[Top 10] 7 Days To Die Best Food To Have

Surviving in 7 Days To Die is more than just fighting Zombies


The long-anticipated update to 7 Days to Die, Alpha 21 (A21), was released on June 21, 2023. The update came with many changes including: doing away with glass jars, creating dew collectors, and having to boil murky water.

How did this effect the food in game?

In 7 Days to Die, you must survive the zombie apocalypse, survive Horde night, and your own cooking to stay alive. As you gain experience you will notice your character. Hunger starts to become a battle of its own. Which foods should you cook to help you survive?

Note: Since this game is still in open development, these recipes and stats are subject to change.

10. Vegetable Stew

Each food has a skill level needed for cooking that food. You gain skill levels by reading Home Cooking Magazines each magazine gives you 1 skill level. Make sure to check your skill tree attributes and perks. If you are the one cooking the food, you will need to place points in the MasterChef perk under your Strength Attribute. There are only 3 MasterChef perks, each one allowing your character to cook foods fast, salvage foods from dumpsters and loot more home cooking magazines.

Make sure to check mailboxes, newspaper dispensers and bookshelves to find magazines. Leave no mailbox unchecked!

What makes Vegetable Stew a Top 10 food:

  • Early-Game Food
  • Only uses 4 ingredients
  • Only food that uses only farmed ingredients
  • Stats – food, hydration, health, and stamina
  • Only requires cooking pot

Vegetable Stew Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 22/100
  • Food +31
  • Water +20
  • Health +15
  • Stamina +20

9. Bacon and Eggs

In 7 Days to Die, the early game food is helpful as you work to complete quests, stack up on loot and needed items for future crafting, and collect weapons. Beginning to work on your Horde base and fortify it will take a lot of time and energy, especially when doing so much by hand. If I only had a nail gun?

Note: If you find eggs hard to come by, place a point or two in the Lucky Looter perk before foraging in bird nests.

What makes Bacon and Eggs a Top 10 food:

  • Early-Game Food
  • Only uses 2 ingredients
  • Only requires cooking pot
  • Raw meat is easy to come across through hunting
  • Low Skill level to make

Bacon and Eggs Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 10/100​
  • Food +36 
  • Water +0
  • Health +18
  • Stamina +10

8. Blueberry Pie

Early-Game food, Mid-Game food and Late-Game food will make a difference with how often you are hungry, how often you replenish stamina and some even rehydrate you as well. Most foods also have a health rating to give you a health boost over time. Consider your next meal as a boost to go along with your medical aids.

Don’t ignore your cravings…Did someone say braaaiiins?!

What makes Blueberry Pie a Top 10 food:

  • Early/Mid-Game Food
  • Requires 5 ingredients
  • Ingredients that are not too hard to get
  • Only requires cooking pot
  • Low Skill level

Blueberry Pie Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 11/100
  • Food +45
  • Water +0
  • Health +22
  • Stamina +20

7. Fish Tacos

Questing (and looting) should be your main goal between Horde nights. That’s right – I’m talking to you loot goblins out there! Every finished quest will allow you to gain experience and quest loot from the trader’s for completing each quest. You can purchase canned foods from the trader’s using Duke coins and through working vending machines.

What makes Fish Tacos a Top 10 food:

  • Mid-Game food
  • 2 ingredients to make
  • All ingredients can be found while looting
  • Characters always have an abundance of cornmeal
  • Needs a cooking pot and a grill to cook

Fish Tacos Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 43/100
  • Food +40
  • Water +0
  • Health +40
  • Stamina +30

6. Steak and Potato Meal

Potatoes are not as abundant as corn in 7 Days to Die, but that doesn’t mean they are scarce either. Potatoes can be looted in the Shamway Food Store, grown in your own farm plots, and found growing wild in Navezgane. The hardest part is trying to save as many as you can rather than eating them raw or as baked potatoes. They are better as a Steak and Potato Meal!

