Cheap & Easy Shelf-Stable Meal Ideas, Plus No-Cook Options
There are so many reasons to keep no-cook and shelf-stable meals stocked in your pantry. Maybe you travel a lot and enjoy life on the go. No-cook and shelf-stable meals are a great option for hikers or those taking time off the grid. Maybe you like to keep an emergency food storage just in case.
Even something as simple as a power outage is a good reason to stock no-cook meals. These four shelf-stable meal ideas are inexpensive and tasty. They are easy to put together and will last forever in your emergency pantry.
The first no-cook meal idea is crackers and vegetables. For this, you will need crackers. If you want to go gluten-free, you can use rice cakes. The crackers are essential to this recipe because, in emergency or no-cook situations, you will get tired of mushy food pretty quickly. It’s great to bulk out your shelf-stable meals with some crunchiness.
This meal also uses dehydrated veggies, which you can prep in cold water. Just let them sit in the water for 40 minutes. Then add a can of diced tomatoes, a can of mixed veggies, and a can of pinto beans, and serve with your crackers.
The second one of the no-cook, shelf-stable meal ideas is a yummy chickpea salad. Use rice cakes or crackers, mustard, a can of chickpeas, and dill relish. It makes a delicious party meal. If you can cook, adding a homemade loaf of bread is a great way to elevate this salad.
A shepherd's pie is the ultimate prepper meal. It’s tasty and easy to put together. Mix a can of beans with a can of vegetables. Top with seasoning and rehydrated mashed potatoes, and cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Don’t worry if you can’t cook though. You can make a meal from dehydrated mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and green beans without the oven. Just prepare the potatoes in cold water. Let them sit for ten minutes in the water and then add the vegetables for flavor, texture, and nutrients.
Quick oats also don’t need heat to cook them. Soak them for a few minutes and then mix them with blueberry pie filling for a yummy, emergency meal.
If you can cook, you can make a tasty oatmeal bake from shelf-stable ingredients. Mix two bananas (you can substitute canned fruit or even canned pie filling for the bananas) with two cups of quick oats and one cup of nut milk. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
Shelf-stable meal ideas
These shelf-stable meal ideas are a great way to prepare for whatever life may throw at you. Which meal was your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
For more shelf-stable meal ideas, discover how to build a prepper pantry or the best items to buy at Costco for emergency food storage.
To see more videos, check out the Flourishing Miranda YouTube channel.
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