Author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
There are as many ways to prep as there are preppers. Stockpiling longterm stuff you find on sale, buying buckets of freeze-dried food, preserving your own… The list could go on and on. But, have you tried “prepping by recipe?”
The concept is exactly what it sounds like. You choose some of your family’s favorite meals, and then you create a way to serve that dish made only with long-term food. In my opinion, these meals are far more tasty and welcome than adding water to fettuccine alfredo from a bucket.
Please keep in mind these are examples. You may follow a completely different diet. I just chose the typical diet that consists of meat, grains, vegetables/fruit, and dairy. None of these lists, of course, is comprehensive.
Meat
For meat, I recommend freeze-dried or home-canned. Please remember that home-canned meat is far better within the first 9-12 months. This is not a long-term option but can really help in a power outage.
For freeze-dried options, there are all sorts of #10 cans to make any carnivore happy.
These each contain around 20-25 servings.
You can also buy canned meat from the grocery store.
- Canned ham
- Corn beef hash
- Beef Creations (in a pouch, from Starkist)
- Chunk chicken breast
- Tuna and salmon
- Crab meat
- Vienna sausages
- And, of course… Spam
While these may not be the things you reach for on a daily basis, they’re great options when the power is out, the stores are empty, and you need some protein.
Some vegetarian protein sources
- Beans (canned and dry)
- Peanut butter powder
- Powdered eggs
- Scrambled egg powder
Grains
I think every prepper has grains well covered, with fifty pounds of rice, wheat berries, and oats stashed away in mylar and buckets. But these have long cooking times, which may not work for you. As well, the emergency may not always call for that, and you’ll want to have smaller options, too.
One of my favorite things to add to my pantry for smaller grain options is those pouches of pre-cooked grains. One warning – the preseasoned ones go rancid FAST. I only buy the unseasoned pouches.
I also stash away pasta, including some of these Asian rice noodles, which are prepared by pouring boiling water over them and letting them sit.
Fruits
Of course, freeze-dried fruits are great options with lots of variety.
Dried fruits can really jazz up some plain oatmeal or pancakes.
But this isn’t the only way to avoid scurvy during the apocalypse. Your local grocery store also has options.
- Canned fruit
- Mandarin orange slices
- Applesauce
- Dried cherries
- Raisins
Vegetables
Freeze-dried for the win here, too. I find that freeze-dried veggies, when prepared, are much closer to tasting fresh.
I like to stock up on ones that are commonly used to season meals.
You can get freeze-dried potatoes in many forms.
Other vegetables are available in this form, too.
For some veggies, your grocery store may provide better and more thrifty options. (Though I always keep freeze-dried peppers, onion, and celery to add to things I’m cooking.)
Anyway – at the store look for the following.
- Canned vegetables
- Canned mixed vegetables
- Canned vegetable juice (makes a great, nutritious base for soup or chili)
- Dried potato dishes (scalloped, au gratin, etc.)
- Mashed potato flakes
Dairy
I really need some kind of dairy in my coffee, and that’s all there is to it. Here are some reasonably tasty options.
- Individual latte condensed milk (pricey but good)
- Heavy cream powder (what I have the most of)
- Whole milk powder
These are far, far cheaper on Amazon than what you’d find at the grocery store.
For those of you who are dairy free but still want something in your coffee, this coconut milk powder is pretty good. You can get more information on dairy-free prepping in this article.
Other freeze-dried dairy items make our apocalypse food tastier.
Things to add
Adding a few things to your basics can really make your prepper food shine. Some examples:
- Gravy mix
- A variety of herbs and spices
- Bread mix
- Sourdough starter
- Biscuit mix
Okay – so what do I do with this stuff?
Let’s pretend we’re in the middle of a longer power outage. The stuff in our fridge and freezer is gone, whether that’s because we ate it or because it spoiled.
Assuming you have a way to boil water, the sky is the limit.
Want to whip up a big pot of spaghetti?
- Can of crushed tomatoes
- Handful of onion and bell pepper
- Mushrooms
- Ground beef
- Spices from your cabinet: basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper
- Pasta
Top it with some parmesan and mozzarella, and you have a savory, familiar, home-cooked meal.
For breakfast, you could whip up some pancakes from a mix and top it with butter, fruit, and some syrup or powdered sugar.
How do you build this kind of stockpile?
Start by listing your family’s favorite meals. Go with five suppers and two breakfasts to begin.
- Spaghetti and meat sauce
- Stir-fried pork and broccoli with rice
- Vegetable beef soup
- Mexican burrito bowl with meat, veggies, and rice, topped with cheese sauce
- Chicken pot pie with canned veggies and biscuit topping
Some breakfast ideas might be:
- Hashbrowns with onions and peppers, scrambled eggs, and a slice of fried spam
- Oatmeal with fruit, cinnamon, sugar, and whole milk
Whatever you choose, make sure to incorporate family favorites. Write down all the ingredients for each recipe. If you find an ingredient is used in many of the dishes, make sure to put that at the top of your list. (Like diced onion, for example.)
Then, one by one, grab the ingredients for the meals in one of the formats above. Often, the freeze dried options will make about 20 servings, so keep that in mind when calculating costs.
