box of emergency food

The Emergency Food Items You Need to Stock Up On Now

/Updated /24 Comments/in , , /by Mary Hunt

Life is uncertain. Every home needs a stockpile of non-perishable, shelf-stable emergency food items. It’s part of any sensible emergency preparedness plan. You need to stock up now. Today.

 

box of emergency food

You may still be able to have all of these emergency food items delivered to your front door by Amazon or by a local grocery store in your area that offers online ordering with pick up or delivery.

A list of the essential pantry items that need to be stocked in your cupboards and pantry follows. You may have some of these already. It’s time to check and take inventory.

I include a few Amazon links to make sure you have the correct information to select the specific items in those categories that appeal to you.

What follows is not an exhaustive list, nor is it mandatory. This is a guideline for essentials that show up in most recipes. These are food items you will need for recipes that you will supplement with meat, poultry, and produce—as available and warranted.

I am also linking to recipes, my favorite recipe sites that may l be so helpful for you as you prepare quick, low-cost, delicious, and nutritious meals during good times and, well, more challenging times!

Beans and Legumes (dry and or canned)

  • white beans
  • lentils
  • black beans
  • kidney beans
  • whole coffee beans

 

A bowl of food on a plate, with Bean and Rice

Red Beans and Rice courtesy of Food Channel’s Robert Irvine (fabulous!)

Resources

The Protein in Rice and Beans. Rice and beans may seem like a simplistic meal without enough protein or nutrition. However, it turns out that rice and bean dishes have complete proteins, are packed with carbohydrates, protein, and nutrients you may need for a vegan diet or fitness plan, and are totally delicious.

Red Beans and Rice courtesy of Food Channel’s Robert Irvine.

The Bean Cookbook is a free download from The Bean Institute that will teach you everything you need to know about preparing and enjoying beans. Honestly, I had no idea. I’ve learned so much. Plus hundreds of really awesome recipes! FREE download.

 

Whole Grains and Bread

  • oatmeal, steel-cut oats
  • quinoa
  • rice
  • bread
  • tortillas

Resources

Instant Pot Steel-Cut Oats (foolproof!)

Kale and Quinoa Salad

How to cook rice – easily and perfectly (easy lessons with pictures!)

Canned Goods

Resource

Brazilian Coconut Chickpea Curry

Pasta

  • spaghetti
  • penne
  • your family favorite

 

Resource

Best Instant Pot. You can order today and have it within days. If that fits within your budget, an Instant Pot will greatly simplify your meal prep and cooking going forward. There are thousands of online recipes and resources for how to get your Instant Pot turning out the best food you can imagine—easy, quick!

Baking

  • all-purpose flour
  • white sugar
  • brown sugar
  • baking soda
  • baking powder
  • yeast
  • dry milk

 

A sandwich cut in half on a plate, with Bread and Butter

Condiments and Sauces

Resource

20 Asian Meals on the Table in 15 Minutes (you’re going to love these!)

7 Easy Ways to Give New Life to Leftover Rice

Seasonings

  • salt
  • pepper
  • garlic
  • cumin
  • Italian seasoning
  • crushed red pepper
  • onion powder
  • garlic powder

Oils and Vinegar

  • olive oil
  • cooking oil
  • sesame oil
  • white vinegar
  • apple cider vinegar

There you go … a guide so you can quickly stock your cabinets and cupboards with emergency food items you will need and use. I don’t want you ending up with a bunch of food that will spoil quickly or that you will never use.

 

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24 replies
  1. Beth says:

    What about dried food? Veggies and fruit. So far I have only seen them at Mother Earth Products where you can buy the individual food and not entire meals. I am sure there are other places.

    Reply
  2. Vivian Jean says:

    I prep for earthquakes and other possibilities here in Huntington Beach, CA. I have a very large supply of emergency food. I don’t store a lot of dried beans because it takes too much gas or electricity to cook them. And you may not have that if crisis happens. I stay with a little of those but mostly canned and rotate them by date. Also, dehydrated food. I keep at least three sources of heat for cooking and other needs. Propane bbq, wood, charcoal.

    Reply
  3. Vickie says:

    Just don’t buy your canned supplies that have a pull tab to open the can. The cans won’t last as long as a can that needs a can opener to open.

    Reply
    • Mary Hunt says:

      I am not aware of a hard copy option. You can download the .pdf (links in the post) and then print it from your home printer. Or you could save it to a flash drive, and take it to a quick print location. It is quite a long cookbook, so I suggest you use your printer’s “both sides” option

      Reply
  5. Pat A Weiser says:

    People need to exercise a bit of caution doing this. I stocked up on all this stuff and more during covid. I am now faced with beans I’ll never eat, rice we eat sparingly, A pound of yeast in the freezer, a huge container of whole milk powder, Spam, canned meat and old cans of vegetables. I was feeding 3 people and we hardly made a dent in all of it.

