If recent years have taught us anything, it’s that the supply chain stability we rely on every day can be disrupted overnight. Whether it’s inflation, shipping logistics problems, ships hitting bridges, trade wars, supply chain breakdowns, or global or natural disasters, you know it’s not a matter of if, but when something’s going to run out.
When shelves run bare and prices skyrocket, it’ll be the people who stocked up ahead of time that will be miles ahead of the rest. So, stocking up on essential pantry staples while prices are affordable gives you more capital and barter value you might need when scarcity comes knocking at the door. That starts with adding these pantry staples while they’re cheap.
Jasmine & White Rice
Rice is one of the world’s best belly-filling staples that needs to be stocked in your pantry. Yet only a tiny percentage of the world’s rice production happens in the continental US.
Properly stored in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers white rice can last up to 30 years. It’s calorie-dense, easy to cook, and versatile.
Best Rice to Stock in the Pantry
Ideally, you want to stock up on white rice varieties like long-grain, arborio, and jasmine rice. It’s best to avoid brown rice because its natural oils go rancid faster.
Stock up in bulk 25 lb. bags to stretch your dollar. Even if prices spike, you’ll have thousands of calories on hand.
Dry Beans & Lentils
Beans and lentils are protein-packed, nutrient-rich, and inexpensive. Pinto beans, black beans, chickpeas, navy beans, and lentils are all smart buys. It’s also worth noting that Dried beans last longer than canned beans.
Best Beans & Lentils to Stock in Your Pantry
It’s best to stock multiple types of beans, lentils, peas, and protein-rich chickpeas in your pantry. Not only does it diversify your stores, but it will give you some culinary variety to keep future meals interesting.
Pinto Beans are high in protein and fiber. They’re versatile for soups, stews, and refried beans with a long shelf life when stored dry.
Black Beans are loaded with antioxidants and protein, they’re dense, filling, and ideal for hearty chili or rice dishes.
Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans are protein-rich and adaptable for hummus, stews, and salads, they also sprout easily for fresh greens in a crisis.
Red Lentils are quick-cooking and nutrient-dense. They’re also great for making belly-filling creamy soups and require less fuel and water to cook thoroughly than other legumes.
Green Lentils do a good job of holding their shape in soups and salads, while also being a good source of iron and protein.
Navy Beans might be mall and mild-flavored, but they’re excellent for making baked beans and creamy soups, while also being calorically dense.
Split Peas are naturally shelf-stable and fast-cooking, they’re perfect for thick, satisfying soups with minimal ingredients.
How to Store Beans & Lentils for Long-Term Storage
Store all dried beans, lentils, and chickpeas in airtight containers, like Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. In a pinch, you can store them in clean food-grade buckets.
Put the storage vessel in a cool, dark, and dry place. Rotate your stock every few years and keep it away from moisture, heat, and pests to ensure long-term viability and nutrition.
Canned Meat & Fish
Canned meats like tuna, salmon, chicken, and Spam, are important pantry staples you can rely on in a long-term crisis. When natural protein supplies run out canned meat and fish will still have a shelf-life range of 3 to 5 years, sometimes longer.
Canned Tuna is packed with protein and omega-3s, canned tuna is lightweight, affordable, and has a shelf life of 3 to 5 years. Unopened pouches of tuna are also good when they’re on sale, but typically only keep for 2 to 3 years.
Canned Salmon is rich in healthy fats and vitamins, canned salmon offers long-lasting, nutrient-dense protein with a shelf life of around 5 years.
Canned Chicken is versatile and mild-flavored, canned chicken stores for up to 5 years. It can be easily used to bulk up soups, casseroles, and emergency salads.
Spam has a shelf life of 5–10 years and is a ready-to-eat protein that is extremely versatile. It works well in frying, sandwiches, and hearty meals under duress.
Cooking Oils & Essential Fats
Fats are often overlooked but crucial for survival diets. Different oils and essential fats have different benefits and storage conditions. Not only do fats and oil provide dense calories. Your body also needs them to absorb certain nutrients.
Olive Oil is packed with healthy monounsaturated fats, olive oil is versatile for cooking and dressing but has a shelf life of about 1–2 years if stored in a cool, dark place.
Coconut Oil has a shelf life of up to 5 years if unrefined. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, and stable for high-heat cooking. It can even be useful for skin and medical applications.
Avocado Oil has a high smoke point and is rich in nutrients, avocado oil lasts around 1–2 years unopened and is excellent for both cooking and salad dressings.
Vegetable Oil is inexpensive and multipurpose, vegetable oil has a shelf life of about 1 year but is easy to rotate regularly for frying and baking needs.
Canola Oil has a mild flavor and high smoke point make canola oil great for all-purpose cooking, with a shelf life of about 1–2 years unopened.
Lard is a traditional animal fat that’s excellent for frying and baking, and when properly rendered and stored in airtight containers, can last up to a year or more.
Storage Tip
Store oils in cool, dark places, and consider powdered butter or lard alternatives. You want to keep the oil from freezing temperatures and exposure to light. Especially olive oil, which is prone to oxidizing.
