Fridge Organization Using Bins and Mason Jars

Create a functional and organized fridge with these easy fridge organization ideas.  Using refrigerator bins and mason jars makes it so much easier to find what you’re looking for and will help to cut down on food waste and food prep time.

I don’t think there’s anything quite as satisfying as a pretty, organized fridge – especially after a big grocery shop! {Okay, maybe a few things.}  BUT, I still think that putting a little time and effort into developing a fridge organization system is super helpful and will end up saving you a lot of time and money in the end.  It doesn’t have to be as structured as ours is, but even a few simple steps can make a big difference!  It’s all about customizing it to what you want for the perfect fridge organization system that works for YOU!

NOTE: This post does contain affiliate links for your shopping convenience.

Why is it helpful to organize the fridge?

An organized fridge definitely looks nicer than a disorganized one, but there are actually lots of other benefits to having an organized fridge space.

1. Food is more easily accessible.  If everything has a specific spot in the fridge, it will be much easier to know where it is. You’ll save time {and patience!} by not having to rummage around the fridge looking for what you need.
2. There’s less food waste. Using bins and other containers helps to prevent foods from getting “lost” in the very back of the fridge {only to be found a month later in a less than appetizing state}.  Also, you’re more likely to use up the food you have when you can easily see it and proper food storage will help your fresh foods last longer. Less food waste is better for the environment and great for your bank account!
3. It’s easier to eat healthier. I’ve been trying to eat healthier for the last little while {and actually just started a 30 day no sugar challenge!}. I really notice that it’s so much easier to eat better when all of my food is organized. Having good, healthy food options right in front of you when you open the fridge, makes it much easier to grab some fruit or veggies rather than reach for the bad stuff.  If I keep all of my fruits and vegetables in the crisper drawers, I just tend to ignore them. 🙂

Basic Fridge Organization Tips

Getting a good system for your fridge organization will likely take a little bit of playing around.  How you organize your food items {and what you organize with!} will vary depending on the size of your family, the types of foods you frequently eat, whether or not you typically have leftovers, etc.  If you’re feeling overwhelmed, just start with a few changes and build from there.  Like any new habit, it will take some time to get used to things, so don’t give up!

To help get you started, I’ve put together some basic fridge organization tips for you.  Before you get going, you might want to write down the food items that you know you will always have on hand and start with those.  It’s also helpful to think about what items you currently have the most trouble storing/organizing so you can come up with some organization solutions around that.  Finally, before you do any shopping, make sure that you do some measurements of your fridge space so you know what will actually fit!

Ready to get organizing?  Here are some of my top fridge organization tips…

Get in the habit of doing a quick fridge clean-up before every grocery shopping trip.

It’s obviously a lot easier to clean the fridge when there are less food items in it. In addition, to being able to wipe down any spills, cleaning your fridge allows you to clear out any old food that may have expired and determine what food items you actually need to restock on.

Try to cut down on packaging when possible.

Packaging takes up a huge amount of space – especially when the containers are only partially full.  In addition, all of the various sized packages and containers can be difficult to organize and fit into the space that you have available. Whenever possible, remove any access food packaging before placing your items into the fridge.  Even better, try to buy products that use less packaging or go for bulk items.  If containers are close to being empty, you can always transfer the contents to smaller jars that take up less space.

Food prep.

Doing some basic food prep immediately after grocery shopping definitely takes a little extra time initially, but it will totally save you time in the long run.  Chopping up vegetables or tearing up lettuce makes it so much easier to quickly grab a healthy snack or prepare dinner on a busy weekday night.  The chopped veggies also take up less space and are easier to organize into storage containers.  Many fruits can also be prepared ahead of time, washed, or taken out of the original containers and stored in mason jars.  {NOTE: If you’re washing fruit, be sure to dry it well before storing to prevent rot.}

Have a dedicated space for everything.

