7 uses for old/odd canned foods.

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I’m in the middle of a stealth trip to Phoenix to see my daughter. As always, I offer a second pair of hands for big chores* and/or to take on any tasks she wishes were done but hasn’t had the energy to complete. This time around, canned foods are involved.

Her small pantry cupboard has needed reorganizing for a long time. Some of the dried and canned foods in there were from my COVID-era visit. Did I throw them away? Nope. I made soup.

I took some of the oldest canned foods and drained, combined, spiced and slow-cooked them into a kind of prepper ragout. Use what you’ve got, right?

The stew included two cans of chicken tortilla soup, a can of crushed tomatoes, a can each of kidney and red beans, a can of whole-kernel corn and a small jar of turkey gravy. Abby was thawing some chicken for a lemon-garlic-yogurt dish, so I sliced off a bit to add to the crockpot. I cooked up some old** rice to add to each bowl, and garnished each serving with a dollop of yogurt or a bit of grated Monterey jack cheese.

Was it super-delicious? Only when I was really hungry.

Was it pretty good, though, along with being filling and frugal? You bet.

More to the point, I avoided wasting food that was still edible. In these days of rising grocery costs, our food budgets need all the help they can get. The following simple tactics will help you deal with the mystery cans in your own cupboards.

Who has “unwanted” canned foods?

Lots of us do. A pantry cleanout often leads to questions of, “Who bought this?” or “How long has that been in there?” Some possible answers:

You bought a bunch of soup on sale, only to find nobody in your household likes it. Then you find you don’t much care for it yourself, so it just sits there.

A well-meaning friend gave a gift of gourmet canned foods, most of which were great. But a few were just scary. (Baby conch, anyone?)

You couldn’t remember whether you had crushed tomatoes for the minestrone you wanted to make, so you bought a couple cans. When you got home, you learn that you did indeed have crushed tomatoes. Lots of them. And now you have more.

Visiting relatives did a shopping trip and left the uneaten items behind. Unfortunately, no one in your household wants to try sliced lotus root or sardines in spicy tomato sauce.

Your preteen loved Vienna sausages so much you routinely bought them by the case. Then he decided to go vegetarian.

Roommate, spouse or relative offered to pick up a few groceries, but failed to take your specific requests in mind. That’s why store-brand canned salmon and “healthy” soup are still in the pantry.

How to use unwanted canned foods

Tip 1: Give them away.

Our local food bank accepts expired canned foods, within reason. Maybe yours does, too. Ask!

Food banks are especially excited to get canned protein. For starters, some people don’t care about name vs. store brand canned salmon. And some would be delighted with a can of those spicy sardines.

Another option is gifting through a Buy Nothing Facebook page. DF and I get a lot of great food this way and yes, some of it is expired. We don’t care.

Tip 2: Combine them.

When DF and I get a Buy Nothing “pantry cleanout” haul, we sometimes receive things we wouldn’t have bought on our own: fat-free refried beans, say, or flavored cauliflower “rice.” Making them part of another entree – chili, meat loaf, homemade soup – nicely disguises their meh-ness, and boosts the nutritional content of the meal.

It’s amazing how those refried beans just disappear into chili. Canned vegetables can go into those dishes, too.

On that note…

Tip 3: Rethink canned foods.

In other words, think beyond “side dish“ and “dessert.“

Got canned fruit whose best-by date is a distant memory? An online search for “canned fruit recipes” will suggest ways to use them, from cakes to casseroles.

Drain the fruit and drop it in the blender. The resulting sauce will be good for smoothies, yogurt or oatmeal. Stir a little of it into cookie or cake batter for a flavor boost.

(Pro tip: Save the drained fruit liquid and freeze in ice-cube trays. Drop it in smoothies or use it to chill and flavor iced tea. It also quells nausea.)

For veggies, do an online search along the lines of “easy healthy canned vegetable recipes.” Ideas like “Southwest Vegetarian Bake,” “Tomato Chicken Curry” and “Cornbread Topped Frijoles” could change your dinner table for the better. At the very least, it’ll help you with that pantry cleanout.

Pro tip: Canned pumpkin is another ingredient that disappears into chili. It adds a slightly sweet flavor and a bunch o’ beta carotene.

Tip 4: Cook some broth.

DF and I always have a boiling bag in the freezer, for produce bits and chicken bones and such. There’s no reason not to add unwanted canned vegetables. Let’s be frank: Few people actually enjoy eating canned peas or asparagus. Why not dump them into the boiling bag and let their ickiness melt into the general soup flavor?

Tip 5: Make it the dog’s dinner.

Your furry friend should not eat certain canned foods; the American Kennel Club offers a list. You’ll also want low- or no-sodium items.

