Nutristore foods makes long lasting freeze dried emergency food packed into number 10 cans, with a 25+ year shelf life.
I absolutely love the convenience of having freeze dried food in my basement, ready to make a meal at a moments notice. With freeze dried food properly packed for storage, it’s ready now, or 25 years from now, whenever I need it.
This past summer, Vermont had record flooding, and whole stores and neighborhoods were washed away. It took 4 months for the business in downtown to start to reopen, and many never will.
While our home wasn’t damaged, just about every farm and business within an hours drive took damage…roads and bridges were washed away, and couldn’t get outside our immediate community for weeks. Once roads opened again, I had the option to drive out of state 2+ hours for groceries, but it’s a lot easier to simply pull those things off the shelf in my basement.
This winter has been no different, and three weeks in a row we’ve had ice storms and heavy wet snow that knocked out power for 2 to 4 days. The power’s off for three days, then on for two, just to be knocked out for four more.
Again, easy to prepare freeze dried food in my basement comes to the rescue. All I need to do is boil water, and I have a hot meal ready to go with minimal cleanup. (And the kids can snack on freeze dried fruit all day long.)
Nutristore foods offered to send me samples of their long term storage emergency food this past spring, and I was excited about the opportunity. Little did I know how much I’d need it with summer flooding and early winter ice storms right around the corner.
I guess you can say these packs of freeze dried food really got a true hands on test in the face of adversity…and they passed the test!
Who is Nutristore Foods?
Nutristore foods is a Utah based freeze dried food company that was founded in 2012. They’ve been selling freeze dried food in no. 10 cans for more than a decade, and everything is prepared, freeze dried and packaged in Utah.
At this point, they’re a well known brand in the preparedness space, and you can sometimes find bulk packs of their no. 10 cans for sale at Costco, at least part of the year in some locations.
Who is the their Main Competitor?
Their main competitor is Emergency Essentials, which also sells some types of freeze dried emergency food. I had my little ones do blind taste tests, comparing the freeze dried fruit from Emergency Essentials and Nutristore foods.
Both were excellent, and it’s clear both companies take care to source high quality ingredients.
What sets Nutristore foods apart is the fact that they sell so many different types of food, including freeze dried cheese, which is nearly impossible to find from other sources.
Nutristore foods also has pre-made just add hot water meals ready to go in either pouches or no. 10 cans. Emergency essentials just focuses on pantry ingredients, and doesn’t sell ready to eat meals at this point.
I love that Nutristore is a one stop shop for everything I could need to keep my kitchen stocked in an emergency. This year, we’ve had multiple occasions where not only could we not physically get to a grocery store because roads were inaccessible, but also even if we could, stores flooded, damaged or without power so nothing was available anyway.
Pantry staples like freeze dried meat, fruit and vegetables allow me to cook my own meals when we’re in good shape, but the rest of the world is in chaos. When things hit a bit closer to the homestead and when we’re digging out from a snow storm, pre-made freeze dried meals are a lifesaver.
Nutristore Foods Breakfast Skillet with eggs, potatoes and peppers.
What does Nutristore Foods Sell?
Everything that’s sold by Nutristore foods comes packed for extended shelf life (25 years or more at room temperature). Most is in no. 10 cans, but they also have variety buckets that include smaller portions of vacuum packed Mylar pouches of various freeze dried foods in a storage bucket.
These variety buckets give you a good sample of most of their offerings, in smaller packages than #10 cans:
They sell a mix of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, eggs, cooked meats and prepared meals that can be eaten as is or re-hydrated back to their original shape/texture. Their offerings include:
Prepared Meals
All of these freeze dried meals are prepared by placing a cup or two in a bowl, and then adding hot water (or room temperature water in a pinch). No pots or pans required.
- Loaded Mashed Potatoes
- Chicken Alfredo
- Beef Pasta Marinara
- Creamy Pasta and Beef
- Southwest Style Pork and Rice
- Cheesy Chicken and Rice
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
- Blueberry Granola
- Breakfast Skillet
Nutristore Foods Breakfast Skillet in a #10 Can
Eggs and Cheese
While there are other emergency food providers that well eggs and milk, none of the others are currently selling freeze dried cheese.
That’s a shame, because it re-hydrates wonderfully and really adds amazing flavor and nutrition to meals. With a bit of flour from my dry stores and a home canned jar of sauce, I can make a pizza with freeze dried mozzarella, which goes a long way toward boosting morale.
Freeze Dried Mozzarella Cheese in a #10 can
Fruit
While you can re-hydrate freeze dried fruit, we actually love it just the way it is. It’s a nice healthy snack and the texture is often the best part. My kids absolutely love freeze dried strawberries, and I’m partial to freeze dried mango and apples.
Freeze Dried Meat
When you re-hydrate freeze dried meat, the taste and texture is exactly as it was before it was preserved. Freeze drying is a truly amazing way to preserve meat right on your pantry shelf.
I have a guide that walks you through how to cook with freeze dried meat, but in truth, it’s pretty simple. Just pour hot water over it, wait a few minutes and then serve (or incorporate it into your recipe as you would fresh cooked meat).
Vegetables
Most vegetables are absolutely wonderful freeze dried, and you can dehydrate and serve them as is…or use unique offerings like freeze dried butternut squash to make a quick s0up in a pinch.
Like fruits, they don’t actually have to be re-hydrated, and my kids love crunching on freeze dried sweet corn just as it is.
Nutristore Foods Review
Overall, my family loved everything we tried from Nutristore foods. Everything had great flavor, and while the packaging was ideal for long term storage, it’s also convenient for cracking into on a busy weeknight.
If you’re looking for a good sampling of their offerings, you can try any of these bundles:
Let me know what you think down below in the comments, and I hope you enjoy their offerings as much as we did.
Freeze Dried Emergency Food Reviews
At this point, I’ve reviewed just about every freeze dried food company on the market and it’s been fun running blind taste tests with my kids for the past few years as we work through all the big names.
We’re tried the conveniently packed backpacking meals from Mountain House, Backpacker’s Pantry and Peak Refuel. We’ve also tried the long term storage meals from Nutrient Survival, Emergency Essentials and Valley Food Storage and others. We’ve even sampled just about every type of MRE on the market.
You can see my review of each brand below:
- Best Emergency Food Kits
- Valley Food Storage Review
- Nutrient Survival Review
- My Patriot Supply Review
- 4Patriots Review
- Legacy Food Storage Review
- Readywise Emergency Food Review
- Best (& Worst) MREs (Meals Ready to Eat)
Jennifer
Awesome review, thank you!