PrepFoods to stockpile: a list with shelf lives
By SGWNI. Checked on 2 November 2026.
The best foods to stockpile are ones you already eat, that keep for months in a cupboard, and that you can eat without cooking. Start with tins, peanut butter, crackers and UHT milk, then add rice, pasta and oats once you have a few days covered. The lists below show what each food gives you and how long it lasts.
If you’d rather have amounts worked out for your household, use the food stockpile calculator.
Foods you can eat without cooking
Buy these first. They still work in a power cut, when the cooker doesn’t.
| Food | Typical pack | Calories per pack | Unopened, it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corned beef | 340 g tin | 850 | 5 years |
| Chicken in broth | 200 g tin | 231 | 5 years |
| Tuna in water | 145 g tin | 88 | 3 years |
| Chickpeas | 400 g tin | 334 | 2 to 5 years |
| Vegetable soup | 400 g tin | 156 | 2 to 5 years |
| Peaches in juice | 410 g tin | 180 | 12 to 18 months |
| Peanut butter | 340 g jar | 2,033 | 6 to 24 months |
| UHT whole milk | 1 L carton | 628 | 6 to 12 months |
| Cereal bars | 5 pack, 125 g | 589 | 6 to 12 months |
| Cream crackers | 200 g pack | 836 | 8 months |
| Raisins | 500 g bag | 1,495 | 6 months |
Foods that need water and heat
These pack a lot of calories into a small space, but only if you can boil water. Add them after your no-cook food, and keep a camping stove in mind only if you have somewhere safe to use it outdoors.
| Food | Typical pack | Calories per pack | Unopened, it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| White rice | 1 kg bag | 3,650 | 2 years |
| Dried pasta | 500 g bag | 1,855 | 2 years |
| Red lentils | 500 g bag | 1,760 | 1 year |
| Porridge oats | 1 kg bag | 3,790 | 12 months |
| Instant mash | 180 g pack | 637 | 10 to 15 months |
Dried food also uses your stored water, so count that in the water storage calculator.
How to read these numbers
The shelf lives are USDA FoodKeeper figures, for quality at cool room temperature. They’re US guidance, and we’ve used them because we haven’t found a UK equivalent. The date on your pack comes first. Best before is about quality. Never eat food after its use by date. Our use by date checker explains the difference.
The calories are worked out from USDA FoodData Central for our typical pack sizes. Your label will give the exact figure for the product you buy.
What to leave out
Some foods look like stockpile food but don’t earn their space:
- Crisps: about 2 months unopened, and not much use after that.
- Flour: 6 to 12 months for white and 3 to 6 for wholemeal, and you need an oven.
- Oil: useful for cooking, but 6 to 12 months for olive and vegetable oil, and no use if you can’t cook.
- Anything nobody at home likes. Food you won’t eat in normal life doesn’t get rotated, and it ends up in the bin.
Before you store it
- Keep a tin opener with the tins. Be Ready’s power cut advice includes one.
- Check every tin. Don’t use tins that are bulging, leaking, badly dented or rusty.
- Store it cool and dry. Heat shortens shelf life, so avoid the loft and the space beside the boiler.
- Use the oldest first. Put new food at the back. Be Ready suggests checking dates every six months.
- Plan around your household. Swap nuts and peanut butter if anyone has an allergy. Babies, coeliac disease, diabetes and medical diets need their own plan.
How much to buy
Be Ready asks households to keep 3 days of supplies. As a guide, our calculators use 2,000 calories a day for an adult and 1,600 for a child. See how much food to stockpile for bigger targets, and 3 days of food with no cooking for sample days. Look up any food in the tinned food shelf life tool.