What makes the Steak and Potato Meal a Top 10 food:

  • Mid-Game food
  • 4 ingredients to make
  • Low skill for large gain
  • Characters always have an abundance of raw meat
  • Requires a cooking pot and a grill to cook

Steak and Potato Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 26/100
  • Food +50
  • Water +0
  • Health +25
  • Stamina +20

5. Pumpkin Pie

Eggs take some foraging to find in 7 Days to Die. You can find eggs by foraging in bird nests or looting them from coolers. Like the potatoes, the hardest part is trying to save as many as you can rather than eating while running low on food. If you need animal fat, the best sources are from wolves, bears, and…. roadkill, oh my!

What makes Pumpkin Pie a Top 10 food:

  • Mid-Game food
  • 5 ingredients to make
  • Low skill for large gain
  • Characters always have an abundance of cornmeal
  • Only requires a cooking pot

Pumpkin Pie Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 14/100
  • Food +50
  • Water +0
  • Health +25
  • Stamina +20

4. Chili Dog

Just like the Canned Salmon, you can purchase Canned Chili from the trader’s using Duke coins and through working vending machines and you can find them while questing/looting. Cornbread is a food item you cook using cornmeal and water. If you have enough dew collectors, water will not be an issue and you will always have an abundance of cornmeal and Raw Meat.

What makes the Chili Dog a Top 10 food:

  • Mid-Game/Late-Game food
  • 3 ingredients to make
  • Abundance of Raw Meat
  • Abundance of cornmeal
  • Only requires a cooking pot

Chili Dog Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 51/100
  • Food +53
  • Water +0
  • Health +30
  • Stamina +30

3. Hobo Stew

Hobo Stew is one of the only foods you can make using rotting flesh. It won’t make you sick so let’s consider that a win. The skill level required for making Hobo Stew is less than that of the Chili Dog or the Fish Tacos. The skill level is more the equivalent of the Steak and Potato Meal yet the stats for food, health and stamina is greater than any of the former, without any major ingredient issues to combat.

What makes Hobo Stew a Top 10 food:

  • Late-Game food
  • 5 ingredients to make
  • Few ingredients for large gain
  • Abundance of corn and rotting flesh
  • Only requires a cooking pot

Hobo Stew Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 35/100
  • Food +64
  • Water +20
  • Health +32
  • Stamina +30

2. Sham Chowder

Sham Chowder is the only canned food that you must find through looting, purchase through a vending machine or through the trader until you find or are rewarded with the Shamway Secret Recipe. The Shamway Secret Recipe allows you to create the Can of Sham on your own using rotting flesh, bone, and animal fat, yummy…! 

What makes Sham Chowder a Top 10 food:

  • Late-Game food
  • Highest health of any food
  • Few ingredients for large gain
  • Abundance of corn
  • Only requires a cooking pot

Sham Chowder Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 59/100
  • Food +53
  • Water +10
  • Health +80
  • Stamina +30
  • Fortitude +1
  • Duration 10min

1. Spaghetti

Spaghetti is the hardest food to make due to the difficulty in finding the canned Beef Ration. The result is worth it, though! Eating one spaghetti is nearly the same as consuming 2 Hobo Stews or 2 Chili Dogs.

What makes Spaghetti a Top 10 food:

  • Late-Game food
  • 5 ingredients to make
  • Highest health
  • Highest Stamina
  • Only requires a cooking pot

Spaghetti Food Stats:

  • Skill Level 90/100
  • Food +122
  • Water +0
  • Health +61
  • Stamina +40

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Once a lost ranger of the woodlands, I now am a Barbarian in a harsh climate. I use my words as well as my fists. I do not know the meaning of quiet.
Gamer Since: 1993
Favorite Genre: RPG
Currently Playing: 7 Days to Die (alpha 21), The Long Dark, Hogwarts Legacy, Gems of War, Slime Rancher, VR Beat Saber
Top 3 Favorite Games:The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dragonborn, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 3: Broken Steel


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