How to Organize Your Spice Cabinet By Category

Do you waste too much time searching for lost bottles of spice you KNOW you have but can’t find? Do you tend to have duplicates or even triplicates of the same spice taking up too much space?

Let’s get rid of that black hole in your spice cabinet:

As a professional organizer, I’ve seen countless spice cabinets in chaos – duplicate bottles of cinnamon hidden in corners, expired herbs lurking in the back, and frantic searches for that one crucial spice needed to make super that night. It’s time to put a stop to that.

It’s almost as if you have a black hole residing in your spice cabinet.  Spices go in, and poof… it’s gone. Then just as fast as they disappeared, they show up again, right AFTER you purchase another bottle. It’s time to get rid of that black hole and keep your spice cabinet organized for good.

Here are step-by-step directions for organizing your spice cabinet:

Step 1:  Take all of your spices out of your cabinet and sort them.

Place all duplicates together. Check expiration dates and throw out all expired spices. I find more expired items in spice cabinets than in any other room in the house. If you can’t find an expiration date, open it and give it a sniff – if there’s little to no aroma, it’s not going to taste good, so it’s time to say goodbye.

Step 2:  Duplicates: leave the bottle that is closest to expiring with your main spices to be used and set the others aside.

Remove the duplicate bottles of the same spice and set them aside. If two duplicates have a similar expiration date, you can combine them to save space.

Step 3:  Organize your spice cabinet  by grouping related spices together.

I like to group spices according to the category rather than alphabetically because it requires less maintenance. If you happen to store your spices in your pantry, consider storing them in the cabinet next to your stove instead, this will make them much more convenient to use when you are cooking.

This is a logical breakdown that works well for most home cooks:

I like to think of these spice categories as little families. And families…like to live together:

• Sweet Spices: These are your baking essentials and warming spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, cardamom, and cloves. Group these together since they’re often used in combination for baked goods and seasonal recipes.
• Savory Herbs: Create a section for dried herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and sage. 
• Peppercorns and Heat: Dedicate space to your heat-bringing spices – black peppercorns, red pepper flakes, cayenne, paprika, and chili powders.
• Stand Alone Seasonings: Group your spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, celery seeds, and ground mustard. These versatile spices are often used in multiple categories of cooking.
• Salt and Garlic Family: Create a separate section for various salts, garlic powder, onion powder, minced onion and other allium-based seasonings. I store basic salt and pepper here, too.
• Seasoning Mixes: These are seasoning mixes often used for grilling but sometimes used indoors as well. Seasoning salt, BBQ rubs, and specialty seasoning blends fall into this category.  Since these often come in larger containers, I store them off to the side but in the same cabinet, together in an open storage bin.

Step 4: Now that your spices are sorted into categories, here are some helpful tools to keep them together:

Lazy Susan’s, tiered shelves and small plastic bins work well to make spices easier to sort, see and find. For narrow cabinets, door-mounted racks work well to make extra storage space. Arrange everything so that each and every spice can be seen at a glance with no bottles hiding behind other bottles.   

Group all of your spice categories together, for example, put all your herbs on the tiered shelving, your salts and garlics on the Lazy Susan, grilling spices in a plastic bin, and sweet spices in the door mounted rack, etc.

When you’re done, you will have assigned a permanent home to each of your spice families and will now be able to immediately locate a specific bottle of spice when you need it. 

Step 5:  Place all of your duplicates together in a separate location to ensure that they do not get used before the older bottle is gone.

A good place might be in a plastic bin on the top shelf of the spice cabinet where you can see and not forget them, but they are out of the way.

Step 6:  Don’t let your spice cabinet exceed its clutter threshold.

Once your spice cabinet has too many spices in it, it becomes less functional and more annoying to use. You will be able to find things better if you don’t overcrowd your spice cabinet and try to cram too much in there.

The same rule can be applied to your entire home. This is the most common reason I see for having a chaotic spice cabinet.

If you find yourself knocking bottles over and having to pull out several bottles just to find the one you’re looking for, that’s a clear sign that your spice cabinet’s clutter threshold has been exceeded.

It is a common mistake to overstock your pantry and spice cabinet. You’ll be able to stay in control of your inventory better if you resist doing this.  In a nutshell, don’t buy more than you have room for. Once you have to place a bottle of spice in a different place than within its group family, due to lack of space, you will no longer be able to find it quickly when you need it.

Step 7: Always use a grocery list.

When you run out of a spice, immediately add it to your grocery list so that you don’t forget to buy it. Always check you duplicate  bin on the top shelf before you buy replacements.

NEVER make guesses while you are shopping. You may think you can remember what you already have at home…but trust me, you can’t. This is how you end up with too many duplicate bottles of spice that you don’t have room for. 

I have created a free printable pantry inventory that doubles as a grocery list. Use this list to ensure that you come home with everything you need and nothing that you don’t.

Step 8: Now that all of your spices have a home, always return them home when you are done with them.

Once all of your spices have been assigned a home and they are living within their group family, keep them sorted and grouped together as you do your cooking.  If you do this, you will never have to look for the lost garlic salt you didn’t put away last time you used it.

Step 9: Maintain your system.

Do a quick audit every six months. Get rid of expired spices and return any misplaced spices back to their homes. This helps prevent the accumulation of expired spices and keeps your categories clean and organized.

With this category-based organization system, you’ll spend less time searching for spices and you’ll make cooking easier for yourself.  Plus, you’ll have a better understanding of your inventory.

Congratulations!  Your spice cabinet is organized, and you have just eliminated that nasty black hole from your kitchen.  All of your spices can now be seen and found easily!  Now you can move on to your pantry…to find out how to keep your pantry organized click here.

A meal planning system that will pay for itself in:

Reduced grocery bills, saved mental energy, less food waste, fewer trips to the grocery store, more family time, better nutrition, and a more organized pantry.