Cooking recipes in Card Survival: Tropical Island are meals you make from the meat, fish, eggs, and plants you gather on the island. Food keeps your hunger in check, so cooking is a big part of staying alive as you explore. Each recipe calls for a particular pot, container, or tool, and some only open up once you find a key ingredient or raise your Cooking skill. Knowing how those pieces fit together is the easiest way to keep your character fed.
Recipe Category
Basics
Chicken Sandwich
A sago flatbread sandwich filled with cooked bird meat and greens.
- Ingredients
- 2 Sago Flatbread; 1 Cooked Bird Meat; 1 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass)
- Cookware and Tools
- -
- Prep Time
- 15 min
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Get a Sago Flatbread card
- Yield
- -
Coconut Fish
Fish cooked with coconut milk and greens.
- Ingredients
- 1 Fish (medium fish whole or 1 cut from a large fish; small fish and fillets do not work); 0.7 Coconut Milk; 1 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass)
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 15 min
- Cooking Time
- 45 min
- Unlock
- Get a Cooking Pot card
- Yield
- -
Island Chicken
Bird meat cooked with oil and greens.
- Ingredients
- 1 Bird Meat; 0.3 Oil/Fat; 1 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass)
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 15 min
- Cooking Time
- 39 min
- Unlock
- Get a Cooking Pot card
- Yield
- -
Fried Puffballs
Puffballs fried with oil and greens.
- Ingredients
- 1 Puffballs; 0.3 Oil/Fat; 1 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass)
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 30 min
- Unlock
- Get a Puffballs card
- Yield
- -
Fish N' Chips
Fish and boiled yam cooked with oil.
- Ingredients
- 0.3 Oil/Fat; 1 Fish (medium fish whole or 1 cut from a large fish; small fish and fillets do not work); 1 Boiled Yam
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 45 min
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 20%
- Yield
- -
Macaque Skewers
Macaque meat and chillies cooked on a stick.
- Ingredients
- 1 Sticks; 1 Macaque Meat; 1 Chillies
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 27 min
- Unlock
- Get a Macaque Meat card
- Yield
- -
Lizard Fry
Lizard meat fried with oil and chillies.
- Ingredients
- 0.3 Oil/Fat; 2 Lizard Meat; 1 Chillies
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 45 min
- Cooking Time
- 27 min
- Unlock
- Get a Lizard Meat card
- Yield
- -
Sago Slime
Soft portions made from sago flour, water, and snake grass.
- Ingredients
- 2.0 Fresh Water; 4 Sago Flour; 1 Snake Grass
- Cookware and Tools
- Water-filled Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 48 min + 3 min to take out
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 20%
- Yield
- 8 Sago Slime cards
Fish Taco
A sago flatbread filled with cooked fish, greens, and chillies.
- Ingredients
- 1 Sago Flatbread; 1 Cooked Fish; 1 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass); 1 Chillies
- Cookware and Tools
- -
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Get a Sago Flatbread card
- Yield
- -
Recipe Category
Advanced
Seafood Cup
A cup of cooked seafood and urchin mixed with greens.
- Ingredients
- 0.5 Water; 2 Cooked Seafood (choose from Cooked Conch, Cooked Crab, Roasted Prawns, or Cooked Oyster); 1 Cooked Urchin; 1 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass)
- Cookware and Tools
- Water Container
- Prep Time
- 15 min
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Get an Urchin Meat card
- Yield
- -
Drunken Crab
Crab simmered with ginger and alcohol.
- Ingredients
- 4 Crab; 1 Ginger; 0.8 Alcohol (Mead or Palm Wine)
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 30 min
- Unlock
- Get an Alcohol card
- Yield
- -
Egg Fried Rice
Rice fried with eggs and oil.
- Ingredients
- 0.3 Oil/Fat; 2 Rice; 2 Egg
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 27 min
- Unlock
- Get a Cooked Rice card
- Yield
- 1 card; 2 eating uses
Sushi
Fish slices, rice, vinegar, and seaweed prepared as sushi.
- Ingredients
- 8 Fish Slices; 2 Rice; 0.1 Vinegar; 2 Seaweed
- Cookware and Tools
- Vinegar Container
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 100%
- Yield
- 2 Sushi cards
Butter Baked Oysters
Oysters baked with butter and lemongrass.
- Ingredients
- 4 Oyster Meat; 1 Butter; 1 Lemongrass
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 15 min
- Cooking Time
- 21 min
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 100%
- Yield
- 4 Butter Baked Oysters cards
Jungle Salad
A coconut-shell salad mixed with greens, toppings, and oil.
