Surviving in Don’t Starve Together isn’t just about fighting off monsters—it’s about avoiding the slow death of starvation. Each season comes with its own unique food sources and challenges, and understanding how to adjust your diet throughout the year is essential. This guide will help you navigate the changing food landscape, ensuring you always have a meal on your plate no matter the season.

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Autumn: The Season of Abundance

Autumn is by far the easiest season for food gathering. It provides the most options and gives you a great opportunity to prepare for the harsher months ahead.

Best Food Sources:

• Foraging: Berry bushes, carrots, and butterflies are abundant and easy to gather.
• Hunting Large Meat:
  • Tallbirds (rocky biomes)
  • Pigs (forests)
  • Koalefants (tracked via suspicious dirt piles)
  • Beefalo (savannahs)
  • Volt Goats (Oasis desert)
• Monster Meat: Dropped by spiders and hounds—safe to eat if cooked or mixed in crockpot recipes.

Cooking Strategies:

• Meaty Stew (1 Monster Meat, 2 Large Meat, 1 filler) – Provides 2 full days’ worth of hunger.
• Butterfly Wings – Restores 8 health, a great supplement if eating cooked monster meat.

Base Preparation:

Autumn is the best time to start farming for long-term food production. Consider:

• Pig Farming: Rebuild pig houses near your base, use full moons to harvest meat from Werepigs.
• Farm Plots: Start growing pumpkins, potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants.
• Bee Boxes: Set up honey production for future healing and hunger management.

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Winter: The Season of Scarcity

Winter limits food sources, cutting off plant-based resources like berries and many crops. However, plenty of meat remains available.

Best Food Sources:

• Walrus Hunts (drops meat and Tam o’ Shanter for sanity boost).
• Cactus (desert biome): Grows year-round, cooked cactus restores 15 sanity.
• Ice (glaciers): Acts as crockpot filler to stretch food supplies.

Cooking Strategies:

• Meatballs (1 Monster Meat, 3 Ice) – Cheap and efficient.
• Bunny Stew (1 Morsel, 2 Ice) – Decent healing and hunger replenishment.
• Creamy Potato Puree (2 Potatoes, 1 Garlic) – Great for health and sanity.

Tips for Winter Farming:

• Crops like asparagus, carrots, and garlic can still grow, just slower.
• Watered farm plots stay hydrated longer, making farming easier.

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Spring: The Season of Rebirth (and Frog Hell)

Spring revives most food sources, making it a great time for farming. However, frog rain can be deadly if not managed properly.

Best Food Sources:

• Berry Bushes, Bee Boxes, and Lureplants become active again.
• Cactus remains a staple for sanity restoration.
• Frog Rain: Frogs can be lured into Beefalo for massive frog leg drops.
• Moose/Goose & Moslings: Killing a Moose/Goose and its babies yields tons of meat.

Cooking Strategies:

• Froggle Bunwich (1 Frog Leg, 2 Veggies) – Solid healing dish.
• Beefy Greens (1 Leafy Meat, 3 Veggies) – Amazing for hunger and health.

Base Optimization:

• Lureplant Farming: Keep eyeplants contained for an endless leafy meat supply.
• Cactus & Farm Crops: Most vegetables thrive in Spring due to rain keeping the soil hydrated.

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Summer: The Season of Fire and Heat

Summer is arguably the most dangerous season due to wildfires and overheating, but if planned well, it can be a period of easy food production.

Best Food Sources:

• Cactus: Yields both cactus flesh (hunger) and flowers (health/sanity boost).
• Oasis Desert: Safe from wildfires, great place to base and fish.
• Lureplants: Farming them provides Leafy Meat, which acts as Large Meat in crockpot recipes.
• Eel Ponds (Caves): Provides a steady supply of Eels, used in Surf n Turf.

Cooking Strategies:

• Surf n Turf (3 Fish, 1 Monster Meat) – High sanity and health recovery.
• Fishsticks (1 Fish, 1 Twig, 2 Filler) – Good healing food.
• Flower Salad (1 Cactus Flower, 3 Cactus Flesh) – Restores 40 health.

Survival Strategies:

• Base in the Oasis Desert: Protects against wildfires.
• Fish for Freshwater Fish: Use them for crockpot meals.
• Store Thermal Stones in Ice Chester: Provides endless cooling without endothermic fires.

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Alternative Summer Strategy: Caves

Caves are a safe haven from wildfires and overheating. If you choose to migrate underground, here’s what you should focus on:

Best Food Sources in the Caves:

• Lichen: Grows in Wilds biome, great as filler but spoils in 2 days.
• Eels: Fish from cave ponds, great for health and hunger.
• Bunnymen Farming: Befriend some with carrots, then turn them against each other for easy Meat and Carrots.
• Mushroom Forests: Provides Blue Caps (health) and Green Caps (sanity).

Cave Base Tips:

• Find a Slimy Turf Biome with Light Shafts to set up farming plots.
• Use the stairs trick to avoid Depths Worm attacks.

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Final Thoughts: Food Becomes Easier Over Time

By your second or third year, starvation becomes much less of a concern. Proper food management will leave you with more food than you need, and the real challenges will come from late-game threats like Hound Waves, Depths Worms, and Server Lag.

With a well-planned approach, your world will become an all-you-can-eat buffet, and you’ll never have to worry about starving again.

So, what’s your go-to food strategy in Don’t Starve Together? Let me know in the comments, and happy surviving!