Organize Your Vegan Pantry with 9 Mind-Blowing Essential Tips

 

In this article, you will learn how to organize your vegan pantry. If you’re anything like most of us, your vegan pantry looks like a major disaster. Your intentions are there, but you’re busy. Time constraints seem to keep you in a continuous rush mode. You really don’t think you have the time to be organized and your pantry shows it.

Too many boxes, packages, and just plain stuff are crammed everywhere on your shelves. No wonder you can’t find what you need. So now is the time to get serious about getting your vegan pantry organized once and for all!

These tips will not only have you on your way to an organized pantry, but they’ll also make you actually look forward to cooking and finding exactly what you need when you need it.

1. Empty your entire vegan pantry!

Yes, that would be your ENTIRE pantry. If you want to start fresh and do it as well as you can the first time, you need to start from scratch. Pull every last item out of your pantry, pile it up on a table and go through it all. It’s a big task, but it’s worth it. Once done, you’ll be glad you did. You’ll probably be surprised by what you find lurking away in there…

2. Check everything

Go through everything that you just pulled out of your pantry and check the expiration dates on each item. Also, check them for quality. Make sure no products are stale or rotting. If so, throw them out – a very satisfying thing to do in its own right! If they’re old, they have to go. Wipe down dusty jars. Set aside messy flour and sugar bags.

3. Clean your vegan pantry

Now that you have completely removed everything from the inside of your pantry, vacuum the shelves and floors. Pick up crumbs, spillage, and any garbage you may find. Wipe all the shelves with an eco-friendly cruelty-free cleaner (I like this one conveniently on Amazon). Wipe the walls and floors too. There’s nothing better than starting fresh.

You’re probably in awe right now at the space you have to work with. It only gets better!

Now that your pantry is empty and clean, it’s time to start putting things back in neat and organized; a place for everything and everything in its place.

4. Store appliances in your vegan pantry

Store all of your small appliances in your pantry. People love their small appliances, but storage can get messy if you’re not organized.

Place your small appliances in one location in your pantry. Make them easily accessible to grab and go. Always using one or another and leaving them on your countertops just makes more clutter. There is no one right way to store them. Some possible ideas are to store the most used ones on the easier accessible shelves. Rarely used ones could be placed on higher shelves. Keep the cords wrapped up with each appliance as to not have electrical spaghetti hanging and tangled with one another.

5. Get serious about food storage

Get rid of boxes, bags, and other prepackaged nightmares. Open the packages and place the food into a glass (preferably) or reusable clear plastic airtight storage container with lids (available on Amazon). Foods you want to try to buy in bulk to save in packaging and costs are:

• Cereals
• Flours
• Sugars
• Oils
• Rice
• Pasta
• Crackers
• Chips

Make sure to use easy opening lids. No one wants to struggle when you’re trying to get at what you want. Place the filled containers on your shelves. Check out how nice they look. Storing these items this way is more airtight, spill-proof, and aesthetic to the eye. Add separate scooping spoons that fit right in the jars so you’re never looking through kitchen drawers for a way to get your sugars, flours, or rice out of their respective containers. Nowadays, these storage containers come in all shapes and sizes for whatever you dream up for your organized pantry. Discount stores, homewares, and online shopping make choosing your style a breeze.

6. Use bins to organize your vegan pantry

Purchase metal bins for more organized storage of your smaller food items. Label the bins clearly to make searching for items easier. Use tags, labels, or mark right on the bins. An “extra” labeled bin is perfect for the flours, pasta, sugars, and rice bags and boxes that don’t fit into the reusable plastic and glass containers (available on Amazon).

Keeping them together in this bin allows you to know where to go when you need to refill them in organized containers.
Bins can be labeled for cans in general, or more specific items like canned vegetables, soups, and/or fruits. You may want a bin labeled for breakfast items like oatmeal, peanut butter, breakfast biscuits, and granola bars. You may even want to select bins for daily and weekly meal planning.

How about a snack bin filled with popcorn, crackers, and chips? The possibilities are endless. Do what works for you.

 

Organize Your Vegan Pantry with bins, check out these bulk storage ideas on Amazon

 

7. Organize your vegan pantry by expiration dates

When food gets buried behind and under other food, it’s easier to just grab the closest ones on top. That works out when you organize them, making it simpler to use the oldest product first. Oldest dated products go in front or on top so you never have to search and read every label when you have a time crunch. This will save you plenty of time, effort, and money. A little work now goes a long way later.

8. Use under the counter rack shelves

Metal rack shelves are excellent space savers. You can find them at discount stores and many of them just slide right onto the shelves, hanging below them. They are cheap and easy to install. Usually, no tools are needed. There are many options whereas some are stationary and some roll out. These are great storage options for fresh fruits, vegetables, and bread. They take up little room and don’t build up with crumbs and bits. They give your pantry a lot more storage space.

Checkout stackable can rack organizers for easy access to canned goods.

9. Make having a spice rack a priority

Purchase a smart spice rack. There are some made specifically for shelves and others that attach right on the inside of your pantry door. Everyone, vegans included, loves their spices. There is nothing more frustrating than a pile of spices all bunched up on a shelf or in a basket and having to go through many just to find the one you need. Spices are the staple ingredients of recipes, so having a proper spice rack ensures organization and accessibility. Get your seasonings in order. An organized spice rack is also a huge time saver.

Bonus Tip, make your vegan pantry yours!

This tip is the background to your vegan pantry happiness. Give your pantry the look and feel you want to see and experience. What works for some might not work for others. Buy the perfect containers you want. Move things around until they look just right. ‘You’ is the keyword here. This is all about you. This is all about getting your vegan pantry organized to make your life easier. If you don’t like the way it looks and feels, what’s the point of tackling this job in the first place? Pileups and chaos will come right back if you’re not satisfied with your finished pantry results.

Your pantry is responsible for lots of storage. Food, spices, containers, and small appliances need a proper home. It’s too easy for items to pile up and become out-of-sight, out-of-mind when you close that pantry door. Cleaning out your overrun pantry can be daunting at first, but if you follow these simple steps, you’ll be glad you tackled the job once and for all. It’s time to get cooking stress-free with everything you need to make your preparation easy, quick, and satisfying.

If you need more space check out a Freestanding Kitchen Pantry Cupboard