In case of an emergency, canned goods are not only a perfect way to store food, but also a wonderful way to feed your family every day. Canned goods are relatively cheap, they last a long time, they are also simple and easy to cook and are readily available and convenient to store.
Building a Canned Food Stash
For the same reasons as they are convenient for daily use, many preppers rely on canned goods to shape a substantial chunk of their food supply. If you are looking for a budget to build up your food storage, I’m asking you to pick up five extra food cans each time you visit the supermarket. You’ll have already started building up a canned food stockpile within a few short months.
Buying Online
Also, you can order canned goods online, sometimes at a discount, by case. When you use free shipping sites or take advantage of special delivery discounts (like free shipping for orders over too much or purchasing more at a flat shipping rate rather than making individual orders), you can completely make the purchase of canned goods worth your time online. Websites such as Amazon and Dollar Tree offer great canned food offers.
Cans for $1 or Under
Here are some valuable food items you can purchase in a can for $1 or less :
1. Condensed soup 10.75 oz can, $0.99
Condensed soup in a small box is a convenient way to offer a satisfying meal. So make sure you’ve got enough fresh water, or this item won’t do you a lot of good. There are plenty of different condensed soup varieties; be sure to store some favorites from your family. Try any form that you want to stock up on in advance to make sure you’re not stuck with 100 cans of soup that you hate.
2. Canned Chicken (5 oz can, $1)
Canned chicken is exceptionally flexible. You can make a salad spread out of it, set it up to be the casseroles queen, or even put it on your pizza. This has a dose of the fat and protein that your body needs for staying up and going.
3. Sweet potatoes Princella 15 oz can, $0.99
Sweetened and seasoned are my preferences and the Thanksgiving feasts immediately come to mind. They’re also a healthy source of vitamin A and fiber. If traditional sweeteners are no longer available, they can be used to help sweeten up products.
Related: How to Grow and Dry Your Own Herbs
4. Vienna sausages (4.6 oz can, $0.99)
These are the ideal fuel on-the-go. You can eat them right out of the can, no need to heat or prep. While they are probably not the healthiest choice for canned meat, they are palatable, compact and incredibly inexpensive.
5. Canned pasta (15 oz can, found for between $0.75 and $1)
Several styles of canned pasta are available on the shelves of your local supermarket. Choose a few that appeal and stock up to you and your mates, or use the many varieties to add a range of heat-and-eat to your pantry.
6. Carrots (14.5 oz can, $0.99)
Carrots are well known for their ability to support the eyes with loads of vitamin A, but there is more to them than this. They are soft and fibrous, making them satisfying. These are also flavor neutral enough to introduce them to many dishes to create bulk.
7. Plain beans (black, kidney, etc.) (approximately 15 oz cans, most all varieties available for under $1)
They often get a bad name because of their gas-causing ability, but they are perfect food for survival. These are high in fiber and thus really filling, which can tide you a lot longer than foods rich in carb. They also have a high protein content, giving the body the strength it needs to keep going when things get tough.
8. Salmon (5 oz can, $1)
There’s a reason Salmon is considered a good food. It is rich in nutrients, and it contains lots of important fats such as DHA that are hard to find in the average diet, maybe particularly a diet made of stored foods. Plus, in the eyes of many people it has a much more friendly feel than canned tuna.
9. Peas (15 oz can, $0.59)
Peas are great survival food. They’re sweet, fibery, and full of protein. It also has plenty of the minerals our bodies need like calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium.
10. Broth (14.5 oz can, $0.59)
Broth is perfect to have on hand in case of illness or accident. Canned broth is a good dose of balanced proteins and fluids that is easy to prepare. In a SHTF case, it may be that fresh carcasses and bones you would usually use to make your own broth would be unavailable, making something worth preserving about this classic soup base.
11. Pineapple Slices Del Monte (15 oz can, $1)
Pineapple has many applications beyond the sugar, fiber, and vitamin C heavy dose it offers. Many have used pineapple as a cough cure, and even suggested a part of pineapple as a commercial cough suppressant.
12. Pork and beans (16 oz can, $0.69)
These tasty canned beans were a childhood dietary staple of days gone by for many people. They are really filling and quick to heat up, making a close-to-finish meal in a pan. Try a variety of kinds before you find one that fits the palate.
13. Spinach (13.5 oz can, $0.99)
Spinach has been associated with strength for decades, and far beyond the iconic cartoon character, there is a good reason for that. It’s low in calories and it doesn’t take much of it to provide a healthy dose of vitamins and minerals.
14. Ready to eat soups (various sizes and prices)
Think of Progresso and Chunky from Campbell, though you might need to find a sale to scoop these up for under $1. Check out dollar stores or take a look at your local supermarket ads. This heat-and-eat format features a ton of different soups. Add a little bread to make them into a filling meal that you might even share with two people.
