Need ideas for what to prepare for your 3-day disaster preparedness checklist? This breakdown will give you some ideas. Best canned foods for survival revealed.

Disaster Preparedness Checklist – Canned Food 3-Day Example Checklist

In my last post, 3 Day Short-Term Disaster Preparedness Checklist I recommend 1 combination food per meal, or 2 simple foods per meal.

That adds up to between 9 and 18 cans for 3 days, per person. Then there are optional extras.

This time I’ll show you some popular examples to start your emergency canned food supplies. These are ideas to get you thinking about what you like and into action mode. Feel free to add your own favorites in the comments! What you like always works best for you.

Group 1. Combination foods

As per my previous blog post, 3 Day Short-Term Disaster Preparedness Checklist for Hurricanes (link), I recommend stocking 1 can per meal.

Popular examples are:

Pastas in sauce

Spaghetti O’s, macaroni cheese, spaghetti meatballs, lasagna, ravioli, beef ravioli, chili macaroni , rigatoni and meatballs. Pasta is made of wheat or other grains, so these contain starch, carbohydrates and protein if meat is included. The ever-present tomato sauce in these cans may not have seen very many tomatoes. Don’t fool yourself into thinking “that’s my veggies done for the day.”

Chilis

Canned chili comes with or without beans, with or without meat, in chunky, turkey or vegetarian form. Mild, medium and hot versions exist for most combinations. The varieties are endless. The ones with beans and meat provide more nutrition than the ones without.

Stews

Canned stews are not just for the dog food aisle! Beef stew is still popular with humans too and there are some decent attempts to produce a home-made taste. Stews always have potatoes and carrots, which cover a bit of starch and veggies. My fav is the Dinty Moore beef stew. The meat feels to be of higher quality than the others. This reviewer prefers the Campbell’s.

Chunky soups

These are supposed to eat like a meal, and most of them do. I think of them more like stews than soups. Some of the varieties include chicken and dumplings, grilled chicken and sausage gumbo, fajita chicken with beans, beef rib roast, chicken noodle, baked potato with cheddar and bacon bits, new England clam chowder, smoked bacon with three beans and minestrone. I can’t stand minestrone.

Breakfast cereal or oatmeal + powdered milk

There are long shelf life cereals, and also powdered milk available in #10 cans. Regular ones from the supermarket are OK too, they just need to be rotated more often. You want to have them for your breakfasts to resemble normalcy. Kids will fuss less too.

The Rest

I love Japanese curry

There are of course other complete meals such as currys, stuffed cabbage, and whatever else you may come across at the shops. If it’s filling and something you can imagine eating on its own, then it qualifies in this group.

Group 2. Simple foods

2 cans of these add up to one meal.

Vegetables

Green beans, sliced carrots, peas with diced carrots, sliced mushrooms, various mixed vegetables. Asparagus, sliced beats and spinach are extra-healthy options.

Are you feeling adventurous? Try artichoke hearts or water chestnuts, they’re really healthy too! Widely available canned tomatoes and tomato purees are used for cooking, and do not make an appetizing side dish. I’ve never seen canned broccoli. Canned cauliflower exists, but it’s rare, mostly available in import shops.

Beans, green peas, soybeans, lentils (legumes)

Beans are the most popular and the easiest to find. Just pick the ones you like best. Pinto beans, red kidney beans, black beans – it’s your choice.

Starch

This group includes potatoes, yam, and corn. All are available in canned form. Corn is the most popular.

Meats and Fish

There is something for everyone. Spam, cooked ham, tuna, chicken, corned beef, sausages, crab meat.. and so on. There’s even whole chicken in a can – wow!

I loved the salty salmon flakes they had in Japan.

3. Optional Foods

You may do well without any of these, especially on a very short 3 day term, however you may want to include some for comfort or convenience. I stock 1 per day.

Fruits

Apricots, peach, pear, mandarin oranges, blackberries, raspberries, pineapple, mixed fruit alias fruit cocktails.

Soups

Cream of tomato soup, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, chicken noodle, cream of celery (ugh)

Pickles, condiments

Dill pickles, green or red chile peppers, salsa, relishes, olives, pickled beets, pickled cabbage. Do you like sauerkraut? It has great nutritients.

Snacks

Do you like dried fruits and nuts, chocolate, granola bars, jams, peanut butter, nutrition drinks, protein powder, crackers or rice cakes? Add them to the shopping list, they all keep relatively long and help with both comfort and nourishment.

Check out my other lists:

Disaster Preparedness Checklist: Main List

3 Day Short-Term Disaster Preparedness Checklist for Hurricanes

Disaster Preparedness Checklist – Top 5 Non-Food Items

Disaster Preparedness Checklist – 5 Unexpectedly Useful Items

PS. Click on the banner on the right to check out the big survival action plan list. Watch the video and grab the book.