It’s no surprise, humans got to eat. And this real-life mechanic has been embedded in almost every survival game there is. That includes Subnautica, the whimsical, yet terrifying, survival game set completely underwater. But you don’t have to worry, the Subnautica world has plenty of food… as long as you like fish sticks. 

The shallows, where the player begins in both games, are chock full of five or six species of fish that spend their time milling about among the corals. They are easily catchable and, using the handy fabricator in the life pod, are easily cookable. However, each species is unique and will give different hunger points and even water points. 

In this list, I will be discussing the top 10 food items in Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero. They will be ranked by accessibility, actual calorie count, and other factors such as location and if they can be made in a fabricator.

Number 10: Cooked Bladderfish

The Bladderfish is a bright, pink-colored fish that can be seen lazily swimming throughout the shallows and most other biomes in the game. Its odd, heart-shaped body and protruding eye stalk make it one of the more alien-looking of the fish. The Bladderfish gives 18 food points and 4 water points

What’s Great About Cooked Bladderfish:

As you will come to learn, the bladderfish’s stats, although average, can work well to fill the player up.

• It is also very easy to find. They are plentiful in the shallows, and so are easy to find at the beginning of the game

How to get it:

• Simply swim close enough to a Bladderfish to pick it up
• Look for the “cooked Bladderfish” option in the fabricator to cook it

Number 9: Cooked Boomerang

 The Boomerang is a classic Subnautica fish. In both Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero, the Boomerang is likely going to be one of the first three fish you see. It looks exactly like you would expect something with such a name to look. It is a blue and yellow-striped fish with two long fins that extend on each side of its body, resulting in a crescent-shaped figure. It gives 21 food points and 3 water points.

What’s Great About the Cooked Boomerang: 

• Also has average, but still good, amount of food points, ranking slightly higher than the Cooked Bladderfish
• Easily one of the most spawned fish in the entire game

How to get it:

• Swim close behind one and snag it with a left-click
• Use a fabricator to cook the raw fish

Number 8: Heat Fruit

Heat fruit is a food item unique to Subnautica: Below Zero. It grows on the islands and glaciers of the game. They not only give a formidable 15 food points and 20 water points, but also body heat which temporarily stops the shuddering of the character as well as the frost that forms around the edge of the screen. 

However, they only rank Number 8 because they cannot be farmed and are therefore only useful when on the islands or the Glacial Basin.

What’s great about Heat Fruit:

• The Heat Fruit gives a below average serving of food but also replenishes the player's water points, which is far harder to maintain.
• Conveniently, the Heat Fruit plants are placed in places where there is no other food or water source, and going back to the water would simply be an annoyance.

How to get it:

• Go to the Rocket Island, The Arctic Spires, or the Glacial Basin
• Hunt among the caves until you see a slight glow
• Harvest the fruits with a left-click and enjoy

Number 7: The Nutrition Block

The Nutrition Block is the most efficient food item in either game, giving the player 75 food points. They are Alterra’s food stock scattered throughout the map and can be found among abandoned life pods, inside the Aurora, or within crashed Starships.

 However, because they cannot be fabricated and are in limited supply, they have taken the Number 7 spot on this list.

What’s Great About the Nutrition Block:

• The nutrition block gives a hefty amount of food points (¾ of the entire food bar) and still only take up one slot, making it incredibly efficient
• At the beginning of the game, when there are tons of wreckage, life-pods, and the Aurora to explore, the nutrition blocks are fairly easy to find, meaning you can focus on advancing the story instead of catching and fabricating fish.

How to get it

• The most likely place to find a nutrition block is in the small supply boxes that are usually dotted around abandoned life-pods or wreckage. 
• They can also be found onboard the Aurora

Number 6: Raw EyeEye

The Eye-Eye is a fairly rare, odd-looking fish. It can be found in a multitude of biomes but, because of its small size and dull-green coloring, it may often be overlooked by the player. The Eye-Eye, however, has one interesting feature. When consumed raw, it gives 10 food points and 0 water points. 

That may not sound interesting at all, except that most fish, when consumed raw, will take away points from your water bar. This means that the Eye-Eye can be used as a great food source for when you are far from a fabricator and about to starve to death.

What's Great About Raw Eye-Eye

• Raw Eye-Eye can be used as a food source that won’t deplete thirst when eaten raw, meaning you can stay away from home for longer.
• Even though you may have to look a little harder for them, and they don’t spawn in the shallows, Eye-Eyes are still fairly plentiful.

