Our freezer organization situation has been less than ideal for years. Our kitchen has a side-by-side freezer, which is made even smaller because the fridge had to be counter-depth so it wouldn’t block the pantry door.
When we built the house, we decided to put an inexpensive second refrigerator in the pantry instead of a wine fridge, which was one of our better building decisions.
That does expand our freezer space, but the top freezer is just a big open space with no shelves or organization. So basically we had two wonky smallish freezer spaces with no system.
The same day I ordered the new pantry containers for baking ingredients, I spent some time measuring both freezers and finding the perfect bins to make them more functional.
I didn’t take before photos because I wasn’t intending to do a post, I just needed a solution. But over a month later, both freezers are still just as organized and I’m happy I spent some of the money we’ve saved while not eating out to get bins that use the freezer space more efficiently!
Here’s the pantry freezer. I wish a had a before because everyone was in haphazard piles that could cause an avalanche if you moved the wrong item. Now this space is dedicated mostly meat/main courses and it’s always easy to find what we need.
The new containers take up the full depth of the freezer, and because they are divided, it’s easy to keep multiple items in one bin.
We currently have 4 lbs of hamburger, wrapped in 1 lb packages, plus several chicken breasts in one of the containers. As we use the meat or chicken, we take the packages from the front and anything new goes into the back of the section so we’re always rotating through the items.
You can see the dividers better in the other container because it has some free space right now. There are a few burritos in the front section, and the back holds reusable ice packs.
Better, right?
I just found an old photo of our side by side freezer, and while it isn’t the exact items from the after photo, you can see the chaos.
There are only two traditional shelves, which just led to messy piles before.
Now we have two bins on each of the shelves and it’s so much better! These bins are a smaller size than the pantry freezer, but fit perfectly to maximize the space.
It’s so nice to be able to slide the baskets forward and easily access whatever we need. We have a whole bin dedicated to corn, one for stir-fry/mixed veggies, another for rice/potatoes, and one for bagged rolls.
Now, everything is filed instead of piled. It makes meal planning and gathering ingredients for dinner easier.
You can find my divided versions of the containers here, or I just found some new undivided, but much less expensive options here. They still come in multiple sizes, so you may find that they would work. Just be sure to measure both the width and depth of your exact freezer.
Another way to make sure you’re utilizing all your food without waste is to create a freezer inventory. When you plan meals for the upcoming weeks, look at your list and try to plan around the older items first.
You could keep a simple list in a notebook by the freezer and achieve the same result, but I decided to make a pretty printable to keep me organized.
The printable is divided into sections, just like the freezer.
In each one, I wrote down what we had on hand. When we have multiples of something, like hamburger meat, I write it down multiple times (abbreviating it HB) so I can just cross one off when we use it and see how many are left.
In the Meals section, I add any ready to go meal options, from frozen pizza to homemade freezer meals. Keep a few copies handy so you can replace your inventory sheet when it gets messy.
One other tip is to add a start next to anything you know you’ve had longer and should prioritize working into a meal soon.
To print out your free inventory sheet click here!
Sarah Vogel says
Brilliant, as usual!! Our freezer is a pull-out bottom drawer, and also a chest freezer in the basement. Between the two, (especially the black-hole chest freezer), it is anyone’s guess what is in it at any given time. I am definitely going to use your checklist. I love the idea of the bins too. You are an organizing genius!!! Now, use that flour and whip up hubby a nice cake today!! 🙂
Melissa George says
Hmm. I even bought some eggs at the store, I suppose I could USE some of that flour!
MICHELLE WILSON says
has anyone else had the problem when they click on “print here” above that they just get a grey blank page? thanks.
Stacey says
Your inventory sheet is a great idea! You are so right…we lose track of what’s in the freezer. I’ve gotten pretty diligent about making sure everything is labeled and is actually something that will be eaten before it goes in the freezer. We have a bottom freezer and it’s not possible to put things in as neatly as you have done. It’s more like a pile of stuff in there. 🙂
Melissa George says
Someone really needs to re-imagine freezers again. I love that you have more fridge space with the bottom freezer, but hate that you end up with piles! We’ve had a bottom freezer and side by side and they both have some serious issues. The way our kitchen is arranged, we had to get a counter-depth fridge now and it’s shocking how much less space is inside.
MICHELLE WILSON says
Oops. I didn’t wait long enough. After typing above, I went back to the page and it finally loaded. sorry.
Melissa George says
Oh good! I’m glad it worked, but I’m sorry it is taking so long to load!
Colleen says
You my dear are a genius! I ran into the same dilemma that you describe just last month. I got the freezers organized (and threw out some really narly food :o{) but had not gotten around to figuring out how to keep better track of what we have in there and then use it for meals. Enter your cute and very usable freezer inventory sheet! Just perfect and so user friendly. Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Melissa George says
So glad the timing worked out so well! And as much as I hate that someone else had to throw away gnarly food – it does always make me feel better to know I’m not alone. Here’s to hoping the inventory sheet solves this problem for us once and all!
lilly says
mmm…i didn’t know you can store flour in the freezer. does it last longer? and does it smells like a freezer or other freezer foods when you use it? thanks!
Melissa George says
You can keep it in the fridge or freezer to keep any bugs out. I’ve never noticed a smell in our freezer like the fridge can get, so it’s not a problem for us. I’m definitely not an expert in baking, but we’ve been doing it for years and never had a problem!
Teresa says
This is quite brilliant! I’m with you on the black hole freezer. I never know what I have and I waste WAY too much. I’m going to give this a shot. Thanks!
melissa newelll says
YES I have been meaning to inventory the two freezers…excited to start this and hope to stick with it! THanks! Pinned it for others to see and use!
Marilyn says
Hi Melissa, Thanks for the great post! I too have multiple freezers: a bottom freezer, a small chest freezer, and a small upright freezer. I hate the “black holes,” but my husband does most of the cooking, (I know, I’m blessed!) and insists that “bins take up too much space.” So I’m still working on that. I did want to say a couple of things about your freezer inventory sheet. Duh! Why didn’t I think of that?! I have made them before, but put down an item with tick marks and that does NOT work. Writing it down multiple times so you can cross it off is brilliant! Also, I do have an idea. What if you put the sheet in a plastic page protector so that you can write on it with a dry erase marker? I think I’ll try that. Also, I searched for Divided Freezer Bin on Amazon and found the same ones that the Container Store sells, but for about half the price. Thanks for the printable, and for getting my wheels turning!
Melissa George says
Using a sheet protector and dry erase marker is a great idea! And I’ll look for the divided bins on Amazon again when I’m back to the computer. They only had the undivided ones before, but I’d love to swap the link out to cheaper ones! Thanks!