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A well-organized pantry saves time, reduces food waste, and makes cooking more enjoyable. Whether you have a walk-in pantry or a single cabinet, these 10 effective ways to organize your pantry will help you maximize space and keep everything in order.
Be sure to check out all of our ideas for ways to organize a pantry, and pantry organizers.
Here are some ideas and strategies to help you start organizing your pantry space. But first, some important questions about your food buying habits.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Organizing Your Pantry
Here are some questions that can help guide your approach to pantry organizing:
- Do you buy jumbo-sized cans?
- Do you buy in bulk?
- Are you feeding a family, or are you a couple or single-person household?
- Do you have multiple locations in your home where you store food?
- Do you have a small pantry in the kitchen for proximity to cooking and bulk storage elsewhere outside of the “kitchen triangle?”
- Can you foresee any category that has 5 or more cans?
Food Categories
These questions will help you to start to identify what and how you need to find room for food.
REALITY CHECK: If you only have 1-3 food cans within a category, you will NOT be able to achieve the effect of impressively lined up can organization. When buying your can organization, keep that in mind.
You would be going head-to-head with food preppers if you had that much identical food storage in the home. I truly believe in food preparedness, but some people need to realize why their pantry doesn’t look pretty like the ones in the Pinterest pictures (or the grocery store).
If you do have multiple cans (think 12) then can organizers that work with the principal first in first out will work. If you are buying can organizers and don’t have enough cans to fill up the rack, you could be wasting your money. They are typically designed to hold 12-36 identical cans of the same kind. If you have a hodge-podge of cans, this type of can storage is not going to work well.
When you have lots of food cans, your pantry can feel like a mini-grocery store. That is exactly the goal of some pantry owners, and that is commendable. You are prepared for unexpected guests and hurricanes, good job!
10 Smart Ways to Organize Your Pantry
A well-organized pantry saves time, reduces food waste, and makes cooking more enjoyable. Whether you have a walk-in pantry or a single cabinet, these 10 effective ways to organize your pantry will help you maximize space and keep everything in order.
1. Declutter First
Take everything out and toss expired items. Group similar foods together so you know what you have—and what you don’t need to buy again.
2. Use Clear Storage Containers
Transfer dry goods like pasta, rice, and snacks into clear, airtight containers. This keeps food fresh and lets you see what’s inside at a glance.
3. Label Everything
Use labels on bins, jars, and shelves to make it easy to find what you need—and to help everyone in the household put things back where they belong.
4. Group by Category
Organize items by type: baking supplies, snacks, canned goods, breakfast items, etc. This makes meal prep faster and shopping lists easier to build.
5. Maximize Vertical Space
Install stackable shelves, risers, or hanging baskets to take advantage of every inch—especially in small or narrow pantries.
6. Use Bins and Baskets
Corral loose items like snack bags, seasoning packets, or granola bars into bins. Choose baskets with handles for easy access.
7. Add Door Storage
Use the back of the pantry door for extra storage—think spice racks, over-the-door organizers, or hooks for aprons and bags.
8. Rotate Items Regularly
Place newer items behind older ones to ensure nothing gets forgotten or wasted. This is especially helpful for canned goods and snacks.
9. Create Zones
Designate specific areas for breakfast, baking, snacks, or meal prep. This “zoning” system keeps your pantry intuitive and efficient.
10. Keep a Pantry Inventory
Use a whiteboard, app, or printable checklist to track what you have. This helps avoid overbuying and keeps your pantry streamlined.
Intention-Based Pantry Organization
Pantry organization is not one-size fits all. Here are both traditional and non-traditional ways to organize a pantry that appeals to your season in life and personal interests. Choose which works best for your personality and lifestyle!
- Assign a home to each food type. Group items into types and zones: Example: cereal shelf, canned foods shelf, snacks, all tomato products, etc.
- Organize food items alphabetically. This is particularly effective with small spice containers and spice storage.
- Organize food items by purpose. Baking items together, breakfast foods together, etc.
- Organize foods by meal. Noodles and spaghetti sauce are stored together, cream of chicken and noodles for a casserole dish.
- Organize food items by most used. Store most-used items at eye-level.
- Organized food items by “kid-friendly.” Put items like cereal, or beverages, where kids can reach them easily (or not!).
- Organize food by color. Place all your “green” things on one shelf and mark the edge of the shelf green, such as peas and beans). On another shelf place all orange things like carrots and peaches, etc. On another place all red things such as beets, catsup, tomato sauce, cranberries, etc. For another shelf place all yellow things: corn, pineapple, and mustard. A white shelf could include: macaroni, potatoes, onions, apple sauce. This is strongly Marie Kondo – maybe what works in the clothes closet doesn’t work in the pantry closet!
- Organize by weight. Heavy objects like cans on the bottom shelves – light objects like napkins and paper plates on top shelves.
- Organize by size. Bulky items (or items purchased in bulk) go on the floor. This method could also be called “it fits where it fits!” depending on if that awkward space next to the air duct is the perfect place for a skinny jar of spaghetti noodles. Of course, tall items in the back, short items in the front for maximum efficiency.
- Organize seasonally. Soups and stew for many people would just be a fall/winter meal.
Summary
The best ways to organize your pantry include decluttering, using clear containers, labeling items, grouping by category, and maximizing vertical space with shelves and bins. Lastly, take the best, leave the rest! Most pantries are a combination system that borrows from the above styles (even the throw it in and hopes it stays!). Let us know your ninja strategy for organizing in the pantry, we’ll add to the list!
