Long Shelf Life Foods + Storage Tips & Printable Chart
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If supply chains falter, storms roll in, or unexpected expenses hit the budget, having long shelf life foods can make life much easier. Foods that store well help stabilize your household food supply, reduce waste, and provide peace of mind during uncertain times.
Many staple foods can last for months—or even years—when stored properly in a cool, dry place. These foods form the backbone of food storage systems used by homesteaders, preppers, and families who simply want to be prepared.
A well-planned pantry doesn’t have to rely on expensive freeze-dried meals. Simple staples like rice, oats, dried beans, and other shelf-stable foods provide filling meals and keep your grocery budget under control.
Table of contents
Why Stockpile Food?
Manmade and natural disasters happen. Whether it’s a supply chain failure, bad weather, or even war, things happen that can make groceries unavailable. A pantry stocked with long shelf life foods gives you a food cushion for emergencies or unexpected job loss. Even a small amount of emergency food storage can make a difference.
Self stable foods keep well even if there’s a power outage. If you get sick and can’t go out shopping, or you need to feed unexpected guests, it’s there for you. If you buy bulk foods when they are on sale, you can save money, too. The way inflation keeps increasing, foods that last a long time are a good investment.
How do you Determine the Shelf Life of Food?
Most supermarket has an expiration date. These are the “use by” dates for best quality. Most packaged food products are safe to eat far after their expiration date.
Vitamins and minerals of fruits and vegetables do tend to decrease with extended storage. Experiment and pay attention to what keeps well for you. Consider starting a garden to supplement food storage.
Store What You Use
Make sure you like the taste of what you plan to store. Try cooking with it, and try it in various dishes. Test out different kinds of foods before you buy 50 pounds of something you don’t like. For instance, you might like black beans but not pinto beans.
Salt and sugar are easy to use, but foods like dried beans require a bit of skill to use well. Someone else might think the dried beans are good to eat, but you might not like them at all.
Pantry staples are a good place to start your long term food storage. If budget allows, freeze dried foods can add shelf life and variety to food storage.
What are Dry Goods?
Dry goods are foods that contain very little moisture and can be stored safely at room temperature for long periods of time. Low moisture limits microbe growth, so dry goods work well for food storage and emergency food supplies.
Dry goods include pantry staple like salt, sugar, grains like wheat berries, flour, rice, oats, and dried beans. They store well in cool, dry storage, out of direct sunlight.
Tips to Extend the Shelf Life of Stored Food
To maximize the shelf life of your pantry items:
- Store food in a cool, dry place. Heat and humidity shorten storage life.
- Use airtight containers. Buckets, glass jars, or mylar bags protect food from moisture and pests. Add oxygen absorbers to reduce oxidation for extra protection.
- Protect from light. Dark storage areas help preserve quality.
- Rotate your food supply. Use older foods first and replace them with fresh stock.
See Root Cellars 101 for tips on no energy fresh fruit and vegetable storage.
Long Shelf Life Foods – The Best Keepers
Our first table has the longest lasting foods. These will last indefinitely stored in airtight containers in cool, dry, dark conditions.
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| Foods & Foodstuffs | Shelf Life | Notes |
| Salt | Indefinite | Requires airtight container. No temperature control needed. How to Store Salt Long Term |
| Sugar | Indefinite | Requires airtight container. No temperature control needed. How to store Sugar |
| RAW Honey | Indefinite | Store in glass. No temperature control needed. Must be PURE RAW HONEY if anything is added, including water, it will limit shelf life. How to Store Honey Long Term |
| Maple Syrup | Indefinite | Store in glass. No temperature control needed. Must be pure MAPLE SYRUP. How to Store Maple Syrup |
| Hard Liquor | Indefinite | |
| Water | Indefinite | Tastes flat after extended storage. Emergency Water Storage and Filtration |
| Vinegar | Indefinite | This includes Apple Cider Vinegar |
| Baking Soda | Indefinite | |
| Hard Candy | Indefinite | Sticks together into a hard mass over time. |
| Corn Syrup | Indefinite | For best quality, use within 2-3 years. |
Foods that last 25 to 30+ years
Mylar, glass, or other durable airtight containers maximize shelf life for dry goods. Oxygen absorbers and vacuum sealing also improve shelf life. See “Best Mylar Bags for Food Storage“.
