How to Organize a Pantry into Easy-to-Use and Efficient Zones (2024)

FAQs

How to Organize a Pantry into Easy-to-Use and Efficient Zones? ›

Reserve the bottom shelves for heavier items or larger appliances. Labeling is Key: Labeling containers and shelves is crucial for maintaining a well-organized pantry. Use a label maker or printable labels to identify each storage container and its contents.

Reserve the bottom shelves for heavier items or larger appliances. Labeling is Key: Labeling containers and shelves is crucial for maintaining a well-organized pantry. Use a label maker or printable labels to identify each storage container and its contents.

Build your own organizational system with bins.

Use them to store your pantry goods, so you can pull out a specific bin instead of ripping your pantry apart the next time you're looking for a specific ingredient. Labels on each bin or basket make things even more organized.

Divide your pantry into zones to keep your food organized and reduce meal preparation time. First, identify food and cooking categories that suit your lifestyle (such as weeknight dinners, portable lunches, and baking). Next, designate an area for each, with the most often-used zones easiest to get to.

In professional settings, everything from spices, dried herbs, seeds, pasta, and grains are stored in deli containers. I use them in my fridge as well to store sauces, soups, mise en place and leftovers. Trust me, once you have them, you'll find multiple uses for them around your kitchen!

Pasta, grains, canned goods, spices, and baking staples are the types of pantry essentials everyone should keep in their kitchen. These foods are the basis of many meals and have a longer shelf life than items you store in the refrigerator.

Arrange ingredients on shelves so that taller items are in the back and shorter items are in the front. Place heavier items and glass containers on the lower shelves. 12. Note expiration dates, and place ingredients that need to be used up earlier in the front.

The top shelf is ideal for items that you don't use on a daily basis. Store light items such as paper towels, disposable plates, and napkins here.

Use labels and bins or baskets to corral like items together, then organize them on shelves, in drawers, and inside cabinets, prioritizing prime real estate—aka most easily accessible shelves—for those things that you use most frequently.

Keep Baking Supplies Within Reach

Transfer common ingredients — flour, sugar, brown sugar, pasta and so on — into large glass jars with lids, and place them on the middle shelf for easy access. On the shelf above, arrange small glass jars full of more specialized ingredients, like spices, nuts and dried fruit.

How to group things in a pantry? ›

Designate areas for different types of food such as baked goods; breakfast items like cereal, oatmeal, jams, spreads and syrups; grains; bottled, canned and boxed beverages; tea and coffee; snacks; boxed or canned stocks; condiments; and oil and vinegar.