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Sims' Animations improve as their Gourmet Cooking/Cooking Skills Increase
The Sims 4's Cooking Skill allows your Sim to make better meals for the Household. Gourmet Cooking is a separate skill, but intimately related to Cooking, so you wlll find both in this Guide. Each level of the Cooking or Gourmet Cooking Skill increases the likelihood a recipe will be made high quality, which gives a better Moodlet to the Sims who eat it. This can help a Sim easier achieve the Ideal Mood for their Skills, Career, or for Socializing. The ultimate reward for pursuing Gourmet Cooking is Ambrosia, which will allow you to bring Ghost Sims back to life, along with the Book of Life (Writing). This Guide will show you a full list of all recipes in The Sims 4 (aside from Quick Meals) and provide tips on levelling the Cooking Skill faster.
How to: Cooking and Gourmet Cooking Cheats
Press Control + Shift + C then type testingcheats on and press enter. You can now set your skill level with stats.set_skill_level major_homestylecooking or major_gourmetcooking x (fill in 1-10) - we also have a full listing of Skill Cheats and a master list of Cheats in The Sims 4
Getting Inspired & Good Traits
Both Cooking and Gourmet Cooking are Creative Skills, therefore their Ideal Mood is Inspired. Being Inspired will not only help you level the Skill faster, it also increases the likelihood your Food will be made in Excellent Quality, which is the highest quality in The Sims 4. To learn how to get Inspired, see the page on Inspired or Emotions Guides. An easy way for Sims to get Inspired is to take a Thoughtful Shower or Browse Art from the Computer. Sims with the Creative Trait will get random Inspired Moodlets, and those with the Foodie Trait can watch Cooking Show for Ideas or Search for Recipe Ideas on the Computer (found under Web).
In order to level the Skill faster, try to always cook while Inspired, and cook the highest level dishes. Upon completing a recipe, your Sim will get a big bump in Experience. This will sometimes be half a level's worth of Skill XP.
Foodies Can Search for Recipe Ideas. All Sims can later Research Cooking Techniques
Unlocking Gourmet Cooking
Gourmet Cooking unlocks automatically at level 5 of the Cooking Skill. If you read a Skill Book, you can level this Skill before reaching that point, but won't be able to cook Gourmet Meals until your actual Cooking Skill is at level 5. So, to do this, just work on your Cooking Skill and provide your Sims with better meals as you go. Unlocking Gourmet Cooking via Skill books is a waste of time that could be better spent practicing regular Cooking.
Meal Times
While you can cook any meal at any time, the hours for Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, and Dinner are:
Skills that Complement Cooking
The Gardening and Fishing Skills are both obvious complementary Skills for Cooking and Gourmet Cooking. These will give you ingredients that help boost the quality of food and reduce its cost, while also allowing your Sim to pursue cooking the Ambrosia Recipe. A not-so-obvious choice of Skill to go with Cooking is Handiness. It helps greatly with levelling the Skill and making Sims happy in general, as you will get a +1 4h Happy moodlet from 'How Fresh' (upgrading the Fridge with Fresh Maker) and a short +1 Happy Moodlet for upgrading the Oven with Heat Sensors. You can also greatly reduce the likelihood of fire at the Oven and getting shocked by the Fridge when the two items break down.
Food Quality & Saving Meals for Later
While I've yet to see an awful quality food, they seem to go from Okay (edible) to Good and Excellent on the positive side. Food can spoil if left out too long. Food stays fresh about 30x longer in the Refrigerator, where your Sims can benefit from cooking Party-size meals and occasionally eating directly from the Refrigerator. To do this, simply drag the item from the counter to the fridge, or click Put Away. You can then select Open on the fridge and have some great, fast breakfasts before work. Fish Tacos might not be the best idea for breakfast, but Sims seem to like it! Fruits and Vegetables do not spoil, so there's no need to store them unless you want them out of the way. At time of writing, the refrigerator does not seem to keep Fish fresh, and they spoil very quickly.
