Your prepper’s pantry is designed and stocked to last you years and years of food supply. It is crucial that you know the foods that never expire and stock up on them.
A Prepper Pantry Is Crucial
Starting your prepper pantry will prove to be one of the most useful things you do. It’s great to have in various situations.
Reasons you need to start a prepper pantry:
- Weather, natural disasters & emergency situations
- Illness – there will be times when you’re too stick to get to the store
- Income Loss – a properly stocked prepper pantry will ensure you’re feed no matter your monetary situation at the moment
- Global Pandemic – need we say more? If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that you need to be prepared for anything.
Foods That Never Expire | Must-Haves
As you build your survivalist pantry, you may get frustrated with jarred and canned foods that expire in a few years time. If you are prepping responsibly, you will constantly rotate your supply, which means many of these will find their way into circulation in your kitchen as they get replaced with a newer version.
So what foods will last the longest? There are actually several that will last for 30+ years (or even forever) if you store them properly. Storing foods properly means in food-grade plastic storage buckets that keep out rodents, air, and light, and kept in cool environments. This will help to drastically cut down on your inventory and rotation efforts.
While these 10 foods may not represent a balanced diet, you can store them and forget them in your pantry, to be enjoyed at any time.
Many of these items can even be found at the dollar store! Check out this full list of 100 Dollar Store Preps
1. Sweetners
Honey is considered to be the only food that never expires. A 5500-year old jar of honey was found to be edible! When sealed to prevent moisture from spoiling the honey, there will be no change to the quality or taste.
Raw honey is full of antioxidants and beneficial nutrients, so it’s more than just a sweetener. You’ll want to avoid buying this one at the dollar store though, as it’s likely just honey flavored corn syrup and not the real stuff.
Other sweeteners to stock up on include white sugar and maple syrup.
2. Seasonings
Salt, as long as it is not iodized, will also last forever. It is a mineral that is native to the earth and naturally removes moisture.
Salt adds seasoning to food but can also be used to preserve meats after hunting.
Don’t forget the whole spices, either!
3. Pure Maple Syrup
When stored unopened, maple syrup has the potential to last forever. Even if mold does form on the surface of the syrup, it can be boiled, skimmed, and re-stored without compromising the quality or flavor.
4. White Rice
White rice can last for 30+ years when stored at 40° in airtight food storage bins, making it the perfect carbohydrate to stock up on.
5. Dried Beans
View this post on InstagramThat's another job done for the year, our dried beans are all podded. They'll hang around the dehydrator area which is warm to finish drying before being stored for use. #nwtasmania #driedbeans #preservingtheharvest #voluntarysimplicity #growyourownfood #sustainablegardening #organicgardening
With a shelf life of 30 years, dried beans make for a great protein option when storing food long-term. Their texture and taste will not be the same after long periods of time but are still edible by most standards.
6. Sugar
If you keep sugar in your airtight food storage containers, it can be used for many years to come – maybe even forever. Moisture, rodents, and bugs are the primary enemies of your sugar supply.
7. Soy Sauce
Perfect to enjoy over your white rice stash, sealed soy sauce will last for many years, thanks to its high salt content.
8. Hard Liquors
If society does crumble and you are forced to live out of your pantry for years, you’ll be happy to know that your hard liquor will keep. The flavor may deviate from what you’re used to, and some liquid may evaporate out of the bottles, but it will still be safe to drink.
9. Pemmican
A Native American staple, pemmican uses ground-up meat as the main ingredient. Pemmican is a superfood with an incredible shelf life.
Check out how to make pemmican here
10. Powdered Milk
While the taste and consistency do not compare to fresh milk, the shelf life and easy transport of powdered milk make it a staple in prepper’s pantries.
Building a long-term and effective pantry can be overwhelming and expensive. Shopping smart and investing in airtight food storage bins will cut down on spending and time spent rotating. You can confidently store these 10 foods for the long haul.
Do you have foods that never expire you’ll add to your pantry? Let us know in the comments section!
Up Next:
- Best Foods for Prepping: How to Put Together Your Prepper’s Pantry
- Survival Food 101: Hardtack
- How To Setup Long Term Food Storage At Home For Emergencies
