Pantry Organization with Tupperware

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Spring is just round the corner, and spring cleaning routine to de-clutter and clean our homes tops our to do list. Pantry is on the priority list of things to clean for most of us. Read on to get some ideas on my Pantry Organization with Tupperware and why I choose to go with their storage systems. I will be sharing with you my system and hacks for having a perfectly organized pantry with any storage system you are likely to choose.

WHY DID I CHOOSE TUPPERWARE TO ORGANIZE MY PANTRY ?

Disclosure: This post is not sponsored. All the opinions and experiences are of my own.

In an older blog post, I shared my Fridge Organization with Tupperware not because I am fan of their product but for practical reasons. The main reason for this is that the vegetables stored in Tupperware containers stayed longer fresh and crisp. I was using Tupperware fridge containers long before I switched the same for the pantry. I love the practicality and the ease with which I have a well stocked pantry because of these modular mate containers. Plus they look good and have a clean and clinical look like a pharmacy. I could make the maximum use of space and also have a good overview of the food storage. This was the reason why Tupperware Pantry Organization system ticked all the boxes for me personally. 

In Switzerland we don’t often have the luxury of a separate pantry or huge kitchens. But we have well built and highly functional modular kitchens instead.

MOVING BRINGS CHANGES

The above is a picture of my pantry from the older apartment before we moved into our present home. The kitchen in the above picture was just one straight line and had wall cabinets above the kitchen counter. My older system prior to the above kitchen was stocked with glass jars in the pantry but was proving impractical in this kitchen. Moreover, storing one jar behind the other was complicated and I was often duplicating the same food in 2 or 3 jars, because the capacity was not enough to store 1 kg of dry goods in a 1 liter Jar.

Therefore, it was time to upgrade my pantry organization system and I haven’t regretted the present pantry organization with Tupperware till now.

But first lets dive into the pros and cons of using Tupperware for your storage solutions.

PROS AND CONS OF TUPPERWARE PANTRY ORGANIZATION

PROS

• Their products are user friendly, excellent and cleverly designed.
• Tupperware products are BPA free and lighter to handle are are made from very high grade virgin plastic.
• They are easy to stack and store.
• Dishwasher safe.
• Pantry organization with Tupperware storage systems maximizes space even in smaller pantries.
• The modular mates can easily store larger quantities without the need for duplicating the contents into many different containers.
• The different sizes enable you to buy dry goods accordingly.
• Replacement lids are often replaced free of cost from a Tupperware consultant.
• Has a re-sale value on the second hand market.

CONS OF TUPPERWARE

• Cost – Tupperware products are the most expensive in the market.
• You are bound to buy them from a consultant.
• Multi level marketing – ( I am not a fan of this business model )
• The bad rep plastic gets nowadays.

HOW I ORGANIZED MY PANTRY WITH TUPPERWARE MODULAR MATES

1. SOURCING TUPPERWARE STORAGE SYSTEMS

First of all, to revamp a practical and workable pantry, I needed to have the right containers and my choice was Tupperware, but it was expensive. I was always eyeing their promotions for some time now and biding my time. So when they ran an offer for pantry storage for their deeper modular mates, I took advantage of it. It pays to shop when they run an offer because their regular pricing of modular mates is very pricey. Furthermore, these particular containers measure 28 cm in depth with a width of 9 cm and come in different sizes. These were just perfect for any Swiss kitchen standards. They fit front to back in my kitchen cabinets and would maximize my storage space.

I ordered probably about 10 sets of these deep sizes along with their smaller sets. And built up on it whenever they ran an offer. Each set comes in 5 different sizes and this is practical when it comes to your personal needs of what you like to bulk buy and what you need in smaller quantities.

2. DE-CLUTTERING GLASS STORAGE JARS FOR TUPPERWARE

I know that the trend right now is plastic free. But I just did a reverse turn, for practical reasons. I used glass jars from Arc to store dry foods for more than a decade, prior to the Tupperware switch. Storing these jars in a pull out pantry in our old house was very practical. But our new kitchen looked a lot different and we didn’t have the big pull out pantry. Moreover, during the move my glass jars were proving to be heavy and bulky making it difficult to transport safely. And I had dozens of heavy boxes just containing my pantry items. I was determined to reduce bulky and heavy stuff before my next move.

My criteria was to get good quality and BPA free plastic storage that had a good reputation with the added benefit of spare lids or easily replaceable lids and containers. I researched a lot before plunging into this territory. Storing dry goods in Tupperware was fine with me, since I am not going to be heating up in plastic or cooking with plastic. Moreover, we don’t even have a microwave and I never store anything hot in plastic. No oily or greasy stuff will come in contact with these storage containers because oil in plastic will disintegrate plastic and leech chemicals into the food.

