Kitchen 01
The cooking progression
Cooking starts with a Frying Pan, expands into four-serving soups at level 3, and reaches baking at level 10. Higher skill levels improve food quality and unlock powerful conveniences.
Levels 0–2
Fry alien meat
Immediate survival
Level 3
Unlock soup
Food, water and buffs
Level 10
Unlock baking
Bread, pies and meals
Levels 15–20
Chef perks
Alerts, portions and speed
Kitchen 02
Build an efficient kitchen
Keep clean-water production and food preparation together. Multiple pots let one cook make soup while another batch of tainted water is being purified.
Tainted water
Boil in pots
Store clean water
Cook soup
Place two Water Coolers, a powered stove and several Cooking Pots near a pool, fountain or another tainted-water source. Boil the water, transfer it to the coolers, then refill pots from the clean supply when making soup.
Kitchen essentials
- Powered Stove or Portable Stove
- Frying Pan
- Several Cooking Pots
- Soup Bowls
- Water Coolers or barrels
- Refrigerator or Freezer
- Ingredient storage
- Platform Cart for heavy water runs
Boiling is inefficient early on and returns only part of the original volume. Transport several full containers rather than making repeated single-pot trips.
Kitchen 03
Frying and butchering
Fried meat is the fastest way to survive the opening hours. Carry a knife, butcher defeated creatures and remove each cut when it finishes cooking.
| Raw food | Result | Cook time | Hunger | Radiation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw Pest | Cooked Pest | 0:45 | 10 | 2 |
| Raw Pest Rump | Cooked Pest Rump | 0:45 | 12.5 | 2 |
| Raw Peccary Chop | Cooked Peccary Chop | 1:00 | 15 | 2 |
| Raw Alien Drumstick | Cooked Alien Drumstick | 1:40 | 25 | 2 |
| Raw Peccary Sausages | Cooked Peccary Sausages | 1:50 | 30 | 2 |
Watch each item
Different cuts finish at different times. Chef Sense does not unlock until Cooking 15.
Do not burn it
Burned food restores little hunger and drains thirst. Further burning converts it into Bio Scrap.
Preserve the result
Frying resets the food's decay timer. Move extra portions into cold storage afterward.
Kitchen 04
How to make soup
At Cooking level 3, fill a pot with water, place it on a powered stove and add the exact ingredients. A valid recipe becomes an uncooked soup, then finishes after two minutes.
Fill the pot
Use clean water, or purify tainted water first.
Heat it
Place the pot on a powered stove.
Add ingredients
Most recipes use up to three ingredients.
Wait two minutes
A lid and stronger bubbling indicate completion.
Serve it
Place the pot down and collect portions with a Soup Bowl.
Incorrect combinations can produce Bad Soup, Toxic Soup or another harmful result. Check your Compendium before adding ingredients. Soup recipes are learned when a valid combination is added to a filled pot.
Kitchen 05
Useful soup recipes
Values are per serving and rounded as displayed in game. Standard soups provide four portions before the level 17 Serving Seconds perk.
Bland Pea Soup
Canned Peas + Salt
+10% Sprinting and Sneaking XP
Split Pea Soup
Canned Peas + Salt + Raw Pest
Souper Satisfied
Pest Goulash
Raw Pest + Raw Pest Rump + Salt
Souper Satisfied
Meaty Stew
Raw Peccary Chop + Raw Alien Drumstick + Raw Pest Rump
+10% Blunt and Sharp Melee XP
Simple Tomato Soup
Tomato
Souper Satisfied
Sustenance Soup
Military M.R.E.
+10% Accuracy and Reloading XP
Peccary Goulash
Raw Peccary Chop + Raw Alien Drumstick + Salt
Souper Satisfied
Hearty Stew
Raw Exor Heart + Carbuncle Mushroom + Super Tomato
Hearty
Veggie Stew
Potato + Anteverse Wheat + Super Tomato
+10% Agriculture XP
A&L Mega-Stew
Anteverse ingredients
+10% movement speed and +2 Strength
Glacial Gazpacho
Late-game fish ingredients
Souper Satisfied
Witching Hour Brew
Late-game portal ingredients
Special soup buff
Kitchen 06
Choose soup for its buff
Soup is more than efficient food. Eat the right recipe before combat, farming, movement training or a long resource expedition.
Souper Satisfied
Hunger and thirst drain 20% slower for 10 minutes.
Heightened Senses
Gain Blunt and Sharp Melee XP 10% faster.
Quick Reflexes
Gain Accuracy and Reloading XP 10% faster.
Living Off the Land
Gain Agriculture XP 10% faster.
Kitchen 07
Cooking skill unlocks
Cooking XP comes primarily from frying, soup and baking. Every five levels also improves the quality of fried and baked food.
Kitchen 08
Baking and long-term food
Cooking 10 unlocks the Convection Oven and Raw Dough, opening bread, potatoes, pies, pizza, casseroles and multi-serving meals.
Why bake?
- Larger meals can provide six portions
- Strong late-game hunger values
- Uses farmed crops and prepared ingredients
- Supports group kitchens and expedition supplies
Preservation difference
Frying resets an item's decay to its maximum. Baking does not reset decay, so use fresh ingredients and refrigerate completed food when possible.
Final service
Cooking mistakes to avoid
A good kitchen prevents hunger without wasting rare ingredients, clean water or valuable preparation time.
Adding ingredients before checking the recipe
One incorrect item can ruin an entire pot.
Leaving fried food unattended
Chef Sense arrives late, and burned food is poor survival food.
Drinking every clean-water reserve
Soup, crops and crafting may need the same supply.
Relying only on irradiated meat
Use soup, farming, fishing and baking as they unlock.
Ignoring Cooking skill buffs
Cook before training a skill to multiply the value of the meal.
Using a single Cooking Pot
Several pots keep water and soup production moving together.
Build your repeatable food loop
Fry meat until Cooking 3, establish clean water, switch to four-serving soups, then add farming, fishing and baking. That progression turns food from an emergency into preparation for whatever skill or expedition comes next.