| Foods and Foodstuffs | Shelf Life | Notes |
| White Rice | 25 to 30yrs | 5gal bucket = 16,400 calories or 8 days 1 person |
| Wheat Berries | 20 to 30yrs | Red or white wheat berries Bulk Grain – Where to Get it, How to Store it |
| Dried Legumes | 20 to 30yrs | Pinto Beans, Black Beans etc. For best quality, use within 10 years. Beans harden over time and take longer to cook. |
| Waxed Cheese | 25yrs+ | Waxed hard cheese in cool storage. Flavor and texture changes over time. |
| Dehydrated fruit and vegetables | 5yr to 25+ years | Acidic fruits keep better in storage. Airtight containers with O2 absorbers or vacuum sealed containers last longest. |
| Freeze Dried Fruits & Vegetables | 25 – 30 yrs | For best shelf life, seal in airtight containers with O2 absorbers. |
| Freeze Dried Eggs | 15-30yrs | Varies with fat content and manufacturer |
| Vanilla Extract | 15-25yrs | Store in a glass container. Imitation Vanilla extract is only 2-4yrs. For best quality, use within 5 years. |
| #10 Can Instant Coffee (freeze dried) | 20yrs to 30yrs | Instant coffee from a supermarket likely will only keep a few years as most store coffee isn’t sealed well |
| Dried corn (dent or flint corn) | 10yrs to 25yrs | |
| Hardtack | 30yrs to 50+yrs | Hard baked flour and salt, not tasty but lasts 50+ years |
| Soy Sauce | 5-25yrs | Varies with contents, look for a simple ingredients list and glass jar |
| Freeze dried meals | 5 to 20+yrs | Storage life varies. Check use by dates on packaging. See also: 8 Best Freeze Dried Foods (For Prepping & Long Term Storage) |
Foods that last 5 to 25 years
Note: White flour and white rice last longer than whole wheat flour or brown rice because they have a lower fat content.
| Foods and Foodstuffs | Shelf Life | Notes |
| Raw Molasses | up to 10 years | Must NOT have other ingredients stored in glass jars or heavy sealed food grade buckets (not squeezable plastic) |
| Powdered Eggs | 5-10yrs | |
| White Flour | 3yr to 5yrs | Freeze the flour first, then package for long term storage. How to store flour long term |
| Ghee | 2+ years | Clarified butter. Indefinite in freezer. |
| #10 can powdered Lowfat Milk | 7 to 20yrs | Shelf life depends on fat content |
| Powered sour cream | 5-10 years | |
| Canned Goods | 2-5 yrs, 12-18 months | 2 to 5 years for low acid-foods like meat, soups, and vegetables, 12 to 18 months for high acid foods |
| Wine | 2 years+ | Some wines age poorly, others improve with age. |
Foods that last 2 to 5 Years
| Foods and Foodstuffs | Shelf Life | Notes |
| Virgin Coconut Oil | up to 5 years | Virgin coconut oil lasts up to 5 years, refined up to 2 years. |
| Mustard Powder | 3-4yrs | |
| Dark Chocolate | 2-5yrs | Varies with fat content of the dark chocolate |
| Cocoa Powder | 1-5yrs | Varies with fat content of the cocoa |
| Dried Pasta / Macaroni | 2-4 years | |
| Flavored Liquor | 6mo-2yrs | Flavored liquor, or liquor mixes such as: Kahluha, Baileys, Bloody Mary Mix etc |
| Pemmican | 1-5yrs | American Indian long term food preparation. Shelf life depends on moisture and fat content + temperature. |
| Flavored Gelatin | 3+yrs | Dry jello mix or unflavored gelatin will last indefinitely, but flavors fade with age. |
| Jelly | 2yrs+ | Full sugar recipes keep the longest. |
| Jam | 1yr+ | |
| Canned Fruit | 1-2yrs | Varies with the fruit and how much sugar is used |
| Pickled veggies | 1-2yrs+ | Veggies soften with age, but are still edible. |
| Peppercorns | 1-4yrs | Store in Mylar or glass. Will need a pepper grinder to grind them into pepper. |
| Popcorn | 3 years | Kernels dry out in storage and don’t pop as well when they get old. |
| Soy sauce | 3 years | Varies with contents, look for a simple ingredients list and glass jar |
| Wild Rice | 2 yrs | Lasts longer in the freezer. |
Foods that Last 1-2 years
Note: Most spices last for several years, but flavor and aroma decline with age.
