How to organize your fridge properly: 3 easy tips

Home organization tips and tricks are everywhere these days, from the pantry to the playroom, but what about organizing your fridge? When everything is neatly organized, it’s far easier to see what you have on hand and what you need to pick up on the next trip to the grocery store. On top of that, good fridge organization can help you cut down on household food waste!

So, let’s talk about how to organize your fridge properly and how to store produce properly. Read on for five fridge organization ideas that will help you transform your refrigerator setup, reduce food waste, and put a smile on your face whenever you open those doors.

1. Clean It Out

Remove All Items

 

The first step towards stellar refrigerator organization is to take everything out of your fridge. It might be tempting to skip this step, but we promise it’ll make a world of difference.

Be sure to empty everything from your crisper drawers to the shelves on the inside of your fridge doors. This is also a great opportunity to toss expired condiments and other items.

Wipe Down All Surfaces

Once you’ve emptied your fridge, wipe it down thoroughly. We recommend using a kitchen cleaner and a microfiber cloth to reduce paper towel usage.

Cleaning any food spills and removing debris from your fridge will give you the perfect clean slate to restock and organize all your foods that go in the fridge.

Get Rid of Smells

Is your fridge clean but a little smelly? We’ll take care of that, too.

Odors from food and produce can sometimes linger and affect the rest of the items in your fridge. A refrigerator air filter works even better than baking soda to capture and keep odors away, keeping your fridge and freezer smelling fresh.

2. Store Food in Correct Compartment

Next up on our guide on how to organize your refrigerator: know which fridge shelves you should store your food on.

According to a recent article on The National News, the average per capita food waste in the UAE is 2.7 kilos per day. You can cut down on waste in your own household by understanding how and where certain foods should be kept.


Keeping your refrigerator organized will also help you reduce waste—when you can see what you have on hand, you’ll be more likely to use it and less likely to accidentally purchase extra while shopping.

Functions of Different Fridge Compartments & Shelves

Here is a quick explanation for what should go where in your fridge:

1. Dairy Bin: Best for butter or soft cream spreads
2. Expandable Door Bin: Bins allow you to move to fit tall items like wine, juices, and water.
3. Door Bins: Condiments, juices temperature-safe foods frequently used items or small jars that might get lost on shelves. 
4. Upper Shelves: Great location for leftovers, drinks, and ready-to-eat foods.
5. Middle Shelves: Great location for leftovers, yogurt, snacks like hummus and fruit cups.
6. Lower Shelves: Raw meats (in proper storage containers) and dairy products like milk, yogurt, sour cream and cottage cheese should be stored on lower shelves.
7. Crisper Drawer: Crisper drawers are designed to store produce. Fruits and vegetables are best kept in different crisper drawers, this helps to keep produce fresh, so you waste less food and save more money. 
8. Snack Zone: Best for cheese sticks or other small easy to grab snacks.

Now let’s move on to learn how to store food properly in each section of your refrigerator.

Top Shelves Section

 

You might think of your fridge as one area that keeps everything equally cold. However, if you have a large family who frequently opens the refrigerator and interacts more with certain shelves, your fridge can have slight variances in temperature that can affect how well food keeps. This is why proper fridge organization is particularly important.

The top shelf of your fridge can be warmer than the lower shelves because they’re interacted with more often, for example, so this is a good spot to store:

• Already cooked leftovers
• Ready-to-eat foods
• Prepared salads, berries, herbs, drinks, and dips like hummus
• Other items that aren’t raw.

Bottom Shelves Section

Bottom shelves are go-to storage spot for raw foods and other perishable products that need to be kept quite cold. Uncooked meat and fish, along with dairy products like milk and yogurt, will keep the best down here.

Crisper Drawers

Crisper drawers work by blocking out dry air while still removing excess moisture, creating the perfect level of humidity needed to preserve your produce. Citrus fruits, apples, broccoli, carrots, celery, cauliflower, cucumbers, and peppers are just a few examples of produce that will do best when kept in a crisper drawer.

Fridge Door

The fridge door is typically the warmest area of a refrigerator if you’re in a larger household that tends to frequently open and close your fridge. Because of this, you’ll want to avoid storing perishable foods like dairy products here.

When it comes to refrigerator organization, the fridge door is best used for items with long shelf lives, such as condiments, pickles, salad dressings, syrups, and drinks.

>>> Relevant reading: Best refrigerator temperature for food

3. Fully Utilize Fridge Containers

 

Here’s a simple refrigerator organization idea for you: fridge containers! These versatile storage tools are a great way to keep specialty foods neatly stored and visible. Whether it’s a simple bin, an extra shelf, or something that spins, you’ll love how handy an extra container can be.

Fridge Organizers for Snacks

Simple refrigerator organizer bins are amazing for corralling and storing small snacks that tend to clutter up a fridge. Try one bin, and you’ll be hooked once you’ve seen how easy it is to organize juice boxes, cheese sticks, condiment packets, and more.

Can Dispenser

Loose cans are even worse offenders when it comes to refrigerator organization. Keep all your favorite sodas and sparkling waters stocked and easy to access with a can dispenser.

Another plus: this kind of container will help you avoid that “oh no!” moment when a runaway can rolls out and hits the floor.

Egg Containers

Whether you like them scrambled, fried, or over easy, eggs are a fridge staple. That unsightly, unwieldy carton? Not so much. Keep your weekly dozen organized and within easy reach with an egg container instead.

Rotating tray

A rotating tray makes it so much easier to get at the food items in the back of your fridge. No more shuffling things around to reach those leftovers or condiments!