The Only 8 Pantry Categories You Really Need
Read time: 4 minutes
One of the easiest ways to overcomplicate pantry organization is to create too many categories.
It can be tempting to give every type of food its own bin, label, or section, especially when you are looking at beautifully organized pantries online.
But in real life, the more specific the system becomes, the more maintenance it usually requires.
And let's be real, the majority of us don't have a huge walk-in pantry space with abundant shelving. Most of us are working with limited pantry real estate.
Broad categories beat micro-categories nine times out of ten because they make the pantry easier to use and easier to maintain.
When groceries come home, you should not have to stop and think about exactly where every item belongs.
If someone else in your home is packing a lunch, making breakfast, prepping dinner, or helping unload, the system should make sense to them too.
For most pantries, these are the eight categories I use again and again.
Backstock
Backstock is where the extras live.
Duplicate condiments, unopened snacks, extra cereal, bulk purchases, extra paper goods, or anything you do not need in your everyday rotation can live here.
Keeping backstock separate from your everyday pantry makes it much easier to see what you actually have available.
It also helps prevent that feeling of shelves being completely full when half of what you're really looking at is duplicate product.
For backstock, I go high and I go low. The top shelves and floor space are usually great for this category. Using large bins and lazy susan's is my go-to.
Snacks
Snacks are one of the few categories I often break down further.
In many pantries, I separate them into:
Large snacks and small snacks.
Large snacks may include chips, crackers, pretzels, popcorn, or larger boxes and bags.
Small snacks might include granola bars, fruit snacks, pouches, snack packs, or individually wrapped items.
If the pantry door has storage, (or the ability to add storage), I often use this for smaller snacks.
If everything needs to live on shelves, larger snacks work well in deep bins while smaller snacks can live in divided or stackable bins.
The point is not to give every snack its own home, it's simply to create enough structure that the category is easy to use.
Especially for homes with kids, they change their minds often about which snacks are the favorite of the week, so keeping it broad means you don't have to constantly swap labels or rearrange.
Meals
Meals are the other category that may need a little more customization.
Depending on how you eat and cook, you might keep this as one broad category or break it down into smaller sections like:
Dinner
Lunch
Pasta
This Week's Meals
There is no one correct way to do this.
It will greatly depend on the amount of space you are working with as well.
Your pantry should reflect how you cook.
If you meal plan heavily, a "this week" section may be incredibly helpful, especially if you are not the only one making meals.
If your pantry holds a lot of pasta, sauces, and meal starters, separating those may make more sense.
The system should support your routine, not force you into someone else's.
Breakfast
Cereal, oatmeal, pancake mix, breakfast bars, syrup, bread, nut butters, and other morning staples can all live together.
This creates a simple breakfast zone without needing to break everything down into smaller categories.
If breakfast is something people in your home often prepare independently, keeping these items together can make mornings easier too.
Bread + Grains
Bread, tortillas, wraps, rice, quinoa, breadcrumbs, and similar staples can live together here.
This category may be small in one pantry and take up an entire shelf in another.
That is completely fine.
Your categories do not need to be equal in size, they only need to reflect what you actually keep in your home.
For example, in my own home I don't have more than two bread loaves at a given time, so they fit nicely with my rice, and other grains.
However, a client of mine consistently has several bread products every week, so she did one large "bread" bin and another for other grains.
These categories are broad and can serve as a starting point for you to adjust as needed to fit your personal lifestyle.
Canned Goods
Beans, soups, vegetables, broths, tomatoes, sauces, and other canned items should be grouped together.
This is one category where visibility becomes especially important.
If your shelves are deep, a simple can riser can make a huge difference because you can see what is sitting behind the front row.
A riser makes it easier to actually use what you have, I use these risers on shelves that are 15" deep as well as 22" deep.
Baking
Flour, sugar, chocolate chips, extracts, baking powder, baking soda, mixes, sprinkles, and other baking supplies can all live together.
This is also one of my favorite categories to place inside a large bin.
One of the biggest benefits of using large bins for broad categories is that you can pull the entire category out at once.
When I want to bake, I can pull out my baking bin and have almost everything I need right there instead of reaching into the pantry for ingredient after ingredient.
Personally, I don't bake often and when I do it's a simple setup.
I know from experience though that those of you who bake as a source of enjoyment or a hobby will need a more intricate system. The grab and go bin still works as a starting point, the items you use the most or the most basic ingredients.
Then from there, you can categorize your baking items based on what you personally use and see how much space you will need. One thing to ask yourself: "Does everything need to live in the pantry or are there items I use much less frequently that could have a different spot in the kitchen?"
For some, pantry real estate is small and extremely valuable so make sure it's filled with items you're actively using.
Beverages
Coffee, tea, drink mixes, juice boxes, sparkling water, bottled drinks, protein powders, and other shelf-stable beverages can live together.
Depending on the pantry, this category might also include reusable water bottles or drink accessories.
Again, let your actual habits determine how much space this category needs.
When Should You Break a Category Down Further?
Only when doing so makes the pantry easier to use.
That is the rule I would use.
Breaking snacks into large and small items makes sense because the products are physically different sizes and often require different storage. You may need an additional "nuts & fruit" bin because you have those on hand consistently in bulk.
Breaking meals into dinner, lunch, pasta, rice, or this week's meals may make sense because it supports the way you cook.
But creating tiny categories just for the sake of being organized can actually make the system harder to maintain.
If everyone has to stop and think about where something belongs, the system may be too complicated.
Broad categories give you structure without requiring perfection.
The Products I Use Most Often
You do not need dozens of organizing products to create a functional pantry.
The products I use most often are actually very simple:
Large pantry bins
Can risers
Lazy susans for bottles and corners
Stackable bins for smaller items
Door organizers- great for small snacks, small beverages, small breakfast items, accessories, and more
Water bottle organizers
Label maker
That is really it.
The product should solve a problem.
A large bin can contain an entire category and let you pull everything out at once.
A lazy susan can make an awkward corner usable.
A riser can help you see cans that would otherwise disappear.
Stackable bins can keep similar snacks from becoming one loose pile.
You do not need to fill every shelf and open space with product.
You only need the pieces that make the system easier to use.
Your Pantry Categories Do Not Have to Match Mine
These are the eight categories I use most often, but your pantry does not need to look exactly like mine.
You may bake constantly and need a large baking section.
You may rarely bake and only need one small bin.
You may pack several lunches every day and need a dedicated lunch category.
You may prefer to keep those foods inside snacks and meals.
You may want to decant all your dried fruits, nuts, and small snack items.
You may never want to decant anything and simply put all the bags into one labeled bin.
The goal is not to create the "correct" pantry. The goal is to create one that makes sense for the way you live.
If the system is easy to understand and easy to maintain, it's a success.
KEEP GOING
If you are ready to add product to your pantry, I have put together a curated list of the pantry organizers I use and recommend most often.
And if you want help figuring out which categories, layout, or products make the most sense for your specific pantry, you can learn more about my Virtual Organizing services.
You do not need a more complicated pantry.
You just need a simpler system.
