Pam's HarvestCraft 2 - Food Core

Overview

Pam's HarvestCraft 2 Food Core is the foundation module of the HarvestCraft 2 series, adding over 180 new food items that can all be crafted from vanilla Minecraft ingredients. The mod introduces nine reusable cooking tools, each required for different types of recipes, and a chain of intermediate ingredients like Flour, Dough, Butter, Cheese, and Cream that form the backbone of the cooking system.

This is a standalone mod that works entirely with vanilla resources. No new crops, trees, or world generation is added. If you want even more variety, the optional companion mods Pam's HarvestCraft 2 Crops, Trees, and Food Extended add hundreds of additional ingredients and recipes that integrate seamlessly with this core module. You can browse every item and recipe this mod adds using the tabs at the top of this page.

The Nine Cooking Tools

Every food recipe in this mod requires one of nine cooking tools. Each tool is crafted at a standard Crafting Table using vanilla materials. The tools are divided into three material groups: Terracotta-based tools (Bakeware and Juicer), Copper-based tools (Pot, Sauce Pan, Skillet, and Cutting Board), and Wood-based tools (Grinder, Mixing Bowl, and Roller).

Terracotta Tools

The Bakeware is crafted from 8 Terracotta arranged in a ring (same pattern as a Chest). It handles baked goods: pies, cupcakes, muffins, cakes, donuts, cookies, crackers, and soft pretzels. The Juicer uses 4 Terracotta in a T-shape and makes all fruit juices and Mayonnaise.

Copper Tools

The Pot (1 Stick + 4 Copper Ingots) handles boiling and stewing: Butter, Cheese, Salt, Stock, all soups, Stew, and Boiled Eggs. The Sauce Pan (1 Stick + 1 Copper Ingot) is the simplest copper tool and makes Yogurt, Caramel, Mac & Cheese, Noodle Soup, Glazed Carrots, and Applesauce. The Skillet (1 Copper Ingot + 2 Sticks) covers frying and grilling: Fried Chicken, Fried Egg, Scrambled Egg, Grilled Cheese, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, Hot Dogs, Fish Sticks, Fries, Potato Chips, and all jerky recipes. The Cutting Board (1 Copper Ingot + 1 Stick + 1 Planks) assembles sandwiches, Chicken Dinner, Pot Roast, Fish and Chips, and other multi-component meals.

Wood Tools

The Grinder (3 Andesite + 1 Stick) grinds ingredients into powders and ground meats: Flour, Cocoa Powder, Ground Beef, Ground Chicken, Ground Fish, Ground Pork, Ground Mutton, and Ground Rabbit. The Mixing Bowl (3 Planks + 1 Stick, same pattern as the Grinder but with Planks) creates Dough, Batter, Cream, Cooking Oil, Fruit Salad, Baked Vegetable Medley, and Trail Mix. The Roller (2 Sticks + 1 Log) flattens Dough into Pasta and presses vegetables or nuts into Cooking Oil.

Intermediate Ingredients

Before you can cook most foods, you need to prepare a set of intermediate ingredients. These are the building blocks that connect raw vanilla resources to finished meals. Understanding the ingredient chain is essential because nearly every food recipe requires at least one of these.

Liquids: Fresh Water and Fresh Milk

A Water Bucket shapeless-crafts into 8 Fresh Water, and a Milk Bucket into 8 Fresh Milk. These stackable items replace buckets in all recipes, making bulk cooking practical. Fresh Water is used in Dough and several drinks. Fresh Milk appears in nearly every dairy recipe, Batter, smoothies, Hot Chocolate, and Cookies and Milk.

Flour, Dough, and Pasta

Grind any "flour plant" (Wheat, Potato, or Sunflower Seeds) with the Grinder to produce Flour. Combine Flour + Fresh Water + Salt in the Mixing Bowl to get 2 Dough. Dough is the foundation for breads, pretzels, donuts, pastry doughs, and pie crusts. Run Dough through the Roller to make Pasta, which is used in Mac & Cheese and Noodle Soup.