| Foods and Foodstuffs | Shelf Life | Notes |
| Regular Beef Jerky | up to 2yrs | Shelf life varies with moisture and fat content. |
| Bouillion Cubes | up to 2yrs | The less fats and oils they have the longer they last. |
| Vegetable oil | 1 year | |
| Powdered Milk, whole | 1 to 1.5yrs | Tastes much better than non-fat milk, but doesn’t keep as well and is more expensive. |
| Dried Raisins/Cranberries/Cherries | up to 2yrs (varies) | Varies with moisture and sugar content Freeze dried last much longer |
| Gatorade bottle | 1-3 years | |
| Eggs, Mineral Oil Coated | 6mo-1yr | Mineral oil coated eggs store 6mo-1yr. |
| Homegrown Garlic | 4-12 months | How to Store Garlic Long Term |
| Pancake mix | 1yr in original container | |
| Rolled oats/buckwheat groats | 2 years | |
| Dry Yeast, and baking powder | 4mo to 2yrs | Varies with storage. Loses 10-25% of its potency per year (in good storage), more in bad conditions. |
| Ground Pepper | 4mo to ? | Doesn’t go bad, but loses flavor over time |
Foods that last 3 to 9 Months
| Foods and Foodstuffs | Shelf Life | Notes |
| Winter Squash, thick skinned | up to 9 months+ | Some of our spaghetti squash last from one harvest to the next. We eat it and also cook and feed it to our poultry to supplement their feed. Pumpkins and Winter Squash Storage |
| Peanut Butter | 2-9 months | depending on brand (ones with more oils go bad faster) |
| Long Storage Apples | 6-9 months | Storage varieties such as Russets will last 3 to 6 months in cool storage. Preserve Apples for Year Round Use |
| Long storage potatoes | 6-9 months | See “How to Store Potatoes Long Term“ |
| Brown Rice | 6-9 months | |
| Short storage potatoes | weeks to 3 months | These are potatoes that tend to be softer and get spongy in storage |
| Breakfast Cereals | 6-16 months unopened | |
| Farm Fresh (unwashed) Eggs | up to 3mo | Supermarket eggs only store 3-5 weeks. Unwashed eggs have a coating that lets them keep longer. |
| Granola Bars | 3-6mo | |
| Microwave Popcorn bags | 2-3months past package expiration | |
| Supermarket Garlic Cloves | 3-6mo | |
| Vanilla beans | 6mo-1yr | |
| Maple Flavored Syrup | 6mo-1yr | Artificial flavoring will break down, as will the plastic bottle. It will still be edible past the best by date. |
| Storage Onions | 4mo-9mo | Hot onions tend to store better than sweet onions. How to Store Onions |
| Beer | 3mo-6mo |
Long Shelf Life Fresh Foods that last a couple of weeks to 3 months
| Foods and Foodstuffs | Shelf Life | Notes |
| Sweet Onions | 3weeks to 2mo | Sweet (soft) onions last from weeks to a couple months at most |
| Minced jarred garlic | 3w-3mo | |
| Pears | Up to several months | Storage varieties of pears may hold for several months in cool storage. See 9 Ways to Preserve Pears |
| Short Storage Apples | 1-2 weeks | might only last a couple weeks on the counter |
| Winter Squash & Pumpkins, thin skinned | 3weeks to 3months | Pie pumpkins and other thin skinned varieties don’t keep as well as others known for storage. |
| Walnuts | 2+ years in the shell | Whole walnuts in the shell last for years at room temp. How to Store Walnuts |
Get 10% off at Country Life Foods
If you’re thinking about stocking up, try Country Life Foods. Use code COMMONSENSE at checkout for 10% off. Country Life Foods has a wide variety of bulk grains, beans, dried fruit, nuts, flour, meat substitutes, seeds, herbs and spices.
