To make a health potion in Skyrim, go to any alchemy lab and combine two or three ingredients that share the Restore Health effect. The easiest pair is Blue Mountain Flower and Wheat, two cheap and common ingredients that brew a potion which heals you and briefly raises your maximum Health as well.
Below we cover where to find an alchemy lab, every common ingredient that carries Restore Health, four recipes that work from the start, the pairing that accidentally brews a poison, and the perks that make your healing potions stronger.
This guide covers The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition and Anniversary Edition on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Alchemy is a base-game skill and works the same on every platform. The Dragonborn add-on and two Creations, Rare Curios and Fishing, add extra healing ingredients, which we flag below.
Where to Find an Alchemy Lab
Skyrim does not let you brew on the road. Potions can only be made at an alchemy lab, so walk up to one and press Activate (E on PC, A on Xbox, X on PlayStation, A on Switch) to open the alchemy menu. Good early options:
- Arcadia’s Cauldron in Whiterun. The shop has a lab in its main room, and Arcadia sells ingredients and trains Alchemy up to Expert level, per the community wiki.
- Your own home. Breezehome in Whiterun can be fitted with an alchemy laboratory as one of its upgrades, and the Hearthfire homes can add one too. Our guide to buying a house in Skyrim covers how to unlock Breezehome.
- Dungeons and forts. Many caves, forts and wizard lairs have a lab inside.
Ingredients That Restore Health
Every ingredient in Skyrim has four hidden effects. Eating one always reveals its first effect, so for the ingredients marked “first” below, a single bite teaches you that it heals. Per the community wiki, these base-game ingredients carry Restore Health:
| Ingredient | Where to get it | Position of Restore Health |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Mountain Flower | Mountain flower plants in the foothills, even above the snowline | First |
| Wheat | Farms around Skyrim | First |
| Butterfly Wing | Catch orange monarch butterflies (two wings each) | First |
| Rock Warbler Egg | Birds’ nests in rocky areas, especially the Reach | First |
| Blue Dartwing | Catch dragonflies over water | Third |
| Blisterwort | Fungus in caves | Third (weaker) |
| Imp Stool | Fungus along cave walls | Fourth (weaker) |
| Swamp Fungal Pod | Marshes of Hjaalmarch | Fourth |
| Charred Skeever Hide | Roasting skeevers at bandit and giant camps | Fourth |
| Eye of Sabre Cat | Dropped by sabre cats | Fourth |
Blisterwort and Imp Stool carry a reduced version of the effect, per the community wiki, so potions built around them heal less.
The add-ons expand the list. Dragonborn adds Ash Hopper Jelly and Felsaad Tern Feathers. Rare Curios, free on Special Edition and included in Anniversary Edition, adds several more that Bethesda says are sold by Khajiit caravans, and the Fishing Creation’s Spadefish carries Restore Health too.
Four Health Potion Recipes That Work Early
- Blue Mountain Flower + Wheat. Restore Health plus a short Fortify Health boost. The community wiki singles this pair out because both ingredients are so common.
- Blue Mountain Flower + Butterfly Wing. Restore Health is the only effect these two share, so the result is a clean healing potion.
- Wheat + Blisterwort. Another single-effect healing potion, and a pairing the community wiki notes is widely recommended. It heals a little less because of Blisterwort’s weaker effect.
- Charred Skeever Hide + Eye of Sabre Cat + Hawk Feathers. Cure Disease, Restore Health and Restore Stamina in one bottle, per the community wiki’s list of useful potions. Cure Disease is exactly what stops the early stage of vampirism, as our guide to becoming a vampire in Skyrim explains.
To brew, open the lab and select your first ingredient. The menu greys out ingredients you have already failed to combine with it. Add a second (and optional third) ingredient, check the previewed effects, then confirm with the craft prompt at the bottom of the screen.
The Mix That Turns Into a Poison
Per the community wiki, the effect with the highest gold value in a mix decides both the result’s name and whether it counts as a potion or a poison.
Imp Stool and Swamp Fungal Pod both carry Restore Health, but they also share Paralysis, one of the most valuable effects in the game. Combine those two and Paralysis wins, so you get a poison instead of a healing potion. If the preview lists a harmful effect, swap an ingredient before you confirm.
Once your Alchemy skill reaches 100, the Purity perk strips all negative effects from the potions you make, which removes this problem for good.
How to Make Stronger Health Potions
Your Alchemy level, your perks and any Fortify Alchemy gear decide how much a potion heals. Per the community wiki:
- Alchemy skill. Each level adds 0.5 percent to potion strength, for 50 percent more at level 100 than at level 0.
- Alchemist perk. Five ranks make potions 20 percent stronger per rank, up to twice as strong.
- Physician perk (20 Alchemy). Potions that restore Health, Magicka or Stamina are 25 percent more powerful. This is the key perk for healers.
- Benefactor perk (30 Alchemy). Beneficial potions gain another 25 percent.
- Fortify Alchemy gear. Enchanted helmets, rings, amulets and gloves all boost potion strength. Our guide to enchanting weapons and armor in Skyrim covers making your own.
Alchemy trainers speed things up. Lami in Morthal teaches at the Common level, Arcadia at Expert, and Babette at Master, though she lives in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, so you need to join the Dark Brotherhood first. If you play with Survival Mode on, note that higher Fatigue makes beneficial potions less effective.
For a steady supply, the Hearthfire greenhouse and garden can grow Wheat, Blue Mountain Flower, Blisterwort and Imp Stool, per the community wiki. See our guide to building a house in Skyrim for how to add one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the easiest health potion to make in Skyrim? Blue Mountain Flower and Wheat. Both are common, cheap at any alchemist, and together they brew Restore Health plus Fortify Health.
Can you make potions without an alchemy lab? No. Alchemy only works at an alchemy lab, although labs are common in shops, player homes and dungeons.
Why did your healing ingredients make a poison? The most valuable shared effect decides the result. If two ingredients also share a harmful effect worth more than Restore Health, such as Paralysis, the game brews a poison.
Do Fortify Restoration potions make health potions stronger? No. Per the community wiki, Fortify Restoration boosts healing spells but not the amount restored by healing potions.
Where are the other Skyrim guides? Our Elder Scrolls guides hub lists every Skyrim and Oblivion guide we have published.