You know what really makes me hungry? Watching characters chomp on the air instead of floppy ham sandwiches in the bugged role-playing game Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Okay, so, the game has its mood-killing problems. But we’re at the head of holiday season—with turkey legs and pecan pies and all other kinds of garbage waiting in the oven, practicing for our stomachs—and we’re all thinking about food a little, especially Pokémon players hoping to use Scarlet and Violet’s stats-boosting sandwiches and Meal Powers to their advantage.
But out of all the more complicated late-November questions, like how to talk to your family around a dinner table or how to spell “poinsettia” (I had to Google it), the only one I’m confident answering is how to fill all your Pokémon Scarlet and Violet recipe and ingredient needs. Your character might seemingly bypass your mayo concoction for another bite of fresh, cold Paldea air, but they’ll still reap the benefits Meal Powers have to offer, like improved item drop rates and rare Pokémon encounters. Stick with me to learn the basics of Pokémon picnicking and what a good, glitchy meal has to offer.
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Get your picnic blanket out
You can buy food throughout Paldea, but you can only make sandwiches from the comforting confines of a picnic blankie. So roll it out—prepping a table is as simple as selecting “Picnic” from your main menu while in a mellow, wide-open area of your choice (the Pokémon website notes you can only set a table up “where there’s plenty of space for your Pokémon to run around.”)
Walk up to the table and choose “Make a Sandwich,” then pick a recipe or experiment by randomly putting ingredients together. Sandwich experiments improve withco-op, which gives you a physically larger loaf to work with and heightens what Meal Powers your sandwiches bestows upon your frail Pokémon avatar.
Spread so many ingredients, but not too many
Sandwich ingredients can be bought or found throughout Paldea. Each ingredient contains magic Meal Powers that will imbue your sandwich with a passive effect, which lasts up to 30 minutes.
Sandwiches can have up to three Meal Powers, with the strongest of three creating the dominant effect, but you can only consume one meal at a time, so be picky with your food choices based on your gameplay goals.
The main Meal Powers and their benefits are:
Catching Power: enhances your ability to catch a particular type of Pokémon
Exp. Point Power: earn more Exp. Points from battling a certain Pokémon type
Egg Power: helps you find Pokémon eggs in your picnic basket
Encounter Power: boosts your chances of coming across a certain type of wild Pokémon
Humungo Power: boosts your chances of coming across a certain type of big, wild Pokémon
Teensy Power: boosts your chances of coming across a certain type of weeny, wild Pokémon
Title Power: boosts your chances of coming across a Pokémon with a title
Sparkling Power: boosts your chances of coming across a certain type of shiny Pokémon
Item Drop Power: earn more items from a certain type of wild Pokémon
Raid Power: earn more items from a type of Tera Raid Pokémon
The exhaustive Pokémon site Serebii has compiled the game’s many ingredients and associated Meal Powers, but some tempting strong ones include:
For Catching: Fried Fillet, Potato Tortilla
For Exp. Point: Cheese, Chorizo, Mustard
For Egg: Apple, Pineapple, Marmalade
For Encounter: Hamburger, Rice, Curry Powder
For Humungo: Noodles, Potato Salad, Rice
For Teensy: Curry Powder, Horseradish
For Title: Herba Mystica
For Sparkling: Herba Mystica
For Item Drop: Cream Cheese, Olive Oil
For Raid: Butter, Chili Sauce, Mayonnaise
Learn how to get more recipes
You can learn sandwich recipes from prophetic sandwich fanboys in Scarlet and Violet’s large cities, including in the starting area Mesagoza, Paldea’s largest city and therefore most-sandwich burdened capital. You can find the Mesagoza sandwich shop near the South Bridge, marked by a blurry BLT above its door. Chat with these sandwich men, who you’ll find next to the shop counter, and they’ll teach you new recipes as you progress through the game.
If you’re in a rush for buffs, though, you can buy sandwiches at these stores, too.
Have a few go-to meals for shiny hunting, invigorating stats
There are an infinite amount of sandwiches you can make, especially when you opt to go rogue and test combinations out on your own, but it’s worth keeping a few recipes in your back pocket. Also, as a general note, keep in mind that certain flavor profiles seem to have a gentle correlation to Meal Power, like salty with Catching, sweet with Egg, sour with Raid.
For Catching: Ultra Spicy-Sweet Sandwich, made by combining butter, horseradish, cheese, hamburger, avocado, tomato, kiwi, pineapple
For Exp. Point: Avocado Sandwich, made with salt, avocado, smoked fillet
For Egg: Great Sweet Sandwich, made with butter, salt, apple, banana, cheese, whipped cream
For Encounter: Egg Sandwich, made with salt, mayo, egg, cucumber
For Humungo: Great Bocadillo Sandwich, made with olive oil, pepper, cheese, bacon, potato tortilla
For Teensy: Ultra BLT, made with mayo, mustard, bacon, lettuce, tomato, basil, cheese
For Title: Master Vegetable Sandwich, made with Herba Mystica, vinegar, olive oil, salt, green bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, red onion
For Sparkling: Herba Mystica is #1—dataminers have found a few different recipes for hunting specific shinies. All involve Herba Mystica.
For Item Drop: Great Pickle Sandwich, made with olive oil, pickle, watercress
For Raid: Ultra Tofu Sandwich, made with salt, wasabi, horseradish, double tofu, rice, lettuce, avocado, watercress
Serebii has a whole deli menu’s worth of additional recipes listed on its site, too.