3. GROUPING FOOD ITEMS

Probably the most obvious thing to do would be to group similar food items. But everyone has their own system. For an onlooker my system may look random, but there is method to this madness. I usually group items according to the cuisines or food types I cook. An example of the categories I have is – Bread baking. In this group I usually have all the grains and the flour needed to bake a bread in one or two shelving units. Then the yeast or sourdough starter goes into the fridge respectively.

Since, I bake cakes or cookies very rarely, the flour that go with it do not need a special category called baking. It would make sense, but not for me personally. Therefore, I store the extras like baking powder, cake colors, essences etc. in my pullout pantry for easy access. Probably I should change that in the future, when my daughter starts her baking journey.

4. KEEPING MOST USED ITEMS CLOSE TO THE HOB

Storing the most used items like salt, oil and some spices close to the cooking area makes perfect sense to speed up the cooking process even though its not a pantry unit. Its all about practicality and the ease with which we need to work our way around. In addition to that, this saves me the extra walking and time to be more efficient and faster in the kitchen.

Things I store close to the stove top are oil, salt and an Indian spice box. I just need to pull out one of the drawers for this and its very handy that way.

5. SPICE RACK ORGANIZATION

TUPPERWARE TURN TABLE SPICE ORGANIZER

In the present kitchen, I don’t have a designated spice cabinet. But found a way to work around it with some clever organization hacks. Since I cook so many different cuisines and varieties, I have many different spices, but I don’t overdo with it. I just limit my spices to Indian spices, some all purpose spices, then some Italian and French herbs. In my opinion this is plenty enough and I can creatively cook varieties with this. You can always make your own spice blend whenever needed.

I store the Indian spices in an Indian spice box. Then I have a Tupperware turntable spice rack in my pantry cabinets, where I store the over flow and some of the rarely used spices. The rack looks sleek but needs space to turn around. All the spices are easily visible and the bigger ones easily store about 100 -150 gm of spices. The smaller ones store around 50 gm. This also depends on what you store in them. Granted this was an expensive buy, but I just love it.

Since this one rack wasn’t enought, I had to fix 3 spice racks from IKEA on the wall to store some extra herbs, and other rarely used spices.

6. LABELING

Now probably, this is an important factor in my Tupperware Pantry Organization despite using Tupperware’s almost clear containers. If you are an organization freak like me, you probably know the benefits of labeling. I do this mainly so that the other members of the family can easily find things if they need to cook in my absence.

Moreover, items in the pantry, often look similar like the different kinds of flours. For instance, I have a few different varieties of flour and it can easily add to the confusion. The labeling will help and will be your life saver. You can additionally stick the use by date below the container, so you will use its contents before expiry. If needed, sticking the cooking instructions at the back will also help in case you don’t cook that food so often.

I recently bought a label maker and have started to re-label all of my pantry storage containers. Tupperware also sells some transparent labels, but not all of it is useful for me. Therefore, its best to customize to suit your needs.

7. WHAT I DON’T STORE IN TUPPERWARE STORAGE UNITS

1. Oil- because oil will leech into the plastic causing it to disintegrate the chemicals which will leech into the oil. I store oils only in bottles.
2. Powdered spices – The color of the spices will discolor the containers and the smell will remain. I store them in glass jars, or in my stainless steel Indian spice box.
3. Salt – because salt will turn humid and its best kept in glass or ceramic containers.
4. Sugar – sugar has a powdery and a rough texture causing scratches in the containers. Its not good to have scratched plastic containers for obvious reasons. So I store them in glass jars from Arc.

8. PANTRY ORGANIZATION MAINTENANCE

The Key to any organization is maintenance. For this reason, I regularly deep clean and de-clutter my pantry twice a year. This helps me to stay on top of the game. This routine makes me sort out the food items we don’t use anymore due to dietary changes, and gives me room to add on new food items. Whenever the containers are empty, I hand wash them or run them in a short dishwasher cycle. Tupperware is dishwasher safe, but hand wash is preferable. Hence, most of the time, I wash them by hand.

While doing the half-yearly cleanup, I also downsize my storage bins and re-sell them on the second hand market. I would call Tupperware an investment and I have gotten the maximum value out of them so far. These jars have a good re-sale value on the online second hand market, especially the deeper containers. Sometimes, Tupperware also runs an exchange offer, which helps us in replacing the old for new at a discounted price.

On this note, I will conclude my blog post on Pantry Organization with Tupperware.

OTHER HOME ORGANIZATION POSTS YOU MAY LIKE

Fridge Organization

Laundry Room Organization

Low Budget Organization Hacks

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