A dedicated Stardew Valley fan is recreating every recipe in the game and using TikTok to share the real-life recipes with other fans.
Ali, aka thaqueenofsauce (opens in new tab) on TikTok, has already recreated around 30 of the recipes found in the farming simulation game – with another 50 or so to go. Not only does Ali demonstrate exactly how to recreate these recipes step-by-step through the video-sharing app, she also shares the full recipe on her Instagram page (opens in new tab).
We got the chance to speak to Ali about her Stardew Valley series which has garnered 88.3K followers and 609.2K likes on TikTok so far.
Taking 80 dishes, some of which are entirely fictional, and making them not only look as pleasing as they do in Stardew Valley but also taste as good as we imagine, isn’t an easy task. Luckily Ali enjoys the challenge, as she tells GamesRadar: “It’s exciting to take a recipe from the game that uses made-up ingredients, or ingredients that wouldn’t go good together, and think up creative ways to make them actually work in a dish that a real person would want to eat.”
Ali has recreated too many recipes for us to list them all, however, our personal favorites are the three-tier chocolate cake (opens in new tab), Stardrop Saloon spaghetti (opens in new tab), and Lucky Lunch Quesadillas (opens in new tab). As for Ali’s recipe of choice, the TikTok star says that the Maple Bars (opens in new tab) she baked were her favorite due to them looking “really similar to the artwork in the game.”
If you’re wondering which recipe was the trickiest to recreate, Ali has also revealed that she had to alter her recipe for Strange Buns (opens in new tab) as “in the game, they are made with periwinkle […] and void mayonnaise” and considering void mayonnaise isn’t a real ingredient, presents some issues. However, she does also say she plans to re-imagine her Strange Buns recipe by Halloween so that it has a much sweeter taste.
Fans of Ali’s content have a lot to look forward to. Not only is Ali planning to see the series through to the end, but she has also told us that if she decides to keep the TikTok account going after finishing the Stardew Valley recipes that she will “probably just pick random food from video games/pop culture and recreate it.”
As for why Ali chose to recreate recipes from Stardew Valley and not another game with a cooking mechanic, she simply explains that she’s been a fan of the game since 2017 and after starting a new save file in 2020, she got the idea to start creating the game’s comfort food in real life. She adds: “I never really considered trying [this] with another game.”
With so many other popular games featuring cooking mini-games – including fellow cosy game Animal Crossing: New Horizons which is getting its own farming/cooking element in its next update – we can’t wait to see what Ali cooks up next.
Looking for a new cosy game to play this Autumn? Take a look at our games like Stardew Valley list.