The kitchen is the heart of the home, and arguably the most important room for your health. How you organize this space can have a surprisingly powerful impact on the healthfulness of your diet.
An organized kitchen, on the other hand, can make eating well a simpler, more enjoyable task. “When your kitchen is tidy and organized, it’s easier to see what you have, plan meals, and prepare food quickly,” says Alexia Zolis, RD, a registered dietitian in Toronto.
From kitchen storage solutions to cleaning hacks, here’s how registered dietitians recommend setting up your space for a healthy eating routine.
1. Choose Tools You’ll Actually Use
Audit your existing kitchen tools and gadgets. If you haven’t used something within the last year or so, it might be time to toss or donate it. Tools you use daily, weekly, or monthly, on the other hand, should stay within easy reach.
Once you’ve removed excess tools and gadgets, consider whether there are any you’d add to make food preparation and storage easier. For example, countertop appliances like rice cookers and air fryers can be good options for creating quick, healthy stir-fries, meat dishes, and casseroles, says Ashley Lombardi, RDN, a registered dietitian-nutritionist in Clinton, New Jersey.
Whichever tools you feel deserve real estate in your kitchen, store them where they’re easy to grab. “You want to keep these tools easily accessible, such as in a low cabinet in your kitchen or in the drawer under your stove, rather than a high cabinet or a separate room, to remove any barriers to using them,” says Alissa Palladino, RDN, a registered dietitian-nutritionist in Atlanta.
Be careful about leaving too many on the kitchen counter, to keep your space from looking and feeling cluttered, Palladino notes.
2. Keep Less-Healthy Foods Out of Sight
The saying, “out of sight, out of mind,” applies well to foods that are ultra-processed, low in nutrition, and high in calories, salt, sugar, and fat. “Most people tend to eat what’s in sight — the ‘see-food’ diet, as they call it,” says Helen Tieu, RD, a registered dietitian in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Rather than putting sweets, chips, sodas, and other less-healthy foods where they’ll immediately catch your eye, store them in harder-to-see, harder-to-access places. The bottom shelf of the pantry and the back of the pantry or the fridge are often good options. You can even take things a step further and store candy and cookies in opaque containers.
3. Put Healthy Foods on Display
Putting nutritious foods in plain sight is an excellent way to organize your kitchen to encourage healthy food choices.
Even behind the closed doors of the refrigerator, the proper organization can make you more inclined to grab healthier foods. “My recommendation is to have fruit and veggies at eye level in the refrigerator, instead of in the drawers. This way they don’t get lost and forgotten,” Lombardi says. Store them in airtight, transparent containers that showcase their rainbow of colors.
4. Keep the Freezer Stocked With Healthy Foods
Despite their reputation for being unhealthy, many frozen food items — such as vegetables, fruits, grain blends, and some meats — are just as nutrient-dense as their fresh counterparts.
Once you’ve stocked up on frozen foods, keep each food category organized in designated areas of the freezer. This way, you’ll know where to look when seeking frozen berries for smoothies or frozen chicken for dinner.
5. Keep the Pantry Uncluttered
To avoid a cluttered pantry, organize items by category. For example, this might look like keeping snacks on one shelf, canned goods on another, and sauces or condiments on another.
Stock your pantry with healthy, shelf-stable foods, such as whole-wheat or chickpea pasta, oats, nuts, seeds, and low-sodium canned beans, sauces, and nut butter, Palladino suggests. Keep these foods in easy-to-reach areas and less-healthy snacks and sweets out of sight to encourage healthier choices.
6. Keep Smaller Dishes on Hand
Worried you won’t get enough food at mealtime if you switch to smaller dishware? Brownstein encourages keeping tabs on hunger and fullness while eating to assess whether your portions are adequate.
7. Keep Your Spice Cabinet Stocked
Dried herbs and spices can help you add flavor without relying too heavily on salt. They can also make otherwise-lackluster healthy foods more palatable, which may encourage you to eat more of them. But if your spice cabinet is a jumble, finding the right flavor can become a headache.
Brownstein recommends storing dried herbs and spices in a tiered spice rack. Stash the ones you use most often on the bottom row for easy access, or arrange them in alphabetical order or by flavor profile.
8. Make Cleanliness a Priority
Whether it’s deep-cleaning each Saturday or tidying up as you cook, keeping your kitchen clean makes it more inviting, Tieu says. “Make it enjoyable by listening to music, a podcast, or an audiobook while cleaning the kitchen,” she suggests. “Cleaning with a family member can also speed up the process and make it a more enjoyable experience.”
The Takeaway
- Kitchen organization is a crucial strategy for promoting healthy eating habits.
- A well-organized, clean kitchen stocked with nutritious options promotes healthy eating habits.
- Try storing healthier foods in plain sight (and keep less healthy ones hidden), clean regularly, keep your kitchen uncluttered, and eat off smaller plates.
