Building out your pantry
Posted by Jammer521@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 78 comments
Besides rice/beans water, what are some canned goods to stock up on, and does anyone stock like soups, speghetto's, beef stew, and that kind of stuff?
Preppermom92@reddit
Besides staples and canned tuna/vegetables/fruit, I stock pre-made canned meals like chili and ravioli, and pre-made sauces like bolognese to add to pasta.
youngwitchHazel@reddit
I think tracking what your household eats for a month is a helpful exercise for this - what are the staples, what are the treats? What textures or feelings do you (potentially and yours) seek out when sick or down?
Canned soup and others like you mention are also great because they include the water compared to dried mixed where you have to account for it, not to mention are easy/familiar when energy is low. I also look at is the containers - soup is great and sometimes comes in glass jars, which can be reused. I'd also echo some others in shelf-stable milks or seasonings or cheeses.
bananapeel@reddit
That's a good way to do it. Track your actual purchases. Look at what you eat, how often do you eat it, and how much of it you eat. Once you start having a list, figure out how to make that into a deep pantry. Store the shelf stable stuff, religiously rotate first-in-first-out, keep track of expiration dates.
For things like fresh vegetables in cooking, you can often substitute freeze dried or dehydrated or canned or frozen. I can make a mean chicken enchilada from items in my freezer and pantry.
Money_Ad1068@reddit
Not canned foods, but we have a lot of stored quinoa, freeze-dried instant mashed potatoes and rolled oats.
micro-intelligence@reddit
Dry Textured soy chunks/mince is incredibly cheap and protein dense.
Old_Dragonfruit6952@reddit
I don't stock canned foods for LTS . I will have them for STS. My reasoning is I dont want to bother with rotation . My short term household food stocks are 80% canned foods as I live in Maine and we have sometimes a 3 or 4 day power outage. They can be prepared on my propane stove or my Solo Stove . We will eat the canned food before an expiration date . I only rotate my bottled water and bleach in the LTS.
carlyhaze@reddit
Why are you doing all this?
BonnieErinaYA@reddit
I am a fan of also including sauces and bouillons. Knorr has some tasty granulated bouillons on the Zon for a great price.
Jammer521@reddit (OP)
I use that Bullion a lot, especially the chicken, but I also have the beef and tomato bullion from them,
premar16@reddit
The can goods I have in my mini pantry are
canned veggies (corn, carrots, and green beans)
diced tomatoes
canned meats (chicken,beef, crab, tuna, salmon,etc)
cannef fruit (peaches,pinnapples, applesauce,cranberry)
canned pie mix
spam
cream of ---
beans (refried beans, kidney beans, chili beans,etc)
potatoes (diced,cubes, sliced)
I have things in other parts of my pantry as well but you asked about cans
CuriousRutabaga8713@reddit
Most of what other people have mentioned here, and a lot of ethnic foods as well, I like the Patak's curry mixes, and those mylar packs of Indian and Chinese foods. I'm also a big tea drinker, so I have a lot of that too.
My dietary needs have changed since I started prepping, and now the simple carbs like white rice and pasta aren't as useful to me. I'm keeping them, but from now on I'm only adding things like quinoa and whole grains to my stash. They may not last as long, but my metabolism will.
ZiggyBardust@reddit
PB fit is super shelf stable and can be a great protein source for the eventuality of bean fatigue.
Pea-and-Pen@reddit
This is a Google Sheet of my prep supplies. I always share it when this question is asked.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DoHgYyjFNXbHpoaSGl-01oMVncK_I_rbW3XSrdSnPOE/edit?usp=drivesdk
Successful_Ride6920@reddit
Why are you starving your dog and what size is your cat? LOL
Pea-and-Pen@reddit
We have one smallish old dog and 12 good sized cats.
lemonraspberrycakee@reddit
Curious why you only have 2 cat carriers?
Pea-and-Pen@reddit
We have more than that. This isn’t really an up to date list. It’s a copy that I made to be able to show people. So most of the amounts aren’t completely accurate. I’ve added a lot of things since then. We have nine carriers now. The amount of food items, toiletries, first aid, etc are low compared to what we actually have.
Successful_Ride6920@reddit
That would explain it then, thanks!
bookofp@reddit
Do you live in a Costco? You have like 1000 pounds of varieties or rice and pasta.
Pea-and-Pen@reddit
I do say my food storage looks like a small grocery store. A lot of the rice, beans and grains are packaged in mylar bags and stored in five gallon buckets though.
teddypain@reddit
I’m curious the turnover rate on food due to spoilage? Trying to budget for initial storage and how often to replace.
