Cooking tiers, farming, and keeping your stats stable
Food and Water both cap at 100 — see Getting Started for the real passive drain rates and why active play burns through both faster than the numbers below alone suggest.
| Food | Restores | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Baked Potato / Grilled Corn / Boiled Egg / Charred Meat | 10 Food | Your day-one staples — cheap, need only the raw ingredient and a heat source. |
| Bacon and Eggs | 36 Food | A real step up once you have both eggs and meat coming in regularly. |
| Blueberry Pie | 45 Food | Late-game, once you have an oven and a farm producing surplus. |
| Ash Chicken Stew | 75 Food + 20 Water | The standout mid-game recipe — restores both stats in one meal, worth prioritizing once you can make it. |
Checked all 77 real food and drink recipes in the game. 59 of them restore Health directly too, in addition to Food, and many also grant a real Max Stamina boost — none of this is obvious from the recipe list alone. Confirmed straight from the game's own data, not estimated.
| Drink | Real effect |
|---|---|
| Beer | +300% melee damage, +40% and +25% stamina regen (two separate bonuses), stun immunity — all temporary. |
| Grandpa's Moonshine | +400% melee damage, +60% stamina regen, +20 Health/sec healing over time that costs no Food (normal healing does). |
| Grandpa's Awesome Sauce | +10% better prices buying and selling at traders. |
| Grandpa's Learnin' Elixir | +20% XP gain, temporary. |
Sorted by total Food+Water restored. The pattern holds across almost all of them: Health restored is roughly half the Food value, and Max Stamina bonus scales with the meal's tier.
| Food | Restores | Also grants |
|---|---|---|
| Honey Brisket | 141 Food | +70 Health, +40 Max Stamina |
| Gumbo Stew | 112 Food + 20 Water | +56 Health, +40 Max Stamina |
| Spaghetti | 122 Food | +61 Health, +40 Max Stamina |
| Shepherd's Pie | 104 Food | +52 Health, +40 Max Stamina |
| Yucca Juice Smoothie | 22 Food + 78 Water | +11 Health |
| Chicken Wings | 98 Food | +49 Health, +20 Max Stamina |
| Honey Glazed Sham | 98 Food | +49 Health, +30 Max Stamina |
| Ash Chicken Stew | 75 Food + 20 Water | +37 Health, +20 Max Stamina |
| Tuna Fish Gravy Toast | 90 Food | +45 Health, +40 Max Stamina |
| Hobo Stew | 64 Food + 20 Water | +32 Health, +30 Max Stamina |
| Meat Stew | 50 Food + 20 Water | +25 Health, +20 Max Stamina |
| Sham Chowder | 53 Food + 10 Water | +80 Health, +30 Max Stamina |
| Mega Crush | 60 Water | — |
| Pure Mineral Water | 60 Water | — |
| Chili Dog | 53 Food | +30 Health, +30 Max Stamina |
| Vegetable Stew | 31 Food + 20 Water | +15 Health, +20 Max Stamina |
| Pumpkin Pie | 50 Food | +25 Health, +20 Max Stamina |
| Steak and Potato Meal | 50 Food | +25 Health, +20 Max Stamina |
| Fish Tacos | 46 Food | +40 Health, +30 Max Stamina |
| Blueberry Pie | 45 Food | +22 Health, +20 Max Stamina |
| Pumpkin Cheesecake | 42 Food | +21 Health, +20 Max Stamina, +5% better trader prices |
| Bacon and Eggs | 36 Food | +18 Health, +10 Max Stamina |
| Yucca Juice | 34 Water | — |
| Honey Tea | 8 Food + 24 Water | +3 Health |
| Roadrunner Chicken Jerky | 30 Food | +15 Health, +15 Max Stamina |
| Chicken Nuggets | 25 Food | +12 Health, +10 Max Stamina |
| Blackstrap Coffee | 24 Water | — |
| Coffee | 24 Water | — |
| Goldenrod Tea | 24 Water | — |
| Red Tea | 24 Water | — |
| Water | 20 Water | — |
| Boiled Meat | 10 Food + 10 Water | +15 Health, +10 Max Stamina |
| Can of Miso | 10 Food + 10 Water | +5 Health |
| Chicken Soup | 10 Food + 10 Water | +5 Health |
| Large Beef Ration | 15 Food | +7 Health |
| Chicken Ration | 15 Food | +7 Health |
| Can of Chili | 15 Food | +7 Health |
| Lamb Rations | 15 Food | +7 Health |
| Can of Pasta | 15 Food | +7 Health |
| Can of Pears | 10 Food + 5 Water | +5 Health |
| Can of Peas | 10 Food + 5 Water | +5 Health |
| Can of Salmon | 15 Food | +7 Health |
| Can of Sham | 15 Food | +7 Health |
| Can of Stock | 5 Food + 10 Water | +3 Health |
| Pumpkin Bread | 12 Food | +6 Health, +20 Max Stamina |
| Murky Water | 10 Water | — |
| Baked Potato | 10 Food | +5 Health, +10 Max Stamina |
| Can of Cat Food | 10 Food | +5 Health |
| Can of Dog Food | 10 Food | +5 Health |
| Charred Meat | 10 Food | +5 Health, +10 Max Stamina |
| Corn Bread | 10 Food | +5 Health, +10 Max Stamina |
| Grilled Corn | 10 Food | +5 Health, +10 Max Stamina |
| Boiled Egg | 10 Food | +5 Health, +10 Max Stamina |
| Grilled Meat | 10 Food | +5 Health, +10 Max Stamina |
| Jar of Honey | 8 Food | +3 Health |
| Can of Tuna | 5 Food | +3 Health |
| Egg | 5 Food | +3 Health |
| Ear of Super Corn | 3 Food | +3 Health |
| Pumpkin | 3 Food | +3 Health |
| Cornmeal | 2 Food | +3 Health |
| Blueberries | 2 Food | — |
| Ear of Corn | 2 Food | +3 Health |
| Mushrooms | 2 Food | +3 Health |
| Potato | 2 Food | — |
| Yucca Fruit | 2 Food | +3 Health |
| Item | Real effect |
|---|---|
| Raw Meat | Restores a little Food, but actually reduces Max Stamina — cook it first. |
| Rotting Flesh | Same Max Stamina penalty as Raw Meat. Mainly useful as a crafting ingredient (Chicken Feed), not food. |
| Old Sham Sandwich | Also reduces Max Stamina — "old" isn't just flavor text here. |
| Radiated Mushrooms | The game's own description says it plainly: "make sure you're sitting down first." Real ingredient for Fallout Flush, not something to eat for a benefit. |
Always boil murky water at a campfire (or better) before drinking it — raw murky water carries a real chance of making you sick, and getting sick with no medicine yet is a rough spiral. Boiled Water restores 20 Water per drink. Once you have a Dew Collector or a stable water source near base, water stops being a daily concern.
Different biomes offer different easy food sources — see World & Biomes for the full breakdown, but as a preview: Desert gives you Yucca Fruit and cactus, Snow gives Snowberries and Blueberries, and Forest gives the widest general spread of huntable animals.