How to Stock Your Pantry for Emergencies (+ Recipes!)

Emergencies come in all forms: a storm that takes out your power for several days, government stay-at-home orders, as well as the everyday emergency of "what's for dinner?!" Having a well-stocked pantry and a plan for how to use what's in it is a must. Here are our suggestions for what to stock and what to cook for anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

The list below covers a lot of ground, but isn't exhaustive or exclusive. If your family doesn't ever really eat yogurt or frozen shrimp, no need to stock those items. Double up on the items that you DO eat regularly so you know you'll have good food choices for the coming days and weeks.

Also think about breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and plan your shopping list and recipes accordingly!

Long-Lasting Fresh Foods

These items should keep for at least two weeks or more in your fridge or pantry. Also, remember that you can buy many fresh foods and freeze them for later, like berries and many vegetables, or turn them into freezer foods, like freezer burritos and casseroles.

Eggs
Yogurt
Milk (check the expiration dates; now is the time to buy UHT milks and dairy)
Cheese (also freezes well!)
Butter (also freezes well!)
Tofu
Bread (also freezes well!)
Potatoes and sweet potatoes
Onions
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Cabbage
Hearty greens, like kale, collards, and spinach
Hard squashes, like acorn squash, spaghetti squash, and butternut squash
Apples
Bananas
Oranges

Dry Pantry Items

Canned beans and dried beans
Chicken stock
Canned tuna and other canned fish
Pasta and rice noodles
Rice and other dry grains
Oatmeal
Canned and jarred vegetables, including diced tomatoes
Canned and jarred fruit
Dried fruits
Nuts
Jarred tomato sauce
Cans of soup
Peanut butter and other nut butters
Olive oil and other cooking oil

Freezer Foods

Meat and seafood: chicken, ground beef, sausage, fish, shrimp, pork chops and tenderloin, chuck roast
Frozen vegetables
Frozen fruit
Bread
Butter
Frozen pasta, like tortellini, ravioli, and dumplings
Other favorite frozen prepared foods (looking at you, ice cream)

Best Beef Chili

Sally Vargas

Everyone needs a recipe for classic beef chili. Make this one your go-to! It's made with corn, peppers, tomatoes, and beans, and makes enough to freeze for later!
Tuna Patties

Elise Bauer

Quick, easy, delicious tuna patties! Best thing you can make with canned tuna. Kid-friendly, Budget-friendly.
Pasta Puttanesca

Elise Bauer

Pasta Puttanesca is a classic Italian pasta dish that's ready in under 40 minutes! Make it with canned tomato paste and crushed tomatoes, canned anchovies, jarred olives and capers. So simple and so good.
Pasta e Fagioli

Elise Bauer

A soup of many names, Pasta e Fagioli, Pasta Fagioli, or Pasta Fazool, this classic Italian soup of beans and short pasta with tomatoes and vegetables is a classic favorite.

Continue to 5 of 16 below.
Black Bean Soup

Elise Bauer

This hearty black bean soup is what you need on a cold and dreary day! Made with ham shanks, sweet potatoes, bell pepper, onion, cumin, and chili.
Minestrone Soup

Elise Bauer

Minestrone soup is an Italian classic! This version is made with cannellini beans, chicken stock, cabbage, potato, zucchini, carrots, plum tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese.

9985

Baked Ziti - classic Italian American comfort food of pasta baked with sausage, tomato sauce and all kinds of gooey, yummy cheeses. So EASY and so good!
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Elise Bauer

The BEST homemade chicken noodle soup! This version is made from scratch, so it's light and nourishing. All the goodness from the chicken in one pot of soup. Just what you need to recover from a cold or the flu.
Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

Emma Christensen

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili is perfect for busy weeks! Make it with chicken thighs or breasts, onions, celery, black beans, frozen corn, chicken broth, tomato puree, and spices. Combine everything in a crockpot or slow cooker, and let it simmer all day while you're away.

Continue to 9 of 16 below.
Easy Shepherd's Pie

Elise Bauer

American favorite shepherd's pie recipe, casserole with ground beef, vegetables such as carrots, corn, and peas, topped with mashed potatoes.
How to Cook Rice on the Stovetop

Alison Bickel

Making white rice is easy! Avoid crunchy, mushy, or burned rice with these simple steps. Ready in under 30 minutes.
How to Cook Brown Rice

Alison Bickle

PERFECT brown rice! Slow and low is the way to go. Yes, it takes a little longer than white rice, but it’s not any harder. We have a few hacks to bump up flavor and ensure fluffy results.
How to Cook Dried Beans

Alison Conklin

Here is (literally) everything you need to know about cooking dried beans at home. With a few tips, beans are really so easy, and there are literally hundreds of ways you can use them! The texture can't be beat, and you can always freeze what you don't use.

Continue to 13 of 16 below.
How to Bake a Potato

Alison Bickel

Baked potatoes! The best ones happen the old fashioned-way: in the oven. Here’s the scoop on making perfect baked potatoes. (Spoiler alert: no foil!)
How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs: 3 Fool-Proof Ways

Emma Christensen and Elise Bauer

Perfect, easily-peeled hard boiled eggs can be surprisingly tricky to pull off, especially when you need to make a big batch for Easter or a summer potluck. Here are three different ways that we've found give us consistent results, every time. Pick one to try the next time you need hard boiled eggs!
How to Make Chicken Stock

Elise Bauer

Three tried and true methods for making GREAT homemade chicken stock. One method involves simmering a chicken carcass with vegetables. The other methods require sautéing chopped pieces of backs and wings first, before simmering with water and veggies.
How to Poach Chicken, the Quick and Easy Way

Emma Christensen

Poaching chicken is the EASIEST way to cook chicken for quick weeknight meals! Great for making shredded or sliced chicken for easy soups, lunch salads, burrito bowls, and more.