Pea-and-Pen@reddit
I cook quite a bit and I store things first in first out. So very little has to be thrown away. I also still use things past their expiration dates though since that doesn’t really mean anything. Even my shelf stable milk has been good two years after. Three years after it was chunky though. I did an experiment on that.
For my Mylar bagged and five gallon bucket storage, it’s mostly a set and forget. I do occasionally have to get something out of them if I have run out of something in my main pantry. Like sugar when making jam. But I put it on the shopping list to replace the next time I go. I tried shopping from the buckets to fill the pantry and then replace them with new purchases. But the way my buckets are set up it’s really difficult to maintain. So I just leave them. I’ve not had anything at all from those to go bad. I’ve made a dessert mix from five years prior that was fine.
I did have to get rid of things in the beginning though until I figured things out. I bought stuff we don’t actually use or like, like Spam or some Chunky soups. And didn’t always have things strictly FIFO. It’s just a learning thing.
OtherwiseAlbatross14@reddit
Superconcentrated macaroni
U495@reddit
Stop! You have. A tiger don’t you
gardensitter@reddit
Thank you, you just gave me a nice inventory sheet.
Crawlerzero@reddit
I wish I could eat dairy. This list looks delicious.
jenakle@reddit
Oh man the goals of this!! Thanks for sharing, I'm starting at a much smaller scale obviously but this will be great to convert and consider how my stock is built up.
Pea-and-Pen@reddit
I started this in 2017 and started small. Then most gradually worked my way up for 6 people for 6 months. It’s definitely a slow process.
Funny-Ad5178@reddit
Everything you eat should be a contender, or it's shelf stable alternative. My house goes through tomatoes, beans, pasta, lentils, every kind of potato, cheese, bread, coffee, and every kind of dairy. To a lesser extent, we use sugar, condiments, oils, vinegars, spices, and all the odds and ends I get at the asian grocery and farmer's market.
My pantry looks like:
plain pasta mac and cheese ramen (the fancy stuff) canned soup canned beans canned vegetables 10# cans of tomatoes bulk potatoes, plus some freeze dried potato flakes lentils 50# flour 50# rice (multiple kinds) baking stuff (instant yeast, vanilla, baking soda, etc) dry milk dry heavy whip dry eggs peanut butter spam tuna snacks protein powder sugar (white and brown)
My freezer looks like: frozen vegetables frozen fruit all manner of easy frozen foods that can be cooked in boiling water or a frying pan bread dough (freezes well, surprisingly) cheese butter bacon ground meat (whatever's cheap) tofu (metric assload).
My cabinets look like: Spices. Lots. bullion condiments odds and ends whatever's being cycled out coffee tea whateve's open and needs to be used
My fridge looks like: leftovers stuff that needs to go to or leave the freezer open condiments beverages (personal achilles heel) milk eggs
My goal with my food stash is to be able to live off it for 3 months, without needing to replenish anything except fresh produce. I am also an excellent (career) cook, so do not be afraid to add way more convenient options than I have. You're not gonna want to cook under pressure, but you will need to eat, probably more than usual because adrenaline ups your calorie needs. And don't forget treats. Nothing hits better than ice cream when you're sad, having a little treat can fix a bad day, bolster social connections, and most importantly, keep everyone in a good mood. To that end, I always have ice cream and stuff to make cookies and lasagna.
Not-a-Cranky-Panda@reddit
Stock what you eat, eat what you stock!
ThisIsAbuse@reddit
I started 10 years ago with freeze dried and really ramped up under covid. I have just about everything. Including lots of separates like beef, chicken, veggies of all kinds, and so much more. Breakfast lunch and dinner for 4 - for 6 months - or more. Dog can eat from this stockpile.
207Menace@reddit
Vitamins.
Hot_Annual6360@reddit
Tuna, mashed potatoes, vacuum-sealed soups, Chinese noodles, etc.
I_am_not_kidding@reddit
start by just buying double of any canned / shelf stable food you normally buy. it adds up quickly, and your stomach wont be so fucked by changing diet completely.
BaldyCarrotTop@reddit
You have some good ideas already. I would add:
Pasta and pasta sauce or canned crushed tomatoes, and spices.
Soup is also a good item. In particular; Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Chicken soup can be used to make sauces. Lentil and Tomato soup make good bases for Stone Soup.
I also stock flour, pancake mix, oats, corn meal.
And of course various canned meats.
