Is one of your goals to get organized for the new year? A GREAT place to start is in your pantry. I find that having an organized pantry helps me speed through cooking and baking and helps me save money because I can see what I already have on hand.
I have a ton of pantry storage ideas from when we remodeled our pantry to help you organize your own kitchen, including the best pantry storage containers.
I love being able to see everything with open shelves. It helps me stay organized and I can easily tell what we need from the store. Below, you’ll find pantry organization products that I personally use.
Many of these products make your household ingredients look prettier and make it so you can find everything at a quick glance! Trust me, you’ll LOVE cooking even more once you give your pantry a makeover with the best pantry storage containers!
My Top Picks
- What’s in My Kitchen: Anchor Hocking Heritage Hill Glass Jar with Lid – $12.57 at Amazon
- Best Airtight Pantry Containers: OXO Good Grips 10-Piece POP Container Set – $109 at Home Depot
- Best Clear Pantry Containers: Seseno Refrigerator Pantry Organizer Bins – $15.99 at Amazon
- Best Spice Organizer: Copco Non-Skid 3-Tier Spice Pantry Kitchen Cabinet Organizer – $7.99 at Amazon
- Best Cereal Pantry Containers with Lids: Rubbermaid Brilliance Cereal Food Storage Container – $22.49 at Target
- Best Pantry Baskets: Best Choice Products Water Hyacinth Pantry Baskets – $54.99 at Amazon
Reviews of the Best Pantry Storage Containers
1. What’s in My Kitchen: Anchor Hocking Heritage Hill Glass Jar with Lid
I use these lidded glasses in my own pantry and I love that you can see everything inside. They’re perfect for storing ingredients you reach for frequently, like flour or sugar, but I also like filling them with different cookies and candies as decor. Because it’s clear, you can see how low you are on a certain ingredient, and although they’re not airtight, I’ve never had an issue with freshness. I like the 2 gallon size, but they come in a few sizes, and they go with any decor style. They also look good on a countertop!
The Specs:
- Material: Glass
- Sizes: Multiple
- Dishwasher safe: Yes
- Airtight: No
The Pros:
- Easy to clean
- Easy to see ingredients
- Versatile as decor
The Cons:
What Others are Saying:
They have more than 10,500 reviews on Amazon with a 4.5-star rating.
Buy the Anchor Hocking Heritage Hill Glass Jar with Lid:
2. Best Airtight Pantry Containers: OXO Good Grips 10-Piece POP Container Set
To really overhaul your pantry and take most dry goods out of their boxes, I recommend getting a bunch of airtight, lidded containers like these OXO ones. This 10-piece set comes with different shapes and sizes to fit a variety of foods — cereal, pasta, rice, nuts, you name it! They’re easy to use — each lid has a button on it that you press to engage the airtight seal. You can stack these on top of each other to fit them better on your pantry shelves, too! (OXO also makes smaller versions of this set, if you don’t need this many containers.)
The Specs:
- Material: Plastic
- Sizes: Multiple
- Dishwasher safe: Yes
- Airtight: Yes
The Pros:
- Easy to clean
- Stackable
- Includes a variety of shapes and sizes
The Cons:
What Others are Saying:
The Strategist, Good Housekeeping, and Real Simple all recommend OXO POP Containers for food storage, and these sets have a 4.7-star rating from 4,200 Amazon reviewers.
Buy the OXO Good Grips 10-Piece POP Container Set:
3. Best Clear Pantry Containers: Seseno Refrigerator Pantry Organizer Bins
If you want to organize your pantry without emptying all of your groceries into containers, these clear bins are a great option for just corralling your food in your cabinets, on shelves, or in the fridge. I find that they’re great for storing all your cans and other non-perishables because they have handles, so you can easily slide them in and out of shelves without having to remove everything from your shelves. They’re super affordable in an 8-pack, too!
The Specs:
- Material: Plastic
- Sizes: One
- Dishwasher safe: No
- Airtight: No
The Pros:
- Inexpensive
- Versatile
- Easy to clean
The Cons:
What Others are Saying:
These bins have a 4.8-star rating on Amazon and more than 2,300 reviews.
Buy the Seseno Set Of 8 Refrigerator Pantry Organizer Bins:
4. Best Spice Organizer: Copco Non-Skid 3-Tier Spice Pantry Kitchen Cabinet Organizer
Don’t underestimate the power of a spice rack for making your cabinets look so much more organized. I use a drawer to store all my spices and I like that I can see them all at once. But if you’re storing your spices on a pantry shelf, this simple three-tier one makes it easier to see the labels on each spice. That way you’re not shuffling through your dried basil or cinnamon looking for the right one while cooking or baking. It’s non-skid, too, so you won’t have to worry about them toppling over. You can also use these for storing non-perishables condiments or small bottles of vitamins and supplements.
The Specs:
- Material: Plastic
- Sizes: One
- Dishwasher safe: No
- Airtight: No
The Pros:
- Easy to set up
- Easy to clean
- Inexpensive
The Cons:
- Only works with small items
What Others are Saying:
Real Simple and CNN Underscored both include this organizer in lists of great pantry storage products, and it has more than 39,000 Amazon reviews and a 4.7-star rating.
Buy the Copco Non-Skid 3-Tier Spice Pantry Kitchen Cabinet Organizer:
5. Best Cereal Pantry Containers: Rubbermaid Brilliance Cereal Food Storage Container
If you want some large, matching organizers, I’d grab a few of the Rubbermaid 18-cup cereal containers. We are a HUGE cereal family and have an entire shelf devoted to our favorites! I love that the lids have two openings: a larger one with a latch that locks into place and a smaller one with a flip-open spout that you can pour cereal, snacks, or ingredients out of. The brand also sells other sizes in this line, but I really like this one because because of its pour spout that the other sizes don’t have.