But the AKC says you can make a fine “enrichment snack” from frozen no-salt green beans. If you make your own dog food/dog biscuits, vegetables and/or fruits could add nutrition and flavor. (Since dogs will cheerfully eat from the cat box**** if they have the chance, I’m not sure flavor is a big priority.)

You could also…

Tip 6: Feed it to other critters.

Got chickens? If you do, you are making bank right now in terms of egg savings/egg sales. Chickens will eat anything, so toss out those out-of-date wax beans.

Goats will eat anything, too. I expect horses would be interested in canned carrot slices, at least. 

Tip 7: Compost it.

Really, really don’t want those canned Southern-style greens your grandma left behind? Dump them into your compost bin. Eventually they’ll become fertilizer for something you choose to eat.

About that stealth visit

Didn’t let anyone (except my daughter) know I was coming, didn’t propose a reader meetup. I just needed a quiet escape, blue skies and ice-free sidewalks. I’ve gotten those things. I’ve also gotten the chance to turn into a 12-year-old boy: eating tons of junk food, playing games on my phone, binge-watching television**** with Abby, staying up way too late, sleeping until almost lunchtime.

Seriously: I have eaten far too many sweet and salty things on this trip. While I have been taking walks, I would need to walk all the way home to Anchorage to even the scales, as it were. Back to the gym once I’ve returned.

Okay, readers: How do you use unwanted/out-of-date canned foods?

Related reading:

*The big-ticket item this trip has been masking and repainting the walls of the master bedroom from tired white to a rich, plum-like hue inexplicably called “blackberry.” (She makes bold color choices work.) Abby did much of the work here, thanks to a sprayer she bought for peanuts from an online auction site.

**Allegedly, rice can expire in two to three years. You can’t prove it by me.

***I’ve heard this called “kitty Roca.” Ew.

****Including but not limited to “The Brothers Sun,” “Black Doves,” “Miss Scarlet,” and two specials by the hilarious (and very forthright) Scottish comedian Daniel Sloss.

 

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17 thoughts on “7 uses for old/odd canned foods.”

  1. Ironically. I recently did a pantry cleanout! I try to do it once per quarter. I found a Halloween Funfetti cake mix that I bought super cheap on after Halloween clearance – baked it into cupcakes and shared them with friends. Who cares there were orange, black and white sprinkles in it them – they were delicious! I keep an eye on what’s in there and try to use in a meal when planning. Sometimes I will put the item on the counter to remind me to use it (things get buried behind the pantry door! So — can of chickpeas on counter — add to my salads that week, too much tuna stacking up – make tuna salad and eat with crackers for a nice snack or lunch! If i do find anything that I don’t think I will use, it goes to the little free pantry at my local library.

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    • I doubt anyone has ever said, “Oh, I wouldn’t eat those cupcakes — the colors are all wrong!”

      Yay for the Little Free Pantry idea, too. They’ve started appearing in Anchorage, including one that was begun and is maintained by a middle-schooler.

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  2. I do all those things with my canned goods, but here’s what I did with old bags if rice/beans (if there is such a thing) (these were of unknown age & origin) … I made rice socks. Emptied a 1lb bag into a clean, no-holed tube sock and tied off. I have 4: 2 bean, 1 lentil, and 1 rice. I nuke a couple at 30 sec intervals until hot and now they’re heating up my bed. I’m in the coldest bedroom so these have come in quite handy.

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  3. Thanks for the tip about the canned pumpkin. My former roommate left me tons of it. Big cans, too! Into the chili it goes!
    I just finished a (glass canning) jar of (store bought) canned peaches. Didn’t think about flavoring the tea with the juice; thanks for that as well. Often, I drink the juice by itself as fruit juice…which it is…
    (But, how dare you insult the Southern-style seasoned green beans! They’re wonderful!)

    I had some frozen leftover veggies left from a church potluck, in which few people wanted the salad. I had a huge bunch of the cauliflower, broccoli and other veggies, having intended to make the cold salad again; but having no takers, I didn’t repeat the recipe. They were in my freezer for about a year. So I dumped ’em into a pot with tomato juice (had a big bottle on hand) and other stuff. Resulting soup — a whole large mixing bowl full –tasted icky. I ate some, maybe 2 or 3 individual bowls, but the next time I got around to it, there was mold and fuzz on top of the refrigerated mixing bowl. So it’s in the compost for the spoiled soup. And, truth be told, I’m happy I didn’t have to eat more. It is one of my few frugal fails concerning veggie soup.

