No-Cook Emergency Meals for Power Outages

Keep a few meals you can eat when the stove and microwave won’t work. Choose foods labeled ready to eat, check for allergies, and pick packages you can finish without saving leftovers. Add drinking water and a manual opener. Try one of those meals now, while changing the menu is easy.

Use a planned lunch on an ordinary day. Was it enough food? Could everyone open the packages? Would they eat it again?

Build meals from ready-to-eat packages

Possible combinations include ready-to-eat canned beans with crackers and fruit, a nut or seed spread with suitable bread or crackers, or a ready-to-eat protein pouch with vegetables and a familiar snack. Choose amounts and foods that suit the people eating them. Follow any medical diet they’ve been given.

Read the package. Some foods need cooking; others are ready to eat but require refrigeration after opening. Choose portions your household can finish safely. Include an opener if the package needs one.

Include meals that children and anyone on a special diet can eat. Check ingredients and allergy warnings on each package. A familiar brand can have different ingredients in another variety.

Plan the cleanup too

Keep drinking water, clean utensils, handwashing supplies, and a way to collect trash with the meal supplies. Keep what you need to open and serve each meal with the food.

Don’t add an indoor camp-stove setup to make the menu work. Follow appliance instructions and local emergency guidance; outdoor cooking equipment must not be used inside a home or garage.

Keep questionable refrigerator food out of the plan

FoodSafety.gov says an unopened refrigerator can keep food safe for up to four hours without power. Its guidance calls for discarding refrigerated perishables such as meat, eggs, and leftovers after four hours without power; use its item-by-item chart for details. Never taste food to judge safety. Power-outage food chart.

Keep enough ready-to-eat food for the meals you’re planning. You may have to throw away food from the fridge.

Printable one-day menu

Meal	Food and amount	Opener needed?	What happens after opening?
Breakfast	___	___	___
Lunch	___	___	___
Dinner	___	___	___
Snacks	___	___	___

• Every food is labeled ready to eat or needs no cooking.
• Ingredients suit everyone who will eat the meal.
• Package sizes don’t depend on storing leftovers.
• Water, utensils, and cleanup supplies are available.
• The household has tried the menu.

After the trial, replace the foods nobody ate. Keep a copy of the menu beside the supplies so someone else can find and serve them.

Manual can openers: good, better, best

Choose the opener that fits your grip and the way you use the kitchen.

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Sources

• USDA: shelf-stable food
• FoodSafety.gov: food safety during a power outage