Monster Meat

Monster Meat is a Food item obtained by killing most Monsters. Most monsters will drop Monster Meat at least 50% of the time, otherwise dropping their special resources (for example Spiders also drop Silk and Spider Gland).

Monster Meat is toxic and will reduce Health and Sanity when consumed, with the exception of Webber, who will not take any penalties upon consumption.

Cooked Monster Meat
Cooked Monster Meat is Monster Meat that has been cooked on a Campfire, Fire Pit or Star.

Mobs that ordinarily drop Monster Meat and die from being set on fire, will drop a Cooked Monster Meat instead. Cooking Monster Meat on a Campfire/Fire Pit or drying it on a Drying Rack to make a Monster Jerky reduces its toxic effects. Additionally, one raw, cooked, or dried Monster Meat (or Durian) can be used as a meat/filler in Crock Pot recipes with no toxic effects. It should be noted however that using more than 1 piece of Monster Meat (or Durian) in a Crock Pot will typically result in Monster Lasagna, which is just as toxic as eating raw monster meat, with a large sanity drain penalty.

Usage
Monster Meat can be used as bait for meat-eating creatures, such as Spiders or Buzzards.

Giving Monster Meat to a Pig will befriend it. When 4 pieces of Monster Meat are fed to a Pig, it will transform into a Werepig and become hostile. This can sometimes happen accidentally when Pig Villages are close to Spider Dens, as Pigs will eat the Monster Meat from Spiders they kill.

Monster Jerky can be given to the Pig King in exchange for Gold Nuggets.

Cooked Monster Meat or Monster Jerky can be fed to caged birds to produce Eggs.

A single piece of Monster Meat can be used in a number of Crock Pot recipes without producing side-effects. One of the best ways to use up large quantities of Monster Meat is by cooking Bacon and Eggs or Fishsticks which can use up 2 pieces per dish.

Some animals are carnivorous or omnivorous and will eat Monster Meat given to them or left laying around. If they are not immune to the negative effects of Monster Meat, eating it causes them to lose Health. This allows an abundance of Monster Meats to be converted to other resources by simply feeding these animals with Monster Meat directly or indirectly. For example, in Shipwrecked DLC Crabbits and Seagulls will be attracted to and eat Monster Meat, yielding Fish Morsels, and Azure Feathers or Morsels respectively when they eat enough.

Monster Meat farming is a very practical thing to do especially in the earlier stages of the game because it is very easy and effective.

Tips

 * When playing as Wolfgang, it is possible to gain more health from being mighty than lost from eating cooked monster meat. Though when going back to normal his health will be lower than it was.
 * In Reign of Giants, the Bearger will eat and be damaged by Monster Meat. It takes 150 monster meat to completely kill a Bearger. While this is impractical a full stack takes a substantial chunk of the Bearger's health.
 * Webber starts with 2 Monster Meat and suffers no Health or sanity penalties when eating it. Unlike other characters, cooking the Monster Meat before consuming it provides no bonuses to Webber aside from increased spoiling time.
 * Monster Meat is possibly the greatest of the Crock Pot ingredients/fillers, as it has a meat value of 1, can be turned into jerky and can be made into Eggs with a Bird Cage. This makes it possible to survive off of Monster Meat alone by cooking Meatballs with Monster Meat and Eggs. If a player has access to morsels, Bacon and Eggs can also be made, and is a more beneficial recipe than Meatballs.
 * Feeding cooked monster meat to a bird in a birdcage gives eggs, which can be converted to gold via Pig King.
 * 4 monster meat can be "traded" for 2 regular Meat and a Pig Skin by giving them to a Pig and killing the resulting Werepig. However, since Monster Meat can already replace Meat in most contexts, the main value for this is making Jerky, Meaty Stew or a Ham Bat.

Trivia

 * Warly states that the meat has "nice marbling", suggesting that it's rather fatty.
 * Contrary to popular belief, WX-78 still takes damage when it eats this.