Frozen veggies are in the freezer. Don't forget the veggies.
ChaosArtAunt@reddit
Powdered milk is nice in an emergency. We have sacks of flours, sugar, bulk spices, lots of pantry staples. But we also buy novel or unique sauces, condiments when on sale/reduced. We've gotten fancy preserves, pestos, dessert sauces this way that we wouldn't have splurged on at full price, and they encourage new meals, different flavors in a standard meal.
Casiarius@reddit
"Store what you eat and eat what you store." All your stored food doesn't have to be bland staples that store for decades. Store things you enjoy eating, and rotate them. If you just rotate a few months supply of things you enjoy, that will carry you through any garden variety disaster. When civilization collapses you can break out the 50 pounds of dried beans.
Tallproley@reddit
It never hurts to add some canned veg, or fruit preserves, good sources of vitamins.
Add in some seasoning, sure you can live off beans and rice, but don't you want a bit of flavour? Onion powder, garlic salt, a bit of Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper.
Instant coffee, some sugar, make life a bit more bearable.
Candy, do jelly beans go bad? Honey won't expire.
Wine, the right vintage don't mind time in a deep dark cellar and hey, who needs to face the end of it all sober? If its good enough for the Roman's, its good enough for me.
winston_smith1977@reddit
Bourbon and scotch keep very well.
ZuckerStadt@reddit
They work well for pickling
joelnicity@reddit
I have tons of canned things like that. I also dehydrate and jar vegetables too
ScumBunny@reddit
I stick what I like to eat. Sure we have huge bins of rice and flour, sugar, beans, etc. but we also have ravioli, Pepsi, soup stocks, noodles (2 5-gal buckets of just pasta!) sauces, seasonings, boullion, etc. I want to enjoy my meals like I do now, not just survive.
mharleydev@reddit
My threat model is not dooms day, zombie apocalypse, SHTF level planning. Instead, I use the "deep pantry" approach. My goal is to always have at least 1 month of staples which actually means I restock so the inventory is 2 months. One is none, two is one.
Here is our pantry list minus fridge/freezer stuff:
PrairieSunRise605@reddit
Whatever you choose, make sure you rotate it into your everyday meal plan. Nothing will make you sadder than tossing out a bunch of food because it has started to taste like the can it came in or has gotten weevils.
If you have a freezer full of meat, I think it's also a good idea to store canning materials (pressure canner, jars, lids, an up-to-date canning guide, and a propane cooker...) Then, if you are looking at an extended power outage, you could can up at least some of your meat to avoid loss.
moon_lizard1975@reddit
Canned fruits and veggies, potatoes 🥔, meat & tuna also sardines.
Sure some chili and Chef Boyardee too Why not ?
Secret_Enthusiasm_21@reddit
rice and lentils with some salt are pretty damn tasty, I could eat that every day - I do, actually, after convincing my Asian wife that the rice we eat every day anyway won't be ruined by adding some lentils in the ricecooker.
Enelson4275@reddit
Once a week, I do a WinCo shopping trip for the house. Get a 5-gallon bucket and lid, and a 25/50 pound sack of something: flour, rice, beans, corn, oats. Popcorn. Everything. $30-$40 a week. I make it work into the food budget by cooking and eating these things on a regular basis, and it's so cost-effective that my pantry gets deeper while by food spending decreases.
We do store a lot of canned tuna, pasta and sauces, canned pumpkin. But for prepping I'm not a big fan of anything that isn't fiber-heavy - constipation is deadly if you aren't careful. So processed canned "meals" just don't cut it for me.
HummousTahini@reddit
I love Spaghetti-Os. I eat 'em cold right out of the can. That's actually been a good test, for me, as to whether I like a canned food to put in the pantry. It's also a nice lithmus test because, in case I'm not able to heat food up, I still want to enjoy my meal.
Peace.
Key_Secretary_3948@reddit
This is a good idea, because uf things get really bad, you don't want to be cooking and drawing attention that you have food
VernalPoole@reddit
I keep a lot of canned beans around because beans require a lengthy cooking time and that means scrounging up a lot of fuel. I also get canned Field Peas with Snaps, a southern USA specialty, when I can find it.
Maleficent_Ad9632@reddit
Sometimes being dyslexia is humorous as when I read the title I seen build out your panties not build out your pantry.
ZuckerStadt@reddit
Yes, all of it. Don’t forget drink mixed, spices, and condiments. I was in the Army for a long time and I always traveled with copious amounts of hot sauce. It makes the bland, mono-textured food tolerable.