One of the biggest things that you need to decide when you’re coming up with your organization system, is where you want to store everything.  When you’re done with your organization system, each food item {or category of food item}, should have a specific location in the fridge where they’re consistently put.  You can use this guide to give you a starting point, but sometimes you just have to go with what works best for your fridge design.  It’s recommended that milk, for example, not be stored in the fridge door since it tends to be one of the warmer areas in the fridge.  However, in our fridge, the door just works best and I have never once had a problem with the milk spoiling or not being cold.

Play around with the shelving heights.

Most fridges have adjustable shelves, so play around with different shelving heights to truly maximize your space.  If you find that you always seem to have extra space between shelves, try adding one of these pull out drawers for extra storage.

Place less used items at the back of the fridge.

Obviously, it’s a lot easier to grab things from the front of the fridge, so design your layout so the items you use the most are most readily available.  If you tend to buy larger bulk packages, try using a mason jar to hold a couple of week’s worth of food, and store the larger, bulkier package in the rear.

Choose your food storage containers wisely.

A good food storage container will help to preserve your food better and can really help to keep things neat and organized. Before you go out and buy food storage containers, think about where you will put them in the fridge and what space is available.  Try to only buy one or two sizes of containers as this makes it much easier to stack and organize, and avoid buying the storage sets that come with a ton of different sizes/shapes of containers.  Look for stackable bins as well so they take up less space when they’re not in use and being stored in your cupboards.

I really like these Lock and Lock containers.  Our fridge will fit 6 of this size and they hold quite a lot of food.  You can even get them with dividers if you choose.  I also have a few of the next size down if we don’t have too much to store. It’s actually the same width and depth {just the height is less} so the lids are interchangeable between the two.  It really does pay to invest in high, quality food storage bins as they’ll last longer and preserve your food better.  We’ve had these ones for over three years and they’ve held up well.

Label, label, label.

While you don’t need a label for absolutely everything, they do help to remind other family members where to find things {and where to put things away!}.  I created these free printable fridge labels almost three years ago and still use them.  I have replaced them once during this time as they were getting a little grungy, but the first set lasted almost two years.  You can find all of the instructions for how to print them out and what materials you need HERE.

You’ll also need to label items that are taking out of the original packaging if it’s not obvious what it is.  For items that have an expiry date, add that as well.  Depending on your memory, you might also want to label leftovers with the date that they were prepared. 😉  I just use a simple label maker for mine and place the label on the lid.  They’re quick, inexpensive, and easy to remove.  I’ve also tried these mason jar chalkboard tops which also work well – I just personally prefer the plastic tops.

Options for refrigerator bins and jars.

When it comes to choosing what bin organizers you want for your fridge, there are lots of options out there.  Start with what items you would use the most and build from there.  It’s a little bit pf a puzzle to figure out what arrangement works best, so play around with it a bit and experiment until you get it just right!

Pull out bins.

Pull out bins help you to group similar food items together and makes it way easier to grab the items that you need. Look for clear bins so you can quickly see what’s in them and a handle or pull tab to make them easier to grab.  Ideally, you want the bin to extend to the full depth of your fridge so you don’t waste any space or have items trapped in behind.  These come in a variety of sizes to accommodate almost any fridge space.  Be sure to figure out what you want to store in the bins first and then measure to make sure they’ll fit.  I wish my narrow bins fit the large mason jars, but I have to use the pint sized ones.

Egg containers.

Many fridges come with a built in egg tray, but often this space can be better utilized by other items.  I like the egg bins because they keep the eggs well protected and you can store items on top of the egg tray as well which will increase your storage space.  They also give you the option of moving around where you want to store your eggs if you need to switch things up.

Lazy susans.

I love having a lazy susan in the fridge and it makes it so much quicker to grab items towards the back of the fridge. Since the lazy susan is round, this works best for storing round containers – mason jars, yogurt containers, sour cream, cottage cheese, etc.  I tend to put everything into mason jars for a cleaner look {plus I think it helps with food preservation as it’s always sealed up}, but you don’t need to do this.  We have a small amount of space behind the lazy susan and I use this for storing items that we don’t need often {ie. mason jars of bulk seeds, nuts, etc. that are used to refill the jars in our pantry}.

