Chef's Award], which are obtained by completing the daily cooking quest given by Marogg (Horde) or Robby Flay (Alliance). Once you have enough awards, you can visit Shazdar (Horde) or Bario Matalli (Alliance) and buy new recipes. One recipe usually cost 3 [Chef's Award].
You will need buy the following 3 recipes. The order does not really matter, you will need all of them to reach 525. You can also buy other recipes if you have a lot of Chef's Award, so you can cook your other fishes that you might catch.
[Recipe: Lightly Fried Lurker] or [Recipe: Lurker Lunch] (cooking skill 450)
[Recipe: Pickled Guppy] (475).
[Recipe: Delicious Sagefish Tail] or [Recipe: Severed Sagefish Head] (500).
Go to the Verrall River or lake in Twilight Highlands. Fish inland open water in the Twilight Highlands until you have caught at least 50 [Striped Lurker] and 25 [Highland Guppy]. Don't forget to visit your trainer between fishing skill 425 and 450.
450 - 480
[Recipe: Lightly Fried Lurker] or [Recipe: Lurker Lunch] - Striped Lurker
480 - 500
[Recipe: Pickled Guppy] - Highland Guppy
Learn Delicious Sagefish Tail or Severed Sagefish Head. Travel across the Twilight Highlands to find coastal water and fish there. You will mostly catch [Deepsea Sagefish]. Catch a few fish and then cook them, the last few skill points will come very slowly, just keep fishing until your Cooking skill reaches 525.
525 fishing skill will take many more catches than 525 cooking. Once you have reached the maximum cooking skill, you can continue to raise your fishing skill anywhere, even in Orgrimmar or Stormwind.
I hope you liked this Fishing and Cooking leveling guide, gz to 525!