Crawlerzero@reddit
Hot sauces fix everything. I get the small cans of Herdez salsa too.
gravis86@reddit
The green one goes on everything around my house!
Crawlerzero@reddit
Yeah that verde is surprisingly good, especially coming out of a can.
Bamagirly@reddit
I only stock what I actually use anyway. I never eat Dinty Moore beef stew, so while it sounds perfect for emergencies, eh, it will most likely just expire before I ever use it. I never eat canned tamales or spam either so I don’t stockpile them. Canned tuna and chicken? Yes. Canned ready to eat soups and chili? Yes!
BrilliantAd4857@reddit
Ok many of the items have a shelf life, how do you keep it fresh? Do you eat from your reserves and keep refreshing?
thestreep@reddit
Yes. I rotate all my canned goods out. When I use a can of tuna, I use the oldest can I have. Then when I go to the market and bring a new one ( or two) home, I put it on the back of the shelf I store them on and move everything else forward. I'm still working on my storage, so whenever I can, I buy two or three of something. It's not fancy, but it works for me.
alphalegend91@reddit
Tons of canned veggies that you will ACTUALLY use(learned this from personal experience). Another one I like to stock is canned chili. Lots of protein and is a quick meal all in one.
thescatterling@reddit
Cans of tuna, chicken and salmon. Cans of mixed vegetables, mac and cheese, and powdered milk/evaporated milk. AP flour, corn meal, baking powder, baking soda and yeast. And to prevent food boredom, some cans of diced tomatoes. Also in this category, beef, chicken and tomato bullion. Strong spices like chili powder, coriander, mustard powder, and cumin.
e_honey_s@reddit
Canned coconut milk, canned pumpkin, tons of spices, canned and dry beans, lots of sauces, lots of jarred/canned hot peppers, anchovies, capers, dehydrated onion, different salts, salsas. On and on. Anything I can make amazing meals with.
Eredani@reddit
Chunky soup, beef stew, chili are my favorites.
If you have the money i recommend Keystone meats. If not, Walmart chicken and tuna.
Honorable mention to the Margaret Holmes selection of canned stuff just for variety.
RegrettableChoicess@reddit
Search the sub. There’s literally thousands of posts asking the same exact thing
SunLillyFairy@reddit
Wet canned goods have an advantage in that they don't require water or cooking to be edible. You can store a larger volume of calories in less space with bulk dry goods, but we also store a lot of both wet and dry canned goods for diversity, food preparation and nutrition reasons.
As far as "store what you eat;" that method has some holes. Although it's generally good advice, it has nutritional deficits for many households. If you needed to eat only canned goods for some amount of time you might want to consider buying foods you eat, but maybe not usually in canned form.
Here are some less common items we keep -
Powdered form: peanut butter, butter, milk, eggs, potato flakes, refried beans, tomato powder, spinach flakes, dried onions and peppers.
Wet canned: Butter, cheese, milk, coconut milk (great source of fats), mixed fruits in juice, low sodium canned beans (in many forms), meats (tuna, salmon, chicken, spam).
I like to cook and bake so I do pull, use and replace them as time goes on, but what I listed above is not foods we'd usually eat in those forms; it's mostly items that would be in our refrigerator.
Ra_a_@reddit
Meats
Sardines
Salmon
Tuna
Kipper.
Beef
Pork
Chicken
Ground beef
Sausage
Goetta
Spam
Elegant-Procedure-74@reddit
We stock a lot of canned soups - from cream soups to broth based soups, we live in the country, so we like to be prepared. I also will use a beef soup in addition to when I’m making a beef stew dish.
I’m currently sick now, so having all these canned soups and canned fruits on hand has helped me recover without having to need anything. So I could just stay home and rest which is nice.
Stock what you enjoy! And it also doesn’t help to try new things either from time to time.
nunyabizz62@reddit
Wheat berries 100s of pounds Properly stored last a minimum of 30 years and good for all the bread, rolls, buns, cakes, tortillas, pitas, and pasta you can eat for years. Its also considerably cheaper and far healthier than any off the shelf processed bread.
You can also buy all the supplies necessary to grow gourmet mushrooms and the supplies basically last indefinitely and the spores can be constantly replenished for free.
Seeds like Broccoli, radish, Alfalfa and sunflower can be grown as sprouts in 5 days and micro-greens in 7-10 days with no soil and very little light inside the house all year long and you can plant seeds 5 days apart so you can literally have a continuous crop of sprouts/micro-greens which in general are up to 100x more nutrient dense than the full grown vegetables.
