Canned meat can make genuinely good meals. But only if you treat it differently than fresh meat. After 17 years of living aboard and going two months or more without fresh meat on multiple occasions, I can tell you: the technique matters more than the brand.
What’s Available
The variety is wider than most people realize. I regularly use ham, chicken, turkey, tuna, crab, shrimp, corned beef, roast beef, and corned beef hash. You can find these not just in the US but in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and on cruising and camping trips in South America and Africa.
Here’s something I’ve noticed: the more remote the location, the better the canned meat selection tends to be. Local people in remote areas often don’t have reliable refrigeration either, so the stores stock up accordingly. Mexican fishing villages are a great example.
A few notes on format:
- Tuna-can-sized tins are typically right for one meal for two people with average appetites.
- Foil pouches are increasingly common. They cost a bit more, but they’re lighter, take up less space, and generally have better texture than canned.
The Core Challenge and How to Solve It
The canning process softens meat and mutes its flavor. That’s just the reality of it. The goal isn’t to pretend it’s fresh. It’s to preserve the texture and flavor that’s there and build the dish around it.
The biggest mistake people make is treating canned meat like raw meat and cooking it accordingly. Everything turns to mush.
7 Tips for How to Use Canned Meat
1. Add the meat as late as possible. It’s already cooked, so all you need to do is warm it through. The less time it spends on heat, the better the texture will be.
2. Stir as little as possible after adding it. This is especially important for chicken, turkey, and beef. Add them at the very end, fold in gently, and let the dish sit a few minutes off the heat to warm through.
3. Handle all meats gently — except ham. Ham is the one exception: crumble or break it apart as you add it. Everything else gets treated with care to keep it from falling apart.
4. Don’t overcook the other ingredients either. If your vegetables are already soft by the time the meat goes in, the whole dish suffers. Keep everything with some texture.
5. Add half to a full bouillon cube for flavor. You’re missing the drippings you’d get from browning fresh meat. A bouillon cube of the appropriate flavor makes up for it. Most cubes are high in sodium, so taste before adding any extra salt.
6. Use the liquid from the can. Don’t drain it down the sink; that liquid is flavor. Use it in place of water in the cooking process. The same goes for liquid from any canned vegetables you’re adding alongside.
7. Avoid long-cooking dishes. Canned meat doesn’t hold up to extended cooking. Quick sautés, pasta dishes, tacos, wraps, and stir-fries all work well. Anything that cooks for 30 minutes or more will turn mushy no matter how carefully you add the meat.
Meal Ideas
Once you have the technique down, the possibilities really open up. For a full list of meals organized by meat type — from ham pasta to crab rangoon to beef enchiladas — see our canned meat meal ideas. And for a practical plan showing exactly how to put it all together over several days, check out our no-refrigeration meal plan.
Want More Canned Meat Recipes?
The Boat Galley Cookbook has an entire chapter dedicated to cooking with canned meat, with real recipes built around the techniques above.
Go Deeper
And if you want to go deeper on provisioning without refrigeration, my book Storing Food Without Refrigeration covers hundreds of foods — vegetables, fruit, meat, dairy, eggs, condiments, and more — with strategies for storing and using them safely without any cold storage at all.
- Paperback or PDF from our store — PDF means no shipping, start reading immediately
- Paperback from Amazon
Carolyn Shearlock has lived aboard full-time for 17 years, splitting her time between a Tayana 37 monohull and a Gemini 105 catamaran. She’s cruised over 14,000 miles, from Pacific Mexico and Central America to Florida and the Bahamas, gaining firsthand experience with the joys and challenges of life on the water.
Through The Boat Galley, Carolyn has helped thousands of people explore, prepare for, and enjoy life afloat. She shares her expertise as an instructor at Cruisers University, in leading boating publications, and through her bestselling book, The Boat Galley Cookbook. She is passionate about helping others embark on their liveaboard journey—making life on the water simpler, safer, and more enjoyable.
Bruce says
Have you ever tried using the bodybuilder 100% whey protein drink powder for making snacks and replacing canned meat? Perhaps for emergency rations?
Carolyn Shearlock says
In an emergency, I guess anything would work. To make tasty meals on a daily basis where you don’t feel like you’re just making do, it’s not something I’d use. For me, canned meat makes good meals that are “real food” — protein powder would be fine nutritionally, but I don’t think you could make a satisfying meal from it.
Kym says
Hi Carolyn. My partner and I are about to embark on a new life living aboard a narrowboat on the canals of England UK. We are trying to identify good quality tinned meat products to purchase. Any ideas please?
Regards
Kym Cheeseman
Carolyn Shearlock says
I’m not familiar with UK brands, but there are several UK residents who follow TBG on Facebook. I’ll post a note there a little later (so it will show up in UK in the morning there) and ask if anyone has recommendations as to brands.
-Carolyn
margot partridge says
did several meals from canned chicken on my cruise(just got back) I made sandwiches from chicken and tuna. My husband could not taste the differnce. He thought everything was tuna. The meals were tasty.
Shirley says
I’ve been cruising for the last 12yrs and one of my favourite meals is canned chicken (heated up in its own juices) Mix 2/3rd cup Ranch or Caesar Salad dressing and 1/3rd French’s yellow mustard and 3Tbls brown sugar. Mix tog, add to chicken. Simmer about 3mins and serve on pasta. Delicious!
Brenda Roberts says
I also use can chicken to make Chicken Salad Sandwiches. My recipe : drained can of chicken,mayonnaise to your taste, black pepper, and chopped seedless grapes (i like the dark grapes) I also like to use croissants for the sandwich bread
Chuck Weldele says
Going to be. Passing through Marathon in a few min. A little chilly down here, but glad I’m not in the Pa. snow.
The Boat Galley says
Absolutely! It’s nice and sunny here, though I am wearing SOCKS!
Chuck Weldele says
Shopping for our first larger live aboard. Considering a Gemini.
The Boat Galley says
We like ours and there are a lot of other people living on them. I think there are nine, maybe 10, in Boot Key Harbor right now!
LaDonna Thomas says
I use a lot of the “Kirkland” brand canned chicken and just love it! It can be found in the Caribbean too! So versatile, I use it in salads, wraps, curry, risotto…..
A huge thanks to Carolyn or I would never have tried canned meats at all
Chris Link says
If you are still a year or two away from your cruise consider learning to can your own meat with a pressure cooker.It was easy and let me have quick meals after work while learning.
Albert J K III says
Wait just a minute…!….! I don’t see any Spam in the cover photo! Unless, it’s hiding behind the title. 😉
Patsy Thompson says
Mix chilorio with cream cheese for a yummy spread. Thin with yogurt or crema and it’s a dip. Add other stuff to taste if you want. Canned red peppers, jalapenos, onion, eyc
Diane Zbasnik says
I’ve used canned chicken to make soups. Especially good for tortilla soup. The whole dish can come from cans. We have also recently tried freeze dried meat. It doesn’t last as long as canned but has great texture and flavor. Once opened it needs to be used in 30 days or so. It is also a little more expensive.
Kerri says
Always good to have on hand! We are preparing for life aboard this summer and have experimented with TVP (textured vegetable protein). Have you tried this? Comes dehydrated and in very light sealed resealable pouches. Reconstitute with bouillon and it works quite well, especially in stewed or saucy dishes.
Carolyn Shearlock says
Yes, I’ve used it before. As you say, it works well in stews and things like pasta sauce.
Em says
Another clever idea would be canned escargot for a bit of a gourmet delight! Au gratin, with garlic butter, or tossed with pasta would be fantastic and change up the repertoire, just a tad. Cheers!