Overview
Tips and recipes for making the best use of your crock pot.
Overview
The crock pot is an invaluable device for managing hunger, health, and even sanity, especially during the grueling scarcity of winter. However, it features a variety of recipes that, oddly enough, give no benefit whatsoever to the player. In this guide, I will attempt to provide you with a breakdown of each worthwhile dish and provide the most efficient recipe possible for each. Using these recipes in conjunction with a reliable food source will likely eliminate the issue of hunger altogether! 🙂
A Quick Note
I have intentionally excluded recipes that are essentially a waste of time. Dishes like Fist Full of Jam, Fruit Medley, Honey Nuggets, Ratatouille, Stuffed Eggplant, Pierogi, and Pumpkin Cookie satisfy LESS hunger than eating each ingredient cooked. Most DO give a decent health bonus, but so do almost all of the dishes below. I have included the amount of hunger, health, and sanity restored for each dish, in addition to the number of days before it spoils.
Kabobs and Fish Tacos do improve upon their ingredients, but Meatballs and Fishsticks are far superior alternatives that require only a tiny bit extra. Oh, and don’t make Monster Lasagna.
All recipes can use cooked versions of ingredients EXCEPT where noted. Jerky can also be substituted for meat, but avoid this if you can.
Filler should be carrots, berries, or red mushrooms. They satisfy the least amount of hunger (12.5) out of all fillers. Therefore, these are the most efficient recipes possible, giving you the most back for what you put in. (Blue and green mushrooms should be saved for their useful properties).
Main Courses
These recipes satisfy huge amounts of hunger and should be cooked often.
2x Meat + Meat/Monster Meat + Filler
Recommended food source: Pig Village/Beefalo
This recipe is notable for entirely filling up the character’s stomach (except for Wolfgang).
Dragonfruit + 3x Twigs
Recommended food source: Improved Farms & Birdcage
Of the 75-hunger foods, dragonpie heals the most. However, dragonfruit can initially be difficult to obtain. Remedy this by using farm plots and feeding dragonfruit to a bird for crop seeds.
Meat + Meat/Monster Meat + Honey + Filler
Recommended food source: Bee Boxes (and flowers)
A very well-balanced dish that heals plenty. Only a few bee boxes (2-4) are required for a massive supply of honey.
2x Eggs + Meat/Monster Meat + Morsel
Recommended food source: Birdcage
You’ll definitely need a birdcage for this dish. Depending on your reed-gathering abilities, this may come later in your game. Feed the bird spoiling cooked monster meat to receive a fresh egg.
Tip: Note the long spoilage time. Bacon and Eggs may be a handy snack when adventuring.
2x UNCOOKED Drumsticks + Morsel + Filler
Recommended food source: Berry Bushes
This is a smart way to make use of drumsticks.
Tip: Gobblers are somewhat hard to come across. Be ready with an ice staff when harvesting your berry farm.
Morsel + 3x Filler
Recommended food source: Traps & Rabbit Holes
A nice backup plan for winter, and good for putting spare morsels to use.
Tip: Trapping rabbits does not require a whole lot of waiting. Simply place a trap, walk around a rabbit, and chase it into the trap. Gather the rabbit, set the trap, rinse, and repeat until the trap breaks, or leave the trap on the rabbit hole and check back later.
PRO tip: Store live rabbits in chests for a never-spoiling source of morsels — stock up, then murder them during winter!
Side Dishes
These recipes are generally rarer and satisfy about half the health of main course dishes. They are optional and not vital for survival.
Butter + Egg + Berries + Twig
Recommended food source: Flowers (w/ butterflies)
Honestly, I’ve never encountered butter in Don’t Starve, because it’s so rare (2% drop rate from butterflies). But hey, if life gives you butter, make waffles.
Tip: Apparently if you hold spacebar just before catching a butterfly you don’t lose durability on your bug net. Good luck!
Fish + Twigs + 2x Filler
Recommended food source: Ponds
I’m not sure if fishing is worth the hassle of making a 9-use fishing rod, finding a pond, and waiting around, but this is an easy way to use fish to restore a large chunk of health.
Butterfly Wings + Veggie Filler + 2x Twigs
Recommended food source: Flowers (w/ butterflies)
Tip: If actively hunting butterflies, the ideal time to attack is when they pause on flowers.
Frog Legs + Veggie Filler + 2x Twigs
Recommended food source: Ponds
Tip: Frogs can be lead into traps and are a good choice if you’re worried about Krampus appearing, as they do not affect naughtiness.*
Caution: Frogs are hostile and a group can potentially overwhelm an unsuspecting player.
3x Honey + 1 Twig
Recommended food source: Bee Boxes (and flowers)
Taffy is a great way of managing sanity when you find yourself with a surplus of honey.
Caution: Keep an eye on your health while eating taffy. Try not to kill yourself.
* Thanks to Glavkomat for the input!