Powdered & Shelf-Stable Dairy
Fresh dairy will be gone fast in a crisis. Stock powdered milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and even powdered cheese like the powder packets in macaroni & cheese.
Powdered dairy products also tend to be high in calcium, protein, and fats. Just look for brands with a long expiration date. Then rotate them every 6 to 12 months to keep them fresh.
The value of powdered milk became evident as early as the creation of the famous Doomsday Ration during the Cold War. This life-saving package for the population even included survival biscuits, made from flour, vegetable fats, salt, and powdered milk.
The complete ration also included several other essential components and offered the following key benefits:
- Extreme shelf life: could last 5–10 years or even longer.
- Sealed metal tins or thick cardboard packaging.
- Concentrated calories: designed to sustain life, not comfort — around 700–1200 calories per person per day.
You can still get your hands on a modern version of the Doomsday Ration today. It’s extremely affordable and incredibly useful for survival.
👉 Discover how to make the US Doomsday Ration at home and many more survival recipes right here.
Dehydrated & Freeze-Dried Meals
The value of dehydrated meals and MREs is high, and the prices for them can fluctuate. If your budget allows, invest in freeze-dried survival meals and dehydrated fruits/vegetables. Not only can you feed yourself with them, but they have a more easily recognized barter value than other pantry items like rice and beans.
Though pricier, these lightweight, ready-to-eat meals save fuel and time in a true emergency. If nothing else, you should have a handful of MREs in every bug-out bag and emergency backpack.
Coffee & Tea
Caffeine from coffee and tea isn’t essential in a prepper’s pantry, but it sure helps morale and energy. It also has enormous barter potential in a disaster situation that lasts for multiple weeks.
Coffee, tea, and even instant coffee packets are stored easily. Vacuum-sealed bricks of coffee can last up to 2 years or more in the freezer. It’s the sort of thing you might be able to live without, but I’d bet your neighbors can’t.
Interestingly, among the Amish, coffee plays a unique role. When it comes to its core purpose, they actually prefer a solution they call “The Strength Juice” to energize themselves. The Amish consider it more effective than coffee and the taurine found in drinks like Red Bull.
They still love and use coffee, though! One old recipe that’s stood the test of time is Amish Coffee Soup. It’s made by pouring hot coffee over chunks of homemade bread, then adding milk and a bit of sugar.
It’s warm, energizing, and surprisingly filling. For those looking to stretch limited resources, this simple dish becomes a practical survival food. You can discover more Amish secrets in The Amish Ways Academy and The Amish Ways Book, created by Eddie Swartzentruber, born and raised in the community.
Pasta & Instant Grains
Pasta is cheap, filling, and easy to store long-term. Consider stocking up on spaghetti, elbow macaroni, egg noodles, and instant oats or grits. They cook quickly, stretch meals, and pair well with canned goods or sauces. Store in airtight containers to keep pests out.
Pasta is also a comfort food for many people. This gives it some barter value if you want to trade it to your neighbors for other things you might need during a prolonged disaster.
Multivitamins
While multivitamins might not be the sort of thing you keep in your everyday pantry, they need to be stocked up. A lot of tried, canned and preserved meals are lacking in certain key nutrients like Vitamin C. A good multivitamin fills in the nutrient gaps during a prolonged crisis.
One Last Thing…
In addition to the financial crisis and all the other problems that make it essential to focus on stockpiling essential foods like the ones mentioned in this article, there are also major concerns regarding the growing water crisis. NASA has clearly confirmed the existence of a megadrought, and the negative impact of this disaster is becoming increasingly evident.
We’re running out of water, and public systems are facing greater and greater challenges. It’s no longer a secret that the water coming out of Americans’ taps is getting worse in quality. Soon, it may not just be poor quality—it might be in short supply, or disappear completely.
That’s why you need to adapt and start relying on your own resources. I recommend going with The Water Freedom System. This innovative solution, used by the U.S., U.K., French, Indian, and Israeli armies to supply their soldiers with clean water, is now available to you.
It’s affordable, incredibly easy to use, and works by extracting water from thin air—enough to supply you and your family every day! Just click right here!
Final Thoughts on Stocking Your Pantry
Prepping your pantry isn’t about panic, it’s about peace of mind. Every can, bag and jar you stock now buys you time, freedom, and security when others are scrambling. Buying when prices are low, storing them properly, and timely rotation will give you a leg up when the availability of staple foods goes down.
Don’t rely on the public water system anymore. The crisis is just around the corner, so I recommend turning to an alternative source of clean water. This backpack-sized water generator helps you produce up to 40 gallons of fresh water per day—straight out of thin air.
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a bean you didn’t mention is the cranberry beans. we get them from the amish store and they are terrific. they have the best flavor of any bean(in my opinion). the “bent can store” we go to always has mre’s for sale at $25.00 a case of 12 meals. i like to buy a case every so often to add to my stock pile. you talked about coffee being used in other dishes, i know a restaurant owner who puts it in her gravy to color it and its excellent. we stock most of the items you mentioned with a few exceptions. augason farms is a good company for canned dehydrated butter, peanut butter, things like that. the powdered eggs are good too( just like the chowhall used to make). this is a good thought provoking article.