Here I give 10 MORE ideas on meals in a bag. They are shelf stable and ready for you to grab and make for your family whenever you need to. You can have them for emergencies or for busy nights. Either way, I love having shelf stable meals in a bag.
Shelf stable meals are awesome to have on hand for everyday cooking but also for your short-term prepper pantry. I combine everything I need in a bag and place the bag in my pantry for when I’m ready to use it.
Even though I can and make things from scratch it doesn’t change the fact that I absolutely hate cooking. From everything from meal ideas to the actual cooking and then the mess of dishes. I hate it all.
Having these meals in a bag are good for some short-term food storage but also to help me when the day gets crazy, and I need to whip up some dinner in a hurry.
Here I go through 10 shelf stable meals in a bag. Today, I’ve got 10 more.
Why have shelf stable meals in a bag?
My shelf stable meals don’t require refrigeration, nor do you have to have a freezer. Yes, it’s convenient to have food in the freezer but these meals are for easy prep and not relying on having a stocked freezer.
When you have food in your pantry that is shelf stable with everything you need to make a meal it makes life so much easier.
How to get started
First, you’ll want to find your recipes to use. Most recipes you can find a shelf stable substitute or even go without a few ingredients and still have a meal that tastes good and is filling.
Then it’s time to shop. If you have the means to go buy everything you need for the meals in a bag, then go for it! You’ll have peace of mind knowing that it’s there should/when you need it.
If you have to budget for things like this, that’s ok! That just means you slowly work up your pantry to have all 10 meals. Some weeks you may be able to buy everything for a few meals and others you may only buy a few items. Either way, you’re working on building up your pantry which will help your family.
A few things first. . .
In the recipes, some of the ingredients and how much you use will vary depending on how many people you are trying to feed. So here are a few ingredients and how many servings are in a bag/can.
Canned chicken: 12.5 ounce can will have 3.5 servings.
Canned roast beef: 12 ounce can has 3.5 servings.
Bag of dough: 6.5 ounce bag of dough mix has 6 servings. Depending on how thick of a crust you do will help determine how much dough you would need. For example, I made personal pizzas for my littles the other day using this same bag of dough. Just to give you an idea, I made 3 mini pizzas from that dough. We also like our dough to be not thin. Haha.
Can of Tuna: 5 ounce can. The serving size is the entire can. You could probably feed 2 people from each can, depending on what you make using it.
Also, I don’t have pictured the water or spices needed for each dish. If you feel like you want to have everything, simply put the spices in a small baggie and add it to the meal in a bag.
For water, just add in however many water bottles you think you would need to make that meal.
Also, the dough mix does call for vegetable oil. I prefer to use melted butter myself. I didn’t add that in the bag either. If you want, you can easily add it by throwing in a small bottle of oil, putting some oil in an airtight container or just making sure you always have oil in your home.
For me, since I prefer butter, I make ghee so that I have shelf stable butter whenever I need it. You can find the instructions on how to do that here. I promise you, if you make ghee you won’t regret it! SO YUM!
10 Meals in a bag
Mexican Lasagna
Ingredients:
- Can of Cream of Mushroom
- Can of Enchilada Sauce
- Small can diced green chilies
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Tortilla chips
- Cans of chicken
- 1 can kidney beans
- Olives – optional
Mix soup, enchilada sauce, chilies and garlic to create a sauce. Put some of the sauce on the bottom of a pan. Layer chips, sauce, chicken, beans and then olives. Repeat. Then put a layer of chips on top and put the remaining sauce on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees Farhenheit for 45 minutes.
*The original recipe called for tortillas not chips. I could make homemade tortillas but I’m trying to keep things simple. Also, this recipe calls for cheese. You could add in freeze dried cheese if you wanted.
Dorito Casserole
My kids love this one and it tastes pretty good as well! It’s a dump and go recipe.
Ingredients:
- Bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos – crushed
- 2 Cans of chili
- Dehydrated onions – to taste
- Can of enchilada sauce
Mix all ingredients together and then bake in a casserole dish at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes.
