Food is one of the most important things in an emergency, and it comes with a lot of questions. How much should you eat? How much should you ration? What kind of meals can you make with your emergency food supply?
An emergency meal plan now will take out the guesswork later. When a crisis hits, you’ll be ready. Create your disaster meal plan in three easy steps: pick your meal plan, choose your meals, then build your food supply.
1. Pick Your Meal Plan
It’s recommended to have at least three days of non-perishable food on hand for emergencies. However, you can build a meal plan for a month, a year, or more.
Three-Day Emergency Meal Plan
A fail-safe plan is a 4Patriots 72-Hour Survival Food Kit. In it you get 16 servings of delicious survival food. That’s 3,760 total calories (average 1,253 calories per day). You may want or need more calories or nutrients per day. To learn more, see footnote. You can also create a 3-day emergency food menu like the one below to use up any edible perishable items before they spoil.
Day 1
- Breakfast: Bacon and eggs (use fresh eggs before powdered eggs)
- Lunch: Tuna salad (make sandwiches with leftover bread or eat with crackers)
- Dinner: Vegetable stir fry with white rice (use any fresh vegetables first)
Day 2
- Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit
- Lunch: Tacos
- Dinner: Spaghetti
Day 3
- Breakfast: Breakfast tacos (use extra bacon and tortillas from the previous days)
- Lunch: Mac & cheese
- Dinner: Fried rice (use any extra vegetables and leftover rice)
One-Week Emergency Meal Plan
Think of a one-week plan like your normal Sunday night meal prep. Only this time, you’re using your emergency food supply recipes. Don’t eat the same thing day in and day out. Create a meal plan with a lot of different recipes. For total peace of mind, get a 4Patriots 1-Week Survival Food Kit. It has 42 servings for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That’s 9.420 calories (average of 1,320 calories per day). If you’re prepping for your family, be sure to get one emergency food kit per person.
One-Month Emergency Meal Plan
Building your emergency food monthly plan isn’t as overwhelming as it sounds. Copy your one-week menu and swap out a few recipes for new ones. This will give you a second week of recipes. Repeat this for two more weeks and now you have an emergency food menu plan for a month! Or let 4Patriots do the planning for you with a 4-Week Survival Food Kit.
2. Choose Your Meals
Once you know how many days to prep for, it’s time to choose your meals for each day. When choosing your meals and making your meal plan, there are a few important things to keep in mind.
- Know how many people you are including in the plan.
- Use any fresh, perishable foods you have first.
- Save foods with the longest shelf life in long-term storage.
- Think about leftovers or open containers you might end up with after one meal and work it into another in the next couple of days.
- Calculate the number of calories each meal provides per day. Various websites and apps, like Calorie Control Council, can help you find the number of calories in a particular food or recipe.
- Be sure each day has the necessary nutrients. Eat plenty of foods that will help you stay focused and mentally sharp, such as spinach and blueberries.
- Do your best to cover all the food groups you need. It is recommended to eat the following amount of each food group per day:
- 2.5 servings of fresh, frozen, canned, or dried vegetables
- 2 servings of fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit
- 6 servings of whole grains
- 5.5 oz of proteins
- 3 T fats or oils
Recipe Ideas
Creating a survival food meal plan doesn’t have to mean living off bland beans, canned meat, and rice. Consider these easy and delicious emergency food supply recipe ideas to get your meal planning started.
Breakfast
- Breakfast Tacos
- Banana Granola
- Blueberry Pancakes
- Bacon and Eggs
- Oatmeal with Raisins
- Cereal with Berries
- Breakfast Hash
Lunch
- Ground Beef Nachos
- Mac & Cheese
- Vegetable Soup
- Tuna Salad and Crackers
- Chicken Salad Sandwich
- Potato Soup
- Tacos
Dinner
- Stuffed Meatloaf
- Chili with Cornbread
- Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
- Black Bean Burgers
- Vegetable Fried Rice
- Chickpea Curry with Rice
- Beef Stew
Snacks
- Fruit and Nuts
- Protein Bar
- Protein Shake
- Fruit Smoothie
- Cheese and Crackers
- Apples and Peanut Butter
- Trail Mix
3. Build Your Food Supply
A solid meal plan helps you build a more precise food storage plan. First, write out the ingredients for all the survival food recipes. Then make your “grocery” list. Add any additional snacks or supplies you want. And don’t forget about water!
Planning your meals and survival food menu now can help you keep a level head when an emergency happens. 4Patriots can take the stress out of planning. With delicious meal kits designed to last days, weeks, or longer, you can have all your breakfasts and entrees already picked out for you.
Footnote: These kits are designed to provide energy and nutrients for one person in stressful emergency situations. They are not intended to be complete caloric replacements during “normal” times. You’ll want to make sure you have additional food items on hand so that in an extended emergency you’ll be able to supplement your daily calorie intake, nutrients and variety with additional food items available on this site, food you have stockpiled in your pantry, fresh produce from your garden, etc.
*These kits are designed to provide energy and nutrients for one person in stressful emergency situations. They are not intended to be complete caloric replacements during “normal” times. You’ll want to make sure you have additional food items on hand so that in an extended emergency you’ll be able to supplement your daily calorie intake, nutrients and variety with additional food items available on this site, food you have stockpiled in your pantry, fresh produce from your garden, etc.
