#pantry-organization

#pantry-organization

The new year is the perfect time to clean out your pantry. The holidays are over, the hustle and bustle have subsided, and it's time for a fresh start. Not only can you get rid of anything expired, but you can also donate any nonperishable and unexpired food that you aren't planning on using. A pantry cleanout will give you a chance to reorganize what's left, and the perfect excuse to stock up on new snacks and beverages you've been eager to try.

While your assortment of dry goods and other cooking staples may ebb and flow with your hosting schedule and grocery cadence, the best pantry organizers ensure that everything you buy isn't forgotten on the back of a shelf. Whether you have an entire room for storage or just a few cabinets reserved, it's still such a highly trafficked zone, especially if you live with children or roommates.

Pickle fans know the joy of nabbing a fresh jar of any of the best pickle brands and enjoying the tasty snacking and sandwich-stacking possibilities. But there's a way to feel even better about your pickle purchase: reusing those jars. When you can repurpose a product's packaging, the benefits are plentiful. You're participating in an eco-friendly mission to reduce waste, and you're also putting the packaging to use for where you might have otherwise had to spend money to buy new.

Here at Tasting Table, we're all about sustainable shopping practices like bringing along reusable shopping bags and buying in bulk for staples like rice. But, one of the most impactful, cost-effective, and often-overlooked strategies for saving money and reducing food waste during your weekly grocery run is to shop your kitchen first. Thoroughly check what is already in your kitchen to plan meals more effectively and shop less wastefully.

The FIFO acronym means "First In First Out," and if you've ever worked in a restaurant, the system is among the first things that trainers teach new hires. When restocking a pantry or fridge, the newer product is placed behind the existing, older items. This way, when an employee in a hurry reaches in to grab what they need, they will automatically be grabbing the item that needs to be used-up in the most timely fashion.

Let's face it: Keeping the kitchen organized is one of the greatest challenges we face in our busy everyday lives, and the pantry is a particularly touchy subject. Keeping a well-stocked pantry is a joy, until it gets full of half-empty bags of beans, messy flour sacks, and who-knows-what-that-is, forgotten out of sight at the very back. If only we could have a perfectly organized pantry with matching containers designed specifically for each purpose!

Properly labeled containers are a pantry storage hack that will leave you with maximum space and help avoid wasting food because you can't find it on your shelves. But if you're not a fan of sticky labels that are hard to peel off, we have a simple hack that will still keep your pantry tidy and stress-free. Simply write onto plastic containers using temporary markers.

Your kitchen cupboards and pantry can get messy and out of control quickly. If you have trouble arranging items, you aren't alone. Even Christina Haack, host of HGTV's "Christina on the Coast", needs professional help with pantry organization. She stated in a now-deleted Instagram post that she used Simply Luxe Professional Organizers to finally tame pantry mess and clutter and revealed the tip that she still uses in her kitchen today.

The kitchen might just be my favorite spot to organize. There's just so much potential! The fridge, freezer, counters, and cabinets - these are all places within your kitchen that need some organizing and storage solutions. And don't forget the pantry, too! So if you're as excited about kitchen organization as I am and are on the hunt for the best organizers for this space, you're in luck. We've found the best kitchen and pantry organizers out there and awarded them in our 2025 Organization Awards.

Decanting your packets and boxes of grains, pasta, and lentils into clear deep containers allows you to see all your dry goods immediately and notice which need replenishing.