- Ingredients
- 2 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass); 2 Salad Toppings (choose from Banana, Coconut Meat, Mango, Nipa Seed, Puffballs, Roasted Tropical Almond Kernel, Roasted Coconut Meat, or Tropical Almond Kernel); 0.3 Oil
- Cookware and Tools
- Coconut Shell
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Get an Oil card
- Yield
- -
Fish Omelette
A fish and egg omelette with greens and salt.
- Ingredients
- 1 Fish (medium fish whole or 1 cut from a large fish; small fish and fillets do not work); 3 Egg; 1 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass); 1 Salt
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 27 min
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 20%
- Yield
- -
Honey Glazed Pork
Boar meat glazed with honey and cooked with oil and a side.
- Ingredients
- 0.5 Honey (in the Cooking Pot); 1 Boar Meat; 0.3 Oil/Fat; 1 Side (Boiled Yam, Puffballs, Rice, or Rice Grain)
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 2 hr
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 50%
- Yield
- -
Goat Stew
Goat meat simmered with a filler ingredient and greens.
- Ingredients
- 1.7 Fresh Water; 2 Goat Meat; 1 Filler (Boiled Yam, Rice, Rice Grain, Puffballs, or Sago Flour); 1 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass)
- Cookware and Tools
- Water-filled Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 15 min
- Cooking Time
- 2 hr
- Unlock
- Get a Goat Meat card
- Yield
- 1 card; 2 eating uses
Yam Curry
Boiled yams cooked with oil and chillies.
- Ingredients
- 0.3 Oil/Fat; 2 Boiled Yam; 1 Chillies
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 45 min
- Cooking Time
- 36 min
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 20%
- Yield
- 1 card; 2 eating uses
Hearty Feast
Mammal meat cooked with oil and eggs.
- Ingredients
- 1 Mammal Meat (Macaque Meat, Goat Meat, or Boar Meat); 0.3 Oil/Fat; 2 Egg
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 45 min
- Cooking Time
- 36 min
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 20%
- Yield
- -
Recipe Category
Sweet
Candied Ginger
Ginger simmered with sugar and salt.
- Ingredients
- 0.8 Fresh Water; 1 Ginger; 3 Sugar; 1 Salt
- Cookware and Tools
- Water-filled Cooking Pot; Cutting Tool
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 36 min + 3 min to take out
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 100%
- Yield
- 3 Candied Ginger cards
Honey Candy
Honey and sugar boiled into candy.
- Ingredients
- 0.8 Fresh Water; 0.8 Honey; 3 Sugar
- Cookware and Tools
- Water-filled Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 45 min
- Cooking Time
- 2 hr
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 50%
- Yield
- 6 Honey Candy cards
Yam Jam
Boiled yams cooked with sugar and coconut milk.
- Ingredients
- 0.3 Oil/Fat; 2 Boiled Yam; 2 Sugar; 0.5 Coconut Milk
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 36 min + 3 min to take out
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 50%
- Yield
- 1 card; 3 eating uses
Fried Bananas
Bananas fried with sago flour, oil, and sugar.
- Ingredients
- 0.3 Oil/Fat; 5 Banana; 3 Sago Flour; 1 Sugar
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 36 min + 3 min to take out
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 50%
- Yield
- 5 Fried Bananas cards
Sago Cake
A sago cake made with coconut meat, eggs, and sugar.
- Ingredients
- 1.0 Fresh Water; 4 Sago Flour; 2 Coconut Meat; 2 Egg; 2 Sugar
- Cookware and Tools
- Water-filled Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 2 hr
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 100%
- Yield
- 1 card; 3 eating uses
Recipe Category
Special
Coconut Milk
Coconut milk made by pounding coconut meat in a bowl.
- Ingredients
- 2 Coconut Meat
- Cookware and Tools
- Bowl; Hammering Tool
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 20%; instant unlock with Coconut Meat + Bowl
- Yield
- 1.0 batch; direct-drag method with 1 Coconut Meat makes 0.5
Honey
Honey made by pounding honeycomb in a bowl.
- Ingredients
- 2 Honeycomb
- Cookware and Tools
- Bowl; Hammering Tool
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Get a Honeycomb card
- Yield
- 1.0 batch; direct-drag method with 1 Honeycomb makes 0.5; 2 Beeswax by-product
Bone Broth
A broth made from bones, water, and greens.