How To Get It

• Swim up behind one and left click to grab it
• Left click on it in your inventory to consume it

Number 5: Cooked Oculus

The Cooked Oculus looks almost identical to a peeper except it has bright blue, shiny skin and a light purple, glowing eye that is certainly more creepy than a normal peeper. It can only be found in the Jellyshroom Cave, making it quite rare. However, I decided to include it on this list because of its high calorie count(30 food points and 2 water points, the third highest calorie fish in the game) and its aesthetic appearance. 

What’s Great About Cooked Oculus:

• The Oculus is simply great for refilling a food bar
• Although it is rare, an alien containment unit made to breed Cooked Oculus will only be slightly less efficient than a normal Peeper farm and will look far more appealing.

How To Get It

• To get the oculus, you’ll have to travel to the Jelly Shroom Cave, next to the Aurora wreckage. 
• After that, rinse and repeat the cooking process used with the other fish.

Number 4: Cooked Reginald

The Reginald is certainly one of the strangest looking fish in the game. Its pink, vertical fin might look sleek if the rest of its body didn’t look like a deflated football. Nevertheless, The Reginald is the highest calorie fish in the game. 

The Reginald gives a whopping 44 food points, and also 4 water points. This would easily be the highest on the list, except that there are not nearly as many in the sea as some of the other options.

What’s Great About Cooked Reginald:

• It’s amazingly efficient for food points.
• They spawn in small schools, meaning you can usually find 3 or 4 quickly. 
• They also make great bio-reactor fuel and are therefore a wise choice to farm

How to get it

• First, you will have to find an area where they spawn. If you are in the early game and still living in the life pod, your best bet would be to follow the sounds of the Reefbacks because the Reginalds like to school in front of them.
• Capture and cook

Number 3: Cured Peepers

The process of curing a fish uses the fabricator just like cooking, except it also requires a bit of salt. The difference between a cooked fish and a cured fish is that a cured fish doesn’t rot. This means that, although it takes slightly more resources, you are able to bring fish from your fabricator on your adventures without having to worry about eating it all before it goes bad.

 Peepers are a great choice for this cured meat. Although they only add 32 food points(As opposed to a Reginald’s 44), they are much easier to find. Therefore, you can spend less time swimming in the shallows looking for fish to cure.

What’s Great About Cured Peepers:

• Because they are cured, they will last in your inventory for as long as you need them
• Peepers are pretty much everywhere on the Subnautica map, and bagging enough to sustain you for an entire adventure is quick and easy.
• Even though the Reginald takes the king spot for calories, the Peeper is right behind it, being the second-highest calorie fish in the game.

How To Get It

• Travel around the shallows, kelp forests, the crash zone(although make sure you watch out for the reaper that frequents that area), or basically any surface biome and gather the Peepers. 
• Scan the seafloor for small spots of white, thin outcroppings that resemble squares, and pick that salt up.
• Put both together in the fabricator and, voila, you have a cured peeper.

Number 2: Lantern Fruit

The Lantern Fruit is similar to the Heat Fruit, except it can be found in the main game. The Lantern Fruit used to be the single best food item in the game. However, it generated quite a controversy and was soon nerfed. At the moment, each fruit gives 10 food points and 3 water points. 

What’s Great About Lantern Fruit:

• The lantern fruit is highly accessible. The trees on which it grows can grow multiple items
• The lantern tree can be planted, meaning you can keep a regrowing food supply in your base or on a cyclops. 
• Gives both food and water points

How To Get It

• First, you will need to locate the floating island
• When you have found this island, search around the forest and on the side of the paths until you see the lantern tree
• Harvest the lantern fruits

Number 1: Marblemelons

Marble Melons have long been thought of as the best food source for the late game. The marble melon plants themselves can be found on the floating island as well as the wreck of the Degassi. They are plantable, a necessary attribute of a late-game food source, and give the highest water content of any plant in the game, 14 water points as well as 12 food. 

What’s So Great About Marblemelons: 

• As a singular item, they give the highest water content of all the plants and very high food points for a plant
• They can be grown in a base or on a cyclops
• They are fairly effective for a bioreactor

How to get it

• You can find Marblemelon plants on the floating island or the wreck of the Degassi in planter boxes
• Use your survival knife to slice into the plant, and you will get seeds
• Simply plant these seeds in a planter box or grow bed and soon enough you will have a fully functioning melon farm.

Well, that concludes this list of the best food items in Subnautica. In the beginning, you will probably have to eat whatever comes your way, but when the late game comes, and dragging your butt back to your base or life pod just to cook food or fabricate water becomes far more annoying, hopefully, you think back to one of these options. 

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