Follow the instructions on the package to reconstitute your freeze-dried items, combine them, and surprise the folks you love with their favorite food. Note: Freeze-dried items will reconstitute much larger than the amount you take out. So, if you want 1 cup of mushrooms, start out with 1/3 cup of freeze-dried mushrooms. Add more as needed.
If money is tight, go through your list and buy one or two things per week to provide you with a tasty, off-grid meal.
It really is that simple!
Do you practice prepping by recipe?
Do you prep with recipe ingredients in mind? If so, please tell us your favorite shelf-stable meals. If not, what meal do you want to try to make first?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
About Daisy
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.
13 Responses
This is basically how we have prepped for many years. We call ourselves ingredients preppers. I have many different ingredients that will make many different meals. To me, this made sense. Because I am a home cook all the time, this will be an almost seamless transition for us. The only difference is making adjustments for freeze dried items that require more liquid. We prep all types of ingredients and have it split into “working pantry” and long term storage. Once an event happens, we adjust accordingly and keep on trucking. Prepping this way helps you stay away from stuff you know your family just will not eat.
I have a working pantry too. Rotate things and then replace with new. A little side info. When I buy celery I look for a stalk that has a lot of leaves. I pull them off, wash them and then lay them out to dry. Works great when you need celery for a recipe, but don’t have any.
Buying freeze dried foods is so expensive. I do have some of the 25-30 year foods bought in bins and buckets over the years, but wish I could do my own. Does anyone know the best place to buy the least expensive freeze dryer possible? I can everything, I dehydrate several things, but wish I had the budget for a freeze dryer! I’ve been reading about it for a year and so many recommend doing it when people can afford to do it. I just haven’t hit the lottery yet!
There is not a lot of choice for freeze driers out there. I have a harvest right (4 tray medium, the mediums are not 5 tray and can dry even more per load!). They do have some dent option ones at times as well as sometimes some refurbished ones. Yes, they are expensive, but if you can up your pantry with it. A while back a local grocery chain was having chicken breasts…… 3# for less than $2.00 (yea great price). I bought max amount each time they did this and freeze dried (raw). That quickly offsets the price of the unit and of the electricity (I figure when running the freeze drier a lot that it can increase my electric bill by about $3-4 a day, but still cheaper than buying prepared stuff….. also that includes needing an a/c in the area that the freeze drier is — we don’t do a/c for daily life here even though we live in N. Central TX).
Costco now carries the small one for $1599. I saved up for the medium one from harvest right. We have enjoyed using it. There’s a bit of a learning curve tho.
I do want to add: Harvest Right has a layaway option.
Costco has the smallest one for $1500. It’s tiny but it will FD faster than my large so you can start next load sooner. My moms medium is 12 hours faster than my large but I can do almost double the food she can in one load.
Costco had a small HArvest Right unit for $1600! We bought 12/23/24, and it has been on all the time! We have no complaints with learning, experimenting or selling some of our cooking! We always loved Mountain House( and still do), but my wife cooks so well, we take foods everywhere, and she takes to work, occasionally selling a famous dish of hers there! I seal in mylar for her colleagues so they can eat from the package! I heartily recommend getting one! The small we find is perfect for the 2 of us, and since December we have competed very well with the huge offers for say, an annual supply of food!
A minimal amount of electricity to use, many recipes and support people from Harvest Right, and YouTube! Best WIshes!
Dear Daisy,
The best part of getting into prepping is the healthy and tasty food I´ve learned to cook and use. All my family appreciate it!
This is an excellent list and thank you for the links! And recipe ideas! We recently moved and the grocery options are not as good here when it comes to long term storage foods. I have a few cans of freeze dried food but want to stock some more.
I’ve always prepped this way even before I “prepped”. We’re a household of four adults: Myself, my husband and our two adult daughters who are on the autism spectrum and we have certain dietary restrictions I have to work around. My husband has high blood pressure so… low salt. I have Type 2 diabetes…. gotta watch those carbs! Our oldest daughter is game for almost anything as far as food is concerned… thank goodness! Her sister is another story. She’ll only eat green beans, no other beans are acceptable. She’ll also eat corn but other vegetables on their own are suspect. She’ll eat peas, carrots and celery as long as they’re in soup. She screams at the sight of rice on her plate – literally – although she doesn’t mind if the rest of us eat it. The only cheese she likes is mozzarella but only if it is on pizza. Anything with a “strong” flavor is rejected. You get the idea. So my food preps center around what she will eat that can be used in multiple recipes and what the rest of us can eat without freaking her out. I’ve modified a LOT of recipes over the years.
Daisy buy a freeze dryer! You can go to costco, your local farm store or home depot. You can get a home depot card most of time with low to no interest. When I catch stuff on sale, it goes in FD. When we have leftovers it goes in freeze dryer. Join fd groups on fb and start reading. It’s so much cheaper to FD your own. The machine pays for it’s self when you can work through and FD food before it goes bad. I still water bath and PC too. I bought 2 flats of strawberries from the fruit truck. I made jam and FD the rest for snacking. We are a zero waste house.
Today 3/15/25, the butter powder can is 22.99 instead of 42.99, not sure when that started or will end. Haven’t looked through, maybe other sales going on too.