A small apartment doesn’t have to mean you have to give up on grand gourmet escapades — you just have to get creative!

Here are a few ways you can store food in your small kitchen and make the most out of the space you have.

Best small kitchen storage hacks

Get the most out of your freezer

Your freezer is your best friend, and learning how to utilize this chilly appliance will really level up your food storage game. There are all sorts of things you can freeze that will not only stay  preserved for longer, but will return to almost the same level of quality as it was before it was frozen.

Slice up your vegetables and store them in Ziploc bags where they can be easily accessible and ready to use — plus, freezing vegetables locks in all the nutrients and flavors, and there won’t be much of a textural difference after they’re cooked, anyway! Why do you think so many veggies are sold in the frozen section?

You can also store bread in the freezer, which is especially beneficial if you don’t go through too much bread at a time. Rather than risking mold, staleness or bugs by keeping your bread at room temperature, store sliced bread, buns, scones or muffins in the freezer in a paper or plastic bag that will protect it from freezer burn. When you’re ready to use it, grab what you need from the freezer and reheat it in your air fryer or microwave until soft and warm. You can make your week-old French loaf taste like it’s just come from the bakery!

The freezer is a great place to store your meal prep, too. Especially if you don’t want to overcrowd your fridge space. Keep anything from soups to pasta to cooked meat, vegetables, fruit, baked goods and more portioned in plastic or silicone sandwich bags for use later. You can use containers, sure, but bags will take up less space and can stack together nicely when frozen in flat sheets. 

Break down cardboard boxes

Cardboard boxes take up a lot of space in pantries, and when they’re practically empty there’s not much use having them around. 

Free up space by switching to bag clips, Ziploc bags, stackable tins or glass jars instead of keeping shelf-safe items in their original boxes. If you buy a lot of the same item, then keep that half-empty bag of cereal in the same box as the new bag, or consolidate those few bags of instant oats and join them in the box of new oats. Got a dozen boxes of tea bags that you don’t go through particularly quickly? Make a single box of random tea bags and recycle the other boxes — the bags have the labels, so no need to keep the boxes! 

Use the right containers

If you've only got so much storage space in a cabinet or pantry, then use as much of it as you can by finding the right containers! 

Round containers are nice and all, but they aren’t nearly as space-efficient as square or rectangular containers. Containers that are designed to stack well are better, too, since you’ll be able to make use of any vertical space available. 

If your cabinets have adjustable shelves, arrange them so that you can stack your containers as efficiently as possible and can fit in any oddly-shaped items you might have. If your containers are mismatched or are making it difficult for you to use your storage space, then it may be time to rethink your container collection.

Use your doors

The back of a door is prime-time real estate when it comes to storing shelf-stable items. 

Use an over-the-door hanging shoe organizer thing (like this) to store snacks, loose items and whatever else can be stashed in a small pocket. You’ll be surprised at how much you can keep in this easy-to-overlook spot!

Decorative storage

Utilize your counter space or the top of your fridge by incorporating functional décor into your small kitchen. Find some nice containers, tins, jugs or tubs that fit the décor of your apartment and use those to store items in plain sight — it’s especially handy if you want easy access to your most-used items like coffee, sugar, flour or snacks.

Spices are a great example of a food that can be both decorative and functional. Use magnetized spice containers to store your spices on the exterior of your fridge where they’re not only easy to grab, but also nice to look at. 

Use shelf risers

If you’re finding your shelves too tall or are haphazardly stacking items on top of each other, then it might be time to get your hands on some shelf risers. 

Shelf risers add an extra level of vertical storage to any space, whether it be a countertop, a cabinet, on your fridge or on a windowsill. Make use of that vertical space without creating shaky stacks of cans and containers!

Make a meal plan & use what you’ve got

We all have a few cans, boxes and tubs of food items that we’ve kept for who-knows-how-long and are taking up valuable space. This is your sign to use them — you can always go get another one if you really need it again. 

Make a list of the foods you want to get rid of and use that list to make a meal plan for the next few days or over the course of a week. Not only will you find actual uses for those odd items, but you won't have to face the eternal question of what to make for dinner tonight. By the end of it all, you’ll have used up your items, made some extra space in your kitchen and, if you’re lucky, tried out a new favorite dish!

Don’t let a small kitchen intimidate you. You can still cook and bake to your heart’s content and store the food that you want to with ease — you just have to get a little creative. 

Good luck!

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Featured photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash