Keep Your Kitchen Organized and Stop Wasting Food

How many times have you bought a new jar of something only to discover two more hiding in the back of the pantry? Or found a bag of wilted vegetables in the refrigerator that you completely forgot you bought?

An organized kitchen doesn’t just look better. It can help you waste less food and spend less money on groceries. When you can easily see what you have, you’re more likely to use food before it spoils, avoid buying duplicates, and plan meals around ingredients already in your kitchen. Organize your pantry, freezer, and refrigerator with reducing food waste in mind, and make using older food part of your regular routine.

Key takeaways

• Check your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry before grocery shopping.
• Move older products to the front when putting away groceries.
• Freeze food you won’t be able to eat before it spoils when freezing works for that food.
• Label leftovers and freezer foods, so you know what they are and when you stored them.
• Plan some meals around ingredients you already have instead of starting every meal plan with new recipes.
• Schedule regular leftover or “use it up” meals.
• Keep an inventory of foods that are difficult to see or easy to forget.

Weed out what you can’t eat

The very first step is to get rid of food you’ve accidentally wasted already. Chuck expired food and food that looks freezer-burned. Once those items are cleared out, you can actually tell what you have to work with and what you need to use.

First in, first out

Now, you’re going to want to move everything that will expire sooner to the front of the shelves and the newer things to the back. Whenever you bring in new pantry items, always bring the older food to the front and put the new food towards the back. 

This is called the First In, First Out (FIFO) rule and ensures that older stuff gets eaten first, before it goes bad.

Shop your cabinets

It’s time for a shopping cleanse. Instead of grocery shopping every week, shop your freezer, cabinets, and pantry. Make it a goal to buy as little as possible and use what you already have. 

An app that tracks the foods you have on hand and suggests recipes that use them can be a big help. Here are some apps you can use to shop your own cabinets:

• SuperCook: You enter ingredients you have in your fridge, freezer, and pantry, and it finds recipes you can make from them. 
• Samsung Food: Lets you maintain a Food List of ingredients you have and search for recipes based on it. Recipes using the most ingredients from your list are shown first. 
• SideChef: Lets you filter recipes according to ingredients you already have, along with dietary preferences, cuisine, and cooking time. It also has a My Pantry feature and meal-planning tools.
• MyFridgeFood: Built around choosing ingredients currently in your kitchen and finding recipes that use them. It’s especially handy for the classic “I have eggs, cheese, half an onion, and questionable amounts of spinach, now what?” scenario.
• Cookpad: Lets you search its user-created recipe database using ingredients, so you can plug in several things you need to use and look for recipes containing them.
• BigOven: Has historically offered a “Use Up Leftovers” feature where you enter ingredients you have and get recipe ideas based on them.
• Plant Jammer: Focuses heavily on creating meals from ingredients you already have, with an emphasis on improvising and reducing food waste. It can be particularly useful for vegetable-heavy meals.
• KitchenPal: Combines pantry tracking with recipe recommendations. You can keep track of the food you have and look for recipes that use those ingredients.

Make a freezing plan

Labeling your frozen food and using it is an important part of keeping your kitchen organized and nixing food waste. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, you can keep food in the freezer indefinitely, and it will still be safe to eat. The problem is, the longer it’s in there, the worse it tastes. Of course, you don’t want to eat food that tastes yucky, so the goal is to eat it while it’s at its peak.

Here’s how long you should keep food in the freezer before it starts tasting off, according to the USDA:

Before freezing leftovers or ingredients, label them with the name of the food and the date you froze it. Keep a simple inventory on your phone, on paper, or attached to the freezer of what you have. You don’t necessarily need to record every ice cube. Focus on foods you’re likely to forget.

For example:

• 2 servings chili
• 1 container spaghetti sauce
• 4 chicken breasts
• Frozen broccoli
• 3 hamburger buns
• 2 servings taco meat

Cross things off as you use them and add new foods when you freeze them. This makes it much easier to plan meals around food you already have. Instead of staring at a frozen red substance and wondering whether it’s chili, spaghetti sauce, or something you made during a previous presidential administration, you’ll know exactly what you’re looking at and what you have.

Freeze food before you lose it

Don’t wait until food is already past the point where you want to eat it. If you realize you’re not going to use something in time, find out whether it can be frozen.

Depending on the food, freezing may help you save:

• Bread
• Meat
• Cooked meals
• Soups
• Sauces
• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Baked goods
• Herbs
• Leftovers

Freezing doesn’t work equally well for every food, and texture can change. Check reliable food-storage guidance when you’re unsure.

Make a habit of checking your refrigerator before trash day or before your next grocery trip. If freezing is an option, freeze anything you won’t realistically use soon.

Stop overstuffing your refrigerator

A completely packed refrigerator makes it difficult to see what you have. Food gets shoved toward the back, leftovers disappear behind containers, and produce gets buried under newer groceries.

Leave enough room to see and access your food. If your refrigerator is constantly overflowing, take a closer look at your shopping habits. You may be buying more fresh food than your household can eat before the next grocery trip.

Schedule a leftovers night

Give leftovers a regular place in your meal plan. Once or twice a week, make dinner a “use it up” meal. Here are some ideas:

• Everyone can eat a different leftover. 
• Combine leftover ingredients into something new. 
• Turn extra meat into tacos, add vegetables to eggs, or use small amounts of several foods to create a snack plate.

This also gives you a chance to clear out the refrigerator before adding more groceries.

Do a weekly food reset

Once a week, spend a few minutes checking your food. Look through the refrigerator first, then the freezer and pantry.

Ask:

• What needs to be eaten soon?
• What leftovers do we have?
• What produce needs attention?
• What can I freeze?
• What ingredients could become a meal?
• What do we already have plenty of?
• What do I actually need to buy?

Move foods that need to be used to the front. Then plan your next few meals around them. This doesn’t need to become a giant kitchen-cleaning project. Ten minutes of checking what you have can save food from being forgotten.

Kitchen organization and food waste FAQ

How can organizing your kitchen reduce food waste?

Organization makes food easier to see and helps you keep track of what you already have. That can prevent forgotten leftovers, spoiled produce, duplicate purchases, and food expiring before you use it.

What is an “eat first” bin?

An “eat first” bin or section holds foods that need to be eaten soon, such as leftovers, open packages, ripe produce, and ingredients remaining from previous meals. Keeping them together and visible can remind you to use them first.

How can you stop wasting produce?

Buy realistic quantities, store produce correctly, keep it visible, and check it regularly. Move produce that needs to be eaten soon to a prominent spot and plan meals or snacks around it.

How can you stop forgetting food in the freezer?

Label frozen foods with their contents and date, and keep a simple freezer inventory. Review the list when meal planning so you use frozen food instead of continually pushing it farther into the freezer.

How do you use up food before buying more groceries?

Check your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry before making your shopping list. Plan meals around foods you already have, particularly ingredients that need to be eaten soon. Recipe-by-ingredient apps can help when you aren’t sure what to make.

How can you stop wasting leftovers?

Keep leftovers together in a visible part of the refrigerator, label them when needed, and plan when you’ll eat them. A regular leftovers or “use it up” night can prevent small amounts of food from accumulating.

Does buying in bulk reduce food waste?

Not necessarily. Bulk purchases can create more waste if your household can’t use the food before it spoils or declines in quality. Buy larger quantities primarily when you regularly use the food and can store it correctly.

How often should you check your refrigerator for food that needs to be used?

A quick check once a week can help, but it’s also useful to look before grocery shopping and meal planning. Move older food and anything that needs to be eaten soon to a visible spot so you don’t forget it.