Whether you’re looking for a tasty shelf-stable meal, food to get you through the next natural disaster (seriously, is hurricane season ever over?), or simply stocking up for the apocalypse, the best canned meat might be your new best friend. Unfortunately, the good stuff is hard to find—some can taste as unappetizing as the phrase “canned meat” suggests. But never fear, Sporked is here. From savory canned chicken to flavorful canned ham, we’ve compiled a list of the best canned meats from our taste tests that actually taste good. Here are the top cans of meat to stack in your pantry…or your hurricane bunker.
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- Swanson White & Dark Premium Chunk Chicken
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Here’s something unfortunate that we know, and now you have to know, too: Too many brands of canned chicken taste like bland canned tuna. Thankfully, Swanson White & Dark actually tastes like chicken—similar to a chicken pot pie filling. That’s the power of dark meat chicken, if you ask us. At 360 mg of sodium per serving, the salt content isn’t too bad, either. — Ariana Losch
Read our ranking of the best canned chicken
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Great Value Corned Beef
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We loved the sheer fattiness of Great Value’s Corned Beef. The extra fat brings a richer, more savory flavor out of the meat when cooked, and allows it to crisp up to a mouthwatering golden brown. Yes, I just used “mouthwatering” to describe meat in a can. You can’t beat that Great Value price, either. Currency may be meaningless in the apocalypse, but don’t waste your money on more expensive brands! The world isn’t over yet. — Ariana Losch
Read our ranking of the best canned corned beef
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- UnMeat Meatballs
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If you regularly eat fake meat and you’re looking for some canned “meat” to stock up on for easy weeknight meals, then grab a can of these faux meatballs. Packed in sauce that tastes like amped up Chef Boyardee sauce, the balls are firm and soak up flavor. They do taste like fake meat, for sure. But if you toss these with some spaghetti or slide them into a toasted roll, you’ll barely notice. And, as I said, if you’re already used to that fake meat flavor, you’ll dig this canned meat product. — Justine Sterling
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- UnMeat Chick’N Teriyaki
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Like pretty much any canned meat, canned vegan meat doesn’t look great. This vegan chicken teriyaki comes in a big ol’ can and when you open it, you’re met with a saucy mess of chunks. But don’t trust your eyes. This stuff is good. While it’s not a perfect dupe for chicken, the meaty, mushroomy hunks are savory and satisfying. And the sauce is smoky-sweet. My fellow taste testers compared it to chicken you’d get from a steam table at a mall food court—in a good way. — Justine Sterling
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Henaff French Pork Pâté de Campagne
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We tried a trio of Henaff canned pâtés and they all made this list. And they’re all for different palates. This is the best canned pate for those who really want to taste the liver in their canned meat. It’s rich and iron-y. It’s smoother than a pâté de campagne you’d get by the slice, but it’ll be equally good on a toast point with some grainy mustard and cornichons. — Justine Sterling
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Henaff Pork Pâté
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If you prefer a mild pâté without that offal funk, this is the canned pâté for you. It’s super savory and spreadable and seriously good. It’s truly better than any canned meat has any business being. It almost tastes like non-deviled deviled ham, if you’ve ever had the canned stuff. Plonk this right on your next charcuterie board and live the good life. — Justine Sterling
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Hormel Canned Ham
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Hormel makes some of the best canned meat from our taste tests, and their ham is no exception. In addition to being, well, huge (3 pounds, to be exact), Hormel’s canned ham is super savory, marbled like real premium pork, and comes at a good price. This is the stuff you want to buy if you’re looking for canned ham that reminds you the most of fresh ham—not some pork byproduct in a can. (Though, honestly, that can taste pretty delicious, too.) — Ariana Losch
Read our ranking of the best canned ham
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Henaff Rillettes French Port Pâté Spread
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This canned meat tastes like fatty carnitas before they’re crisped up. It’s so rich, so meaty, so savory, so porky, and so well seasoned. You could spread this on toast or a cracker with some mustard, but you could also use this in a killer plussed up grilled cheese. Or you could fry it up in a pan and put it in a taco. This is right up there with some of the best canned meats to have in your pantry at all times. — Justine Sterling
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Hormel Mary Kitchen Corned Beef Hash
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You know what may make the apocalypse worth living through? Waking up with Hormel’s corned beef hash on the breakfast menu. (Especially if you’re my uncle—my uncle loves this stuff.) For the most part, we can thank the sodium in this canned corned beef hash for its overall yumminess, and we’re perfectly okay with that. It’s meat and potatoes, you guys. Fry an egg on top and go to town. — Ariana Losch
Read our ranking of the best canned corned beef hash
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Spam with Bacon
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Who knew that the thing Spam was missing was more porky flavor. You can’t get canned bacon, but this stuff comes close. It’s fattier and hammier than regular Spam with a touch of smoky flavor to really make that bacon flavor hit home. Sliced thin and griddled, this canned meat would be incredible on a breakfast sandwich or, as the can recommends, a SPAMLT (that’s a Spam BLT). — Justine Sterling
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Spam Lite
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If you’re not going with the extra hammy bacon Spam, then skip the regular stuff and choose Spam Lite. Honestly, if you taste Spam Lite alone, you’ll never know it’s 25% less sodium (or 50% less fat or 33% less calories). And if you taste it head-to-head against regular Spam, you’ll probably be overwhelmed by how salty regular Spam is. We haven’t done a full ranking of the best Spam (yet!) but I guarantee when we do this canned meat will be right near the tippy top. — Justine Sterling
Credit: Merc / Instacart
Best Canned Chicken
Rating:
6/10
Sporks
Best Canned Corned Beef
Rating:
6/10
Sporks
Best Canned Vegan Meatballs
Rating:
6.5/10
Sporks
Best Canned Vegan Chicken
Rating:
7/10
Sporks
Best Livery Pâté
Rating:
7.5/10
Sporks
Best Canned Pâté
Rating:
8/10
Sporks
Best Canned Ham
Rating:
8.5/10
Sporks
Best Canned Rillettes
Rating:
9/10
Sporks
Best Corned Beef Hash
Rating:
9/10
Sporks
Best Canned Bacon
Rating:
9.5/10
Sporks
Best Lower Sodium
Rating:
9.5/10
Sporks
Keystone canned meat actually tastes like meat instead of highly processed meat paste like a lot on this list. Chicken, beef, turkey, and pork with just 2 ingredients.
I loved the cheerful tone of this article, which is sadly absent from a lot of prepper pantry articles. We live in Snow Country and always good to have options on hand. More articles like these, please!
Hormel Canned Ham is not shelf stable; it has to be refrigerated. I’d hate for someone to get sick because of this article. SPAM is a great shelf stable option though!
It only needs to be refrigerated after it’s been opened.