Best Ingredients to Enhance Luau Soup in Stardew Valley

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The Luau is the largest summer event in Stardew Valley, and helping out with the potluck gives you a chance to earn friendship points or create some chaos. You can add your own ingredients to the soup to make a tasty, friendship-boosting dish, a disgusting mixture, or something in between.

The Luau happens on the beach every summer on the 11th, from 9 AM to 2 PM. With the right ingredients, the potluck can significantly boost your friendship levels with the residents of Pelican Town, including the single villagers. But if you bring the wrong items, you’ll only end up disappointed.

What To Add To The Stardew Valley Luau Potluck

Best Ingredients for the Soup & When to Get Them

You can arrive at the potluck anytime before 2 PM; there’s no need to be there right when it opens. Time stops when you enter, and you can’t interact with houses or shops during the event, so it’s a good idea to go and participate.

Your main goal is to contribute to the shared soup with the best ingredients possible. Generally, higher-quality and more profitable items get better reactions. Keep in mind, your profession bonuses don’t affect these responses.

After you pick your ingredient, the governor will taste the soup. Depending on what you add, the governor might give you positive or negative feedback, which affects your friendship points. To get the best response and earn 120 friendship points from everyone, add items like:

Silver Quality:
- Wine (made from Ancient Fruit, Apple, Banana, Coconut, Crystal Fruit, Mango, Melon, Orange, Peach, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Rhubarb, Starfruit, or Strawberry) or wine from the Traveling Cart
- Smoked fish varieties like Blobfish, Crimsonfish, Ice Pip, Lava Eel, Legend, Legend II, Son of Crimsonfish
- Goat Cheese, Golden Egg, Large Goat Milk, Ostrich Egg, Magma Cap, Pale Ale, Starfruit, or other uncooked, edible items
Gold/Iridium Quality:
- All of the above plus Cactus Fruit, Cherry, Cranberries, Grape, Spice Berry, Wild Plum Wine
- More advanced fish like Artichoke, Cauliflower, Fairy Rose, Melon, Pineapple, Red Cabbage, glazed yams
- Animal products such as high-quality cheese, milk, eggs, and premium artisan goods, as well as beverages like Beer, Mead, Pale Ale
- Rare fish and mushrooms like Chanterelle, Purple Mushroom, Smoked varieties, and more

Note: Cooked or inedible items are not accepted, including Life Elixir, Magic Rock Candy, Piña Colada, and Oil of Garlic, even if they aren’t technically cooked. Smoked fish are allowed and can boost the response if used.

Many of these top-tier ingredients, especially Legendary Fish and artisan products, won’t be available in the first summer, as you’ll need to develop your skills to catch or produce higher-quality items.

Where to Find the Ingredients

Growing specific crops and catching certain fish can maximize your chances of having high-quality ingredients. For example, growing Cauliflower in spring and Melon in summer are excellent choices for the best results. You can buy seeds for these from Pierre’s General Store at the start of each season.

Using fertilizer like Basic, Quality, or Deluxe Fertilizer can help produce better crops. Spread fertilizer on tilled soil before planting to increase the chances of harvesting high-quality crops, which sell for more and are used in Community Center bundles.

If you want to throw in an expensive option, Mayor Lewis’s purple shorts can be purchased from Pierre’s booth for 3,000g, providing a funny cutscene without affecting friendship points.

If you’re short on top-tier ingredients, don’t worry—you can still earn 60 points with more common foods like rice or fish, especially if they are normal quality or higher.

What Not to Add to the Potluck

Certain items will get negative reactions, including:

Anchovy, Carp, Herring, Seaweed, Sunfish, White Algae, Blackberry, Crocus, Daffodil, Salmonberry, Spring Onion, Sweet Pea, Field Snack, Joja Cola, Qi Fruit, Unmilled Rice, and others.

Adding these can cause the governor to give a bad response and may reduce your friendship levels by up to 100 points.

Accidentally adding items like Lewis’s purple shorts can lead to a humorous scene but won’t affect your friendship.

Summary

Knowing what ingredients to contribute and what to avoid is key to winning the governor’s best response each summer. Doing so helps your relationships grow, making the town’s residents happier with you. Focus on high-quality, uncooked, edible items, and enjoy the festival!