Dairy Products

Fresh Milk feeds into four different products depending on which tool you use. The Pot turns Fresh Milk into Butter (used in baked goods, Buttered Baked Potato, and Mashed Potatoes). The Pot with Fresh Milk + Salt produces Cheese (used in Grilled Cheese, Cheeseburgers, Cheesecake, and Mac & Cheese). The Mixing Bowl separates Fresh Milk into Cream (used in Ice Cream and Chocolate Pudding). The Sauce Pan converts Fresh Milk into Yogurt (base for seven yogurt flavors).

Other Key Ingredients

Salt is made by boiling Fresh Water in the Pot. You'll need it constantly for Dough, Cheese, all jerky recipes, and Pickled Beets. Batter (Mixing Bowl + Flour + Fresh Milk + Egg) produces 2 Batter and is required for all cakes, cupcakes, and muffins. Cocoa Powder (Grinder + Cocoa Beans) is the base for every chocolate recipe. Cooking Oil (Roller + any vegetable or nut) produces 2 per craft and is used in fried foods. Vinegar (Pot + any "vinegar ingredient") is needed for Pickled Beets and all jerky. Mayonnaise is made by running an Egg through the Juicer.

Meat Processing

The mod adds a complete meat processing system for all six vanilla meat types: Chicken, Beef, Pork, Fish (Cod/Salmon), Mutton, and Rabbit. Each follows the same pattern: grind the raw meat with the Grinder to get a Ground Meat variant, then cook the ground meat in a Furnace, Smoker, or Campfire to get the Cooked Ground version.

Ground meats are the starting point for burgers, hot dogs, meatloaf, and other prepared dishes. All ground meats cook at the same speed (100 ticks) across all three cooking methods. The Skillet also turns cooked meats into Jerky when combined with Salt and Vinegar, creating shelf-stable high-saturation snacks for exploration.

Chicken Dishes

Chicken has the most elaborate recipe tree of any meat. Raw Chicken can be fried directly in the Skillet for Fried Chicken (7 hunger), ground for Chicken Nuggets (Skillet + Ground Chicken + Dough, yields 4 at 3 hunger each), or built into a Basic Chicken Sandwich (Cutting Board + Fried Chicken + Bread + condiment, 12 hunger). The ultimate chicken recipe is the Chicken Dinner at 21 hunger points, requiring a Cutting Board + Fried Chicken + Mashed Potatoes + any vegetable.

Beef Dishes

Ground Beef opens up the burger line. A Basic Hamburger (Skillet + Ground Beef + Bread, 13 hunger) is straightforward. Add Cheese for a Basic Cheeseburger (17 hunger). The Bacon Cheeseburger is the highest-hunger food in the entire mod at 25 hunger points, requiring the Skillet + Ground Beef + Bread + Cheese + Raw Pork + a condiment.

Pork, Fish, Mutton, and Rabbit

Pork produces Ground Pork for Hot Dogs (Skillet + Ground Pork + Bread, 13 hunger), plus Bacon and Eggs (Skillet + Raw Pork + Egg, 6 hunger) and Epic Bacon (Skillet + Raw Pork + Sugar, 11 hunger). Fish provides Fish Sticks (Skillet + Ground Fish + Dough, 6 hunger), a Basic Fish Sandwich (12 hunger), and Fish and Chips (Cutting Board + Fish Sticks + Fries, 11 hunger). Mutton and Rabbit have simpler trees focused on ground meat variants and jerky.

Fruit-Based Foods

Four vanilla fruits, Apples, Melon Slices, Sweet Berries, and Glow Berries, each support a parallel set of recipes: Juice, Smoothie, Jelly, and Jelly Toast. The pattern is consistent across all fruit types, so once you learn one, you know them all.

Juices are made with the Juicer + 2 fruit. Smoothies use the Bakeware + fruit + Fresh Milk + Sugar. Jellies require the Bakeware + 2 fruit, and Jelly Toast combines any Jelly with Toast. Apple-based products consistently provide the highest hunger values in the fruit category: Apple Juice restores 9 hunger, Apple Smoothie restores 11, and Apple Jelly Toast restores 12. By comparison, Sweet Berry and Glow Berry variants restore 3, 5, and 9 hunger respectively for the same recipe types.

