No Man’s Skyhas seen an almost alarming amount of new content, features, and entire gameplay systems added to it post-launch, with each new system carving out its own bit of the gameplay loop. It’s made for what truly feels like a universe full of options, and you’re able to engage with most systems at your leisure.

One of the systems added to NMS after launch is cooking. And, reflecting a universe full of unique plants and animals, there are a mind-boggling amount of recipes to cook. The process for all of this can be a little bit involved, so here are the basics.

The room in the Anomaly where you purchase all of your blueprints in No Man’s Sky.

Blueprints You’ll Want For Cooking

There is one blueprint available in the Anomaly that you’re going toneed for cooking, and there are some other blueprints that youmight want for cooking, depending on what exactly you want to cook.

All the blueprints in this section are located at theConstruction Research Station in the Anomaly, except for the last, which is located at theSynthesis Laboratory, on the other side of the same room.

The blueprint for the Nutrient Processor in No Man’s Sky.

Nutrient Processor

There is only one blueprint that you’ll truly need for cooking, though managing with just this would be less than ideal.

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The page listing all of the Technology Module blueprints in No Man’s Sky.

Blueprints To Consider For Cooking

There are quite a few more blueprints that aren’t technically necessary for cooking, but they’re going togive you a lot more options, and make thewhole process a lot easier. All of these except for the last takeSalvaged Datato purchase.

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A small base sits in front of the ring of a planet taking up much of the night sky in No Man’s Sky.

x250 (Nanite Clusters)

Building A Base For Cooking

Depending on the kind of output you’d like, you don’t actually need a ton of space to start cooking; you’ll just need alittle time, and theresources to build a small internal area. The bare necessities of this operation are very low, and the bulk of the resource expense is going to come in trying to make it look nice.

Build An Interior Room

It doesn’t really matter how you build this room, as long as it’s gotwalls and a roof. Plants grown in the Hydroponic Traysall generally need to be inside to grow, unless they’re in their own specific, ideal environment. It’s impossible to grow multiple plants of different types in the same place because of this, soplanting them inside is typically the way to go.

The Hydroponic Trays aregoing to need power to function, so ensure you’ve got some kind of easy power grid operating for these.Solar PanelsandBatteriesare perfect for this.

A room full of Hydroponic Trays in No Man’s Sky.

How To Grow Plants

To plant in the Hydroponic Trays, you’ll need toenter the build menu, just like you would to place a wall. From there, head to theAdvanced Technologysection, which is the same section the Hydroponic Trays are in.

You’ll need one associated resource alongside the plant you’re looking to grow, andeach plant is going to have varying grow timesbefore they’re ready, which are displayed in their description before you place them.

A Hydroponic Tray growing Frostwort in No Man’s Sky.

How To Harvest Plants

Once the grow period for each plant is over, you’ll be able to harvest it. This is going to net you a good amount of that particular resource, andrestart the grow clockfor you to rinse and repeat.

With a small farm, this isn’t going to net you an incredible amount of ingredients. But with abig farm, this is a great way to automatically gain a lot of them.

A Frostwort about to be harvested in No Man’s Sky.

You don’t necessarily have to grow ingredients for cooking, either. You can grow things likeAlbumen Pearls simply for selling, alongside other valuable items.

Building Fauna Technology

Obtaining the resources to startautomatically harvesting ingredients from faunais going to be a bit more of aninvolved experience. Some of the items needed to make aLivestock Unitand anAutomated Feederneed to be crafted, and the resources needed to do so aren’t going to be exceptionally common.

Both theLivestock UnitandAutomated Feederwillneed to be powered, just like the Hydroponic Trays.

A creature hopping around, with stalks coming out of its eyeholes, seems content in front of the player in No Man’s Sky.

How To Build A Livestock Unit

The recipe for a Livestock Unit includesPoly Fiber, which is a blueprint you’re going to need toget in the Synthesis Laboratory in the Anomaly. Crafting Poly Fiber is going to mean gettingCactus FleshandStar Bulbs.

This is why this section is listed underneath the plants section; it’s helpful toalready have a supply of these two resourcesreplenishable and on-hand to build at least one of these.

A Livestock Unit in the build menu of No Man’s Sky.

ForCactus Flesh, you’ll want to growEchinocactus, and forStar Bulbs, you’ll want to growStar Bramble.

This Livestock Unit, when built, willautomatically collect whatever resource the nearby fauna produces when fed. This will net you a constant supply of at least one resource, on planets that have ample fauna. Ideally, you’ll have more than one type of animal nearby, and be collecting more than one kind of resource.

An Automated Feeder sits illuminated by a flashlight against the ringed night sky in No Man’s Sky.

How To Build An Automated Feeder

The Automated Feeder is going to be a bit easier to build than the Livestock Unit; the most difficult-to-obtain resource here is going to beChlorine, which can befound fairly easily in an ocean, orcreated byrefining Salt.

An Automated Feeder is going to need aconstant supply of Creature Pellets with which to feed the nearby fauna. But, with those Creature Pellets, it’s going toattract nearby wildlifethat, once fed, will deposit their resources into the Livestock Unit.

Another way to obtain fauna for cooking isthrough fishing.

How To Use The Nutrient Processor

Once you’ve gathered the ingredients you’d like to cook with, it’s time to use theNutrient Processor. Inside this machine, you canplace up to three different ingredients, with the outcome of your ingredients displayed on the right side of the screen.

There are an incredible amount of recipes, but you don’t need to memorize them all.Many recipes have the same effects, and differ only in the ingredients it takes to make them.

Most Helpful Recipes

While most food has very minor effects that aren’t going to make a huge difference, they aren’t necessarily useless. Here are some of the moreuseful effects, and some of thedishes that provide them.

Sweet And Salt Puff

Sugar Dough + Nightmare Sausage

Restores 40% Life Support

Many of the recipes in NMSrequire ingredients that are not raw on their own, and require cooking one or two items that are, themselves, ingredients in the dish you actually intend to make. This can makecooking certain dishes into a multi-step process.

Oftentimes, the dishes with these requirements have a higher monetary value. This is not necessarily true across the board, and if you’re going into this process looking to make money, it’s worthdoing a little research beforehand to see exactly what dishes you’d like to make.

you’re able to also just combine ingredients to see what you get, if you aren’t too worried about the outcome.

Why Cook?

Largely, the juice of cooking in NMS is not worth the squeeze. That’s not true for every dish, but if you’re looking at things from a purely logistical standpoint,there are far more efficient methods to make money, and to help keep yourself alive.

But,there is a joy to cooking in NMS. While it does not necessarily provide entirely worthwhile benefits, it is a game where the enjoyment comes out of what you put into it. Oftentimes,kind strangers in the Anomaly distribute delicious dishes to strangersthey come across, andthat kindness alone is worth the effort.