The Specs:
- Material: Plastic
- Size: Multiple
- Dishwasher safe: Yes
- Airtight: Yes
The Pros:
- Stackable
- Easy to use
- Easy to clean
The Cons:
What Others are Saying:
Wirecutter and Real Simple recommend this Rubbermaid Brilliance line in their roundups of the best dry food storage containers.
Buy the Rubbermaid Brilliance Cereal Food Storage Container:
6. Best Pantry Baskets: Best Choice Products Water Hyacinth Pantry Baskets
For a stylish pantry, I recommend grabbing woven baskets to organize different snack pouches and dry ingredients. There are tons of options for this, but this set of 4 from Best Choice Products are worth checking out because they come in three sizes and two colors. I LOVE that they have a cute chalkboard label you can write on to be extra organized and aesthetic.
The Specs:
- Material: Water hyacinth fibers
- Sizes: Multiple
- Dishwasher safe: No
- Airtight: No
The Pros:
- Stylish
- Versatile
- Easy to use
The Cons:
- Hard to clean
- Expensive to buy in multiples
What Others are Saying:
These baskets have a 4.8-star rating from more than 400 reviews on Amazon.
Buy the Best Choice Products Water Hyacinth Pantry Baskets:
Other Pantry Storage Containers to Consider
Antimbee Spice Drawer Organizer
If you do have a drawer you want to devote to spice storage, these tiers are helpful. They lift your spice jars slightly, so they’re easy to grab and see when you’re cooking. You can also expand them from 13 inches to 26 inches, allowing them to fit most drawers. However, because not everyone has this kind of storage, I didn’t include it in my top picks. Get the Antimbee Spice Drawer Organizer at Amazon for $15.87.
Chef’s Path Airtight Storage Boxes Set
This 10-piece container set is great for dried goods and comes with different lables so you know what’s inside. It’s airtight, although the lid looks a little more tricky to open than other options on this list. Plus, they’re quite small so you can’t fit too much in it. Get the Chef’s Path Airtight Storage Boxes Set at Amazon for $35.99.
Hold Everything Stacking Spice Jars
These jars are so great for those of use who want to decant their spicies to look pretty and organized. They stack on top of each other and the top of the lids are lipped, so nothing will fall over or spill in your pantry. At 6-ounches each, they might be too big for not frequently used spices but they can also hold other dried goods. Each jar is pretty pricy for each though! Get the Hold Everything Stacking Spice Jars at Williams Sonoma for $14.95.
Why You Can Trust Me
Hi, I’m Maria! I’ve been cooking and baking (and blogging it all!) for years. As you can imagine, without good organization, my kitchen could get really messy! So it’s about time I share some awesome pantry storage options to help you get your kitchen in order, whether you have an overwhelming amount of ingredients on hand (to bake constantly, or you’ve only stocked the bare essentials to meal prep a few times a week.
The top picks on this list are options I have in my kitchen or ones that have great reviews from Amazon customers or reviewers at editorial sites. If you’ve been meaning to organize your pantry, take this as your sign to get it done!
Everything to Know Before Buying Pantry Storage Containers
What to Consider Before Buying Pantry Storage Containers
After renovating our panty, I found there’s a few things you should consider when trying to organize your pantry.
Space: First, you want to consider what kind of storage space you have. For example, if you have several shelves you can spare, you might like a large set of containers to fill up that area. Also, make a note of whether you can stack containers on top of one another or if you have shallow shelves that can only fit some short bins.
Foods: Of course, you also want to think about what foods you plan to store. You can organize individually-packaged foods in bins or baskets, but you’ll want airtight options for foods you plan to empty into the containers.
Size: The size of containers you go with is dependent on the space you have and foods you plan to store. You want to make sure your cabinet or shelf is tall enough for a big canister, if that’s what you need to store an entire box of cereal, for example.
Style: If you’re storing on open shelving or countertops, the style probably matters more to you. That’s where some pretty baskets can come in handy!
What Should You Put in Pantry Containers?
You only want to store dry food in pantry containers—unless it’s pre-packaged things like sodas or sauces that you’re just organizing in a bin! I like having canisters for things like cereal, pretzels, and candy; airtight containers for ingredients like flour and sugar; and bins for pre-packaged things like bread.
How Do You Label Pantry Containers?
Labeling your containers is an optional step, but it can be helpful for ingredients that look similar—you don’t want to accidentally grab powdered sugar instead of flour! I recommend buying a label maker or getting containers with reusable surfaces to write on, so you can write out exactly what you want it to say and stick it on the container. That way, you can always peel it off if you decide to repurpose the canister for something else.
How Do You Organize Cans in a Pantry?
Because cans stack easily, I like to pile them on a bottom shelf — they’re heavy and are less likely to fall from up high if you place them low! If you have multiples of something, I recommend grouping them together so you have an idea of how many you have, especially if they’re a pantry staple you want to make sure you have plenty of!
How Do You Build Out Pantry Storage?
You don’t need to redesign your kitchen in order to have a pantry! Maybe you have a closet that you don’t really need for linens or coats and you can repurpose it as a pantry. Or maybe you just need the right bins in your cabinets or drawers to make it function more like a pantry. Once you have your space, I recommend stocking up on your pantry staples, or the ingredients and foods you reach for the most. You want to be realistic about what containers and bins you need, and you need to know what foods you’ll store before you can do that! From there, choose the options you think will work best for you and get organizing!
Prices were accurate at time of publication.