How to Organize a Pantry

Share the Sweetness

I will be completely honest, Pantry Organizing might be one of my favorites. I already love to organize small spaces, so whenever the opportunity to organize a pantry finds me, I never hesitate. I’m right there with my label maker and clear food storage containers…

Before we start, a few things you need to know about me and my obsession with clear food storage containers. I vividly remember the day I decided all food must be stored in clear vessels. I was in 3rd grade, emptying my 101 Dalmatian lunch box. The moment that traumatized me was when I opened it and poured chunky milk into the sink. From then on I never trusted food in a container I could not see through. That being said, you will see clear storage containers, drawers, totes and binders, literally ALL OVER my house. This is not some new trend where I went out one day and redid my pantry. This is a 10 year system. Ask my husband… he’s been subject to my labeling and clear tote shelf hanging for over a decade.

I’ve gone ahead and made a special Kitchen Must-Haves Amazon List for those who want to Organize a Pantry at home. You can also follow my All Things Kitchen Pinterest Board for more fun strategies.

Very Top Shelf | Storage

We’re going to work from the top down. At the very top of the pantry I basically use it as storage. When you organize a pantry you have to build in some storage for random things. All those things that have no place in your kitchen, live on the top shelf of your pantry. What lives up here are:

My Food Saver – for when we buy a lot of meat at one time
Casserole Carry Cases– great for potlucks! Highly recommend them {See I have two}
Cupcake Carrying tote- From way back when I owned my cupcake business.
And finally, that’s where I put all of our paper towels. This top shelf is definitely a space I don’t think about that often but it is easy to access.

Canned Food Shelves | Organize a Pantry

Just above eye level I put all of my can organizers. These are an absolute MUST in my opinion because you can store so many more cans but also they naturally rotate so you’re never losing track of expiration dates. Easy and fast turn over is crucial when you organize a pantry. {we once found something in my mom’s pantry that expired 15+ years ago}

What’s on the Shelf?

As you can see there are two shelves for canned food. The top is dedicated to “dinner” foods or ingredients. When I’m planning dinner for the week I can look there and see where I’m at for meal planning. It goes, from left to right: Spaghetti, Soup, Crock Pot Ingredients and then Sides. Right now all we have are baked beans. Ha!

On the second shelf, which is right at my eye level I have all of the lunch or quick-meal canned food. When you organize a pantry this way you can stay focused on the healthier choices, being right at eye level instead of the snack-type foods at the bottom. I’ll get to the later. I cover that same mental-behavioral trick in my Cheating Exercise Post with the snack cupboard post.

On this shelf from left to right we have: Smoothie Fruit, Ready to Eat Canned Vegetables, Chili, Ready to Eat Beans, Olives {bc my kids would eat them every day} and finally kids’ chicken noodle soups. We store our stash of Macaroni here too.

Now full disclosure, this shelf is also where we hide the “Adults Only Candy Stash” It’s nice and high and the kids have no idea it’s there. I keep a tote of all their Halloween and Christmas candy, really every candy that makes it’s way into the house every year. I catch Billy eating that. Then I hide my Chocolate Bark there. “Mommy, why are you in the pantry?” Just trying to plan dinner!

Dry Food Shelves | Organize a Pantry

These are my favorite shelves {because of the clear containers} to organize and label. I should also toss a shout out to my best friend, my label maker! She’s been holding strong for 19 years! You can’t get my exact model anymore but here are some that are similar.

What’s on the Shelf?

Anyways, back to it then. The top shelf of the dry food is partnered with the top shelf of the canned foods. It is for dinners. You’ll see all of my noodles for spaghetti and crockpot dishes. In fact, on the far left you’ll see I have a basket for tall sauces jars. Right next to that, which kicks off our dinner line up are all of my crockpot mixes. Head on over to the Crockpot Champions Amazon List to see what’s inside! You can also visit my post for our family’s 7 Favorite Crockpot Meals. To the far right of the shelf, you’ll see our basket for instant potatoes that we use with the steak Crockpot recipes. {I never said I knew how to cook, I just know how to organize a pantry}

The next dry food shelf is for all of my dried beans which are SO GREAT when you’re on a budget and can buy in bulk. Here is a super simple explanation of how to re-hydrate dried beans if you’re feeling like a change and want to add them to your pantry. On either side of this shelf, I put baskets for extra spices that are overflow from my kitchen drawer and a bread mixes. You’ll also see that I store our #TacoTuesday Tortillas here too.

The Breakfast Shelf | Organize a Pantry

I’m not sure I’ve blogged about my counter top Smoothie Station yet, but this shelf is where I keep all of my extra ingredients from Chia Seeds to Flax to Sun Tea. There are extra jars of peanut butter and jams to the far left that will come out into the rotation soon. Clearly I need to go get more Aussie bites, because both containers are empty… honestly we eat these more in the summer when we can pop-n-go. So I’ll wait on that.

The Fun Shelf | Organize a Pantry

As we get closer to the ground we get to the less healthy items. That’s the same trick from the cheating exercise post, make the worst food the hardest to get to and the best food the easiest. Lord knows I do NOT like bending over more than I have to…

On this shelf, I put the excessive stuff. I have to really want it to reach down for it. {Clearly my exercise cheating is not working} On this shelf we have all the fizzy drinks {we’ve got a lot at this time bc we just had Wyatt’s birthday party last week. It’s all Green & Yellow drink cans!}

I put the Marshmallows for the boys and a completely indulgent crunch snack for me when I’ve got to get through the day. I also store my overstock of coffee and tea here, which honestly I don’t need to access very often since the kitchen is stocked. You’ll also find our supply of emergency Pedialyte and Powerade this time of year for when the kids catch a bug unexpectedly. As you can see those are situated right next to our Movie Night Basket, which is full of popcorn and Reese’s pieces.

Amazon Dash Buttons

I would like to point out the awesomeness that is the Amazon Dash Button at this time. When you are running low on something you just PUSH THE BUTTON and it is ordered on Amazon and arrives in 2 days. TA-DA! Don’t worry, you get a confirmation text on your phone so the kids can’t just keep pushing and ordering more. I have them everywhere. You should also get your $10 off of Amazon Prime Pantry while I have you here! Ooh! And try Amazon Fresh, here’s a Free Trial.

Ground Level | Organize a Pantry

Now on the very bottom, when you organize a pantry you can go one of two ways: The more difficult things you don’t want to reach, or the things you want the kids to reach themselves. I sort of did both. In the big Snap-Ware containers you see back there I’ve made them the Kid Access Friendly Bins.

We just built a fire pit last summer {and by we I mean Billy did it in 23 hours} so Wyatt LOVES to come inside and grab the S’Mores stuff. Cash LOVES to grab the air popped popcorn when he’s earned uninterrupted screen time. You’ll see a basket here too that is full of what we call “Travel Snacks” which are those packaged crackers and fruit snacks we stock pile at Christmas in their stockings. They get to grab a few when we’re heading out for a car day of errands or when we’re driving 2 hours to see family. There is a Snap-Ware under there for extras too. {No, the basket doesn’t always look like that. I confess I made it pretty for the pictures}

Thank you so much for taking this tour with me and if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments below 🙂

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