EA’s October 27, 2026 update for The Sims 4 expands the Family Recipes feature from Businesses & Hobbies. It adds over 375 existing dishes, many of them cultural, to the pool of valid base recipes across the base game and all packs. EA has not published a full list or an exact count, and a small handful of items, such as graham crackers, did not make the cut. You still create a family recipe by choosing a base dish, a secret ingredient and a Special Touch, and you need Businesses & Hobbies installed. The update is free, and the PC version is 1.129.39.1030.
Summary: The Sims 4 Family Recipes (375+)
- Update: the free October 27, 2026 patch, PC 1.129.39.1030, Mac 1.129.39.1230 and console 2.40.
- Change: over 375 existing dishes join the pool of valid base recipes.
- Count: EA says “over 375,” so there is no official list of exactly 375.
- Requirement: The Sims 4: Businesses & Hobbies.
- How it works: pick a base recipe, a secret ingredient and a Special Touch, then name it.
- Passing down: use the Teach Family Recipe interaction, and read the older rules on who can learn.
- Also new: food price and calorie tuning, a leftovers preference and a fridge menu change.
What the October 27 Update Changed for Family Recipes
Family Recipes arrived with Businesses & Hobbies in March 2025. The feature lets a Sim invent a signature dish, give it a meal effect and teach it to relatives. Until now, you could only build a recipe from a limited set of base dishes.
The October 27 update, called Order Up! The Next Quality of Life Update, changes that. EA says it added over 375 pre-existing dishes to the valid recipe pool, across the base game and all packs. In practice, you can now start a family recipe from far more of the meals your Sims already cook. Many are cultural dishes, so your family tradition can match the food your Sims actually eat.
The update is part of a food, dining and drinks theme. You can read EA’s own words in the official Sims 4 update notes for October 27, 2026. Because the notes describe a pool, you do not receive 375 finished recipes. Instead, you choose which dishes become your family’s signature meals.
Is It Exactly 375 Recipes?
No, and the keyword number is a rounding of EA’s wording. EA writes that it added over 375 pre-existing dishes, and its summary says 375+. The studio does not give an exact count, and it has not released a list.
Here is what is confirmed and what is not.
| Question | Status |
|---|---|
| Over 375 dishes added to the recipe pool | Confirmed by EA |
| An exact number | Not published |
| A full dish list | Not published |
| Dishes left out | “A small handful,” including graham crackers |
| Recipes unlocked automatically | No, the pool expands the base dishes you can choose |
One outlet says cookies were excluded, while EA names graham crackers as its example. We use EA’s wording. Because no list exists, avoid guides that claim to show all 375 dishes, since nobody outside EA can verify them. The best way to check is to open the base recipe menu in your game and scroll.
Requirements and Update Details
You need the expansion pack to use the feature. EA identifies the expanded Family Recipes as a Businesses & Hobbies feature, and a cookbook from the Home Chef Hustle Stuff Pack also offers the same menu, according to a creator who tested it.
| Detail | Status |
|---|---|
| Update date | October 27, 2026 |
| Posted by EA | 10:00 AM PDT (1:00 PM ET) |
| PC version | 1.129.39.1030 |
| Mac version | 1.129.39.1230 |
| Console version | 2.40 |
| Cost | Free |
| Pack required | The Sims 4: Businesses & Hobbies |
| Bug fixes | Over 150, including 25+ for Dine Out |
One source says the feature came from the Home Chef Hustle Stuff Pack, but EA’s own notes say Businesses & Hobbies, so trust the studio. For another game’s October 22 update, see our Cyberpunk 2077 Welcome to Paradise walkthrough.
How to Make a Family Recipe
The creation steps come from Businesses & Hobbies guides published after its 2025 launch. EA’s October notes do not change them, so they are the current method as far as we can tell.
- Pick a cooking object. Use a fridge, an oven, or the Grammy’s Family Recipes cookbook object from the pack.
- Open the Family Recipes menu. Choose Create a Family Recipe.
- Choose a base recipe. This is the dish that defines your recipe, and the October update widens the choices.
- Add a secret ingredient. Guides say fresh ingredients from your inventory are highlighted, and using your own ingredients lowers the cost.
- Select a Special Touch. This is the meal effect.
- Name the recipe and confirm. Then prepare it from the Family Recipes menu.
Teen Sims and older can create a family recipe, according to older guides. A Sim must be able to practice the Cooking skill. Cooking the recipe for the first time makes it available in the Family Recipes list, and you find all your recipes in the Sim’s Notebook under the Recipes panel.
