What To Store On Those Narrow Pantry Shelves

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Like people, all pantries are a little unique in their own way, especially in older homes that are long on character. While many lucky homeowners and renters have been gifted with pantries that have expansive shelves, there are those among us whose storage spaces have strange, shallow storage that make us wonder what their purpose was in the first place. But don't despair! Narrow pantry shelves are actually a blessing in disguise. While you have to deploy some sort of organizational plan to keep wide shelves from becoming a chaotic jumble where sense and order go to die, shallow shelves allow you to see everything at a glance. If you follow Ina Garten's tip for how to organize a pantry and always face your labels outward, narrower shelves mean you'll never need to fumble around to find what you need.

To make the most of the narrow shelves in your pantry, use them to stash unique or special bottles, cans, and boxes that might otherwise get lost in the clutter of this storage space, especially if they are small. Here's the perfect place for that fancy organic cocoa powder that you use in your coffee, the infused oil you brought home from your honeymoon in Italy (made from real olive oil, of course!), your sachets of miscellaneous finishing salts, or that homemade giardiniera you sourced from the farmer's market.

Even if you only have a couple of narrow pantry shelves in the midst of bigger, roomier ones, you still owe it to yourself to utilize many of the tips we've previously covered for saner pantry storage. First of all, label everything. Yes, even things that you think are already labeled. For a pantry that runs shipshape, a portable Bluetooth label maker will become your right-hand apparatus. Knowing what is in your jars and containers (especially if you are the type to decant your spices, sugars, flours, pastas, and cereals into aesthetically pleasing clear containers) at a glance is essential. 

For bonus points, label containers with the date they were placed in the pantry, so you are never reaching for expired goods. On that same note, it's good to maintain a "first in, first out" system that ensures the oldest items are being used before newer ones that have a longer shelf life. Beyond these essentials, the nitty-gritty of organization is highly personal.

What matters in a pantry, more than any other expert advice, is that you, the home cook, know where everything is. Whether that means using shallow shelves for spices only, arranging bottles by height or color, or simply winging it, pick a system that works for you. If you set aside your narrow shelves for important ingredients that you don't want to lose, you are already winning ... having a system beyond that is icing on the cake.