Food is a glorious thing, being able to keep most of us happy and giving out power throughout our daily lives. Similarly, food is of equal importance in games, and with Valheim, the kind of food you take can make things easier or harder when you get it right or wrong. While the game allows for 3 food types at the same time, some food combos are just better than others, or rather better than picking any food together and calling it a day. With that in mind, we’re here to pick out the best combos that can get you through certain parts of the game and also save you time and avoid having resources wasted that can otherwise be made into better, more powerful food options.

As with all Valheim lists, this was written on the time of the games’ latest version (version 0.206.5) and is based on the overall benefit of the combo, taking into account ease of obtaining, ease of making large amounts, and time needed to create each unless stated otherwise. This list represents the best combo you can make at the given time but can be interchanged with any food that you may have. Also, on the combo details, the base health and stamina of the player (25 and 75 respectively) aren’t included in the computation and figures are only for the combo itself.

With that out of the way, let’s chow down.

5. Minced Meat Soup + Carrot Soup + Cooked Deer Meat – Early Game

Hunting with the Crude Bow can be tough, but you'll need to aim high for high food yields. (YouTube Channel: ConCon)

In terms of the usual reliance on stats, early game is the most crucial part as options aren’t as powerful as perceived, making these food benefits the best you can get at this point in the game.

What’s Good About the Combo?

This is one of the best combos to stockpile as it strikes a balance between ease of getting components and relative yields listed below.

Minced Meat Soup + Carrot Soup + Cooked Deer Meat:

• High stat values for combat
• Relatively low-risk to make all 3 food sources
• Best chance to survive the Meadows and Black Forest biomes

These food items listed have only a few meat sources to hunt and the rest are simple plantable crops. The combo itself follows the typical combo of 2 health-based food with 1 stamina-based one, offering up the best chance of survival when facing something like the Elder. With the stats in mind, the Swamp is also your next stop, which houses some strong enemies, and every bit of health and stamina is necessary as that can be the difference between life and death.

How to Get this Combo?

As stated, this is one of the easier ones to obtain as you’ll need little risk roaming around after you make your initial batches and that will save you time, if you gathered enough spare ingredients on reserve. Below will contain steps into getting each of the components of the combo.

Cooked Deer Meat:

• Find a deer and kill it using your weapon/s
• Collect the meat and make a Campfire using the Hammer
• Place it on the ground to make a Cooking Station and place the meat
• Wait until you see it change color and press again to collect and prevent it from burning

Minced Meat Sauce:

• Gather Carrot Seeds from the Black Forest biome
• Make the cultivator and plant the seeds to grow carrots
• Hunt Neck nearby waterside areas and obtain Neck Tail
• Kill boars to get Boar Meat
• Create it by combining in the Cauldron

Carrot Soup:

• Gather Carrot Seeds from the Black Forest biome
• Make the cultivator and plant the seeds to grow carrots
• Create the soup by combining it with Mushrooms on the Cauldron

For a detailed look at the combo’s stats use the key points below.

Combo Details:

• Total Health Gained: 89 (45+35+9)
• Total Stamina Gained: 61 (9+7+45)
• Minimum Combo Duration (seconds): 20 mins. (Cooked Deer Meat)

4. Sausages + Black Soup + Turnip Stew – Mid-Game

Swamps can be tough areas to farm, but it doesn't mean you can't do tricks like these to make it easier. (YouTube Channel: Unknown Factions)

Stepping up the food chain, we have Swamp-level foods that offer a bit more oomph to deflect the oomph back from the enemies within the area.

What’s Good About the Combo?

At this point, the food becomes a little more grind intensive as the components that make these are more towards medium risk (assuming you still have bronze gear) difficulty. Expect to do a lot of killing for the benefits below.

Sausages + Black Soup + Turnip Stew:

• Good stat values for crypt runs
• Most of the combos are found in the Swamp
• Best chance to survive the Swamp biomes

While they do boost your health by a bit, the safety will still depend on your skills to attack and dodge enemy attacks, and you’ll need to as murder is how you’d get some of these foods, specifically, their ingredients. For Sausages, you’ll need to kill the Draugr and Draugr Elites to get their intestines (named Entrails) and for Black Soup, Blood Bags from Leeches are needed and that little expedition can outright kill you when you have sub-standard gear. Needless to say, stock up on your pre-existing food ration combos and grab a sizeable amount to replenish with better food meals that, unlike the Swamps, don’t stink.