This recipe normally calls for cheese. Also, it calls for ground beef but instead of that I just used an extra can of chili.
Hawaiian Haystacks
Ingredients:
- Rice
- Can of Chicken
- Cream of Chicken
- 1 packet of Poultry gravy
- Can of corn
- Can of pineapple
- Coconut – shredded
- Sunflower seeds
- Chow Mein Noodles
Make gravy according to package. Mix it with cream of chicken. Add in your chicken. Then cook your rice according to package. Serve your chicken with gravy over the rice. Add whatever toppings you like.
I really love this recipe with fresh cucumbers and peppers and cheese. However, in a pinch, it’s still good without those.
Chicken Pillows
Ingredients:
- Cans of Chicken (enough for your family)
- Dough in a bag
- Can of cream of chicken
- 2 Poultry gravy packet
- Garlic powder
- Dehydrated onions
- Breadcrumbs
Mix dough according to package. Cut dough into small squares. (as many as you would need for your family.) Drain chicken. Make 1 poultry gravy packet. Mix that with cream of chicken. Add chicken, garlic powder and onions. Spoon chicken mix onto dough squares. Fold dough around chicken to enclose. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of dough. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Mix up other gravy packet. Serve over chicken pillows.
*Typically, with chicken pillows, you’d mix 8 oz of cream cheese with the cream of chicken. However, I’m making these shelf stable, so I just added more gravy instead. If you have cream cheese, feel free to use it up!
Baked Tortellini
Ingredients:
- Pasta sauce
- Tortellini pasta
- Canned chicken
Cook pasta according to package. Drain chicken and mix with pasta and sauce. Place in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
*If you have access to cheese, sprinkle some on top before you bake it.
Ranch Chicken Club Roll Ups
Ingredients:
- Bag of dough
- Canned chicken
- Bacon bits (shelf stable)
- Ranch seasoning packet
Make dough according to package. Roll out and cut into rectangles. Drain chicken. Add chicken, bacon and ranch seasoning packet. Spread onto rectangles. Fold dough around chicken to enclose. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
*If you have access to cheese, add it inside with the chicken.
Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls
Ingredients:
- Rice
- Canned chicken
- Teriyaki sauce
Cook rice according to package. Drain chicken. Warm chicken in a pot and add in teriyaki sauce. Serve over rice.
Mexican Haystacks
Ingredients:
- Bag of chips
- Can of beans of choice (I like black)
- Can of diced tomatoes
- Bag/box of spanish rice
- Can of sliced olives
Warm beans. Cook rice according to package. Serve rice and beans over the chips. Add whatever toppings you like.
*There are a ton of other toppings that would be awesome on this dish, however they aren’t shelf stable so if you have them, feel free to add them to the dish. But it’s fine just as it is.
Forgotten Chicken
Ingredients:
- Canned chicken
- Can of cream of celery
- Can of cream of chicken
- 2 cups minute rice
- Garlic powder
- Pepper
- 1 packet onion soup mix
Cook rice according to package. Mix together soups and garlic powder and pepper. Warm on the stove. Add in chicken. Cook until contents are warm. Sprinkle in onion soup. Mix together. Serve over rice.
Taco Bake
Ingredients:
- Bag of dough (enough for your family)
- Refried beans
- Can of tomatoes – drained
- Taco seasoning
- Can of roast beef (enough for your family)
Make dough according to package. Spread out in the bottom of a pan. Bake according to package. Spread beans on top of dough. Drain roast beef and mix with taco seasoning and place on top of beans. Top with tomatoes. Place back in the oven to warm everything up.
Meals in a bag
Meals in a bag are awesome for so many reasons. I hope that this has helped spark some other dinner ideas for you.
You can make most recipes shelf stable if you substitute a few items or go without some others and still have them be good.
So now you get to go through your own recipes and come up with your own meals in a bag. And then let me know when you do! I’d love to hear from you and see what you’ve come up with!
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