15+ Hurricane Meals (For when you lose power) Plus 30 shelf-stable foods to buy

If you lose power, you can still eat good. Find meals you can make when you lose power during a hurricane, no fridge or oven required. Plus, find a list of shelf-stable food you should order now so you have it if you lose power.

For more hurricane tips, check out all of our hurricane preparedness posts.

Hurricane Florence made a mess of things in 2018, and parts of our town are still recovering. When the hurricane hit, we didn’t have power for almost three days. Luckily, we were out of town, evacuated for the hurricane, but we know people who were home and had to figure out what to eat when you lose power during a hurricane.

If your power goes out during a hurricane, it’ll mean not being able to use your electric oven.

So this list of what to cook during a hurricane doesn’t use the oven because, well, you might not be able to.

Pick out your favorite recipes and run to the grocery store once it is safe to pick up ingredients. You won’t be able to do that if your town is closing down to prepare for the storm. It’s better to be safe than stubborn.

This is just one of the many posts about hurricane prep in our How To Prepare For A Hurricane Guide. Click that link to find out more so you’re the most prepared if and when when the storm hits.

Meals To Eat When You Lose Power During A Hurricane

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Just a small note. I made sure to list only recipes that don’t use the oven or stovetop (so no cooking involved). There’s no pre-cooked meats, no use of a blender or rice cooker, nothing like that.

We do allow ingredients that may need something from the fridge. Be sure to organize the fridge before you lose power so that you know where things are and can easily open the fridge, grab what you need, then close it.

Salad Wrap

This Salad Wrap uses a bunch of fresh vegetables. Generally, you’re going to find these in the refrigerated section of the grocery store and you’re going to want to keep them in your fridge at home.

To make this Salad Wrap easily if you lose power, make sure to put all the salad greens and veggies close together in the fridge. So, when you open it, you can grab them quickly and close it again.

Vegan Chickpea “Tuna” Salad Sandwich

You can skip the vegan mayo in the sandwich, if you don’t really want to open the fridge, or you could substitute in any shelf stable mayo packets (which you should pick up before the storm hits, just to have on hand).

Some versions of this recipe use a blender to mash the chickpeas, but this version has you mash them by hand, so you don’t need to worry about having electricity in order to make it.

Garden Tomato Salad

This recipe calls for garden tomatoes as written, but if you have store-bought tomatoes that you want to use up, those are perfect in this as well.

If you have any sort of bread that you need to use up during the storm, this would be the perfect way to top it. Of course, you can’t toast that bread, but I think this is just fine of a loaf of untoasted French bread anyway. Plus, once you dip the bread in the “juice” from the oil, it won’t hold it’s char anyway. So you won’t miss it.

Red, White, And Bleu Kale Salad

If you need to use up some fruit that needs to get eaten because the fridge has no power to keep it fresh, definitely go with this Red, White, And Bleu Kale Salad.

You can skip the salad dressing to stop opening the fridge, and actually, it’s better that way. I usually skip dressing on my salad anyway and once you get used to that, you don’t miss it.

Homemade Chunky Guacamole

Guacamole feels more like a side dish than a meal, but if you’re looking for something really tasty for lunch during a storm, and you can’t make your traditional lunch ideas, Homemade Chunky Guacamole will come to the rescue.

Serve it with a bag of tortilla chips, on some bread, or with a bagel and you have a really filling oven-free lunch idea.

Mango Salsa

Just like guacamole, this Mango Salsa is a great easy lunch idea. It’s a good way to use up any fruit that you need to use because you can’t refrigerate it.

It’s basically a fruit salad, so you could eat it as is or you could eat it with tortilla chips like you would a traditional salsa.

No Bake Chocolate Chip Walnut Energy Balls

These No Bake Chocolate Chip Walnut Energy Balls would make a really good snack or breakfast if you lose power.

When we make them (from all shelf-stable ingredients) we usually form them into balls and put them in the freezer to help them hold their shape. But, if you’re not opening the freezer, just form them and let them do their thing. If they’re not perfectly round, who cares. They still taste delicious.

Fluffernutter Sandwich

If all else fails, a Fluffernutter Sandwich comes to the rescue. We don’t have a recipe for it because really, you just measure the peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff with your heart, put it on bread, and enjoy the sandwich.

Fluff is magic and never needs to be refrigerated and constantly magically expands to fill the container, so you can buy one jar for this hurricane and it will last you every hurricane for all eternity (I mean, not really, but it sure feels that way).

30 Shelf-Stable Foods To Buy For An Emergency

Before you can put any of these recipes together, you need to pick up some shelf-stable foods. Honestly, you should buy those and stock up on them before the hurricane comes. That way, you don’t have to try to go out when the hurricane is in town.

And, if you’re prepping your house for the hurricane and don’t have time to get to the grocery store, definitely order on Instacart and have your groceries delivered. You want to do this before the shelves clear out and before the storm hits (because there probably won’t be any drivers during the storm itself).

I put this list of 30 shelf-stable foods to buy for an emergency in alphabetical order, just to make it easier.

• Applesauce
• Bagels *
• Beef jerky
• Bottled water (you want one gallon per person per day of the storm)
• Boxed macaroni and cheese (use evaporated milk to make it)
• Bread *
• Canned/pouched fish (tuna, anchovies, salmon, etc.)
• Canned fruit
• Canned/pouched meat (chicken, etc.)
• Cereal
• Chips (potato chips, popcorn, pretzels, etc.)
• Coffee (make cold brew or French press)
• Cookies
• Crackers (whole wheat, saltines, cheese-filled, peanut butter-filled, etc.)
• Dried fruit/berries (cranberries, raisins, etc.)
• Evaporated milk
• Fruit (ones like apples, bananas, and oranges will last longer)
• Granola bars
• Hazelnut spread
• Honey
• Juice boxes
• Non-dairy milk
• Nuts
• Oats (we use this to make energy balls)
• Olive oil
• Pasta (you might want to cook it before you lose power, though)
• Peanut butter
• Powdered milk
• Pudding (packaged)
• Tortillas *

* These foods are perishable, but do not need refrigeration or to be cooked, which is why they made the list.

Cooking When You Lose Power

As I’ve mentioned, these recipes above can be made during a hurricane because they don’t require any cooking.

You may, though, be wondering how to cook food during a hurricane. Especially if you lose power and you need to cook all your perishables before they go bad.

If you need to, you can use a charcoal or propane grill to cook. Or you can use a propane stove, if you have one of those for camping. We actually have a propane burner and we use that to deep fry things like French fries and catfish. Plus, Pete uses it to brew beer.

For ideas of what to make if you have to hurry and grill all your food, check out all of our grilling recipes for some inspiration.

Using Bread During A Storm

Bread, milk, and eggs are people’s go to storm prep groceries. Did you stock up on bread? Don’t forget our post: What Can You Do With Bread During A Storm? so you can figure out what to do with it all.

Other Hurricane Preparedness Tips:

Of course, be sure to check out our Hurricane Preparedness Checklist to make sure you are packed and ready in case. That’ll give you emergency lighting options, tips for What To Pack If You Have To Evacuate, The Quarter On A Cup Of Ice Trick (In case of a power outage), and more.

Be sure to read our Tips To Prepare Your Home For A Hurricane post before you leave too.

If you’re driving (either away or back) during the storm, check out our Hurricane Travel Tips and our 5 Tips For Driving After A Hurricane. And be sure to fill that car up before you go (read our Reasons To Fill Up Your Car Before A Storm to find out why).

What meals do you eat when you lose power? Let us know in the comments.