BotW Tough Food: Defense Recipes and Ingredients

What does Tough food do in Breath of the Wild?

Tough food boosts defense; the elixir’s description suggests drinking it before facing hard-hitting enemies. It has three levels and lasts 50 seconds per ingredient. It is the effect to eat when your armor has not caught up with the enemies yet, such as the first trip to a Lynel or Hyrule Castle.

The game says: “Grants a low-level defense boost.” The elixir’s description: “Grants a low-level toughness effect, which fortifies your bones to strengthen your defense. Best to use before facing off against hard-hitting enemies.”

Which ingredients give Tough?

Seven ingredients carry it. The strengths of the matching ingredients in one pot add up, and a total of 5 or more makes Lv2 and 7 or more Lv3; anything below 5 is Lv1. Duration adds up per piece: each effect ingredient adds 0:50, up to the 30:00 cap.

Ingredient	Type	Strength	Time each	Sells for
Armored Porgy	Fish / seafood	3	0:50	10
Armored Carp	Fish / seafood	2	0:50	10
Ironshell Crab	Fish / seafood	2	0:50	8
Ironshroom	Mushroom	2	0:50	5
Fortified Pumpkin	Plant	2	0:50	5
Armoranth	Plant	1	0:50	5
Rugged Rhino Beetle	Critter	1	0:50	4

Armored Porgy is the only ingredient with strength 3. Ironshroom, Ironshell Crab, Fortified Pumpkin and Armored Carp have 2; Armoranth and Rugged Rhino Beetle have 1. The beetle is the only critter, so it is the only way to a Tough Elixir.

What is the easiest way to cook a Tough dish?

Every row below was run through the cooking simulator built on the game’s data. “Lv” is the effect level and the time is how long it lasts.

What goes in the pot	Result	Effect	Restores
Ironshroom ×3	Mushroom Skewer	Lv2 · 2:30	3 hearts
Ironshroom ×4	Mushroom Skewer	Lv3 · 3:20	4 hearts
Fortified Pumpkin ×4	Fried Wild Greens	Lv3 · 3:20	4 hearts
Armored Porgy ×3	Fish Skewer	Lv3 · 2:30	6 hearts
Armoranth ×5	Fried Wild Greens	Lv2 · 4:10	0 hearts
Rugged Rhino Beetle ×4 + Bokoblin Horn ×1	Tough Elixir	Lv1 · 4:30	—
Ironshroom ×4 + Shard of Dinraal’s Horn ×1	Mushroom Skewer	Lv3 · 30:00	7.75 hearts

Four Ironshrooms are the easy top-level recipe; they are placed more than any other Tough ingredient. Three Armored Porgies do it in three slots and leave room for something that adds time. Armoranth alone only reaches Lv2, even five of them. A dragon horn shard takes any Tough dish to 30:00.

Where do you find Tough ingredients?

The compendium column is what the Hyrule Compendium shows for each entry. The last column counts where the map data places plants, mushrooms and fruit; fish, crabs and critters mostly appear from area spawns, so they have no count.

Ingredient	Compendium: common locations	Fixed placements in the map data
Armored Porgy	Necluda Sea, Lanayru Sea	—
Armored Carp	Lanayru Great Spring, East Necluda	—
Ironshell Crab	Necluda Sea, East Necluda	—
Ironshroom	West Necluda, East Necluda	261; most near Batrea Lake, Squabble River, Rabia Plain
Fortified Pumpkin	Kakariko Village	8; most near Kakariko Village
Armoranth	Akkala Highlands, Hyrule Ridge	103; most near Torin Wetland, Great Fairy Fountain, Wetland Stable
Rugged Rhino Beetle	Hyrule Field, Faron Grasslands	—

Ironshrooms are spread through Necluda and the Lake tower region, with clusters near Batrea Lake and Squabble River. Armored Porgies are sea fish; the compendium lists the Necluda Sea and the Lanayru Sea. Fortified Pumpkins only grow in Kakariko Village. Armoranth is most common in Akkala around Torin Wetland. If you would rather wear the defense, see all armor.

Which dishes ask for Tough ingredients by name?

Most meals in Breath of the Wild take “any mushroom” or “any fruit”, so any of them carries Tough when you use the ingredients above. The dishes below are the ones whose own recipe names one of those ingredients, such as the pumpkin dishes, Porgy Meunière and the crab dishes.

To see what your own pouch can make, open the recipe finder with Tough picked.

What should you read next?

• Recipe finder: tick what is in your pouch and see what you can cook
• All recipes: every meal and elixir with its recipe
• Best recipes: which effect to cook for, and the rupee recipes
• Hyrule Castle walkthrough: a place where a defense buff helps
• The other effects: Hearty, Energizing, Enduring, Hasty, Mighty, Chilly, Spicy, Electro, Fireproof, Sneaky