I’m a confessed foodie and a dedicated gamer – so when my RPG group decided on a special Christmas Fallout session using the Modiphius D20 Fallout game (enhanced with our homebrew rules), my mind immediately went to one place: Fallout Food! I knew this wasn’t just any game night; it demanded a feast worthy of the wasteland.
Yes, that’s me proudly holding the Modiphius Fallout rulebook, amidst the organized chaos of my kitchen – the epicenter of my fallout food experiment.
Now, I know what you might be thinking: “Isn’t there already a Fallout Cookbook?” Indeed, there is. But after browsing its online previews, I felt a pang of disappointment. The recipes seemed… too ordinary. My gaming group, you see, has a history of culinary contributions that have become part of our Fallout lore. These dishes, born from our imaginations and taste buds, wouldn’t be found in any official cookbook. So, the only logical step was to go DIY. I drew inspiration from the game itself, incorporated our own in-game culinary creations, and set out to build the ultimate fallout food experience. The result? A table laden with wasteland delicacies, as you can see above!
My Epic Fallout Food Menu: A Feast for Vault Dwellers
Let’s be honest, I have a tendency to over-cater – it’s my way of showing love through food, and ensuring glorious leftovers. So, yes, there was an abundance of fallout food for our six-person table. But quantity aside, here’s the meticulously planned menu that transported us straight to the post-apocalyptic wasteland:
Pre-Lunch Fallout Food Snacks: Fueling Up for Adventure
Before diving deep into our Fallout session, I laid out a spread of snacks to keep everyone energized during the initial game play.
- Potato Crisps (Inspired by Fallout: New Vegas)
- Cheezy Poofs (Inspired by Fallout 2)
- Radioactive Gum Drops (Inspired by Fallout: New Vegas)
Fallout Food Starters: Setting the Wasteland Stage
Once the first half of our game reached a dramatic cliffhanger, it was time to immerse ourselves fully in the fallout food experience with a bounty of starters. And trust me, there was a LOT.
A Charcuterie & Cheese Board of Wasteland Delights:
- Squirrel Bits (Inspired by Fallout 4)
- Blue Bighorn Cheese (Inspired by Fallout: New Vegas)
- Headhunter’s Headcheese (Inspired by Fallout 76)
- Potted Meat (Inspired by Fallout 4)
- Mutated Maul-rat Poop (Home-game Canon – a truly unique fallout food)
A Spread of Mysterious Wasteland Pastes:
- Pink Food Paste (Inspired by Fallout 4)
- Thick Red Paste (Inspired by Fallout: New Vegas)
Refreshing Fallout Food Salads (Because even Vault Dwellers Need Greens):
- Dandy Boy Apple Salad
- Desert Salad (Inspired by Fallout: New Vegas)
- Tayto-Mayto Salad (Home-game Canon – another fallout food original)
A Rustic Basket of Wasteland Breads:
- Razorgrain Bread & Crackers (Inspired by Fallout 76)
Fallout Food Mains: Hearty Wasteland Sustenance
- Blamco Mac and Cheese (A Staple Across ALL Fallout Games)
- Brahmin Stew (Home-game Canon – a hearty fallout food staple)
- Tayto Mash (Home-game Canon – comforting fallout food)
- Greasy Prospector Pork n’ Beans (Inspired by Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas)
Fallout Food Dessert: Sweet Treats from the Wastes
- Fancy Lad Snack Cakes (Inspired by Fallout 4)
Fallout Food Drinks: Quenching Your Wasteland Thirst
- Nuka Cola (The Iconic Fallout Beverage)
- Irradiated Water (Inspired by Fallout: New Vegas)
- Tenpenny Tower Wine (Inspired by Fallout 3)
Crafting the Fallout Food Menu: Recipes and Inspirations
So, how did I bring this ambitious fallout food menu to life? My approach was a mix of “look-alikes” – dishes that visually resembled the in-game items but with palatable ingredients – and faithful recreations, aiming for both visual and flavor accuracy (minus the radiation, of course!). The rationale? Some Fallout universe edibles are, frankly, unappetizing in concept (I’m looking at you, Pink Food Paste and the enigmatic Thick Red Paste!). I also incorporated supplementary dishes, creatively using canon ingredients in fresh ways. Because even in the apocalypse, a balanced diet matters!
Classic Fallout Food Recipes: Recreated for the Modern Vault Dweller
The “recreation” section of my fallout food menu was relatively straightforward. These dishes were crafted to closely mirror the original game concepts, ensuring they were both recognizable and delicious (and radiation-free!).
Blamco Mac and Cheese – an absolute must-have, appearing in virtually every Fallout game! I’m a lifelong mac and cheese enthusiast, but surprisingly, it’s not as common where I currently live. To amplify its Fallout vibe, I enriched it with crispy bacon, sautéed onions, and garlic, giving it a slightly “dirty” wasteland aesthetic that was incredibly tasty.
