Mouneh, from the verb “mana” in Arabic, refers to foods produced through traditional practices of preservation. These techniques developed over time in Lebanon, initially for sustenance during winter months when fresh vegetables and fruit were lacking. This paper investigates their importance in the contemporary moment, at a time when Lebanon has been going through an economic recession, which has translated into the devaluation of its currency and a rise in food prices. In a context where approximately 80% of the food is imported, using fresh produce and transforming it into preserves is a way for women to ensure food quality for their family, save money, and socialise with other members of their community. This paper draws on four months of ethnographic research with Christian and Muslim middle-class women in the greater Beirut area who make Mouneh. I begin with an ethnographic description of the practice of Mouneh making in an urban context, explaining the supply network for sourcing ingredients, the collective and individual modes of production, and the ways of producing the five categories of Mouneh (fruits, vegetables, herbs, meat, and dairy) and reasons why some are not produced in Beirut. I then discuss the reasons women give for making Mouneh, despite the difficulty of finding high quality fresh produce in the city, the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables year-round, and Mouneh being available in shops. The paper agues first that Mouneh making is a form of care, through which women act as caretakers of their family, and second, that it is a means of survival in the face of political and economic instabilities. Mouneh is a way of controlling the family’s health, which has traditionally been the responsibility of the mother, it’s also the assurance that the family will be able to maintain food habits if the situation worsens. Overall, Mouneh is a symbol of certainty in an uncertain future and way of creating a comforting feeling of abundance. Through this analysis, the paper provides insights on a practice that has been little discussed since the work of Aïda Kanafani-Zahar, the Lebanese anthropologist, in the 1990s. Whereas Kanafani-Zahar’s focus was rural, this paper looks at how these traditional food practices are integrated into the contemporary urban context and their significance following recent political events. The paper shows the continuing importance of these traditional practices like Mouneh as a coping mechanism for times of uncertainty.