3-5 YRLOW ACIDHALF A CAN A DAYWorks without power
Quick facts
- Real shelf life3 to 5 years; safe longer
- Label date says1 to 2 years
- Best storage
- Cool
- dry
- off the floor
- dated
- Watch for
- Dents on a seam
- rust
- bulging
Where this sits on the food shopping list
Canned vegetables are low-acid food cooked in the can, which is why they keep 3 to 5 years at full quality and stay safe long after if the can is sound. They are not the best-tasting vegetables in the house, and they are the ones that will still be there in year three. Half a can a day per person is the planning number that keeps a stored diet from being all rice and beans.
Which to buy
The ones you eat: green beans, corn, peas, carrots, beets, spinach, mixed vegetables, potatoes, and tomatoes (which are high-acid and have their own page). Whole and cut over creamed or sauced. Low-sodium if you will drain them anyway. Store brands are the same vegetables from the same packers. Buy case lots at the low of the year and date the lids.
How long it really lasts
By how it is kept
| Form | Label says | Real, stored well |
|---|---|---|
| Green beans, corn, peas, carrots, mixed | 1 to 2 years | 3 to 5 years at full quality |
| Spinach, greens, beets | 1 to 2 years | 3 to 5 years; color darkens first |
| Canned potatoes | 1 to 2 years | 3 to 5 years |
| Opened, refrigerated in a covered container | 3 to 4 days |
Free download
Get the one-page food shopping list
What to store, how much of it for one person for one month, and how long it keeps. One page with checkboxes, built from the Survival Foods field guide. Print it, multiply by your people and months, and take it to the store.
The PDF comes by email, with my newsletter now and then. Already on the list? You still get it. Read the full page.
How to store it
Cool, dry, dark and off the floor, between 50 and 70°F if you can manage it; twenty degrees cooler, 70 down to 50°F, roughly doubles how long the contents stay at full quality. Never let cans freeze (the seams can fail) and never store them over a furnace, in a garage or in a vehicle. Rotate first in, first out, with the buy date written on the lid. A dented can is fine if the dent is small and not on a seam; a deep dent, a dent on a seam, rust that pits the metal, or any bulge means the can goes unopened.
How to tell it has turned
Look before you open: bulging ends, a leak, rust that has eaten into the metal, or a seam dent. Listen and look as you open: spurting liquid, a hiss outward, cloudy liquid where it should be clear, foam, or a foul smell. Any of those and the whole can goes, unopened if possible, into the trash where nothing can get at it, because the thing you are guarding against is botulism, which has no taste and no cure outside a hospital. A can past its date with a sound seal and a clean smell on opening is food.
Small dents off the seam, surface rust that wipes off, a date years past, and a can that opens quiet and smells normal.
A bulge, a leak, a seam dent, rust that pits, spurting or foaming on opening, cloudy liquid, or a foul smell. Do not taste to decide.
How much, and how to use it
Heat them in their own liquid, or drain for the salt and add the liquid to the soup pot; it's the cooking water with the vitamins in it. A can of green beans or corn into a pot of rice is a meal with color in it. Canned potatoes fry. Spinach and greens go into eggs and soups. Plan on about 180 cans a year per person at half a can a day, which is seven or eight cases, and buy them two cases at a time.
When the power goes out
Shelf-stable and ready to eat cold. Nothing on this page needs the grid; an opened can goes into the next meal.
Shelf-life figures are from the Survival Foods field guide; fridge, freezer and pantry times are from the USDA cold and pantry storage charts. Run the look, smell, taste check before eating anything past its date.
Questions this answers
Tap a question for the short answer.
How long does canned vegetables last?
Stored well, canned vegetables really keep 3 to 5 years, even though the label date says 1 to 2 years. My field guide notes put low-acid foods like vegetables, meats, and soups at 2 to 5 years.
How do I store canned vegetables long term?
Cool, dry, dark, off the floor and dated, ideally 50 to 70°F, rotated oldest first.
How do I tell if canned vegetables has gone bad?
Inspect the can before opening: dents, rust, swelling, bulging, or leaks are warning signs. On opening, spurting, a foul odor, or cloudy liquid means trouble. Then check the contents for off-odors, discoloration, odd texture, or a sour or metallic taste.
How long do canned vegetables last?
Three to five years at full quality stored cool, against a label of 1 to 2 years, and safe longer in a sound can. Opened and refrigerated, 3 to 4 days.
How do I tell if canned vegetables have gone bad?
A bulge, a leak, a seam dent, pitting rust, or spurting, foam, cloudy liquid or a foul smell on opening. The can is discarded without tasting.
How many canned vegetables should I store per person?
Half a can a day is the planning number: about 180 cans a year, or seven to eight cases of 24, per person.
Keep going
Related to this
Membership · $49.95 per year
There is a lot more behind the lock
Every recipe and resource from the Prepper's Chemical Survival Guide, all eleven field guides to read here and download, the full audit and logbook, all twelve reference charts, and no ads.
My Manual · included
Build your own field manual
The most useful thing a membership gives you. Save any page on this site, recipes, charts, and whole field guides included. Arrange them in the order you want, name it, and print one manual with a cover and contents, or keep it as a PDF that opens with no signal.
- It works when this site does not
- Only your pages
- Anyone in the house can use it
- One current copy, not a pile of printouts
- The house binder
- A copy for the bug-out bag or truck
- A copy for family
- An offline PDF
Stay Ready
New entries, updates, and useful instruction.
Stay one step ahead on your preparedness journey.
