The Best Healthy Food Options To Keep in Your Kitchen And How To Organize Them

This blog post was done in collaboration with The Pop Home, the original version of the post can be found here!

We are well into 2021 and many people have found themselves renewing their New Year’s health resolutions – whether they are reviving their original or revamping with practicality in mind. 

Maryann Walsh, Registered Dietitian, explained that many people lose sight of their healthy eating goals because they overcomplicate things in the kitchen and grow frustrated, so they fall back to their old trends. 

Maryann says, “Like so many other aspects of life, nutrition is one that truly thrives on having a plan and staying organized. By keeping some staples in your refrigerator, freezer and pantry, healthy weeknight meals can be thrown together quickly. This means less stress and less ordering take out!”

The POP Home has teamed up with Maryann to give you a list of the best foods to keep in your kitchen for nutrition success and practical tips on how to keep them organized to help you maintain your healthy eating habits. 

We have broken down the three food storage areas with food recommendations and storage suggestions below:

Pantry Staples:

Brown Rice and Quinoa - Nutritious grains that have a long shelf life. 

Canned Tuna and Salmon - Quick and easy lean protein sources that are perfect for sandwiches and salads.

Whole Wheat Pasta and Chickpea Pasta - Prepared quickly and mixed with protein and vegetables or your favorite marinara sauce.

Canned Beans - Black beans and kidney beans are a great source of plant protein, perfect as a side dish or to add to salads and soups.

Almond Milk – Keep a carton of shelf stable almond milk in your pantry to use in coffee and cereal, eliminating the risk of running out. 

Oats - A staple for a hearty breakfast or a healthy treat.

Pantry Organization:

When organizing your pantry, the goal for making healthy choices is to keep the foods that you want to grab most often front and center. If you store the potato chips at eye level, you’ll find yourself more likely grabbing them when you’re hungry. 

Decanting and labeling your rice, pasta and oats allows you to see these pantry staples. Check out this blog which breaks down what needs to be decanted and what does not. 

When you are storing items in your pantry, it is key to keep items contained, labeled, and pulled to the front of your shelves. Keep similar items together. For simplicity and practicality, you should organize pantry shelves to include items grouped together by meal or category. For instance, create a shelf for dinner prep, which would contain pastas, grains, beans. 

If you decant items in airtight containers, such as OXO Good Grips or this less expensive option , keep the containers pulled to the front and only allow extras of that item to be placed behind the container for refills when necessary. 

Items like pouches, such as the rice suggested by Maryann, should be contained together in a pantry bin. Keeping items contained prevents chaos within a pantry, as it maintains boundaries for where items belong. When not contained, items will inevitably make their way to the back of the pantry and be forgotten. 

A divided lazy Susan is a great option for creating a go-to snack section in your pantry. By filling with your favorite healthy prepackaged snacks, you can spin to find a quick option on the go. 

Fridge Staples:

Buy Pre-Cut Veggies: Keeping pre-cut or cutting your veggies and putting into plastic containers will make you more likely to use them throughout the week in a stir-fry or a salad or sautéed as a side dish, opposed to buying them and just letting them go bad.