Secret Ingredients and Special Touches
Every family recipe has three parts, and each one changes the result.
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Base recipe | Defines the dish and is the part the update expands |
| Secret ingredient | Makes the recipe distinctive and can come from your inventory |
| Special Touch | Adds a gameplay effect for whoever eats the meal |
A community wiki says Sims can choose from 11 meal effects. Older guides also say that you can only use each Special Touch once, and that using one again replaces the earlier recipe. Destructoid’s launch guide put the maximum at 10 family recipes for that reason. EA has not mentioned that limit in the October notes, so check it in your game.
Special Touches unlock through life experiences. One creator’s post says a touch can be added after your Sim goes through something like beating a sickness or graduating from school. The same sources say children can unlock touches as soon as they age up, even though only teens and older can create the recipes.
How to Pass Down and Teach Family Recipes
Passing a recipe on uses the Teach interaction. Open the fridge, the stove or the Grammy’s recipe object, choose Family Recipes, and then pick Teach Family Recipe. Select an eligible Sim.
The eligibility rules vary by source. Sims Community’s launch guide says that the recipient must be a family member who is old enough to cook. Gamerant’s guide says teaching works within the household, so relatives outside your household cannot learn it until they join. Because the sources disagree, treat the household rule as the safe assumption.
Here is a practical way to hand down a dish:
- Create the recipe early. A teen can make one, and the Sim can teach it as they age.
- Move the family into one household. This avoids the household restriction.
- Teach it to each cooking-age relative. Use the Teach interaction.
- Check the Notebook. Both created and taught recipes show up in the Recipes panel.
Because a child Sim can add a new secret ingredient to an inherited recipe, according to a pack preview, each generation can change the dish. That preview is older marketing text, so confirm in game.
Is There a Secret Heirloom Dishes List?
No. EA does not use the term secret heirloom dishes, and no official list of heirloom or secret dishes exists. The phrase seems to describe the secret ingredient part of the feature. Any page that claims to list secret heirloom dishes is describing its own examples.
What you can do is build your own. Pick a base dish that fits your Sim’s culture, add a secret ingredient and name it after the family. That is the intended way to create an heirloom.
Other Food Changes in the October 27 Update
Family Recipes are one of several food changes. EA lists these:
- Pricing and calories: a tuning pass across all food and drink items in the base game and all packs, so prices and calories are more consistent.
- Leftovers: hungry Sims now prefer eating leftovers from the fridge or counter instead of cooking from scratch.
- Fridge menu: the Open interaction moves to the front of the pie menu.
- Quickly Decorate: baked goods from the Baking skill get a quick decorate interaction when they sit away from the counter’s center (Get to Work).
- Dine Out: more than 25 fixes, including Sims staying seated and customers no longer leaving tables to jog or dig in the trash.
- Muscle and weight toggles: new options in Game Options and on individual Sims.
Because the calorie and price tuning affects every dish, a recipe you cooked before the update may cost a different amount now. Check the price before you sell it from a food business.
Tips and Common Mistakes
- Expecting 375 finished recipes. The update adds base dishes you can choose from.
- Trusting an exact list. EA has not published one.
- Skipping the expansion. Businesses & Hobbies is required.
- Reusing a Special Touch. Older guides say it replaces the earlier recipe.
- Teaching outside the household. Older guides say it does not work.
- Forgetting the update. Install version 1.129.39.1030 on PC.
Conclusion
The Sims 4 Family Recipes all 375 idea comes down to EA’s wording: over 375 existing dishes now join the pool of base recipes. Install the free October 27 update, own Businesses & Hobbies and create recipes from a fridge or the Grammy’s cookbook. Teach them within your household, and check your game for the exact dish list.
FAQs
How many Family Recipes were added to The Sims 4?
EA says it added over 375 pre-existing dishes to the valid recipe pool. It has not published an exact number.
Do I need Businesses & Hobbies?
Yes. EA identifies expanded Family Recipes as a Businesses & Hobbies feature.
How do I make a family recipe?
Use a fridge, oven or the Grammy’s cookbook, choose Create a Family Recipe, then pick a base recipe, a secret ingredient and a Special Touch.
How do I pass down a family recipe?
Choose Family Recipes, then Teach Family Recipe, and select an eligible Sim in your household.
Is there a full list of all 375 dishes?
No. EA has not published a list, and it says a small handful of dishes were left out.
When was the update released?
EA released the free update on October 27, 2026, with PC version 1.129.39.1030.
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