The best recipes to boost XP in Starfield

You are what you eat…

Earning XP is slow in Starfield, but there’s a way to make it faster using the cooking system. Before that, however, make sure to do this first.

For an immediate +10 XP boost, all you have to do is go to sleep for one in-game hour. When you wake up, you’ll get a message saying you’re well-rested. It means your +10 XP increase is now active for 20 minutes, adding an extra 10% of XP on top of any XP you earn.

The bed on your ship is always available, so remember to use it before embarking on a mission. You will need to actually own the bed you sleep in, however. You can’t use any bed you come across because, well, it belongs to someone else and it would be weird.

The best recipes in Starfield

Don't forget to sleep in Starfield and get that well-rested buff. 

That’s just the start. You can then add another XP boost on top of that using the cooking system. You don’t need to have any special skills to do this - all it takes is a cooking station, a recipe, and the right ingredients.

Check your current active buffs by opening the menu, then hitting either the Y button or tab.

Shepherd’s Pie

Starfield's Sheperd's Pie recipe in all its glory. 

The first one is shepherd's pie. This gives you +2 XP, and lasts for 60 minutes. To cook shepherd's pie, you need the recipe. This is located on Jemison, in the underground settlement called The Well. Take the lift down, and from there, walk forwards about 50 meters. On the right you’ll find a restaurant called Kay’s House. Proceed inside and walk up the stairs. On the table to the right is the recipe for Shepherd's pie.

To make it, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• 1 potato
• 1 red meat
• 1 spice
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion

If you need to get these ingredients, a little tip is to press X while looking at the recipe. Doing so tracks all the ingredients you’ll need for it. In other words, it puts a little blue magnifying glass icon next to each ingredient, meaning that when you’re at a vendor or out in the world, you can quickly see which ingredient you need because it’ll have that same icon next to it.

Grandma’s Meatloaf

Nothing beats a slice of Starfield's Grandma's meatloaf. 

The next recipe is even better, because while shepherd's pie gives you +2XP for 60 minutes, this one doubles that, lasting 120 minutes. It’s called grandma’s meatloaf, and cooking it requires:

• 1 tomato
• 1 dairy
• 1 red meat
• 1 egg
• 1 onion

The downside to grandma’s meatloaf, however, is that it’s only available if you’ve selected the Kid Stuff trait when making your character. Doing so gives you in-game parents, who will occasionally give you gifts when you visit them. One of these is grandma’s meatloaf, a few hours into the game.

Alien Tea

The Alien Tea recipe in Starfield. 

The third recipe you can craft to receive an immediate +2XP boost is by far the easiest to make of the three. It’s called alien tea and features just two ingredients. These are:

• 6 fiber
• 1 distilled water

Now, its effects only last 15 minutes, but you can fill your inventory because it’s so cheap to make. Try slotting it onto a hotkey so you can slurp tea at the press of a button. Drink it just before you’re about to complete a quest, and when you earn the XP for it, you’ll get +2 XP on top of that.

Recipe locations in Starfield

CJ's on Jemison is a good place to stock up on ingredients if you're a Starfield chef. 

But where to find the ingredients? General stores are your best bet. On Jemison, the UC Distribution Centre, located in the commercial district, stocks key cooking components such as water, fiber, spice, and membrane. This is found under the ‘resources’ tab.

For more natural products like onions and tomatoes, head to CJ’s. This is also in the commercial district on Jemison. All food is found under the ‘aid’ tab, and again, if you’ve tracked what you’re looking for, all you have to do is buy whatever has a small blue magnifying glass icon next to it.

Cooking Stations

Here's a look at a ship's Cooking Station in Starfield, so you know what to look out for. 

In terms of cooking stations, there are two located in the Lodge. One upstairs by the bar, and one downstairs in the concrete bunker. If you’d prefer one a little closer to home, most ships are outfitted with a cooking station. These are called ‘galleys’, and as they don’t look like conventional cooking stations, they’re really easy to miss.

Instead, galleys resemble a mini, built-in kitchen with a small sink and a work surface. They do function exactly like cooking stations, though. To interact with it, look at the space to the left of your sink. You should get an X prompt to ‘use’. Hit X and you’ll start cooking. If you don’t have a ship with a galley, you can always add one in the form of a HAB.

HABS are nicknames for the living quarters of astronauts, and it comes from the term 'habitat’. You can buy them from ship vendors when you’re customizing your ship. Most of them come with cooking stations, but there’s no way to tell from the menu screen, so you’ll have to bolt them onto your ship, then physically explore them yourself to find out.

For more, check out our full Starfield walkthrough.