There are a million and one ways to organize your refrigerator, and every refrigerator is set up a little bit different than the next. So what is the most efficient?
A clean and organized fridge:
- helps to prevent wasting food and costing you more money (because you forgot you put those eggs all the way in the back and now they're bad)
- promotes healthy eating (when you put the healthy snacks up front)
- helps keep foods at their freshest (when you put them in their proper location)
I'm excited to share with you my top tips on how to set up and organize your fridge like a badass.
(1) CLEAN IT
First, empty out your fridge. As you empty it, check expiration dates and throw away as needed. Bonus - throw away the processed, unhealthy foods too. You don't need those.
Then wipe down the shelves, drawers, containers, and fridge walls.
Now you'll have clean space to fill with healthy meals and snacks!
(2) SET IT UP PROPERLY
Keeping your refrigerator too bare or too packed, too warm or too cold, can have an effect on the efficiency of it, disrupting the air flow and temperature.
The temperature should be at or below 40 degrees F, or check the specific settings on your refrigerator. Buy a small thermometer to keep in there at all times and check periodically.
(3) DIVIDE AND ASSIGN
The goal is to be able to see as much of the food in your fridge as possible.
Clear bins are a great accessory for this. Group items together by similar foods, by meals, have one for meal prep, or everyone in the family gets their own.
Meal prep containers are great for organization. Glass or plastic containers with lids are neater than using plastic or foil covered plates. I personally use glass containers at my house because it's the least toxic, the nicest looking, and easy to see inside of.
Start labeling your food containers with dates: eat by, expired by, Monday's breakfast, etc.
(4) LOCATION
Put your healthy snacks front and center or towards the top, like fresh cut veggies, cubed cheese, and hard boiled eggs.
Mixing your fruits and vegetables isn't always a good idea because they need different types of humidity.
Keep your vegetables in the high-humidity drawer, while placing your ripe fruit and mushrooms in the low-humidity drawer.
If you only have one drawer, keep wilting veggies in the drawer and keep your fruit in a separate container somewhere else in the fridge.
Keep meat and fish on the lower shelves, the coolest part which helps to avoid cross-contamination of foods. Be sure to keep these areas the cleanest!
(5) WHAT'S THE DOOR FOR?
The doors are typically the warmest part of the fridge, so ideally you should be storing your condiments here.
This is also a good spot for beverages or nut butters for easy access.
(6) EXPIRATION AND ROTATION
Use the "first in, first out" rule. Rotate your leftovers, milk, eggs, etc. with the oldest in the front and the freshest in the back to avoid expiration and waste.
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