The pantry is a staple part of any kitchen because it serves as the storage place for all of your dry goods and other kitchen essentials. That's why it's so important to have a well-organized and accessible pantry layout. This way, it will always be super easy and stress-free to find dinner ingredients or grab a quick snack as you head out the door. Keep reading to learn how to organize a pantry to make everyday cooking, baking, and snacking a breeze.

1. Clear Out Your Pantry
2. Review What You Have
3. Decide on Your Organizational Method
4. Create Food Zones
5. Display Snacks & Everyday Items Front & Center
6. Put Lesser Used Items on Upper Shelves
7. Place Airtight & Impenetrable Items at Floor Level

1. Clear Out Your Pantry

You need a blank canvas before you can even start thinking about how to organize a pantry. Put on a podcast or your go-to cleaning playlist and get to work clearing each shelf. Take some time to wipe down and dust shelves once your pantry is completely empty to create a clean environment for food storage.

2. Review What You Have

Now that your pantry's contents are out in the open, you can really take stock of what you have and what you can throw away. Check the expiration dates and toss anything past its sell by date. Part with the almost empty bag of chips (we know, we've been there too). Create a list of items to replace on your next grocery store run. You'll feel so free when you're done and you'll be ready to organize your pantry with confidence.

Tip!

Learn How to Double Your Pantry Space to maximize your pantry organization.

3. Decide on Your Organizational Method

Now that you have your clean slate, it's time to think about which storage containers will work best for organizing and displaying your pantry items. Consider baskets with labels to tell you what's inside, or skip the guesswork altogether by opting for clear refrigerator bins. This way, you can see the contents of a container even when it's high up on the shelf. For how to organize a small pantry, we recommend trying stackable organizers to maximize storage space between each shelf or adding door-mounted shelving for more storage opportunities. For how to organize a pantry with deep shelves, we suggest adding Lazy Susans. These allow you to turn or rotate items so you can access food at the back of the shelf.

Tip!

Check out these Pantry Organization Ideas for Spaces of Every Size for more organizational methods.

4. Create Food Zones

Now for the fun part! You get to decide the best way to organize a pantry in accordance with your preferences. Consider creating a designated snack bin for all of your sweet and salty treats. Create a bin for pasta, sauces, condiments, or cooking oils, or get more creative and store items by meal type. Put pasta, sauce, and artisanal bread in your "spaghetti night" bin. Store taco shells, seasoning, and canned beans or tomatoes together for your weekly taco night. Place unopened jam and peanut butter with your favorite sandwich bread. Then, when it's time to cook, just pull the bin out of your pantry and all the basic ingredients are right there! You can also decide if you want to keep food in store-bought packaging or if you want to pour them into your own food containers for aesthetic appeal and prolonged freshness. Play around with the methods that work best for you and your lifestyle.

Tip!

In addition to learning how to organize a kitchen pantry, it's also important to know the best ways to store refrigerated, frozen, and dried goods. Check out How to Store Food to Preserve Freshness & Flavor.

5. Display Snacks & Everyday Items Front & Center

When deciding how to organize a pantry, you always want to think about convenience. We suggest placing snacks, unopened drinks, sandwich bread, and ingredients that you use almost everyday on the middle shelves of your pantry so that they're always easy to reach and even easier to find.

6. Put Lesser Used Items on Upper Shelves

When figuring out how to organize a food pantry, it's also important to think about which items to store on the upper shelves. These should be items with a long-shelf life or items that you don't use frequently enough to justify a spot on the middle shelves. Store extra paper towels, unopened bags of grain, flour, and sugar, or excess canned goods on high pantry shelves so that they're tucked out of the way but still there if you need them.

7. Place Airtight & Impenetrable Items at Floor Level

So, you understand how to organize a pantry with shelves, but how do you make use of your pantry's floor-level storage space? Any item you want to store at the floor level of your pantry should be sealed to protect against potential pest exposure and moisture damage. Some examples of food items and kitchen essentials you can store at floor-level include unopened canned goods, unopened cases of drinks or water bottles, any dried goods in sealed, airtight containers, and sandwich bags, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or trash bags.

Tip!

Now that you know how to organize your pantry, tackle these other areas of your kitchen:
How to Organize a Fridge
Declutter Your Life: How to Organize Your Kitchen Cabinets
Organizing Pots and Pans Like a Pro

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