Best food in don t Starve

Memorizing food recipes can feel daunting when you are first learning how to play Don’t Starve and Don’t Starve Together.

When my family started playing Don’t Starve Together, we made a deal that we wouldn’t do too much research into the game since we didn’t want to spoil anything.

Being that my partner and I were Minecraft converts, we were quick to assume that Don’t Starve would be as simple to survive. We were also aware of how boring games could become if you knew too much about them or invested too many hours into watching Let’s Plays.

So, as you could guess, my family struggled to survive from hunger-related problems, like not having enough health or not knowing how to farm enough meat for Wigfrid.

My partner tried playing Warly once and quickly decided that Warly was too tricky and that we needed to start looking up food recipes if we wanted to manage our hunger, sanity and health.

Although there are several recipes in Don’t Starve and Don’t Starve Together, some methods are more beneficial to cook than others. Not only are some recipes more beneficial to prepare than others, but some recipes will not be available to you unless you collect certain resources or end up with specific spawns.

The following are the top recipes you can craft in Don’t Starve and Don’t Starve Together and how to cook them.

EARLY GAME / EVERY DAY FOODS

MEATBALLS

Hunger: 62.5

Sanity: 5

Health: 3

Crock Pot Recipes:

1 Morsel/Monster Meat, 3 Berries

1 Morsel/Monster Meat, 3 Eggs

1 Morsel/Monster Meat, 3 Mushrooms

1 Morsel/Monster Meat, 3 Ice (Reign of Giants)

When to use Meatballs:

Meatballs will be your primary source of food since they can be made from pretty much any fillers. The only issue with Meatballs is that they don’t provide very much health in comparison to some other foods.

For characters like Wigfrid, where health problems aren’t really a thing, you won’t need any other food. However, Meatballs will have to be paired up with some other foods to make sure that you heal.

I’ll be covering a few of the foods you can use to heal yourself today; however, I will be going more in-depth with that topic very soon.

HONEY HAM

Hunger: 75

Sanity: 5

Health: 30

Crock Pot Recipes:

1 Monster Meat, 2 Morsels, 1 Honey

1 Monster Meat, 1 Meat, 2 Honey

1 Monster Meat, 1 Meat, 1 Honey, 1 Filler (Reign of Giants)

Uses for Honey Ham:

Honey Ham is one of my favourite recipes for moments where I am starving and can also use a top-up on my health. Still, if you need to heal yourself, I recommend using Papyrus and Honey to make Honey Poltices since they never expire.

Would I recommend this as your primary source of food? No. Still, Meatballs are going to be the best way for you to get your grub on, but if you need some extra health or want a variety of foods to eat, this is one for you!

MID GAME / EVERY DAY FOODS

BACON AND EGGS

Hunger: 75

Sanity: 5

Health: 20

Crock Pot Recipes:

1 Morsel, 1 Monster Meat, 2 Small Eggs

2 Monster Meat, 2 Small Eggs

1 Morsel, 1 Monster Meat, 1 Large Egg, 1 Stick

2 Monster Meat, 1 Large Egg, 1 Stick

When to Use Bacon and Eggs:

If you have ways to source eggs, Bacon and Eggs become a relatively reliable source of food and can completely replace meatballs.

If you are playing with friends, or are comfortable enough to hunt the Tall Birds alone, they tend to be one of the best ways to farm eggs. Just be careful because the recipe either calls for one large egg or two small eggs. Since eggs can be a bit harder to farm, you want to make sure you aren’t wasting them.

I would recommend using Monster Meat to make this food since Morsels can be used in better situations. I also find it a lot easier to farm Monster Meat rather than Morsels and would instead use it immediately.

DRAGON PIE

Hunger: 75

Sanity: 5

Health: 40

Crock Pot Recipe: 1 Dragon Fruit, 3 Twigs

Use: Dragon Pie is more of a late-game kind of food as it requires you to have multiple farms and a birdcage. I would recommend surviving at least your first winter before attempting to start using dragon pie as a consistent form of food.

Dragon Pies are great because it takes 15 days for them to spoil. Fifteen days of no spoilage can come in extremely helpful, especially when you are going to be killing one of the Giants or spend a few nights in the caves.

Dragon Pies have a high HP restoration yield, and if you have enough seeds and manure, they may be your primary source of food (versus meatballs). You may also substitute Dragon Pies instead of Honey Poultice, which I usually recommend for health.

Furthermore, Dragon Pies are great late game since they will be able to be carried around Bunnymen in caves as they are a vegetarian dish.

Note: Dragon Pies are the best food for Wurt as it is the highest yielding vegetarian food.

TURKEY DINNER

Hunger: 75

Sanity: 5

Health: 20

Crock Pot Recipes:

2 Drumsticks, 1 Monster Meat, 1 Berry

3 Drumsticks, 1 Berry

2 Drumsticks, 1 Monster Meat, 1 Cactus (Reign of Giants)

3 Drumsticks, 1 Cactus (Reign of Giants)

When to Use Turkey Dinner:

Using Turkey Dinner ultimately depends on your playstyle and truthfully, I find Turkey Dinners are straightforward to cook.

We have a few bases around the map, and all have a varying amount of berry bushes that are filled with Gobblers. You can also get Drumsticks from Buzzards in Reign of Giants, making drumsticks a reasonably reliable resource.

Gobblers can be a bit tricky to farm; however, they become straightforward when you place a berry on the floor and attack them while they try to eat.

EMERGENCIES / HIGHEST YIELDING HUNGER FOODS

MEATY STEW

Hunger: 150

Sanity: 5

Health: 12

Crock Pot Recipes: 

1 Monster Meat, 1 Meat, 2 Morsels

1 Monster Meat, 2 Meat, 1 Mushroom

4 Morsels or 4 Meat

Use for Meaty Stew:

The biggest perk of Meaty Stew is the amount of hunger it gives you. I wouldn’t make Meaty Stews your primary source of food because they take too many Meat & Morsels to cook, in my opinion.

Meaty Stews are great to keep in your Ice Box for sticky situations, especially in the winter, when you need an extra bit of warmth. Meaty Stew will raise a player’s temperature by 25 degrees, so make sure to use that to your advantage, especially if you’re about to freeze.

If you’re struggling with Sanity and need to sleep through the night, have a Meaty Stew ready for you when you wake up. Chances are the Meaty Stew will fully heal your character’s health, making Meaty Stews a great sleepytime meal.

MANDRAKE SOUP

Hunger: +150

Sanity: +5

Health: +100

Crock Pot Recipe: 1 Mandrake, 3 Sticks

Use: The Mandrake is a very, very limited ingredient and should only be used in emergencies or as a strategy when trying to kill a strong enemy.

The only real perk to making yourself a Mandrake Soup is that you won’t end up knocked out from eating the Mandrake. Although being knocked out by the Mandrake is not always a problem, there is a chance that being knocked out in an area with mobs will ultimately lead to your death.

Currently, the best use for the Mandrake is creating the Pan Flute, which has 10-uses and puts nearby mobs to sleep.

CONCLUSION

There’s no shame getting by a full winter with just meatballs. Meatballs fill the right amount of hunger and the resources it takes to cook them are available in a variety of ways.

The only issue with Meatballs is you will be low on health, especially if you take an ample amount of damage. Have some Honey Poultice or Honey Ham available for whenever you’re feeling down, and you should be as good as new.

So, I’m curious, what’s your favourite food? Do you find it easier to farm one resource over another? Let me know in the comments below!

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