Sardines (7.5 oz can, $1)- Some people love it, others hate it. They’re a great way to add healthy fats and calcium to your storage diet, if you can stomach them. They are great brain food, because they have a heavy dose of the fat that your brain needs to work.
15. Pureed Pumpkin Clover Valley (15 oz can, $1)
Another item for which you may need to find a sale if you want it for less than $1, but it is possible, especially if you can find a brand on store. Pumpkin is high in potassium and vitamin C and rich in fiber, too. It can be used to make many desserts, or to create more savory pasta sauces or breads.
Related: Best Canned Cheese For Emergency Survival
16. Pasta sauce (24 oz can, $1)
With a can of pre-seasoned pasta sauce and a pack of pasta you can create a very psychologically satisfying pasta dinner. Canned pasta sauce is likewise a simple heat-and-eat food, and is incredibly versatile. It can become pizza sauce, it goes well with lots of different veggies, and to create a more well-rounded meal you can add whatever protein you have handy to it.
17. Tamales (15 oz, $0.99)
These are a ready-to-eat food which you only need to heat up. They are a very satisfying, complete meal. Although most people would probably prefer homemade meals, it’s appealing to think of a more ‘traditional’ meal in a SHTF situation where they may be difficult to get through.
18. Sauerkraut (14.5 oz can, $0.99)
These are another sweet veggie which could have different uses if there is a shortage of sweeteners. Actually, today’s bulk of granulated sugar comes from beets. They also have a high folate content, which is crucial for women who may bear children to avoid birth defects.
19. Beets (14.5 oz can, $0.49)
These are great, because they fill and contain plenty of fat, often lacking something canned goods. They also have plenty of fiber, and eating is easy. They would be great in case of a face or mouth injury that made it difficult to chew, as they don’t need much.
20. Refried beans (16 oz can, $1)
These are great, because they fill and contain plenty of fat, often lacking something canned goods. They also have plenty of fiber, and eating is easy. They would be great in case of a face or mouth injury that made it difficult to chew, as they don’t need much.
21. Fruit cocktail (15 oz can, $0.99)
Dessert can be hard to come by if the going gets tough, and the morale booster could be quite a can of fruit. It contains lots of fruit and juice sugars and the variety means a multitude of vitamins and minerals are present in each can.
22. Olives (2.25 oz, $1)
Again, it’s possible that only small cans are under the $1 mark. They contain many healthy fats and strong flavors, which are not always found in canned goods. Plus, you can eat them with great pleasure, simply from the can.
You don’t have to break the bank to start a hearty canned food stash as you can see from this list. Read on to get some tips on which food products would be right for your family.
Prep Status
Taking your preparatory projects one move at a time is fine. If you are brand new to prepping, you may want to start with heat-and-eat canned foods. Canned soups, pastas, and other canned goods of the full-meal sort are ideal as they allow you to be sure that your family is easily fed in the face of an emergency. Be sure to include in your preps a way to heat these bottles, if the stove or microwave is not an option.
If you’ve been in this a while, you’ve already got enough ready-to-eat food to bring you through an initial emergency scenario, so you may want to focus on building up your stash’s diversity. Look at the daily food plans and invest in closing any nutrient holes. That way, you can concentrate on maintaining your family safe for an extended period of time.
Storage
It is important to store your canned goods in a cool, dry place, in order to preserve them best. There’s a lot of controversy about the expiration dates of canned food and whether it’s really important, but no canned food in canned foods that have been corroded or damaged can remain good for a long time, so make sure you tuck it away some safe place.
Rotation
It’s crucial you’ll first use your oldest canned goods of any sort. Place them at the back of your storage for that form of good when you buy new canned goods, moving the others forward to use first. The correct replacement of your foods before a disaster will help ensure that your canned goods stay healthy in an emergency for longer.
Related: Top 20 Places to Hide Your Survival Water Stockpile
Your Preferences
Don’t buy a bunch of canned goods that your family hates, no matter how inexpensive they might be. If your family intensely hates tomatoes and you never eat them in your regular meals, buying fruits and vegetables that are anything but tomatoes is probably better served for your money. While this isn’t to say that there’s no place for foods you don’t care all that much for regularly in your preps, definitely do your best to replace them with items you find more palatable.
Keeping food that you like on hand will help keep morale up in a crisis situation, and that could mean life or death in a SHTF scenario at any point.
You Can Build Your Canned Food Storage $1 at a Time
You will continue to build up your food storage with canned foods even when the budget is low. In reality, building up a canned food supply is not only good for a situation of survival but when money is limited. This means you still have the means to feed your family even though you’re broke, because you’ve planned in advance.
