Stardew Valley/Cooking

You can start cooking after complete the first farmhouse upgrade. In order to cook you need the recipe, which can come from different sources, and the ingredients. The monetary value of the result is usually less than the ingredients, so cooking is not a good way to increase your profits. But cooking does increase the food value of the ingredients, and many prepared dishes give you buff useful for fishing, mining, etc. Many dishes make good gifts as well.

The Queen of Sauce
The main source of recipes is watching The Queen of Sauce on your television. This airs with a new episode every Sunday for the first 2 years, and then episodes are re-run after that. Randomly selected re-runs are shown on Wednesdays.

Recipes from friendly villagers
Most of the villagers send you recipes after reaching certain levels of friendship with them. You receive the recipe in the mail overnight.

3 heart recipes

 * Caroline - Parsnip Soup
 * Clint - Algae Soup
 * Demetrius - Fried Mushroom
 * Emily - Salad
 * George - Fried Eel
 * Gus - Salmon Dinner
 * Jodi - Fried Calamari
 * Kent - Crispy Bass
 * Lewis - Spaghetti
 * Linus - Sashimi
 * Marnie - Pale Broth
 * Pam - Cheese Cauliflower
 * Pierre - Blueberry Tart
 * Shane - Pepper Poppers
 * Willy - Chowder

7 heart recipes

 * Caroline - Vegetable Stew
 * Clint - Bean Hotpot
 * Demetrius - Autumn's Bounty
 * Emily - Red Plate
 * Evelyn - Rice Pudding
 * George - Spicy Eel
 * Gus - Cranberry Sauce
 * Jodi - Ice Cream
 * Kent - Super Meal
 * Lewis - Eggplant Parmesan
 * Linus - Fish Taco
 * Marnie - Rhubarb Pie
 * Pam - Stuffing
 * Robin - Pumpkin Soup
 * Sandy - Tom Kha Soup
 * Willy - Fish Stew
 * Shane - Strange Bun

In addition, Willy sends you Escargot at 5 hearts and Lobster Bisque at 9 hearts. Evelyn gives you a recipe for Cookie in person in a cutscene that can take place after you reach 4 hearts.