Simple meal

A simple meal is a meal and the most basic way to prepare raw food for consumption.

Acquisition

Simple meals can be cooked at a Campfire, Fueled stove, or Electric stove. A simple meal requires 0.5 units of nutrition from raw food - this is equal to 10 units of rice, potatoes, meat, and most foods. They require 300 ticks (5 secs) of work to make, and have no minimum cooking skill. Cooking at a campfire doubles the work required, to 600 ticks (10 secs) of work.

Summary

A simple meal can be eaten by humans or animals for 0.9 nutrition, or 90% of a human's hunger meter. As it takes 0.5 nutrition of raw food to create, simple meals provide 180% nutrition efficiency.

Eating a simple meal has no intrinsic effect on mood like some other meals, however if it was made out of insect meat or human meat, their respective moodlets will be applied. If Ideology DLC is active and the meal was made out of raw fungus, its normal moodlet will also be applied.

Analysis

Going from eating raw food to simple meals is a huge upgrade, since:

Simple meals give ×180% the nutrition of raw food.
Simple meals avoid the −7 Ate raw food moodlet.
Simple meals have a lower chance of giving food poisoning than raw food, assuming a clean cooking area and a chef with a cooking skill of 3 or better.

Compared to other meals:

Fine meals give a +5 Ate fine meal mood boost and have the same nutrition efficiency, but require both meat and vegetables to create. They take more work and require a Cooking skill of 6. Vegetarian fine meals and carnivore fine meals can be made from 1 type of food, but waste food in the process.

Nutrient paste meals give a −4 moodlet, require Nutrient paste researched (which New Arrivals start with), and it takes power to operate a dispenser. However, nutrient paste meals give ×166% the nutrition (300% the nutrition from raw food), never give food poisoning, and take no work to create. Paste becomes relatively better if you do not have a skilled cook, or are limited on food.