- Ingredients
- 1.8 Fresh Water; 2 Bones; 1 Salad Greens (Banana Stem, China Rose Flowers, Lemongrass, Seaweed, or Snake Grass)
- Cookware and Tools
- Water-filled Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 15 min
- Cooking Time
- 2 hr
- Unlock
- Get a Cooking Pot card
- Yield
- 1 card; 2 eating uses
Tonic Water
A herbal drink mixed with boiled water, cinchona powder, lemongrass, and sweetener.
- Ingredients
- 3.7 Boiling Water; 0.1 Cinchona Powder; 1 Lemongrass; 0.7 Sweetener (Honey or Sugar)
- Cookware and Tools
- Clay Vase (only container large enough)
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 50%
- Yield
- -
Cheese
A dairy food made by curdling milk with rennet or vinegar.
- Ingredients
- 1 Whole Milk; 0.3 Rennet or 0.3 Vinegar; 1 Salt
- Cookware and Tools
- Coconut Shell; Small Cloth
- Prep Time
- 1 hr 15 min
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Get a Whole Milk card
- Yield
- Whey by-product
Butter
A dairy ingredient made from whole milk, sticks, and salt.
- Ingredients
- 3.3 Whole Milk; 1 Sticks; 1 Salt
- Cookware and Tools
- Clay Vase
- Prep Time
- 3 hr
- Cooking Time
- -
- Unlock
- Get a Whole Milk card
- Yield
- Skimmed Milk by-product; Butter has 3 eating uses
Protein Bar
A compact bar made from tropical almonds, bugs, coconut meat, and oil.
- Ingredients
- 2 Tropical Almond Kernels; 3 Bugs; 2 Coconut Meat; 0.3 Oil/Fat
- Cookware and Tools
- Cooking Pot
- Prep Time
- 30 min
- Cooking Time
- 51 min + 3 min to take out
- Unlock
- Cooking skill: 100%
- Yield
- 3 Protein Bar cards
How Cooking Works in Card Survival: Tropical Island
Cooking turns the ingredients you gather into finished meals. Every recipe has its own ingredient list, but many share the same building blocks, such as oil or fat, a starchy base like yam or sago, and greens. That overlap means one good find, like a coconut or a fresh catch, can end up in several different meals. Once you know which ingredients pair well, it gets much easier to plan what to cook.
Which Cookware Each Recipe Needs
Most dishes are cooked in a cooking pot, which is made from clay in a kiln, so it's worth building a kiln early. Some recipes cook in a pot filled with water instead. A few skip the pot and use a container, a coconut shell, or a bowl and hammering tool, and a couple of simple dishes need no cookware at all.
How Cooking Recipes Unlock
You don't get every recipe from the start. Each one unlocks in one of two ways: when you first get a key ingredient card, or when your Cooking skill reaches 20%, 50%, or 100%. Ingredient unlocks reward exploring, since finding cards like Sago Flatbread, Cooking Pot, Goat Meat, or Whole Milk opens new meals right away. Skill unlocks reward steady cooking, so the more you practice, the more recipes you can make. A recipe you can't cook yet isn't gone for good; it's just waiting on a card or a skill level.
Where Your Ingredients Come From and How They Keep
Meat and fish come from hunting and trapping around the island. Plants like yams, chillies, and coconuts can be grown in your garden. Oil and coconut milk both come from coconuts, so a good coconut supply covers both. Food spoils over time, so cook fresh catches before they go off, and save longer-lasting stock for when fresh finds run short.
How to Eat Well Without Upsetting Your Stomach
Eating too much coconut causes diarrhea, which makes you lose water even faster. Keeping coconut to no more than twice a day is the safe habit. Fatty, oily meals help keep your weight up, so meals made with fat or oil are worth choosing.
Best Cooking Recipes to Learn First
You don't need to master the whole set of recipes to get by. Chicken Sandwich and Fish Taco are the simplest places to start, since they need no cookware at all. Once you have a cooking pot, Island Chicken and Coconut Fish are the simplest satisfying meals, since they use few and easy ingredients. Hearty Feast and Yam Curry are the next ones to aim for once you have a steady supply of meat and yams.
FAQ
Do you need a cooking pot for every recipe?
No. Chicken Sandwich and Fish Taco need no cookware at all, and Jungle Salad is mixed in a coconut shell. Seafood Cup uses a water container, Sushi needs a vinegar container, and Coconut Milk and Honey are pounded in a bowl with a hammering tool.
Which cooking recipes cook in a pot filled with water?
Sago Slime, Goat Stew, Bone Broth, Honey Candy, Sago Cake, and Candied Ginger are all cooked this way.