We’ll admit it, we’ve drooled over videogame food before. I mean come on, have you seen how tasty Skyrim’s sweet rolls look? There are loads of tasty food games out there, and the holidays are all about enjoying good food! Alas, you can’t eat pixels. Not unless you pick up a gaming cookbook that is!
If you know a video-game fan in your life who also enjoys earning achievements in the kitchen, then consider buying them a gaming cookbook this holiday season. Not only will it improve their culinary skills, it’ll probably let you enjoy the fruits of their work as well! Sneaky. Read on for our video game cookbooks holiday gift guide 2023. Be warned: you may start salivating.
(Want to give their gaming setup a boost too? Check out the best-selling HyperX gear to gift this year!)
Video game cookbooks - holiday gift guide
You'll find loads of different video game cookbooks below inspired by different series and featuring foods from cuisines all across the globe. We recommend looking for the ones tied to the games you know that your intended gift recipient has been playing. To that end, we've included cookbooks based on games released this year where possible. We've also tried to ensure that they're widely available, so check major online retailers if you want to grab a copy.
Diablo: The Official Cookbook
© Blizzard, Andy Lunique, Rick Barba
If Diablo 4 and the war against Lilith has been gobbling up your giftee's time this year, then there's no better video game cookbook to go for than Diablo: The Official Cookbook. They'll find plenty of devlishly good recipes within, each coming alongside a short narrative excerpt from the in-world author. The ideal cookbook to turn their kitchen into a Sanctuary.
God of War: The Official Cookbook
© Santa Monica, Victoria Rosenthal, RIck Barba
If you want an excuse to feast like a Norse god, then consider buying the Kratos fan you know God of War: The Official Cookbook. Working through its pages, they'll fill your table with enough hearty breads and meats to sate even the big man Thor himself. God of War Ragnarok has a new roguelike-inspired mode this holiday season, so let that serve as their inspiration to serve you some tasty treats.
The Elder Scrolls: The Official Cookbook
© Bethesda, Chelsea Monroe-Cassel
We started off with sweet rolls, so let’s get straight back to them with the official cookbook for the The Elder Scrolls series. There’s no better way to explore the countries of Tamriel than with your stomach, and this cookbook offers dishes from several different entries in the Elder Scrolls catalog. Food may not have looked pretty in the muddy the graphics of the older games, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t be delicious when following these instructions!
Fallout: The Vault Dweller's Official Cookbook
© Bethesda, Victoria Rosenthal
We’re not sure that an irradiated wasteland offers quite as many tempting food opportunities as a fantasy land filled with cakes, magic potions and more, but hey, we’re not going to judge. If you know someone who prefers mutants to mudcrabs, this might be the perfect alternate present.
Minecraft: Gather, Cook, Eat!
© Microsoft, Tara Theoharis
Trying to convince a young mind to craft things in the kitchen? Minecraft: Gather, Cook, Eat! An Official Cookbook, newly released this year, may be your greatest ally. The 40+ dishes inside this official cookbook include game-themed creations with fun recipes that create food and drink resembling in-game items or crafted into appropriately blocky shapes. Just make sure you're on hand to assist as needed (especially when it comes to eating afterwards).
Assassin's Creed: The Culinary Codex
© Ubisoft, Thibaud Villanova
This one's for the dedicated Assassin's Creed fans. Released in 2022, this video game cookbook doesn't include recipes from the most recent three games (Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla). But if you're buying for someone who has been enjoying the series since the start, it's a fantastic holiday gift idea. With recipes inspired by the Italian Renaissance, the French Revolution, and Victorian London, your gift recipient will be encouraged to stretch their cooking capabilities and try novel (yet historic) ideas.
Destiny: The Official Cookbook
© Bungie
At first glance, Destiny's sci-fi shootouts and intense raids seem like an odd fit for a cookbook. But given we've been baking goods in-game for yearly special events for a while now, we're kind of down with this classy take on the universe. The cookbook includes fun adaptations of in-game ideas, including some seriously tasty-looking cocktails. Plus, you can finally enjoy Cayde's Spicy Ramen by making your own!
Overwatch: The Official Cookbook
© Blizzard, Chelsea Monroe-Cassel
Overwatch 2 doesn't yet have it's own cookbook -- they're still busy recovering from the bumpy launch. But thankfully the original game provided plenty of inspiration. The Overwatch 2 fanatic in your life can now try their hand at cooking up ramen even Hanzo would be proud of by picking up the game’s official cookbook. Thanks to the country-hopping nature of the game, it makes for a truly international feast with German, Korean, Japanese meals and more.
Alternatively, if Hearthstone is more their thing, consider buying the Hearthstone: Innkeeper’s Tavern Cookbook for some hearty dishes and drinks. Warcraft still ruling their life? Get them off the servers and into the kitchen with the World of Warcraft: New Flavors of Azeroth: The Official Cookbook.
Heroes' Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook
© Kyle Newman
In our opinion, there's little point to all that adventuring and monster slaying if you can't follow it up with a hearty feast afterwards. Thankfully, that's where this official D&D cookbook comes in. It features 80 recipes inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons World, serving up both meaty platters and meady beverages to enjoy as a group when you're ready to take a break from the roleplaying table.
The Witcher Official Cookbook
© Anita Sarna, Karolina Krupecka
The world of The Witcher is rarely a happy place, but if this cookbook is anything to go by, it certainly knows how to keep its people fed. This cookbook features recipes inspired by famous locales from throughout the continent, with plenty of variation. It's probably the closest you can come to sharing a feast with Geralt of Rivia himself.
Tomb Raider: The Official Cookbook and Travel Guide
© Tara Theoharis, Sebastian Haley, Megan Marie
Lara Croft takes being a worldly person to the extreme, having travelled to pretty much every corner of the planet in search of rare artifacts and treasures. As such, it's no surprise that she's eaten a lot of good food along the way. This fascinating combo of cookbook and travel guide takes you through the locales and cuisines of many of Lara's famous outings. This cookbook complements the steps required to create international cuisine with a dash of cultural history and a healthy pinch of color photography. Learning while you eat like Lara? Sign us up!
(Shopping on a budget? We've got an affordable gaming gifts list available here!)
The Pokemon Cookbook: Easy & Fun Recipes
© The Pokemon Company, Maki Kudo
If you know a geek who likes making food that looks adorable, the Pokemon Cookbook is a great purchase, filled with recipes designed to replicate the popular critters while also tasting mighty good. One point of warning is that if you buy this video game cookbook for children, they may need helping following the more complicated recipes through. Either way, the results should speak for themselves. They’ll probably taste great too, if you can bring yourself to eat them!
The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Cookbook: The Essential Culinarian Guide to Hydaelyn
© Square Enix, Victoria Rosenthal
Long-running MMORPG Final Fantasy 14 continues to grow, and you likely will too after enjoying more than a few of the delectable dishes within this official cookbook! In addition to recipes introduced via in-universe conversations, this video game cookbook sprinkles in special insights from game director Naoki Yoshida. Make sure to try the Chocobo cake!
The Official Halo Cookbook
© Microsoft, Victoria Rosenthal
We'll be honest, we're not entirely sure how Halo's military sci-fi setting has inspired a cookbook. But if you know a Master Chief stan who wants to learn how to cook a mean burger or mix a drink or two, The Official Halo Cookbook will keep their bellies full during each mission. And hey, Master Chief is only one letter different from Master Chef. That's a real culinary rank, right?
Those are our picks of great gaming cookbooks to buy as a gift this holiday season. Know of any more? Let us know in the comments below! We’re always after new recipes. For more holiday gift guides, click here to see our hub page!
