How to Organize Your Pantry

These quick and easy organization inspiration for your kitchen will make the pantry your favorite room in the house!

By: Toby Kuhnke, Editor, AllFreeCopycatRecipes.com

By: Toby Kuhnke, Editor, AllFreeCopycatRecipes.com

Between the huge mess in the kitchen from the holidays, New Year’s resolutions, and spring cleaning fever, these tips and tricks for How to Organize Your Pantry should definitely come in handy. There’s nothing more frustrating than when you’re in the kitchen, cooking away, and you can’t find that one ingredient you’ve been looking for. You know it’s around there, somewhere in the pantry, but you just can’t find it.

We know any fan of copycat recipes believes that if you want something done right, you should just do it yourself. Follow these six methods of organizing your pantry, and your kitchen will go from a nightmare mess to a clean workspace that any chef could spend hours in.

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6 Tips and Tricks for Organizing Your Pantry

Use Jars and Containers (and Label Them)
This might seem obvious, but getting your pantry items into matching, well labeled containers will save room, keep your food organized, and make everything easy to find. Clear containers like mason jars and transparent storage containers work well for this because they allow you to see what’s inside.
Get Creative with Your Cans
Cans are often a big part of pantries and, thus, can take up a lot of space. Naturally most people store their canned and jarred goods upright, but turning them on their sides and stacking on small shelves can save a lot of room vertically. Just make sure you have something in place, like a small lip on the edge of the shelf, that will prevent them from rolling off.
Organize Your Pantry Items by How Often You Use Them
This is simply a matter of ease. Put the items that you use most often in the front part of the shelves. This will make everything a little bit easier when you’re in the middle of cooking up a storm!
Small in the Front, Big in the Back
If organizing by usage doesn’t quite work for you, consider organizing your items by size. With smaller items in the front and bigger items in the back, labels are more visible, and there is less of a chance that something will get knocked over.
Lazy Susans Are Your Best Friends
Seriously, whoever invented the Lazy Susan deserves an award. They’re an essential of any organized cook, and they’re perfect for storing things like cans and spices. They might take up more space in your pantry than some other methods of organizing, but the space (and time) that they will save you is more than worth it.
Don’t Forget about the Back Side of the Pantry Door
This is the space in your pantry that you’ve probably forgotten about, but it’s prime real estate for storage. There are plenty of containers and mini shelves that can be fixed to the back side of the door for easy access. This kind of storage is perfect for things like spices that you might need

5 More Essential How Tos

Whether you've been in the middle of cooking and realized you were missing an ingredient or you've jsut avoided certain recipes altogether because you're a little apprehensive about trying something new, never fear! These five essential how-tos will make help you make fabulous family feasts and turn you into a confident cook.