Fallout Desert Salad – In the game, it appears rather plain, so I elevated it with a zesty vinaigrette dressing and added vibrant green onions for a flavor boost.
Greasy Prospector Pork n’ Beans – a staple in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and canned goods are a quintessential trope of post-apocalyptic survival. However, being averse to processed tinned food, I opted for homemade butter beans in a rich tomato sauce (inspired by the Greek dish Gigantes) and incorporated rustic spiced sausage for the pork element. The result was incredibly delicious! While I used my own recipe, this one is a great alternative. Just remember to add chopped Italian/Greek sausage while sautéing the onions.
The Desert Salad from Fallout: New Vegas was prepared to closely resemble its in-game depiction. Appearing to consist mainly of tomatoes and leafy greens, I enhanced it with a medley of extra vegetables – corn, cucumber, and green onion – for added texture and flavor, finished with a light wine vinegar vinaigrette.
For the Blue Bighorn Cheese from Fallout: New Vegas, I selected Stilton cheese, a personal favorite. Any robust blue cheese, such as Roquefort or Gorgonzola, would serve equally well.
The snack selection – Potato Crisps (Fallout: New Vegas), Cheezy Poofs (Fallout 2), and Radioactive Gum Drops (Fallout: New Vegas) – were exactly as they sound in terms of flavor. However, I elevated them with custom packaging (more on that below), even crafting a bespoke candy box!
Nuka Cola – simplicity itself. This iconic Fallout drink was achieved with regular Coca-Cola bottles adorned with custom-printed labels (labels detailed below).
Irradiated Water – delightfully low-effort! I simply used water carafes and labeled them accordingly.
Tenpenny Tower Wine – again, readily available online were fantastic printable labels (linked below) for wine bottles, which I applied to standard wine bottles. For a non-alcoholic option, these labels would look equally striking on grape juice bottles.
Look-a-like Fallout Food: Wasteland Cuisine with a Gourmet Twist
This section of the fallout food menu allowed for more creative interpretation. How does one create “Squirrel Bits” without actual squirrel? And what about the enigmatic Pink Food Paste? Its Soylent Green implications were definitely something I wanted to avoid. Here’s how I crafted dishes that captured the visual essence of Fallout food while remaining utterly delicious. Feel free to adapt these to your own taste preferences.
Pink Food Paste (Fallout 4) proved surprisingly easy to replicate, despite its in-game description as addictive and aggression-inducing. Taramasalata, a readily available Greek dip made from cod roe, offered the perfect visual and textural match. While personally not a fan, it’s generally considered a delicacy, and was a hit with my group!
Squirrel Bits (Fallout 4) have become a recurring favorite in our RPG sessions, so their inclusion was mandatory. I settled on using Polish cabanossi sausages, sliced into bite-sized chunks. Their slender profile felt appropriately “squirrel-like,” and their smoked, dried texture lent a suitably “shriveled” wasteland quality. Any smoked sausage would work well – for thicker varieties, simply slice them into thin strips to achieve a similar “squirrely” feel.
A detailed view of the cheeseboard from my Fallout Food Meal, featuring Cram, Headhunter’s Head Cheese, Pink Food Paste, Blue Brahmin Cheese, and (partially obscured behind the cram) Thick Red Paste!
Potted Meat (Fallout 4) found its delicious stand-in in pâté. It paired wonderfully with the bread, cheese, and salads in our starter spread.
Cram – a truly puzzling one. This tinned meat, present in Fallout 3 and subsequent titles, is depicted on its packaging (see right) as appetizing smoked/roasted ham. However, it’s clearly a parody of Spam – a processed, reformed, preserved pork product with a rather… slimy reputation. Having endured Spam in childhood school lunches, I was determined to spare my gaming group. Instead, I prioritized the visual representation over the implied ingredients, and served a delectable smoked ham joint.
Headhunter’s Headcheese. In the Fallout universe, its composition is, shall we say, questionable. Not on my table! However, the term “Head Cheese” has a different connotation in Greece and the Balkans, signifying the highest quality cheese, the “head” or best of the cheese. Therefore, we indulged in kefalograviera (kefalo meaning “head,” graviera being the cheese type). There is another type of Headcheese – a Dutch recipe of boiled animal head in gelatin, potentially the original inspiration for the Fallout version, but requiring considerably more effort. I opted to skip the boiled brains and embrace delicious cheese.