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Skill Level Unlocks
At certain points in each Skill, you will unlock new abilities, recipes aside. Here is a list showing the unlocks for both The Sims 4's Cooking and Gourmet Cooking Skill. What each significant ability will do is described below the table.
Get to Work - Sell Foods
The Get to Work Expansion Pack additions include the ability to open a retail store. This made listing the retail value of foods necessary. Prices are high for excellent quality meals, meaning cooking is a great way to make money with this Expansion. Restocking fees are 80% of Retail sell value, so it's better to cook the item again. This means a kitchen in your store is not a bad idea. Learn more about making money with cooking via the Baking Skill page.
| Lvl | Cooking Skill | Gourmet Cooking Skill |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Recipes only | New Recipes only |
| 2 | Combo Add trick move (an Animation) | New Recipes only |
| 3 | Talk about Cooking | Fancy Spices trick move |
| 4 | New Recipes only | Food produces the Delicious Dish Moodlet, but doesn't it almost always, anyway? |
| 5 | Unlocks Gourmet Cooking, Competent Cook (+1 4h Confident) Moodlet when Cooking. | Air Slice trick move |
| 6 | New trick moves | New Recipes only |
| 7 | New Recipes only | New Recipes only |
| 8 | Can Flavorize Oven to temporarily boost Quality | Research Advanced Cooking Techniques on Computer (+2 4h Inspired Moodlet) |
| 9 | Can Give Cooking Tips to Other Sims | Share Cooking Secrets with Other Sims |
| 10 | New Recipes only | Garnish Dishes to Improve Quality (if not Excellent) |
Juggling Knives and other Trick Moves appear as you Level Cooking
Trick Moves
Trick moves make your Sim's animations for Cooking more complex. New abilities unlock as you raise the skill. These are primarily cosmetic and don't help your Sim. They add flair to the cooking process, making it more enjoyable to watch.
Flavorize
This ability lets you add flavor to dishes. Simply click the Stove and find the ability to Flavorize for $10. This will last for one stovetop meal and boosts the quality of the dish. At some point, it's rather useless since Sims do not get an extra Moodlet from eating the food, and a high level Chef will almost always make Excellent Quality Dishes.
Give Cooking Tips and Share Cooking Secrets
These are both Social Interactions that give Sims a small bump in their skill level. Give Cooking Tips will affect the normal Cooking Skill, while Share Cooking Secrets gives Sims some skill in Gourmet Cooking. It's a great way to make friends, as Sims won't really reject these attempts to mentor them.
Garnish
At level 10 Gourmet Cooking, you can Garnish dishes to bump the quality up one level. This helps if it comes out Okay or Good, but if your high-level Chef is doing the cooking, they'll rarely come in use. It's good if your Chef is in a bad mood and puts out lower quality food.
Moodlets from Meals
While normal foods that are cooked to an excellent quality can provide a +1, 4h Delicious Dish Moodlet, Omelets at level 7 of Regular Cooking start giving you a +2 5h Fantastic Food Moodlet when made at excellent quality. Every dish above that can provide this when cooked to the same level of quality.
For Gourmet Cooking and excellent foods, it's possible to get this 5h Moodlet much earlier in skill progression, at level 4 with prosciutto wrapped asparagus. However, at level 7 with the lobster dishes it can transform into a +3 6 hour Epic Meal Happy Moodlet. Everything thereafter can provide this huge boost.
Regular Cooking Recipes
Costs in the recipe list are in the format of single serving/family size (4 servings)/party size (8 servings). Having Ingredients seems to improve the likelihood of an Excellent-Quality Meal, while also helping your Sim's budget by reducing the cost by 25%.