    Reply
    • Mary Hunt says:

      Before you jump to any conclusions, remember that emergency’s are always a potential. Covid was not the only. Having an emergency supply of pantry items with very long shelf lives is akin to having fire insurance on your home. You buy it and pay dearly for it. It is there should you need it. And the next time your premium payment comes due, will you advise others to exercise a bit of caution and perhaps even reduce the amount of fire insurance they carry? Or, God forbid, believe that since they didn’t need it before, it was a total waste of money so they won’t replenish for the future. That would be utterly foolish. The same for your emergency pantry. It’s there for when you may need it. And if you never do? You will not likely wish you’d had an opportunity to need it. Of course you should customize your pantry to hold foods your family will actually eat when the grocery shelves are bare, the supply chain has been broken and no deliveries can be found anywhere. It’s a delicate balance, but one I’m certain you can figure out!

      Reply
  6. Judith Rettich says:

    Don’t forget cat & dog food! I have ordered extra cases and extra bags of kibble from Chewy every month. I am fortunate that I have a clean cool basement to store the kibble as it would not be good to store in a heated garage.

    Reply
  9. Kddomingue says:

    Great tips from Mary and friends! For example, it never occurred to me that I could freeze yeast! Speaking of freezing, butter and cheese can also be frozen. And the FoodSaver brand has an attachment (purchased separately) for vacuum sealing canning jars. I also recently bought 2 large containers of powdered milk as opposed to evaporated milk. Jars of peanut butter are on my next shopping list and I’ve added sprouting seeds per Mary Beth’s recommendation.
    Thanks to all for the ideas!

    Reply
  10. Sheri B. says:

    And you can Freeze your yeast. It saves it for months past the expiration date. There are some people including me, that freeze yeast and when I need it bring it to room temp before using. Look it up on the internet. You can learn a lot about freezing yeast.
    https://www.thekitchn.com/longer-lasting-yeast-store-dry-yeast-in-the-freezer-179315

    Reply
    • Linda P. says:

      Yes to this! I bake bread for myself every couple of weeks and pull the yeast and flour out of the freezer the night before. Works very well, the yeast is over a year old and works like I just bought it.

      Reply
  11. Sheri B. says:

    I save Rice, Beans, pasta in foodsaver bags. That I use my foodsaver vacuum machine to suck out the air and that Preserves them for a long time. No bugs.
    And sometimes I will freeze the bag of rice or pasta or beans overnight if I have the room in my freezer. (very small) then I will use my foodsaver vacuum machine. I got mine on ebay for a really good price!
    Happy saving!

    Reply
    • Arthur Mantzouris says:

      I also use my food saver for all sorts of things that I tend to freeze. I freeze my bananas n use them to make banana bread. Amd all sorts of good things. I’m happy to find that someone else uses the food saver.

      Reply
  12. Suzanne says:

    It’s good to have an emergency food supply, but it must be tailored to individual needs. For example, many can’t eat acidic foods like tomatoes. And celiac means no wheat or barley.

    Reply
  13. LijaW says:

    Thank you for this list, Mary. I was happy to see that I had at least ¾ of what you suggested. I’m glad I decided to check this out as I made my grocery list. I only go shopping twice a month!

    Reply
  14. Mary Beth Akers says:

    May I also suggest sprouting seeds? Sprouts are the nutritional equivalent of fresh produce, which is difficult to store long term. Sprouting seeds take up very little space, and the sprouting process is easy.

    Reply
  15. Patti Hathaway says:

    Thanks for the Bean Cookbook for FREE! I’ve been researching while filling my storehouse with beans for some good recipes. I’ll will forward this on to other patriots who are preparing.

    You’re the best resource Mary Hunt!

    Reply
  16. Gigi Gall says:

    Good list by the way! Only stock up on the foods you’ll actually eat. If you don’t/won’t eat it now, then you won’t eat it later or even know how to prepare it when you’ll need it most. Good luck everyone!

    Reply
  18. Cathy down on the farm... says:

    Great list, Mary and important to be prudent in these times. I have gone as far as already buying my turkey for thanksgiving as well as all of the sides ingredients that I will make.. I have never paid so much for a turkey but at least we will have one. I have a ham in the deep freeze for Christmas from last year that I will use this Christmas. I make a meal of lentils … a dollar a package…seasoned well that when put in the instant pot are ready to go will last me a week. I only eat one meal a day most days. Fasting is pretty healthy and good for the waistline. Have been prepping for years and it has brought me peace of mind. I have been practicing living simply. It really pays. Thank you, Mary.

    Reply
  19. BoJe says:

    Your list is good but I have added the following to my list: canned chicken, canned salmon, canned ham, canned fruit, shelf stable milk, instant potatoes, noodles, COFFEE, drink mixes, Ghee, Jelly, pancake mix and syrup, stuffing mix, boxed rice or pasta side dishes, hearty canned soups

    Reply

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