Thick Red Paste, introduced in Fallout: New Vegas, lacks detailed flavor descriptions, only that it’s contraband for Caesar’s Legion. Reasoning that forbidden items are often intensely desirable, I employed my go-to spicy chutney recipe (dubbed “Dragon’s Breath Chutney”). Its sweet, sour, and spicy profile proved a perfect complement to the charcuterie and cheese. If you’d like the recipe, just ask in the comments – it’s truly versatile and amazing!
I utilized authentic Fancy Lad Snack Cakes packaging (pictured below!), but substituted the expected contents with these irresistible Greek powdered sugar cookies!
Fancy Lad Snack Cakes (Fallout 4) are essentially Fallout’s version of Twinkies. Unfortunately for European Vault Dwellers (and myself!), Twinkies are a rare find. So, creativity was required. Having secured excellent packaging (see below), I felt justified in taking liberties with the filling. Fortunately, local bakeries offer incredible melt-in-your-mouth powdered sugar cookies (kourabiedes), which I used as a delicious stand-in (pictured right).
Supplementary Fallout Food: Fresh Flavors in the Wasteland
To ensure a well-rounded meal – this wasn’t the apocalypse, after all, and fresh ingredients were readily available! – I incorporated supplementary dishes that creatively utilized canon Fallout ingredients.
Razorgrain is a staple grain in Fallout 76, yet Razorgrain Bread is never explicitly seen. However, it seemed a logical addition, and with our array of cheeses and meats, a bread basket was essential. I chose a seeded bread to evoke a rustic, post-apocalyptic vibe.
Dandy Boy Apples are a recurring item in Fallout, often implied to be candied apples. However, with ample sweetness already on the menu, I opted for a different approach, creating a second salad. Thus, the Dandy Boy Apple Salad was born. My version combined tart apple, crunchy walnuts, grated carrot, baby greens, steamed beetroot, and a balsamic vinaigrette, but the recipe is easily adaptable. The beetroot lent a striking “candy pink” hue that I found appealing and complemented the apple and green onion beautifully.
Brahmin, the iconic two-headed cattle of Fallout, are a recurring food source in the game. Recipes exist for Brahmin steaks, burgers, noodle soup, and more! However, steaks and burgers are less practical for a group setting, while a stew is ideal for serving a crowd and can be prepared in advance (crucial, as I intended to spend the morning gaming!). Enter Brahmin Stew! Essentially, I prepared a Greek-style beef stew called Stifado, featuring pearl onions, red wine, and a wealth of flavor. It vanished remarkably quickly. This recipe closely resembles my version and is even better when made a day or two ahead.
A detailed overhead shot of the Tayto-Mayto Salad, Tayto Mash (at the back), Desert Salad, Pork and Beans, Nuka Cola, and Blamco Mac and Cheese!
Finally, Tayto Mash and Tayto Mato Salad – original creations born from our homebrew Fallout campaign. Our game is set in New York, where the local farm specializes solely in tomatoes and potatoes. Their culinary output? Potatoes and tomatoes!
For Tayto Mash, I aimed for something more exciting than plain mashed potatoes with tomato juice, which sounded rather uninspired. Instead, I created creamy mashed potatoes and swirled in vibrant red pesto for a flavor explosion. It was unbelievably delicious, and requires no formal recipe – simply blend red pesto into your favorite mashed potato recipe to taste. It’s the enticing orange dish visible at the back of the picture to the right.
For the Tayto Mato Salad, I revisited a cherished recipe from my youth – classic Italian potato salad. Having learned much of my cooking from Italian grandmothers in Southern Italy, this dish – boiled potatoes, ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced onions, and a robust vinaigrette with high-quality olive oil – was a kitchen staple. Again, no precise recipe is needed; simply combine the ingredients to your liking and savor! You can see it pictured to the right!
My DIY Fallout food labels for Fancy Lad Snack Cakes and Radioactive Gumdrops, showcased against Fallout Roleplaying Game character sheets.
Printable Fallout Food Labels: The Finishing Touch
Here are the printable Fallout Food Labels I sourced online or designed myself to add that authentic wasteland aesthetic.
My self-designed Fallout Food Printable label for Potato Crisps! Designed to print at approximately the size of a standard chip bag.
For the remaining Fallout Food labels, I used card stock and hand-lettered the names (complete with prices in caps for added authenticity!). Given more time, I would have printed images of the in-game food items to affix as well, but alas, the demands of my World Anvil day job kept me somewhat occupied! Toothpicks or chopsticks proved ideal for mounting the labels, secured with a small piece of tape. For the Pork and Beans, served directly from the stockpot, I printed a large label and adhered it directly to the pot, mimicking a giant tin can.
So, would I embark on another fallout food culinary adventure? Absolutely! Our gaming group was enthralled, and I thoroughly enjoyed the creative process.
Would you be interested in another fantasy food themed post? Are you craving details for any of these recipes? Let me know in the comments!