Retail Value is the price of an 'Excellent'-quality party size when sold via Get to Work's Retail Feature at 25% Markup. Thanks to Nutella on our Forum for providing this information. Restocking fees are 80% of this value, meaning Roast Chicken sells for $508 but costs $406 to restock. This means it's usually better to cook it again, rather than pay so much to restock a valuable item.
| Level | Recipe Name | Cost | Retail Value | Ingredients | Meal Type/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mac and Cheese | $4/11/14 | $62 | N/A | Lunch, Dinner |
| 1 | Chocolate Cake | $15 | $60 | N/A | N/A |
| 1 | Hamburger Cake | $25 | $80 | N/A | Up All Night DLC (Digital Deluxe Upgrade) |
| 1 | Garden Salad | $3/9/12 | $50 | Tomato | Lunch, Dinner |
| 1 | Grilled Cheese | $3/10/13 | $52 | N/A | Lunch, Dinner |
| 1 | White Cake | $15 | $58 | N/A | N/A |
| 1 | Scrambled Eggs | $3/8/10 | $45 | Tomato | Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch |
| 1 | Franks and Beans | $15 | $0 | Onion | Requires Outdoor Retreat. Lunch, Dinner, May be grilled outdoors |
| 2 | BLT | $4/12/16 | $68 | Tomato | Brunch, Lunch |
| 2 | Fish Tacos | $5/14/18 | $72 | Any Fish, Any Vegetable | Lunch, Dinner |
| 2 | Eggs and Toast | $4/13/17 | $70 | N/A | Breakfast, Brunch |
| 2 | Chips and Salsa | $5/14/19 | $75 | Tomato, Onion | N/A |
| 2 | High Energy Protein Plate | $8/23/30 | $102 | N/A | Must be Energized. Makes Sims Energized |
| 3 | Pan Fried Tilapia | $6/17/22 | $90 | Tilapia | Dinner |
| 3 | Chocolate Chip Cookies | $21 | $88 | N/A | N/A |
| 3 | Taco Casserole | $43 | $188 | N/A | Dinner |
| 3 | Pancakes | $5/15/20 | $85 | Any Fruit | Breakfast, Brunch |
| 3 | Silly Gummy Bear Pancakes | $7/20/28 | $105 | N/A | Must be Playful. Makes Sims Playful |
| 3 | Flirty Heart Cookies | $23 | $92 | N/A | Must be Flirty. Makes Sims Flirty |
| 3 | Fried Fish | $20 | $0 | Any Fish | Requires Outdoor Retreat. Dinner, May be grilled |
| 4 | Black and White Cookies | $24 | $105 | N/A | Up All Night DLC (Digital Deluxe Upgrade) |
| 4 | Spaghetti | $6/19/25 | $108 | Tomato, Onion, Mushroom | Dinner |
| 4 | Angry Flaming Spaghetti | $10/28/36 | $135 | Tomato, Onion, Mushroom | Must be Angry. Makes Sims Angry |
| 4 | Strawberry Cake | $15 | $82 | N/A | N/A |
| 5 | Fish and Chips | $8/24/31 | $135 | Any Fish, Potato | Dinner |
| 5 | French Toast | $8/26/34 | $145 | Any Fruit | Breakfast, Brunch |
| 5 | Signature Cake | $25 | $120 | N/A | Requires Level 6 Culinary Career, Chef Branch |
| 5 | Breakfast Scramble | $32 | $0 | Potato, Onion, Any Mushroom | Requires Outdoor Retreat. Breakfast, May be grilled |
| 6 | Chili | $10/28/36 | $170 | Tomato, Onion | Lunch, Dinner |
| 6 | Blue Confetti Cake | $15 | $120 | N/A | N/A |
| 6 | Camper's Stew | $34 | $0 | Carrot, Potato, Any Mushroom | Requires Outdoor Retreat | . Lunch, Dinner, May be grilled
| 7 | Omelet | $10/29/39 | $210 | Spinach, Mushroom, Onion | Breakfast, Brunch |
| 7 | Blackened Bass | $10/34/40 | $120 | Bass | Dinner |
| 7 | Fruit Cobbler | $37 | $0 | Any Fruit | Requires Outdoor Retreat, May be grilled |
| 8 | Apple Pie | $45 | $270 | Apple | N/A |
| 8 | Gumbo | $47 | $0 | Onion, Any Crawdad, Any Insect | Requires Outdoor Retreat. Lunch, Dinner, May be grilled |
| 9 | Chicken Stir Fry | $14/41/55 | $362 | Onion, Mushroom | Dinner |
| 9 | Cioppino | $50 | $350 | Any Fish, Tomato | Dinner |
| 9 | Walleye Surprise | $56 | $0 | Walleye, Huckleberry, Locust | Requires Outdoor Retreat. Dinner, May be grilled |
| 10 | Tuna Casserole | $16/46/60 | $508 | Any Vegetable | Dinner |
| 10 | Roast Chicken | $63 | $508 | Carrot, Potato | Dinner |
The Cupcake Factory
Both Outdoor Grills and the Cupcake Factory will let your Sim showcase their Culinary prowess through alternative means. The following are unlocked as you level the Cooking Skill. None of these require any Ingredients. All Cupcakes are $0, but the machine itself is $1200, so it takes some time to pay off if feeding your Sims with it. You can offset this with the Sell to Local Bakery interaction, which lets you make a profit off your baked/cooked cupcakes and actually earn money with cooking without going into Retail.