    I usually make a really delish veggie soup using leftovers, old canned goods (canned peas and beans are esp good) and Bloody Mary mix. (The mix is spiced just right, IMO.) Learned to do this, using my water aerobics teacher’s adaptable recipe, when I was unemployed in Florida and the food bank gave us limp veggies from Winn Dixie and Albertsons that were maybe one day away from rotting. Chop ’em all up real fine* and add whatever you can, and usually it goes really well with crackers, biscuits or sourdough bread. Or even better: toasted grilled cheese sandwiches using the days-old bread from the food bank. [*Broccoli stalks are extremely good fillers for this soup if you use a potato peeler to get the stalks pared really fine and/or chop ’em up into very, very small pieces. Your dinner guests don’t have to know it’s in there. Thanks to the Frugal Zealot, Amy Daczyczn, at the Tightwad Gazette, for that one. ] My aerobics teacher, Martie, also says to chop tofu into the soup, if desired, into small pieces: it will absorb the other flavors and provide more protein. She used this soup for a week-long diet binge and says if you serve the soup without tofu for the first few days, later add the tofu for more variety.

    My 8th grade Homemaking teacher, Miz Krebs, gave us recipes for DIY casserole using spaghetti (or whatever pasta you have), browned ground meat, canned tomato whatever (it was a Hunts-Wesson recipe so they wanted you to use their stuff) and add leftover veggies and or canned beans/veggies/whatever. If desired, you can top with croutons, bread crumbs, etc. Melt cheese on top. If you don’t have veggies or leftovers, that’s fine too. Years later, when ground turkey was a thing, I sometimes used that. I guess you could use rice instead of pasta, as well.

    My mom’s version of this was a Depression-era recipe called “Roman Holiday” and it had a layer of spaghetti on bottom, a layer of browned ground hamburger meat, a thick tomato sauce layer and a layer of cheese slices on top. Put into a large casserole dish, bake, and slice into it so that you get all the layers on your plate.

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    • Those big cans of pumpkin can be portioned out and frozen, either in ice cube trays or flat in small zipper-type bags. That’s what we do, so we can grab a few cubes or a lot of cubes, depending on how big the chili pot is that day.

      Next time you get cauliflower and broccoli and such from a veggie tray, try tossing it with olive oil and kosher salt and roasting it in a hot oven (425 to 450). I also add sliced onion and carrots cut on the diagonal. The vegetables taste completely different this way because the roasting activates the sugars. They’re great by themselves or served over rice with another splash of olive oil. Delicious hot or at room temperature. Bonus: If they’re from a veggie tray, no tiresome cutting and chopping and dealing with all the cauliflower/broccoli confetti that occurs as you slice.

      Those vegetables are also good in a pesto-style setting, which lets you use the thicker stalks. Slice and cook with garlic cloves, olive oil, salt and any leafy greens from the cauliflower/broccoli heads (if you’re working from scratch). When tender, mash or put in a food processor until you get the right amount of chunkiness or smoothness. It’s very good with crackers or pita bread.

      Both those preparations are suggestions from “An Everlasting Meal: Cooking With Economy and Grace,” by Tamar Adler. It’s a series of essays disguised as a cookbook. It changed the way I look at certain foods, and I recommend it often.

      https://amzn.to/4k9cL8R

      Reply

      • Donna, I bought her book when you originally wrote about it years ago. I. January I found her full cookbook at the library (much to my delight)!

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  4. To add to uses for Canned pumpkin: it’s also good for cats with tummy issues. I learned this while working at a shelter.
    I’m not squeamish at all about expired foods except fresh meat and milk products. Those two make me a little jumpy. My mother told me years ago expired eggs are fine. I’ve never gotten sick from them. And of course expired canned goods and dry goods (rice, pasta, cereals, etc.) I use with abandon! One thing I’ve had an issue with: expired yeast in an previously opened jar. When I use it in bread dough, the bread refuses to rise. It’s happened twice now so I don’t believe it’s a fluke.
    Donna, have a great vacation! Sleep, eat and binge on TV shows. Most of all, have fun with Abby and bask in the warm weather!

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    • I am ultra-nervous about older ground beef, having gotten violently ill from it as a kid. Any manager’s special beef we buy has to be frozen as soon as we walk in the door, or browned thoroughly and used that night. (Man, was I sick….)

      Re eggs, DF claims that while growing up in the Alaska Bush they ate eggs that “came over with Baranof.” Seriously, though, at one point they were eating World War II surplus powdered eggs. Blech.

      Reply

  5. I asked a friend if she wanted some cans of asparagus and peas that seemed to appear in our pantry as if by magic, since neither one of us would eat either. She took it, bringing me cans of pumpkin in exchange. A win for both of us!

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  6. I’ve quit reading most blogs I used to follow. But I wanted to check in on your daughter and can’t find it. Did she quit blogging and take down her site?

    Reply

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