The Best Emergency Food Supplies To Keep You Prepared

Forbes

27-03-2025

Preparing for the unexpected isn't easy, but the best emergency food supplies can help alleviate the stress and anxiety of prepping for natural disasters, pandemics and other emergencies. While canned fruits and dried rice are nice to have on hand, survival food kits offer a quicker, more convenient (and often tastier) alternative to the typical non-perishables. We found the ReadyWise Emergency Food Supply Bucket to be the best option overall, due to its large amount of servings, 25-year shelf life and variety of cuisines. For vegetarians, we recommend the Backpacker's Pantry 7-Day Emergency Survival Meal Kit, and for vegans or those with dietary restrictions, Good-To-Go's Emergency Food Kit is a gluten-free plant-based option.
When evaluating the best emergency food supplies, we made sure to consider key factors like shelf life, serving size and dietary needs. Whether you need something meat-free, a kit to last decades or a survival food supply for your car, the best emergency food supplies can help bring peace of mind.
Servings: 120 | Shelf life: Up to 25 years
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ReadyWise is well-known in the world of survival food kits, and their Emergency Food Supply Bucket is a great option to share among family and friends, or to keep on hand as an ample supply for yourself. Included in the bucket are 120 servings designed to sustain a single person for 13 days, and with 24,360 calories in total, you could consume a little over 1,800 calories a day. Meals include stroganoff, tomato basil soup and teriyaki rice, and are prepared by adding hot or cold water to the pouch and letting the food absorb the liquid. The pouches are sealed using an ultra-high-barrier film to keep moisture out and are stored in the included bucket, which weighs just under 20 pounds and has a handle for easy carrying.
Servings: 92 | Shelf life: Up to 25 years
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Regularly priced at $100, this variety pail from Augason Farms is frequently on sale for less and includes an impressive 92 servings. The kit only includes lunch and dinner options, but the 11 meals are all different and range from corn chowder to fettuccine Alfredo to ensure mealtimes don't get boring. Meal pouches arrive in a 4-gallon airtight container to keep the food from spoiling, and the 25-year shelf life is added reassurance that everything will last.
Servings: 35 | Shelf life: 3 to 10 years (based on meal and production date)
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It can be hard to find vegetarian-friendly emergency food kits, especially kits that consist of actual meals and not just grains and legumes. Fortunately, this seven-day kit from Backpacker's Pantry offers a variety of easy-to-prepare, flavorful meals, all of which are meat-free. For breakfast you can opt for peanut butter and banana oatmeal or a breakfast scramble, while lunch and dinner options include lasagna, pad thai and chana masala. Boiling water is required for preparation, but once it's added, all you have to do is stir and let the food sit. The kit's shelf life is shorter compared to others on this list and varies from pouch to pouch based on the type of meal and its production date, making it best for camping, hiking or to supplement alongside other non-perishables.
Servings: 15 | Shelf life: Up to 2 years
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If sticking to your dietary preferences is important (or necessary), even in the face of an emergency, this five-day kit from Good To-Go is one of the few vegan options available. In addition to being entirely plant-based, the meals are gluten-free and made using clean ingredients that still provide plenty of nutrition—one pouch of oatmeal contains 16 grams of protein, 490 calories and 12 grams of fiber. Two of the meals included (the carrot-ginger power bowl and cucumber chaat salad) can be prepared with cold water, no stove required. However, because the meals are made without preservatives, they do have a considerably shorter shelf life than non-vegan options.
Servings: 307 | Shelf life: Up to 25 years
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Hopefully, you won't have to dip into your emergency food supply in the near future, which is where a long shelf life comes in handy. With a 25-year shelf life, this kit from Augason Farms can be stowed away and forgotten about for years while still remaining safe to consume. The pail contains 307 servings to sustain a single person for 30 days or a family of four for a week, and the brand even includes a 45-day extended meal planner to help manage the food longer. Meals include familiar favorites like macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes, plus banana chips and a milk alternative for some quick and filling bites.
Servings: 41 | Shelf life: Up to 15 years
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While ReadyWise recommends this kit for hiking, camping and other outdoor adventures, we think it's a great option to keep in your car in the event you have to evacuate quickly. The highly portable, waterproof bag contains 12 pouches of food, including a chocolate shake, lasagna and freeze-dried apples. Meals are prepared in the resealable pouches by adding water (cold or hot) and their gusseted bottom makes them easy to eat directly out of, so all you need is a utensil to enjoy. Its shelf life is shorter compared to our top pick from ReadyWise, but its compact size and portability make it a practical addition to one's emergency car supplies.
The Forbes Vetted team has published an extensive library of highly researched and tested gear articles. Beyond emergency food supplies, we've covered other guides relating to emergency preparedness, including bug out bags, survival kits and emergency radios.
We put every emergency food supply in this guide through a careful review process to make sure it holds up when you need it most—whether that's during a short power outage or a long-term emergency. Here's what we focused on: