How to Store Food in a Small Kitchen

Did you know that February is Canned Food Month?

Since I love canned food, I couldn’t let this holiday go by without a little celebration. So let’s crack open a can of canned beans and celebrate this wonderful month.

But wait…there’s a pretty big challenge when it comes to canned food. What if you live in an apartment without a big kitchen or pantry to store all that canned goodness? Where do you put all those cans?

I recently encountered this problem with some of my clients. After a few months of not coming up with any good solutions, I decided it was time to call in an expert. Kara Rota, otherwise known as the Clever Cookstr, is a fellow podcaster. She hosts an awesome show that brings you smart, savvy, and delicious tips from the kitchens of the world’s best cooks every week.

After getting to know Kara, I learned two very important things about her: She loves to cook and her apartment has a very small kitchen. Considering those two facts, I knew she would have some good advice on how to store food in a limited space. I’m excited to welcome her to the Domestic CEO show today!

Click on the arrow button in the player above to listen to the interview or download it for free from iTunes!

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• Domestic CEO: How do you shop for more than 3 days’ worth of food? I find that when you have a small kitchen, you have to go to the store a few times a week, which ends up costing me way more than if I shopped weekly because I seem to always buy a little something extra on each trip.
• Clever Cookstr: It’s really important to be realistic about what I’m going to use and to plan around meals that include lots of leftovers. There’s always an array of canned and dried beans, broths and stocks, pastas and grains, pickled vegetables, and sauce in my kitchen cabinets and in the freezer. I also keep several kinds of cooking oils, condiments and a well-stocked spice cabinet. That way, I can pick up a nice piece of fish and some vegetables that I’m in the mood for on the way home and have everything else to make the meal ready to go.
• When we splurge, it’s generally on really high-quality proteins and fresh, organic vegetables. This is the same approach that a lot of people with small apartments apply to their wardrobe: A great steak might be a statement piece that you can build a meal around based on generic, shelf-stable staples (kind of like that little black dress). I do find that having less storage space keeps me from shopping on a whim—less room for junk food isn’t a bad thing.
• Domestic CEO: So, no more junk food. Got it! Now, I’ve been really tempted to find ways of storing food items in other areas of the apartment. Do you store your food only in your kitchen, or do you use other areas as well?
• Clever Cookstr: I keep my food supplies in the kitchen. But it’s important to note that I’m only cooking for two. If there were kids involved, I would probably need to be a little more resourceful. Storage in other areas can be a great solution if you’re tight on space.
• A few clever places to find additional storage are under the bed and above cabinets, but I also know people who have added shelves in their closets and have dedicated one area to pantry goods. A good set of labeled containers can help keep everything organized and avoid wasting food. My mother also puts shelf organizers in her pantry to store cans.
• Domestic CEO: Shelf organizers sound like a great solution! Thanks for those tips. I can’t wait to apply them. Can you give our listeners some general tips on how to organize their kitchens?
• Clever Cookstr: I find that the best way to do it is to group similar things together: spices in one area, canned goods in another, and snacks together. I also like to use baskets or bins to organize smaller items. This makes it easy to grab everything at once.

My Final Thoughts

The bottom line is that just because your kitchen is small doesn’t mean you can’t have the foods and ingredients you want on hand. With a little creativity and some storage strategies, you can take full advantage of every inch in your kitchen and never run out of food.