Printable Long Shelf Life Foods List (PDF)
Related Links
- Home Food Preservation – 11 Ways to Preserve Food at Home
- Foods to Stock Up On (for Daily Use or Emergencies)
- 23 Common Sense Ways to Stretch Your Food Budget
- Storage and Shelf Life of Over-the-Counter Medication
This article is written by Laurie Neverman. She lives in northeast Wisconsin with her husband and sons. They grow and preserve most of their food on their homestead, and have a root cellar, greenhouses, and canning pantry. Her book, Common Sense Preparedness, will help you become more resilient without the hype.
Originally posted in 2021, last updated in 2026.
This article is so helpful, thank you! Now, do you have a list of sources that you purchase from? Best brands etc. for how the suppliers begin the storage?
It depends. People have so many different approaches to food that there is no “one size fits all”. Some people shop based on price, while others focus on eating organic or grassfed, which generally comes at a higher price point. There are special diets – gluten free, grain free, SCD, low vitamin A, no sulfates, paleo, primal, vegan, vegetarian, carnivore, and so on. I’ve had people chastise me because I even mention storing sugar and flour.
For us, we produce a significant amount of our own food or source it locally. We raise our own chickens and eggs (including duck eggs), and buy beef by the quarter or half from neighbors. We get bulk honey and bulk maple syrup locally. We have a large garden and orchard, and preserve the harvest for year round use. This means that meal planning is based on what’s ready to harvest or is in storage, with odds and ends supplemented from other sources.
We have a Costco membership, and belong to a Frontier Wholesale buying club. We’ve also shopped at Web Restaurant Supply, Country Life Natural Foods, and other bulk online retailers. Sometimes we order from Amazon or Vitacost. We shop at our regular grocery store. There’s an Azure Standard drop point about a half hour from us, but I haven’t made time to check it out because the delivery time varies and you get charged a fee if you can’t make it to the drop on time.
Most brands have similar basic packaging, so if you want to keep food items for long term storage, some amount of repacking is generally a good idea. For moderate length storage, simply keeping food well organized and rotating your storage is enough.
question. my grocery store offered a name brand stuffing mix whose best buy date is in 9 days for 32 cents per bag. it usually goes for 2.50 to 3.50 per bag. It is basically dry bread crumbs, no fat added. I dumped the bags into Mylar and sealed with O2 absorbers. I tasted before sealing and everything tasted crunchy, not stale. wondering if I wasted my time/money/bags/O2 absorbers. How long do you think it will still be palatable?
It’s hard to say for sure. Dry foods like crackers that are packed with O2 absorbers still go stale over time. I would think that you’d probably get another six months to a year, but I’m not sure.
Hi, If you have an expiration date of June 2023 for dry pasta, or oats, or rice for example, will placing these types of items in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers extend the life of the expiration? Thank you.
Yes, sealing in Mylar with O2 absorbers will extend shelf, as long as the food was in good condition when packaged.
For instance, if if was manufactured a year or two prior to the “best by” date and has been stored in hot, humid conditions in original packaging, it may already be somewhat stale. If your sense of smell is fairly sensitive, you should be able to sniff test dry foods and detect any “off” odor.
If the food has been sitting around in cool, dry conditions and is still in good shape, repacking in Mylar with O2 absorbers should easily get you another 5 years or more, depending on the product.
I would really love it if you have a pdf format to print this great information out!!
There’s a link to the printable PDF version below the charts in the article, but above the Related Links heading.
Thank you! My son is going to make a paper print out the pdf to post in our pantry-storage.
You’re welcome.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! Sorry. lol
This is an awesome list of food storage Laurie and August. I wish it was in PDF format or even in Word so I can print it. I’ll figure it out. Thank you again. Bless you both.
You’re welcome. I spoke to August about your request, and he said he will work on a pdf version for printing.
Does waxed cheese that has been refrigerated at the store have the same shelf life? I know that sometimes items that have been refrigerated must remain refrigerated.
With all food storage devil is in the details. A simple hard cheese will store well waxed. Cheese that has lots of chemical additives will not likely store as well. Softer cheeses in wax will store less time. Waxing cheese has been a way to age (safely store it) for hundreds of years.
Not a comment as much as a question. Do you have a copy of the food storage chart available without pictures, ads etc. tried to see if could make a copy but too may little things obscure it to make it readable as desired. I could make a hand-written copy but takes time during this busy holiday season. Love the chart and hope you have or soon will have a simple one available for copy with only the important information on it! Thanks, Sharon K
Thanks for the suggestion. We will likely make that after we create the related pages.