How to Get this Combo?

With a mammoth task of killing a whole load of bad guys, you’ll need to know which ones to achieve these food items, listed below.

Sausages:

• Find a Draugr or Draugr Elite to get Entrails and kill it using your weapon/s
• Find Thistle in the Black Forest or Swamps
• Kill boars to get Boar Meat
• Create it by combining in the Cauldron

Blood Soup:

• Kill Leeches to get Bloodbags
• Get Honey from crafted Beehives
• Grow Turnip Seeds and get Turnips
• Kill boars to get Boar Meat
• Create it by combining in the Cauldron

Turnip Soup:

• Grow Turnip Seeds and get Turnips
• Kill boars to get Boar Meat
• Create it by combining in the Cauldron

For a detailed look at the combo’s stats use the key points below.

Combo Details:

• Total Health Gained: 116 (55+50+11)
• Total Stamina Gained: 76 (11+10+55)
• Minimum Combo Duration (seconds): 20 mins. (Black Soup)

3. Lox Meat Pie + Fish Wraps + Bread – Late Game

How to tame your future companion... or snack. (YouTube Channel: BuJamesDean)

If you need the best combo that is within reason of farming large amounts for the late game and beyond, then consider this combo.

What’s Good About the Combo?

Out of the gate, this isn’t the best combo you’ll get based on stats, but when you are getting many players fed for the ultimate Plains run, this seems to make the most sense to make. The reason behind it is pretty simple and benefits also as simple by looking at the list below.

Lox Meat Pie + Fish Wraps + Bread:

• All 3 food items use the same core component
• Low risk for these high-grade items
• Best chance to survive any biome in the world

Out of all the food combinations possible for late game, these 3 make sense as all of them use Barley Flour, which only requires your labor and a lot of time to make via the Windmill, which you can craft after killing the 4th boss, Moder. Getting the first Barley plant will be the only thing tricky as most tend to grow near Fuling camps, and if you aren’t careful, a one-shot kill is entirely possible at the worst of times.

Once you do find a way to get it, planting them again should net you a lot more, perfect for all the food listed here. It should be noted that Barley can only be planted in the Plains biome, so if you can’t build a base there, make a dedicated farm somewhere less risky to teleport on. Other than that little challenge above, the rest are relatively easy, apart from killing Lox, but at this point, you have armor and weapons that can deal with it, as long as you have timing done right.

How to Get this Combo?

By having such a great increase in health and stamina, you’d be surprised to know everything else is tame on the making front as seen below.

Lox Meat Pie:

• Create Barley Flour by placing Barley in the Windmill and collecting it
• Find a Lox and kill it using your weapon/s
• Grab Cloudberries from the Plains
• Create the Uncooked Lox Met Pie by combining in the Cauldron
• Place it in an oven and wait until you see it change color and press again to collect and prevent it from burning

Fish Wraps:

• Create Barley Flour by placing Barley in the Windmill and collecting it
• Get Fish by fishing on deep bodies of water
• Cook the caught fish in a Cooking Station / Iron Cooking Station
• Create it by combining the two in the Cauldron

Bread:

• Create Barley Flour by placing Barley in the Windmill and collecting it
• Create the Bread Dough in the Cauldron
• Place it in an oven and wait until you see it change color and press again to collect and prevent it from burning

For a detailed look at the combo’s stats use the key points below.

Combo Details:

• Total Health Gained: 160 (75+70+15)
• Total Stamina Gained: 104 (15+14+75)
• Minimum Combo Duration (seconds): 25 mins. (Fish Wraps)

2. Serpent Stew + Lox Meat Pie + Fish Wraps – Pure Health Build

Sea serpents can be scary, but the meal it gives is anything but that. (YouTube Channel: Chongish)

Now we look at some specific builds, and here we’re going full health with this combo.

What’s Good About the Combo?

Statistically, it’s the best health-based food combo in the game right now and with it, gives you the best chance to do its benefits listed below.

Serpent Stew + Lox Meat Pie + Fish Wraps:

• Highest health food combo available
• Allows for a huge amount blocking power and parrying chance
• High-grade food for late-game

Two of these are already known from the entry above, but going back to what I said about the previous entry not being the best stat-wise, that’s because the Serpent Stew is the best health-based food in the game right now. Now, why is that the case? Simply put, Serpents are a bit tough to hunt consistently and even harder to kill when underprepared. This won’t be a problem if many players will lock on that goal specifically, but for most casual runners and players, the Barely Flour-based combo is much more time-friendly and makes you wonder if the 5 health by the stew is worth the hassle of making it a daily meal.

