Prep3 days of food with no cooking
By SGWNI. Checked on 2 November 2026.
For 3 days with no cooking, you want tins you can eat cold, plus high-calorie food straight from the packet: baked beans, tinned chicken and fish, tinned fruit, peanut butter, crackers, nuts, dried fruit and cereal bars. That matches the UK government’s Be Ready checklist, which asks for food with a long shelf life that doesn’t need a fridge or cooking, and says it’s best to buy what you’d usually eat. Add a tin opener that works by hand.
A sample day for one adult
This is about 2,000 kcal, with no heat and no fridge. It’s an example, so swap in what you like.
| When | Food | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 2 cereal bars (50 g) | 236 |
| Breakfast | Small handful of raisins (50 g) | 150 |
| Lunch | 400 g tin of baked beans, cold | 376 |
| Lunch | Cream crackers (50 g) | 209 |
| Snack | Mixed nuts (50 g) | 304 |
| Dinner | 200 g tin of chicken in broth | 231 |
| Dinner | 198 g tin of sweetcorn | 111 |
| Dinner | 410 g tin of peaches in juice | 180 |
| Treat | Half a 100 g bar of milk chocolate | 268 |
| Total | 2,065 |
Calorie figures are estimates from USDA FoodData Central, for typical pack sizes. Check your own labels if you want to be exact.
A 3 day shopping list for a family of four
This covers two adults and two children for 3 days. That’s about 21,600 kcal at the planning figures we use, which are 2,000 kcal for an adult and 1,600 for a child.
| Item | How many | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Baked beans, 400 g tins | 8 | 3,008 |
| Chicken in broth, 200 g tins | 4 | 924 |
| Sardines in oil, 120 g tins | 3 | 561 |
| Sweetcorn, 198 g tins | 3 | 333 |
| Peaches in juice, 410 g tins | 4 | 720 |
| Rice pudding, 400 g tin | 1 | 432 |
| Peanut butter, 340 g jars | 2 | 4,066 |
| Cream crackers, 200 g packs | 3 | 2,508 |
| Cereal bars, 5-packs | 3 | 1,767 |
| Mixed nuts, 200 g bags | 3 | 3,642 |
| Raisins, 500 g bag | 1 | 1,495 |
| Dried apricots, 250 g bag | 1 | 603 |
| Milk chocolate, 100 g bars | 3 | 1,605 |
| Total | 21,664 |
Our food stockpile calculator has a no-cooking mode that builds a list like this for your household, including vegetarian and gluten-free versions.
Which tins are safe to eat cold?
The Food Standards Agency says many tinned foods meant to be heated won’t pose a safety risk if eaten cold, but that this depends on the product. So follow the instructions on the tin. The Chief Medical Officers’ scripts for a national power cut say tinned vegetables, tinned fish and beans can be eaten uncooked.
If you can’t face a cold tin of soup or stew, leave it out of this part of your stock. It’ll be fine in your normal cupboard.
Things to think about
- Opening a tin. The list only works if you can open what you’ve bought. Be Ready’s power cut page includes a tin opener.
- Open only what you’ll finish. The FSA says not to keep food in an opened tin. With no fridge, the safest plan is to open a tin you’ll finish at that meal. Buy small tins if you live alone.
- Salt and water. A US FEMA and Red Cross booklet says to avoid salty food if your water is limited, because it makes you thirsty. Choose unsalted nuts if you can, and think about tinned fruit, which adds fluid. You’ll also want your 3 litres a day of water.
- Allergies. Nuts and peanut butter pack in calories, but swap them if anyone is allergic. Seeds, extra dried fruit and more tins will do the same job, though you’ll need more of them.
- Vegetarian or vegan. Swap the chicken and sardines for chickpeas or kidney beans, which are ready to eat from the tin.
- Babies. Be Ready recommends ready-to-feed formula. Keep nappies and wipes with it.
- People who are ill or older. Think about what they can chew and swallow. Soft tinned fruit, rice pudding and soup may suit them better.
Eat what’s going off first
In a power cut, your stored food comes last. The Food Standards Agency’s order is:
- Food that needs a fridge.
- Defrosted frozen food that doesn’t need cooking.
- Perishable food kept at room temperature.
- Tinned, bottled and dried food.
So your 3 days of cupboard food may last longer than 3 days. The power cut food checker can help you decide what to keep.
If you can cook after all
A camping stove or barbecue can be used outdoors. The Chief Medical Officers’ advice is never to use them indoors, because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can kill. Don’t plan your stock around a stove you can’t use safely.
Keeping it fresh
Choose food your household eats anyway, then you can use it and replace it without waste. Be Ready suggests checking dates every six months. Cereal bars, crackers and nuts have shorter lives than tins, so check them first. Once you’ve bought your list, add it to the supplies calculator to see how many days it gives you.