Best Cooked Recipes for Hunger and Water Restoration in Subnautica 2

In Subnautica 2, you process food at the fabricator in three ways: cooking, curing, and eating raw. Cooking maximizes hunger and water restoration but the food spoils. Curing with salt prevents spoilage but reduces water. Eating raw is a last resort with poor nutrition. This guide covers the best cooked and cured recipes and when to use each.

Cooking vs Curing vs Raw

Best Cooked Recipes by Nutrition

Cooked Reginald

The highest hunger restoration of any cooked fish. If you want maximum hunger per slot, cook Reginalds. Farm them in alien containment for an infinite supply.

Cooked Holefish

High hunger with better water restoration than Reginald. A great all-around cooked fish for dives where you need both stats.

Cooked Spadefish

Balanced hunger and water. Easy to catch in the grassy plateaus and a solid everyday food.

Cooked Peeper

Lower hunger but very common. Good early-game staple before you have access to Reginalds.

Best Cured Recipes for Travel

Cured food never spoils, making it essential for long expeditions in the Cyclops or Prawn Suit. The trade-off is that curing reduces water restoration, so always pair cured food with Large Filtered Water or a water filtration machine.

Cured Reginald: highest hunger, zero spoilage. The ultimate expedition food.
Cured Peeper: moderate hunger, never spoils. Good budget travel food.
Cured Holefish: high hunger, long shelf life. A strong alternative to Reginald.

Recipe Value Comparison

Recipe	Hunger	Water	Shelf Life	Best For
Cooked Reginald	Very High	Medium	Short	Base eating
Cured Reginald	Very High	Low	Infinite	Deep expeditions
Cooked Holefish	High	Medium-High	Short	Balanced dives
Cooked Spadefish	Medium-High	Medium	Short	Daily food
Cured Peeper	Medium	Low	Infinite	Budget travel

Plant-Based Food Options

Cooking is not your only option. Several plants provide excellent nutrition without the fabricator:

Marblemelon: eat raw for hunger and water. Slice for seeds to replant.
Bulbo Tree sample: eat raw for balanced hunger and water.
Lantern fruit: small but free food from a growable tree.
Creepvine sample: emergency food from kelp, low value.

Plant foods never need cooking and can be grown indefinitely, making them the most efficient base food source.

Recommended Food Strategy

For your base, maintain a Marblemelon or Bulbo tree farm for instant hunger and water. For travel, stockpile Cured Reginalds and Large Filtered Water in your Cyclops and Seamoth storage. Cook fresh fish only when you are at base and need the water restoration. This three-tier system keeps you fed and hydrated in every situation.

More Subnautica 2 Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Cooked fish spoils after a period and becomes rotten, restoring little or no hunger. Eat cooked food promptly or cure it with salt to preserve it indefinitely.

Cured Reginald. It has the highest hunger value of any non-spoiling food. Pair it with Large Filtered Water to offset the water penalty from curing.

Place a live or raw fish and one salt in the fabricator. The fabricator outputs cured fish, which never spoils but restores less water than cooked fish.

For day-to-day base survival, yes. Marblemelons restore both hunger and water, never need cooking, and are self-sustaining in a growbed. For maximum hunger on expeditions, Cured Reginalds are better.