15 Pantry Items You Should Toss to Free Up Space

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What do you see when you open your pantry? Whether it’s spring or not, if your shelves are full of items that have long outlived their welcome, it might be time for a spring cleaning. It’s not only a way to make cooking and meal prep more fun, but it also helps you keep track of what you have on hand and prevent clutter.

Here are fifteen items begging for a one way ticket to the trash can, to help you regain control of your pantry.

Packaged Food Past its Prime

Unbelievable American Foods Nobody Wants to Eat — Image Credit: Famartin/Wikimedia Commons

Packaged foods sometimes end up sitting around a lot longer than we’d like. If you have packaged foods such as instant noodles or snack mixes that have long since expired, don’t be afraid to toss them. These items can take up valuable space that should be filled with healthier, fresher alternatives.

Items You’ll Never Use, But Never Opened

Sneaky Culprits That Make Your Home Feel Cluttered — Photo Credit: Ajay Suresh/Wikimedia Commons

You can easily get things that look good, but don’t fit into your cooking style. If you’ve never used it and it’s unopened, give it away, whether it’s a bag of quinoa or a specialty sauce you thought you’d try but never did. It might just take up space in your pantry, but someone else may appreciate it more.

Dried Fruits and Nuts

Though delicious additions to many dishes, nuts and dried fruits can spoil as well, and after a while can become stale or rancid. If you discover nuts that have gone bad beyond their best by date or dried fruits that have gone soft, you’re better off trashing them. Fresh varieties are not simply the tastier options, they also give your meals and snacks a nutritional boost.

Expired Spices

jar spice containers organized inside the pantry — Photo Credit: Organized Mom

Spices are like fine wine, they have a shelf life. If you have jars of spices that have been sitting around for years, it’s time to say goodbye. Spices, over time, lose their flavor and potency. You can do a quick sniff test to see if they are viable. If they smell like nothing at all, toss them and make room for fresh flavors that will lift your dishes.

Unused Specialty Items

Have you got a jar of truffle oil or a bag of chia seeds you bought for one particular recipe that you’ve never used since? Sometimes specialty items can sit in your pantry for a long time. If you skip these unique ingredients, ask yourself if you’ll ever use them. If not, they’re just sitting there taking up space and collecting dust. Make some room for staples you really need.

Dried Beans and Legumes

Dried beans can be a great pantry staple, but dried beans do expire. If you’ve had those beans for years, chances are they won’t cook up as well as you would like. If you have dried beans, a good rule of thumb is to replace them every couple of years. If you can’t remember when you bought them, just let them go. Tastier dishes, and a happier cook, can come from fresh beans.

Old Rice and Grains

Rice and grains also have a shelf life similar to dried beans. Brown rice goes rancid more quickly than white rice because of its oil content. If you’re looking for a bag of rice you thought you’d forgotten about, check to see if the bag has gone bad by smelling or seeing if it’s discolored. Throw any grains that don’t look right and stock up on fresh ones.

Mismatched Containers

You probably have containers without lids or lids without containers. They live in your pantry and make it take forever to find anything to use. If you don’t know what was in that mystery container or if it’s missing a lid, it’s time to say goodbye. You’ll have a more organized pantry if you keep only the containers that serve a purpose.

Expired Baking Mixes

Like flour and sugar, baking mixes have expiration dates. If you’ve got a pancake mix that’s been in the cupboard since the last family reunion, it’s probably expired. Toss expired or ones you can’t remember using. Check those boxes for expiration dates. Much tastier results will come from fresh mixes.

Stale Snacks

Have you ever looked in your pantry and found a bag of chips or crackers at the back of your pantry and realized it’s been there since last summer? And it’s not just about the taste; stale snacks can ruin your entire snacking experience. If those pretzels are as hard as a rock, best to say good bye. Get rid of any snacks that have had better days and make room for fresh snacks that you’ll actually want to eat.

Expired Baking Ingredients

Non-Food Items You Should Always Keep in the Fridge—Experts Reveal Why! — Photo Credit: Veganbaking.net/Wikimedia Commons

Baking is an art, and if you use old ingredients, it’s like painting with old, dried out paint. Look and see if your flour, baking powder, baking soda and yeast are fresh. Yeast that has gone bad will convert your bread into a brick, rather than a fluffy loaf. If your flour smells off or has bugs in it, it’s time to throw it out. Baking success depends on fresh ingredients!

Old Chocolate

Foods Everyone Thinks Are Unhealthy But Really Aren't — Image Credit: Pixabay

A true comfort food, the one and only: chocolate. But it’s not immune to time. If you’ve got chocolate bars that have been sitting on your pantry shelf for ages, they might not taste as good as they once did. According to Dr. Bronner’s, chocolate doesn’t actually expire, but it can go bad. If it’s dull or has an odd texture, it’s best to say goodbye and get something new and decadent.

Old Sauces and Condiments

Long-Lasting Foods to Keep Your Stockpile Fresh for 30 Years — Image Credit: VeganWarrior/Wikimedia Commons

Do you have a collection of half empty sauces in the back of the fridge or pantry? These items, whether it’s a bottle of fish sauce from that one recipe you tried three years ago or a condiment you’ve grown to hate, are just taking up valuable real estate. Check the expiration dates, and if they are well beyond their prime, don’t be shy about clearing them out. You will thank your taste buds.

Expired Canned Goods

Canned Foods Nutritionists Swear By—and They Won’t Touch! — Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Although they are lifesavers in the kitchen, canned goods can expire. It’s time to look closer if you have cans that have been around longer than your last three birthdays. Look for rust, dents, or bulging tops on the cans and if you do, the cans should be thrown away immediately. Even if they don’t look bad, check those expiration dates. A can of soup that’s a few years old is not going to make a good dinner table, it’s better it goes in the trash.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.