I also buy #10 size cans of freeze dried food such as corn, peas, broccoli, onions, hash browns, strawberries and black bean burger mix, I buy these every few months when they go on sale. Shelf life 25-30 years.
Crawlerzero@reddit
Canned meats for protein: 1. Tuna 2. Chicken 3. Salmon 4. Ground beef / steak chunks 5. Ham
Canned meat for flavor / salt (as ingredient) 1. Corned beef 2. Spam 3. Deviled ham
Other cans: 1. Chili 2. Tamales 3. Soup / pasta (be mindful if you have food allergies) 4. Diced tomatoes 5. Tomato paste 6. Canned salsa 7. Jalepenos 8. Chipotles
ALL THE VEGETABLES! Lots of canned veggies can be used to make fried rice or biryani to give some variety to your meals.
Stock lots of white sugar and salt.
Pack all the spices. Learn how to use them. If you have tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers you can change a dish from Italian to Mexican to Indian by changing the spices.
Dry_Barracuda2850@reddit
Whatever you normally eat that if shelf stable.
Don stock up on lentils beans and rice if you only eat or pasta and jar sauce.
MediocreMaddie@reddit
On top of water, rice, and beans, I have vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, honey, chicken bouillon powder, peanut butter.
By no means know wtf I’m doing or have a lot of funds lol.
readyforunsteady@reddit
I put a blog together on this: https://readyforunsteady.com/blog/top-10-pantry-staples-to-always-keep-on-hand/
And a recent guest blog on how to stock (thanks , u/SgtPresto ! https://readyforunsteady.com/blog/prepping-on-a-budget/
IceDragonPlay@reddit
Corned Beef Hash has a longer ‘best by’ date (depending on brand) so might be an option. I bought some recently with 3 years until end of best by date.
Sardines in oil also often have longer best by dates on them. But I decided I really do not like them so have given them away. They are high protein, so if something you eat it would be worth checking into.
Not sure if most manufacturers just put a year on their best by date and leave it at that without any further testing. Most things being a year seems like they just want to incent you to toss and replace. I see the posts of someone eating through quite old tinned tuna, but not sure I want to go that long for stretching dates.
I attempt to rotate food, but not great at it, so currently working on mylar packs of dried beans and rice as the main emergency consumable for beyond 2 weeks.
Fusiliers3025@reddit
Lots of folks lay in rice or beans on recommendations, but unless you know how to fix them or find them palatable, they’re just gonna take up space.
I’d start by paying attention to your regular grocery runs, and doubling any canned and non-perishable items on your list. You’re already planning to use them, so laying more aside is a great plan.
Powdered milk. Or condensed/canned. For recipes or milk substitute. It’ll make life easier (if it might not taste 100% the same) if the usual supply lines or shelf prices make milk more precious.
Pasta is one of our standbys, and believe it or not, powdered cheese (like what comes in boxed Mac and cheese) started as a military staple in the World Wars. It took a little creativity to come up with a quick box with a measured amount of pasta and a packet of the cheese powder - but it’s a staple of many homes and kitchens today.
Canned meats - tuna, chicken, beef, etc. Protein intake in a stressful situation - whatever it is - helps mental and physical stress.
ArcaneLuxian@reddit
For shelf stable goods I prefer dehydrated and freeze dried goods especially soups and stocks. They save so much room and are less weight for shelves to maintain. Since we all generally prep water having these on hand can make meals that are more nutritious, and satiating. You can customize them with more veg, pasta, cheese, or proteins. They also feed larger groups too. One bag of bear creek is 8 servings at base. But you can stretch this with more water, stock or additional ingredients.
No-Professional-1884@reddit
We can a lot of our foods, but just stock up on foods you will eat. Whatever that means to you.
Maybe once we are beyond Thunderdome, that last can of Mario Spaghetti-os will bring you a little bit of peace.
gonyere@reddit
Yes. Lots of canned tomatoes and pickled peppers, dill pickles, relish, jam and jelly, pie filling, etc.
Successful_Ride6920@reddit
Don't forget canned fruit.
Swampcardboard@reddit
I like to keep some shelf stable vitamin fortified stuff around, like soy milk and nutritional yeast. The nutritional yeast typically has a shelf life of a couple years and the soy milk lasts a little under a year. I figure if I'm eating a lot of beans and rice, I can at least sprinkle some nutritional yeast on to it. Besides beans, for canned goods I have a mix of fruits and veg and some soups.