The Best Way To Organize Your Empty Food Storage Containers

Pantry organization is key to kitchen success. When items are tucked away neatly in their place, you know exactly where to find them. This can save you precious time while cooking and cleaning. But for this to happen, everything must have a home and unfortunately, empty food storage containers are notoriously difficult to organize. To solve this dilemma, we consulted with Maria Baer, organization expert and founder of The Baer Minimalist®.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Meal, Baer shared her top tips for storing empty food containers. "To organize a variety of container shapes and sizes, I recommend categorizing them by function rather than just by size. For example, group all containers that you commonly use for grains in one section and those for snacks in another." This simple strategy makes sense since storing leftover tomato sauce is different than storing fresh dill. Separating by function also means you can easily locate the container you need.

But what about food storage container lids? Baer suggests: "Stack lids separately, either vertically or in a container of their own, as they often take up more space when attached to their bases." The only risk to separating lids from their containers is that lids tend to go missing, never to be found again. To avoid losing food container lids, try also separating them by function and using storage dividers.

Maria Baer's philosophy is all about streamlining your daily habits. Rather than pack everything into a small space like a game of Tetris, she prefers to take the minimalistic approach (which is no surprise given her line of work). As such, she offers us a polite reminder that "you do not need to keep everything and that you should regularly ensure you have a lid for each base and that all pieces are in good shape."

We recommend reorganizing your pantry every few months. Check in with your food storage containers to see which ones have reached the end of their shelf life. Jettison any broken containers and lids, and repurpose or upcycle ones you never use. Otherwise, they are just taking up precious pantry space. If you tend to be forgetful, take it a step further by labeling the storage containers. This way, you'll know exactly when to toss food and put the container back in circulation.