Simplify Your Pantry: The Ultimate Food Categorization Guide

If you’ve ever found yourself rummaging through your pantry in search of that elusive spice or wondering if you have enough pasta for tonight’s dinner, you’re not alone. The pantry can quickly become chaotic as the items in there change weekly. But as the heart of the kitchen, the pantry is pivotal. An organized pantry starts with effective categorization, and this blog post is your ultimate guide to just that. Your pantry categories are your organization strategy, and figuring out the best categories for your pantry will ensure that it not only gets organized but also stays that way.

Before You Categorize Your Pantry

Many people think of categorizing as organizing, but categorizing is actually just one step of the organizing process. It’s important to consider each step. Check out my Organizing 101 post for the full run-down, but long story short, make sure you declutter first.

Decluttering is more important in a pantry than anywhere else, because in a pantry you’re dealing with perishables. If you don’t remove the old or unnecessary items, they will literally go bad.

But it’s also important to consider the future usefulness of pantry items. Oftentimes, people buy a special ingredient for a specific recipe, and then it stays in the pantry forevermore. Do you actually intend to make that recipe again? Anytime soon? How much does that ingredient cost? Consider the likelihood of use, frequency of use, and cost to repurchase, and don’t be afraid to get rid of it, even if it’s unexpired. It’s not going to save you money if it goes unused. And if it clutters up your space, it will likely hinder you from seeing what you have, and increase the likelihood you’ll spend money on other items that you don’t need! Getting rid of unnecessary food creates clarity for what is necessary.

So always start your pantry organization projects with a good round of decluttering.

Comprehensive List of Pantry Categories

Now, onto the good stuff. As I said above, your pantry categories are your organization strategy.

To start us off, here is a comprehensive list of possible pantry categories. Nearly every food item could fit into one of these categories, even if it’s a bit of a stretch.

(Please note that, although the categories are comprehensive, the example foods in each category are not. The provided example foods are just that—examples. Your food will certainly deviate from this list, so use your critical thinking to identify the appropriate category.)

• Baking: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, yeast, etc.
• Breakfast: cereal, oatmeal, pancake mix, maple syrup, coffee, creamer, etc.
• Grains: pasta, rice, noodles, quinoa, tortillas, etc.
• Canned Goods: canned meats, canned vegetables, beans, broths, soups, condiments, sauces, etc.
• Oil & vinegar
• Spices
• Toppings: crackers, croutons, nuts, seeds, granola, nut butters, honey, syrup, etc.
• Snacks: chips, pretzels, popcorn, nuts, bars, jerky, etc.
• Supplements: protein powder, multivitamins, etc.

Advisable Pantry Category Deviations

While this list covers everything in logical categories, you don’t have to do it this way. In fact, I would advise that you customize your pantry categorization to your family’s most commonly used foods. Here are some examples of what I mean…

1. Separate snacks by person.

If you have kids, it may make sense to have a separate zone for kids’ snacks and adult snacks.

Or, if you have the pantry real estate for it, you could create a personalized snack bin for each person in the house. (My parents have done this, and it helps hold them accountable to decluttering their snacks—whether that means eating it or acknowledging that you won’t eat it, and giving or throwing it away.)

2. Personalize by time-of-day.

Always eat granola/protein bars for breakfast? Keep them in the breakfast category.

Primarily eat nuts as a salad topping instead of by themselves? Switch them from “snacks” to “toppings”.

If you keep a pretty consistent eating routine, feel free to lean into that, and focus your categorization even more around breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc.

3. Personalize by meal-of-choice.

Have a favorite smoothie that you make most days? Create a bin exclusively for those ingredients, even if it means you’re pulling from other categories.

Have a go-to family dinner that uses the same sauce, grain, and canned vegetables? Store those items together, instead of their parent categories.

Do your kids love peanut butter & jelly? Maybe it makes sense to keep the peanut butter in the bread box.

This approach has great potential for optimizing the efficiency of your kitchen, but it really only makes sense if you make the same meal extremely consistently—i.e. at least once per week.

4. Reconsider the pantry boundaries.

Every pantry is different (if you’re lucky enough to even have a pantry!), but regardless of your setup, I would encourage you to reconsider the boundaries of your pantry. Not all food needs to go in the pantry, and not all dishes and cookware need to go in the kitchen cabinets. Are you optimizing your kitchen space appropriately?

For example, think about spices. Many people store spices in a kitchen drawer, or on the countertop, rather than in the pantry. (Or maybe you have some of both.)

Similarly, you might consider moving the oils next to the stovetop. Or a bin of supplements next to your coffee station, so you remember to take them each morning.

The options here are once again endless and extremely personal. Just remember that you don’t have to follow the prescribed traditions for “pantry space” and “kitchen cabinet space”. Space is space. Get creative with it.

After You Categorize Your Pantry

Once you’ve determined your pantry categories, it’s important to enforce them with containers and labels. If pantry categorization is the strategy of an organized pantry, then containers and labels are the execution. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but the better you can contain and label your space, the better you’ll be able to maintain your pantry categories.

You can find some of my recommendations for pantry containers and organizers here & here! Or feel free to reach out to me if you have a specific pantry dilemma you’re trying to solve. 🙂

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Happy organizing! Be sure to check out the rest of my organization blog posts for more content like this.