Shifting back to the combo, this is a pure health build, and with it, a lot of tankiness. With Hearth and Home making blocking health-based, having this much health will keep you safe from loads of enemies, even a hoard of them. Outside of that, this combo would be best used to gather loads of pickable items and non-combat resources in areas such as the Swamps and Plains. With that in mind, to be the biggest, worst, and healthiest Viking out there, choose this one and just be mindful of your limited cardio from having limited stamina.

How to Get this Combo?

With two items being familiar, you’ll only need to learn the Serpent Stew recipe, but for convenience let’s have all 3 food items listed below.

Lox Meat Pie:

• Create Barley Flour by placing Barley in the Windmill and collecting it
• Find a Lox and kill it using your weapon/s
• Grab Cloudberries from the Plains
• Create the Uncooked Lox Met Pie by combining in the Cauldron
• Place it in an oven and wait until you see it change color and press again to collect and prevent it from burning

Fish Wraps:

• Create Barley Flour by placing Barley in the Windmill and collecting it
• Get Fish by fishing on deep bodies of water
• Cook the caught fish in a Cooking Station / Iron Cooking Station
• Create it by combining the two in the Cauldron

Serpent Stew:

• Explore the Ocean until you find a Serpent
• Use a harpoon to drag it towards your preferred area or keep it in sight
• Either drag it to land and kill it using melee items or shoot it with arrows until its dead
• Collect the Serpent Meat and cook on an Iron Cooking Station
• Make Serpent Stew by combining the Cooked Serpent Meat with Mushrooms and Onion in the Cauldron

For a detailed look at the combo’s stats use the key points below.

Combo Details:

• Total Health Gained: 225 (75+70+80)
• Total Stamina Gained: 34 (15+14+5)
• Minimum Combo Duration (seconds): 25 mins. (Fish Wraps)

1. Bread + Blood Pudding + Eyescream – Pure Stamina Build

A cauldron upgrade, stone oven, and other things are needed to unlock the best food combos for that boost in stamina. (YouTube Channel: Kysen)

Last up is the opposite side of the spectrum, and that means sprinting for stamina-based food.

What’s Good About the Combo?

The best stamina combo, stat-wise, allows you to do more with the ability to do the things below better.

Bread + Blood Pudding + Eyescream:

• High stat values for actions
• Allow you to run more and fish better
• Very useful when doing bow attacks

A big thing to note is that, while this is the best combo for getting your stamina up, this is a lot to collect, resource-wise. From Freeze Glands to Bloodbags, a lot to gather in terms of the time needed relative to the yields or pieces made and, like the Serpent Stew, can be problematic if you choose to make a lot of these to consistently consume.

For the benefits you’ll get, you’ll see it when you do a lot of base work and other non-combat tasks as stamina is your go-to resource. From material gathering to fishing, and even the odd exploring on foot to newer places, stamina will be your best friend in getting in and out. You’ll need to keep in mind that you will not be durable for melee combat, but that wouldn’t be a problem as a lot of stamina will be beneficial to firing more arrows from your bow and sniping enemies from afar. However, if you are dead set on the best stamina combo in the game, then by all means go for this, and after all good food benefits us all, in-game and even in real life.

How to Get this Combo?

As said, a lot to do to get the best stamina-based food combo in the game, so prep a lot of time to do the following

Bread:

• Create Barley Flour by placing Barley in the Windmill and collecting it
• Create the Bread Dough in the Cauldron
• Place it in an oven and wait until you see it change color and press again to collect and prevent it from burning

Blood Pudding:

• Create Barley Flour by placing Barley in the Windmill and collecting it
• Find Thistle in the Black Forest or Swamps
• Kill Leeches to get Bloodbags
• Create it by combining in the Cauldron

Eyescream:

• Get Greydwarf Eye by killing Greydwarfs
• Get Freeze Glands by killing Drakes
• Create it by combining in the Cauldron

For a detailed look at the combo’s stats use the key points below.

Combo Details:

• Total Health Gained: 42 (15+14+13)
• Total Stamina Gained: 210 (75+70+65)
• Minimum Combo Duration (seconds): 25 mins. (Blood Pudding, Eyescream)

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