Simolean values listed are cost to make/Retail value when sold with the Get to Work Expansion. As previously noted, it's better to cook items again than restock them, because there is an 80% restocking fee - meaning to restock steak it is $96, as opposed to $37 to grill a new one.
The Outdoor Retreat Game Pack (OR) adds some recipes, which may be grilled, listed in the table above. The grill-exclusive recipes are listed here. I'll likely reformat this table in the future when there are more recipes and data organization is more important:
| Level | Outdoor Grill | Cupcake Factory |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamburger ($17/$62), Hot Dogs ($13/$62), Tofu Dogs ($15/$62), Veggie Burger ($18/$62), Grilled Fruits (OR, $14/$0) | Classic Vanilla ($0/$12) |
| 2 | Baked Potato (OR, $12) | Minty Mocha ($0/$18) |
| 3 | Grilled Chicken ($19/$82) | Carrot Cake ($0/$26) |
| 4 | Shish Kababs (OR, $27) | Butterscotchman ($0/$51) |
| 5 | Salmon ($25/$120) | Strawberry Fizzy ($0/$82) |
| 6 | Red Velvet ($0/$126) | |
| 7 | Steak ($37/$202) | Super Chocolate Tummers Bomb ($0/$142) |
| 8 | The Baconing ($0/$331) |
Gourmet Cooking Recipes
Ambrosia
Ambrosia is the main dish that gives Sims something special for their cooking efforts. Everything else gives a basic Moodlet that doesn't do much. The process of Cooking Ambrosia requires your Sim to hit level 10 Gourmet Cooking, but also to gather special items. Ambrosia has its own page as a result, in order to help you collect the Angelfish, Death Flower, and Potion of Youth that are required for the recipe.
Costs in the recipe list are in the format of single serving/family size (4 servings)/party size (8 servings). Having Ingredients is only required in the case of Ambrosia. Any other time, it seems to improve the likelihood of an Excellent-Quality Meal, while also helping your Sim's budget by reducing the cost by 25%.
Retail Value is the price of an 'Excellent'-quality party size when sold via Get to Work's Retail Feature at 25% Markup. Thanks to Nutella on our Forum for providing this information. Restocking fees are 80% of this value, meaning Lobster Thermidor sells for $328 but restocks at $272. This means it's usually better to cook it again, rather than pay so much to restock a valuable item.
