Guide has been updated for Stardew Valley version 1.6. More details in the .:: Changelog ::. section of this guide.

This is a reference guide for getting the Gourmet Chef achievement in Stardew Valley. The guide is organized by seasons to help you collect the right number of every ingredient needed in a timely manner.

Please note that some ingredients are only sold after the first in-game year at Pierre's.

Some items in this guide can be found in multiple seasons, but I will only have the ingredient in one table here (i.e., for the first season the ingredient can be found, starting from spring). If they can be found in other seasons, there will be a note in the column "Other Notes".

Get access to the bus via the Community Center bundles or JojaMart payments, as some ingredients' seeds are purchased from Sandy in the desert.

You need access to Ginger Island. On Ginger Island, you will need to unlock access to the Ginger Island Resort and Island Trader, as well as get to the fifth floor of the volcano dungeon.

Please note that apricots, apples, bananas, and mangos are ingredients grown from fruit trees, which take 28 days to grow. So, you should plant those before the season they're harvested. Note that trees do not grow in winter. You can plant them and harvest the fruits any time of year if you use your Greenhouse.

Access to the Secret Woods (top left of Cindersap Forest). You'll need at least a Steel Axe in order to break the log blocking the entrance.

Get your farming to level 6 so you can craft a Mayonnaise Machine and a Cheese Press. You'll need a Steel Axe (or better) to get the Hardwood to make the Cheese Press.

Get your foraging to level 3 so you can craft a Tapper.

You'll need a barn and coop for milk and eggs. You need a cow, a normal chicken, and a void chicken.

It might be easier if you buy a Fish Pond building from Robin in order to harvest "Squid Ink" later. Otherwise, you'll need to reach at least level 80 of the mines.

It'll be easier to fish for a Sea Cucumber by leveling up your fishing and acquiring an Iridium Rod.

There are 81 recipes you need unlocked.

Watch "The Queen of Sauce" cooking channel on tv every Sunday for a new recipe, or on Wednesdays for reruns. The show cycles recipes every two years. However, as of update 1.6 you can now purchase the "Queen of Sauce Cookbook" from the Bookseller for 50,000g to unlock all recipes from the show (to be able to buy the book you need to first collect 100 Golden Walnuts on Ginger Island).

Also purchase the following:

• All the recipes from the Stardrop Saloon in town
  
• Ginger Ale recipe from the fifth floor of the Ginger Island volcano dungeon (1,000g)
  
• Banana Pudding recipe from the Ginger Island Island Trader (30 bone fragments)
  
• Tropical Curry recipe from Gus after gaining access to the Ginger Island Resort (2,000g)

Acquire the following skill levels:

• Farming 3
  
• Foraging 3
  
• Fishing 9
  
• Mining 3
  
• Combat 9

Befriend the following to the listed heart level, and view their cutscenes/read their letters for recipes:

• Caroline 7
  
• Clint 7
  
• Demetrius 7
  
• Emily 7
  
• Evelyn 7
  
• George 7
  
• Gus 7
  
• Jodi 7
  
• Kent 7 (he does not show up until year 2 spring)
  
• Leo 7 (you can only meet him after you gain access to Ginger Island)
  
• Lewis 7
  
• Linus 7
  
• Marnie 7
  
• Pam 7
  
• Pierre 3
  
• Robin 7
  
• Sandy 7 (must fix the bus stop to visit the desert)
  
• Shane 7
  
• Willy 9

The most recent game update that added any recipes or ingredients was Stardew Valley update 1.6, which was released March 19, 2024. If you saw that this guide was updated but the changes were not listed in this section, then they were just very minor edits for appearance.

Added notes to Red Cabbage, Artichoke, and Garlic that seeds can possibly be found at the Traveling Cart in year 1.

Fixed the price of the Queen of Sauce Cookbook in the ".:: Before You Begin ::." section.

Increased foraging level requirement from 2 to 3, and added alternative method via the Bookseller, added in update 1.6 for unlocking missed recipes in section ".:: Before You Begin ::."

Stardew Valley update 1.6 was released March 19, 2024.

Just one new recipe for Moss Soup. Total of 81 recipes now. (Previously there were 80 recipes, since update 1.5.)
Ingredient change to guide: +20 Moss

You can get these items during any season via your barn/coop.

These items can be purchased around town in any season:

• Pierre's store is open every day from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM except Wednesday, where it is closed.
  
• The Saloon is open every day from 12PM to 12AM.
  
• You can also buy some of these items from JojaMart but for a higher price.

These are items that are produced via a Tapper on a tree (i.e., Maple, Pine, Oak). Works every season.

You're almost done! It's time to gather all your ingredients!

Now there a mini-fridges in the game! You can put all your ingredients inside them and place them anywhere inside your home, and still be able to access all the ingredients from your kitchen stove! (Previously you only had the one fridge and had to cook recipes with only the fridge slots and your inventory slots, so we had to deal with chests for storage.) You can purchase mini-fridges from Robin for 3,000g each (after having upgraded your home, which you already did to get the kitchen). I highly recommend you do so. They have 36 slots of storage each.

It's finally time to cook everything. But there are three things you should do first:

1. I recommend you save the game and start from a new day before you begin cooking everything, so you can just restart the game if anything goes wrong.

2. Before you go through every dish, you will need to make these dishes first, because these dishes are ingredients needed for other dishes. The ingredients for these dishes were already factored into the numbers in the previous sections, so no need to worry about using up ingredients.


3. Now you can begin to cook almost everything - there are two recipes you should save for last, because they use the ingredient "Fish (Any)" and I'm not sure if cooking them before some other recipes will use up some fish you don't want used up yet. They are:


Annnnd voila! If you have cooked everything, saving Sashimi and Maki Roll for last, you should now have unlocked the Gourmet Chef achievement. Congratulations! :')