How to Stock a Kitchen Pantry

Create a List of Pantry Ingredients

If you’re about to start a new project, what’s the first thing you should do? Make a list! And it makes sense. The kitchen pantry is a complex organism, and if you want yours to shine, you’ll have to make a comprehensive list of everything you need. This is especially helpful when it comes to ingredients.

Each family's pantry will be stocked differently based on tastes and dietary preferences. There are several items, however, that can be considered pretty much standard. Some of the most common pantry necessities include baking ingredients, herbs and spices, canned goods, cooking oils, and condiments.

Gotta Keep Things Fresh

Imagine you’re about to have guests over for dinner. You’re all ready to whip up some of your world-famous spaghetti and meatballs only to discover everything in your pantry is stale and flavorless. A pantry is no good to anyone without fresh ingredients. That means you’ll need to restock it on a regular basis, but you’ll have to store all of your items safely as well.

Dry goods like flour and grains will last longer if you remove them from the sacks or boxes they come in and place them in clear plastic or glass containers instead. On the front of the containers, label the items with a date. Some items (like sugar) will last indefinitely, while others (spices) may last a year or two. Southern Living has this helpful guide on the expiration dates of various pantry items.

Keep Your Pantry Clear of Pests

If you’re squeamish, here's some bad news for you: kitchen pantries can be breeding grounds for pests. If you don’t take preventative measures, intruders such as fruit flies, beetles, Indian meal moths, weevils, and even cockroaches will make a home in your pantry.

There are some simple things you can do, however, to maintain a pest-free pantry. As listed above, keep your food in airtight containers, and never leave open food lying around. It can be tempting to leave open cereal boxes and chip bags in your pantry for convenience, but if you do so, you’re asking for trouble. Also, clean your pantry regularly and if there’s a spill, don’t let it linger. Clean it up right away.

Stay Organized

No matter how well-stocked you keep your pantry, it won’t do you much good if you can’t find anything. Because everyone in the family uses the pantry — often for grabbing quick snacks or cereals — it doesn’t take long for even a relatively neat pantry to become a disorganized mess.

There are several steps you can take to maintain a well-organized pantry. Take advantage of storage options to help keep everything in place. Stackable bins, for instance, make it easy to store bottles and canned goods, and if you have room on your pantry walls or door, hooks and over-the-door shoe organizers can be utilized to hold all sorts of things.

Stock Strategically

Not everything in your pantry is going to have the same importance. Some things like cereal and sugar you may use every day. Other items like gingerbread mix or Easter egg dyes are strictly seasonal. Those are the kinds of ingredients that can be stored up above at the highest reaches of your pantry. This will make more room for the day-to-day items that need to be accessed more readily.

You should also consider the needs (and risks) of various family members. If you want cereals and snacks to be kid-accessible, leave those down low. If you have a dog who's always hungry (and ambitious), then you might want to leave the dog treats in a spot that's not so easy to reach. The same goes for foods that are bad for your furry friends, such as chocolate, garlic, coffee, grapes, and raisins.

Save Money

Having a fully stocked kitchen pantry doesn’t have to be expensive. If your budget is more flexible, then, by all means, purchase all of your goods at once. You can save money, however, by not buying everything right away. Making purchases gradually over time will spread out the cost, and give you the freedom to take advantage of sales as they occur.

Buy in bulk whenever possible. If the jumbo pack of bow-tie pasta at Costco is too much for you, split it with a friend. Store brands provide another way of saving at the register. There’s no substantial difference between most store and name brands when it comes to cooking and baking ingredients, so why not save a couple of bucks?

Coupons are your friend as well! If you're the kind of person that clips, you're in luck because paper coupons are still a thing! If you've moved onto the digital age, there are countless other ways to save money. Most grocery chains have mobile apps where you can receive digital coupons, and there are other apps and websites that specialize in finding promo codes. If you haven't yet, sign up for the rewards program at your local grocery store. Even little savings of 50 cents to a dollar here and there can really add up.

Conclusion

Having a pantry fully stocked and well organized will make your kitchen more efficient, and give you more dining options than you ever dreamed of. Worried that restocking your pantry might be too big of a job? Don’t be. Just tackle one task at a time and before you know it, you'll be basking in the glow of a perfectly stocked pantry.

Sources

• https://www.southernliving.com/food/kitchen-assistant/when-to-replace-pantry-staples