Beyond the standard fruit recipes, Apples also produce Applesauce (Sauce Pan + Apple + Sugar, 10 hunger), Apple Pie (Bakeware + Apple + Dough + Sugar, 9 hunger), and Apple Yogurt (7 hunger). The versatile Fruit Punch combines the Juicer + Apple + Melon + Sweet Berries for a hefty 13 hunger, while Fruit Salad (Mixing Bowl + Apple + Melon + Sweet Berries, 9 hunger) and Fruit Crumble (Bakeware + fruit + Flour + Butter, 10 hunger) provide more options.

Baked Goods and Desserts

The Bakeware unlocks the largest single category of food: over 40 different baked goods and desserts. Most require Batter (Mixing Bowl + Flour + Fresh Milk + Egg) as a base ingredient, with variations coming from added flavors.

Cupcakes and Muffins

Both cupcakes and muffins come in four flavors: Chocolate, Carrot, Pumpkin, and Caramel. All cupcake and muffin recipes yield 4 items per craft, making them efficient to produce. Cupcakes restore 2 hunger each (8 total per craft), while muffins restore 3 each (12 total per craft). The recipe pattern is the same: Bakeware + Batter + Sugar + the flavor ingredient (Cocoa Powder, Carrot, Pumpkin, or Caramel).

Cakes and Cheesecakes

Chocolate Cake (Bakeware + Batter + Sugar + Cocoa Powder, 7 hunger) and Carrot Cake (Bakeware + Batter + Carrot + Sugar, 9 hunger) are straightforward. Cheesecake requires Bakeware + Batter + Sugar + Cheese for 9 hunger, and Pumpkin Cheesecake adds a Pumpkin to the mix for 12 hunger, making it one of the best baked goods in the mod.

Donuts and Breads

Basic Donuts (Bakeware + Dough + Cooking Oil, 8 hunger) can be enhanced into Chocolate Donuts (9 hunger) or Jelly Donuts (12 hunger, the best donut). The mod also adds Carrot Bread and Pumpkin Bread (both 7 hunger) as vegetable-bread variations, Toast (5 hunger, yields 2 from Dough), and Crackers (5 hunger). Soft Pretzels (Bakeware + Dough + Salt, 6 hunger) round out the bread selection.

Chocolate and Sweets

Cocoa Beans from the Jungle are the gateway to an extensive chocolate recipe tree. Grind Cocoa Beans with the Grinder to get Cocoa Powder, which is the base ingredient for all chocolate foods.

The Chocolate Bar (Bakeware + Cocoa Powder + Sugar + Fresh Milk, 2 hunger) is simple and quick. From there, Chocolate expands into Hot Chocolate (Sauce Pan + Cocoa Powder + Fresh Milk, 7 hunger), Chocolate Bacon (Skillet + Cocoa Powder + Raw Pork, 6 hunger), Chocolate Pudding (Bakeware + Cocoa Powder + Fresh Milk + Sugar, 5 hunger), Chocolate Roll (Bakeware + Cocoa Powder + Dough + Cream, 9 hunger), and Chocolate Caramel Fudge (Bakeware + Cocoa Powder + Caramel + Butter, 7 hunger).

The candy side includes Caramel (Sauce Pan + Sugar + Butter, 4 hunger), Caramel Apples (9 hunger), Marshmallows (Bakeware + Sugar + Egg, 2 hunger), Marshmallow Chicks (Bakeware + Marshmallow + Sugar, 3 hunger), Cotton Candy (2 hunger), Gummy Bears (4 hunger), and Jelly Beans (4 hunger). S'mores combine Marshmallows + Chocolate Bar + Crackers for 10 hunger, making them one of the better sweet snacks.

