Fall is in full swing. If you’re here in Boston, North Shore, New Hampshire, or Rhode Island, then you know it’s the season for all things fall: putting soup in the crockpot and preparing football foods for the big game; baking apple cider donuts and muffins to enjoy on a cold morning; and taking trips to farms to pick apples and pumpkins. Are you in the fall spirit yet?
We love this time of year. Before you know it, the holidays will be here, with all the baking, hosting, and parties that come with it. And if the last time you have organized your pantry is last year (or even longer ago), then it’s time for a spruce. In this post, I’m sharing my best organizing pantry tips to get your kitchen ready for the cozy season.
Why Organize Your Pantry Now?
Once Halloween hits, the rush into the holidays comes quickly. Everyone’s already making plans for Turkey Day, and the Christmas decor will soon follow.
A pantry that works for you will save you so much time, money, and frustration. No more buying a second bag of flour because you couldn’t find the one you had. You will cook and bake so much more than usual over the next couple of months. If your pantry and kitchen are organized – you will be able to actually enjoy the holiday baking and cooking season (instead of scrambling through them).
To help get you there, I’ve created this step-by-step guide with tips for organizing your pantry.
One of my favorite pantry organizing projects. Before…
After!
And another. Before…
After!
6 Pantry Organizing Tips for Fall & Holiday Baking: A Step-by-Step Guide
Time It Just Right
Plan to organize your pantry right after you've gone grocery shopping. That way, you'll have everything you'd typically keep on hand right in front of you, and you can put it all away in its new home as you go.
You'll also be able to see what you truly have, so you can toss expired items and avoid doubling up.
2. Put Away Summer Items
Put away your ice cream maker and scoops, popsicle molds, and lemonade pitchers. Put them up high or in storage until next year – and you’ll feel good seeing that newly cleared space in your pantry.
3. Bring Out the Crockpot and Soup Supplies
Soup season is here! Pull out your crockpot, soup pots, ladles, and any slow-cooker liners or soup-making staples, and keep them somewhere easy to reach. Chilly New England evenings call for something warm and simmering, and you'll want those tools within reach.
4. Pull Your Baking Supplies to the Front
Bring your everyday baking tools forward: rolling pins, dough mats, mixing bowls, pastry cutters, measuring cups, and so on. You can put these in a bin where you can easily grab them, or move them to a drawer within close reach.
Pro tip: Gather your holiday-specific baking items together. Things like angel cookie cutters, gingerbread house molds, and Christmas cake pans should be pulled out and stored together in one bin, so you aren't hunting for them in December. If you're an avid baker who uses these items often throughout the season, move that bin to a shelf you can quickly reach.
5. Give Prime Real Estate to What You Use Most
The shelves at eye level and arm's reach are your prime real estate, so save them for the things you grab all the time. If you only use your roasting pan once a year, it doesn't belong on your most accessible shelf. Move it up higher or to the back, and keep the everyday items easy to grab.
6. Group Like With Like
For the rest of the pantry, a good rule of thumb is to keep like items together, either directly on the shelf or in bins. There are a few ways to do this, and the best one is the one that matches how you cook:
• By function: Keep all your baking items together (flour, sugar, baking powder, chocolate chips, extracts, and so on). Spices can live in a spice rack, on a tiered shelf, in a drawer, or on a turntable (lazy Susan), whichever fits your space best.
• By type of food: All pasta together, beans and lentils together, canned vegetables together, canned fruits together, canned milks, broths, and so on. This is simple and easy for the whole family to follow.
• By cuisine: This is a great option if you tend to cook by theme, like taco night or spaghetti night. Group your Italian items together, your Asian items together, your Mexican items together, and so on. You can combine this with the other methods too: baking in one section, and the rest of the pantry sorted by cuisine.
There's no wrong answer here. Pick the system that makes you say, "Oh, I know exactly where that is!"
In this pantry organization project, we grouped like items together in metal bins and baskets and labeled them for quick identification. You could use this same system with your pantry goods!
If you need bins to start organizing your pantry, I recommend these clear ones.
BONUS TIP: Create a Meal Planning Strategy
Now that your pantry is organized, let’s get your meals organized with a plan for what you're going to cook. Meal planning has been something I've floundered with for a while, but I've finally landed on a system that's actually working for me, and I'm excited to share it.
I have been enjoying collecting my recipes in the ReciMe app. ReciMe lets you gather recipes from anywhere: websites, videos, even paper recipes. Hit "share," and the app pulls in all the directions and ingredients and organizes them for you. You can then sort recipes into your own personal cookbooks.
My favorite part? You can categorize recipes and organize into cookbooks anyway you want. My favorite way is to organize by main ingredient, not by meal. Instead of sorting recipes into "dinner" or "lunch," I use categories like "chicken" or "salmon” and name the cookbooks accordingly. It makes choosing a recipe much less overwhelming, because I’m choosing from a smaller, focused group. I love this approach so much that I've also created a binder with printed recipes organized the exact same way, by ingredient.
Pro tip: If you’re more of a paper recipe person, try the Naptime Kitchen binder trick. Kate Strickler of Naptime Kitchen uses a binder with a front pocket, and the first pocket holds recipes she wants to try. A recipe only gets moved into the main sections after she’s cooked it and it passes the family test. It sounds almost too simple, but it saves so much time because you're not filing recipes that end up being flops.
The magic of both of these systems is that you're always choosing from a controlled group of tried-and-true favorites, which makes planning so much easier.
Settle In and Enjoy the Season
The cozy season will feel even cozier once you're organized. When everything has a place, the baking is smoother, the cooking is easier, and you can truly enjoy your home again. Start with one shelf if you need to. Small steps add up quickly!
Links & Resources
You don't need anything fancy to organize your pantry and kitchen – repurposed bins and baskets you already own work just fine. But if you're in the market for something new, here are a few of my favorite organizing products for the kitchen and pantry*:
*This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you – but I would never recommend something I haven’t used and love myself.
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