| Level | Recipe Name | Cost | Retail Value | Ingredients | Meal Type/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garlic Noodles | $4/12/16 | $80 | N/A | Lunch, Dinner |
| 1 | Fruit & Yogurt Parfait | $5/14/18 | $85 | Any Fruit | Breakfast |
| 1 | Pasta Primavera | $4/12/15 | $78 | Any Vegetable, Any Herb | Dinner |
| 1 | Caprese Salad | $4/13/17 | $82 | Tomato, Basil | Brunch, Lunch, Dinner |
| 1 | Black & White Cake | $25 | $100 | N/A | N/A |
| 1 | White & Black Cake | $25 | $100 | N/A | Up All Night DLC (Digital Deluxe Upgrade) |
| 2 | Butternut Gnocchi | $6/18/23 | $72 | Any Herb | Dinner |
| 2 | Chicken Saltimbocca | $5/16/21 | $102 | Lemon, Spinach | Dinner |
| 3 | Herb-Crusted Salmon | $7/22/29 | $135 | Any Herb, Salmon | Dinner |
| 3 | Spinach Frittata | $7/20/27 | $82 | Spinach | Breakfast, Brunch |
| 3 | Salt & Pepper Shrimp Cocktail | $25 | $120 | N/A | Up All Night DLC (Digital Deluxe Upgrade) |
| 4 | Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus | $8/24/32 | $152 | Any Herb | N/A |
| 5 | Tiered Cake | $25 | $100 | N/A | N/A |
| 5 | SimCity Cheesecake | $37 | $212 | Any Fruit | N/A |
| 6 | Rack of Lamb | $42 | $255 | Carrot, Potato, Any Herb | Dinner |
| 7 | Lobster Tortellini | $12/37/48 | $328 | Tomato, Any Herb | Dinner |
| 7 | Lobster Thermidor | $12/37/49 | $340 | Lemon, Any Herb | Dinner |
| 8 | Monte Cristo Sandwich | $14/41/55 | $438 | Any Fruit | Lunch |
| 9 | Trout Meuniere | $19/59/78 | $650 | Trout, Lemon, Parsley | Dinner |
| 10 | Baked Alaska | $25/75/100 | $878 | Any Fruit | N/A |
| 10 | Ambrosia | $0 | $7801 | Angelfish, Death Flower, Potion of Youth | Brings Ghosts Back to Life |
Acting | Archaeology | Baking | Charisma | Comedy | Cooking | Dancing | DJ Mixing | Fabrication |; Fishing | Fitness | Flower Arranging | Gardening | Gourmet Cooking | Guitar | Handiness | Herbalism | Juice Fizzing | Logic | Media Production | Mischief | Mixology | Painting | Parenting | Photography | Piano | Programming | Robotics | Rock Climbing | Rocket Science | Singing | Skiing | Snowboarding | Vampire Lore | Veterinarian | Video Gaming | Violin | Wellness | Writing
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The Sims 4 Seasons expansion now has options! Want to disable weather or make plants in season year-round? You can do so with my new Seasons Tuner Mod
The past month, I've spent every day tinkering The Sims 4, making quality of life improvements, gameplay changes, and new difficulty settings for the game. If you'd like to learn more about my project, visit the post on Patreon where you can download it now.
Cottage Living Guide! Here is my guide to new features in the Sims 4 Cottage Living Expansion
You can also find handy Cottage Living Cheats
I have much more to come, since you can actually write a few guides about this pack!
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Snowy Escape Cheats
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Rock Climbing
Skiing Skill
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Nifty Knitting is now available. Learn all about the stuff pack on my guide page here.
NEW - Nifty Knitting CheatsNew features in the Sims 4 June 2020
The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle Guide
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Updated
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This is inspired by a new series in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to the full playlist!
I now have a guide page to Tiny Living Stuff where you can learn about Murphy Beds, the new death, as well as the lot bonuses you'll receive if you manage to keep the size of your lot down with this new pack's Tiny Home Lot Type.
New I now have a guide to Making Super Sims in The Sims 4. Look for a text version within the next 72h. It won't have THAT much more info but it will help out as a checklist.
This was inspired by a series, "Let's Play a Super Sim" in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to each part for people who are interested. You can also see the Let's Play as a Playlist on Youtube.
The Sims 4 Discover University has been announced for November 15 for PC/Mac and December 17 for Xbox and Playstation 4 consoles. Click to learn more about the pack, see my summary of the livestream or read our FAQs below.
Other Guides to Discover University:
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New: Discover University FAQ: Gameplay Features
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