Vegetable and Potato Dishes

Potatoes get five dedicated recipes: Buttered Baked Potato (Skillet + Baked Potato + Butter, 11 hunger), Mashed Potatoes (Mixing Bowl + Baked Potato + Butter + Fresh Milk, 11 hunger), Fries (Skillet + Potato + Cooking Oil, 6 hunger), Potato Chips (Skillet + Potato + Salt + Cooking Oil, 6 hunger), and Potato Soup (Pot + Potato + Fresh Milk + Stock, 7 hunger). Mashed Potatoes and Buttered Baked Potato are both excellent early-game foods at 11 hunger with relatively cheap ingredients.

Carrots produce Glazed Carrots (Sauce Pan + Carrot + Sugar + Butter, 8 hunger) and Carrot Soup (Pot + Carrot + Stock, 7 hunger). Beetroot can be pickled (Pot + Beetroot + Vinegar, 7 hunger). Pumpkin makes Pumpkin Soup (Pot + Pumpkin + Stock, 7 hunger). The Baked Vegetable Medley uses the Bakeware with three different vegetables plus Cooking Oil for 7 hunger.

Egg and Dairy Dishes

Eggs can be prepared three ways: Boiled Egg (Pot + Egg, 3 hunger), Fried Egg (Skillet + Egg + Cooking Oil, 3 hunger), and Scrambled Egg (Skillet + Egg + Fresh Milk + Butter, 7 hunger). Bacon and Eggs combines the Skillet + Raw Pork + Egg for 6 hunger. Mayonnaise is made from the Juicer + Egg and serves as a condiment in sandwich recipes.

Yogurt (Sauce Pan + Fresh Milk) comes in seven flavors: plain (3 hunger), Chocolate (6), Apple (7), Sweet Berry (5), Glow Berry (5), Pumpkin (7), and Caramel (6). Ice Cream (Mixing Bowl + Fresh Milk + Sugar + Cream, 6 hunger) can be made into Chocolate Ice Cream (9 hunger) or Caramel Ice Cream (9 hunger). Cookies and Milk (Bakeware + Cookie + Fresh Milk, 5 hunger) and Chocolate Yogurt round out the dairy desserts.

Multi-Ingredient Meals

The most rewarding recipes in the mod are the complex meals that combine multiple intermediate ingredients into high-hunger dishes. Stew (Pot + any raw meat + 2 vegetables + Flour, 15 hunger) is one of the best, using tag-based ingredients so any meat and vegetable combination works. Stock (Pot + any "stock ingredient", yields 2) is a prerequisite for many soups and stews.

Meatloaf (Bakeware + any ground meat + Bread + Egg, 10 hunger) is a solid mid-complexity recipe. Fruit Punch (Juicer + Apple + Melon + Sweet Berries, 13 hunger) combines three fruit types. P8 Juice (Juicer + Carrot + Beetroot + Potato + Pumpkin, 7 hunger) is the vegetable equivalent. Both the Chicken Dinner (21 hunger) and Bacon Cheeseburger (25 hunger) represent the pinnacle of the mod's cooking system, requiring 4-5 ingredients each plus a cooking tool.

Snacks and Trail Foods

For adventuring, several foods are quick to craft and provide decent hunger restoration without complex ingredient chains. Sunflower Seeds (craft 2 Sunflowers into 2 Seeds) can be roasted in a Furnace, Smoker, or Campfire for Roasted Sunflower Seeds (5 hunger). Trail Mix (Mixing Bowl + Roasted Sunflower Seeds + Chocolate Bar + Crackers, 8 hunger) is an excellent travel food. Jerky variants (Skillet + any cooked meat + Salt + Vinegar, 5-6 hunger) are another portable option that uses meat you probably already have cooked.

Companion Mods

Food Core is designed as the base of a modular system. Three companion mods expand it significantly. Pam's HarvestCraft 2 Crops adds 60+ new crops with garden generation in the world, providing dozens of new vegetables, fruits, herbs, and grains that plug directly into Food Core's tag-based recipes. Pam's HarvestCraft 2 Trees adds fruit trees that grow in different biomes, providing renewable fruit sources beyond vanilla. Pam's HarvestCraft 2 Food Extended adds hundreds more food recipes that use ingredients from Crops and Trees. None of these are required; Food Core works entirely standalone with vanilla ingredients.