Mason Jars.

I’ve been using mason jars for a while to store a lot of our veggies {especially lettuce, spinach, cut carrot sticks, etc.} and berries.  I also use them frequently to store nuts, juices, nut milks, and any other items that I want to transfer from other containers {i.e. yogurt, sour cream, parmesan cheese, dips, etc.}. They really help to prolong the life of the food as well as make everything super visible, easily accessible, and simple to organize. Personally, I prefer the wide mouth mason jars {I mostly use these and these} and like to use plastic lids rather than the metal rings.

 

Stackable Containers

It’s always nice to have some stackable options to optimize the vertical fridge space.  I have a couple of them that I use for sandwich meat and sliced cheese.  These ones are not air tight so you do have to protect the food inside.  Usually the meat and cheese comes in resealable bags so I just keep them in those and the bins keep them nicely contained.

Weck Jars

Weck jars tend to be a little bit pricier than the standard glass jars, but they are SO cute!  I love all of the sizes, but the juice jars are perfect for storing salad dressings and other sauces.  I also like the little tulip jelly jars {these use the same lids} for storing small amounts of sauces, dressings, dips when you don’t need a big jar. While I love the look of the glass lids and metal clamps, the plastic lids are definitely more user friendly if you have kids.

What we have in our fridge.

Every fridge design will probably be a little bit different to suit your individual needs and fridge model, but I thought I would list exactly what we have in our fridge.  Things can get a little pricey once you start to add everything up, but you definitely don’t need to buy everything at once. In fact, it’s probably even better if you just start with a few organization products and then add more as needed.  I’ve purchased mine gradually over the past couple of years.

 

 

Most home goods stores will sell some kind of fridge organization bins and food storage so you can always look around to find what you like the best.  If you’re lucky, you can often find a lot of fridge organization bins at HomeSense {HomeGoods}, Marshall’s, and other discount stores.  Or shop during sales or use a coupon {Bed, Bath, and Beyond carries a lot of these items as well and often has coupons}.

For those of you that prefer the ease of online shopping, I’ve linked the items that I have below.  Everything that I purchased is either from Amazon, Target, Bed, Bath, and Beyond or from finds at HomeSense.  If you have any questions about any of the items, just let me know.

Top Shelf

• covered egg holder {there is also this size which might work better in some fridges}
• narrow pull out refrigerator bin
• large pull out refrigerator bin {This fits two of these mason jars across so you’d be able to get 6 of them in with extra room to spare}
• clear, stackable containers

Middle Shelf

• narrow pull out refrigerator bin
• Lock and Lock food storage containers {we use this size the most but also have this size}.  You can also find these at Walmart.
• plastic bin for breads, buns, etc. {I think I just picked this up at HomeSense. It’s not specifically for the fridge.}

Bottom Shelf

• divided fridge storage container {this fits string cheese, the short wide mouth mason jars, individual yogurt containers, and other snacks}
• lazy susan
• Ball collection Elite Spiral canning jar {You can also find them HERE}
• Wide Mouth Mason Jar Plastic Storage Caps {I also have these Tough Top wide mouth lids. They’re a little more expensive but give you better grip if you have difficulty opening jars}

Refrigerator Door

• Weck juice jars
• Weck tulip jars
• plastic lids fo Weck jars

Whew!  This post ended up being a lot longer than I had anticipated but hopefully it helps you out and inspires you to get organizing.  Once you get started, it’s kind of fun to come up with the best ways to optimize your storage space!

More Kitchen Organization Ideas

Why stop with organizing just the fridge?  Now that you’re on an organizing roll, try one of these kitchen organization ideas…

8 Steps to an Organized Kitchen

How to Organize Under the Kitchen Sink

20 Things to Declutter from the Kitchen