Best fridge storage containers and boxes 2023 to organise your food

Feb 15, 2024

The easy kitchen reset

ou’d be forgiven for thinking that the once-boring chore of cleaning the fridge had gotten new representation. A cool new start-up with grand ideas on how to make this notoriously tedious task almost - dare we say it? - sexy.

Because it’s undeniable that these days, a tidy and well-organised fridge has become a status symbol, and it’s all thanks to the powers of social media.

Instagram and TikTok are solely responsible for the shiny new state of our fridges, with fruit, veg, cheese, meat and eggs all lined up neatly in special compartments and storage boxes. Accounts like @TheHomeEdit, who organise, straighten and tidy the homes of the rich and famous with military precision show us mortals how to DIY the same systems without coughing up for their premium services.

The biggest take-away that we can detect is that everything comes down to transparent compartments. And then further compartments within those said compartments, stopping short of boxing every individual blueberry (that would be silly). Add some labelling and you’re in business. It’s the easiest way to see what you have at a glance and keep the contents of your fridge in a state of perfect order.

Organising the fridge isn’t just for aesthetics alone: it can cut down on food waste too - according to WRAP, we Brits waste 5m tonnes of perfectly edible food every year. Stands to reason really: if you can see what you’ve got, you’re far more likely to eat it.

No more slinging all your fruit and veg into the crisper only to rediscover it marinating in rotten green sludge weeks later: good fridge organisation keeps your five-a-day in shop-worthy display, making it far more appealing to the eye, and therefore to your appetite.

Storing things in containers also clears clutter and reduces the possibility of food poisoning by keeping cooked and raw foods away from each other.

Once your fridge is properly organised, unloading the weekly shop into it will be a breeze. That said, there is an order to storing produce, both for ease and to cut down on cross-contamination. It goes a little something like this -

Ready to dive in? Once you’ve sorted through your fridge fare, binned the expired products and cleaned the shelves of spills, you’ll be ready to organise your fridge from the top down.

Here are some of the storage options to help you on the way.

See the best fridge storage accessories for organisation below

If your attempts at meal prepping are regularly thwarted by lack of proper containers, this bundle is about to end every last one of your excuses.

You’ll get 24 glass-bottomed containers, in different sizes but all completely leak proof thanks to the air-tight flip lids. The main draw for this is that unlike some plastics, the borosilicate glass won’t affect the taste of food, and you can put hot food in wihtout waiting for it to cool first - perfect if you’re saving tonight’s dinner leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch at the office.

Most of them nest inside each other too, making them easy to store. Just be careful when cleaning them; the glass is dishwasher-safe but the lids are not.

From pots of jelly to cartons of juice, keep the interior of your fridge going for organisational gold with The Home Edit’s line of clear bins. Built in handles make them easy to slide off the fridge shelf and get to the goods within.

Along with compartments, The Home Edit also preaches stacking boxes. Buy sets of these bins and set them on top of each other to make storage more compact or split them up and bring order to your freezer and pantry as well as your fridge.

Waste not, want not. Keep produce fresh and crisp with this four litre container featuring an an elevated colander and adjustable vent. Available in multiple sizes, say farewell to water-logged lettuce and mushy strawberries.

Whether you’re fed up of finding stale crisps in your mouth or you want to stop losing frozen peas to the depth of the freezer, these simple coloured bag clips are an essential in every British home.

Offered in three sizes and fitted with a strong and flexible hinge, they’ll keep your snacks, powered drinks and other ingredients fresher for longer by sealing them tight. Trust us, once used, you can never go back to risky rolling or tucking.

Perfect for portion control or separating wet food from dry, these glass containers are made for housing batch cooked meals or leftover ingredients to use again at another time.

You get 10 in the set (two for every day of the working week), each with matching air-locking lids to prevent spills as well as keep your food fresher for longer.

Homeware hounds have seen these collapsible crates in every millennial-friendly interiors from Wandsworth to West Ham. With an appealing retro feel, they’re the sort of storage you won’t mind keeping in plain sight. This bundle of four comes in sweet pastel shades with a flat surface for labelling at the front. Use them to store opened cheeses or fruit and veg within your vegetable drawers.

Keep leftovers, snacks, stock and sauces in these containers which feature an airtight lid-lock mechanism. They are available in small, medium and large sets, and will arrive all in the same size of your choice. Choose the small set and you’ll get six tubs, all holding a litre each and measuring 4.96 x 3.54 x 6.3inches.

The included labels and chalk make labelling each container easy to change if you want to store something else in the containers.

They stack easily too, saving cupboard space and making them look neater to boot.

Keep soft drinks and 300ml drinks cool with this fridge organiser, which keeps up to nine cans out of the way of your other food items.

Onions: a joy to taste, a nightmare to store, especially if you’re not using a whole one in your cooking. Enter food storage solutions specialist Joie who makes specific containers for specific food. Case in point, this orange pod that’ll stretch over onion odds and ends to keep them safe and fresh for the next time you need to add flavour to your food. Reusable and miles better for the environment than clingfilm.

The company also makes an avocado stretch pod (£3), making murky green mush a thing of the past.

A handy jar to have around the kitchen, Kilner has been a trusted name in preserving jams, pickles and fruits since it was established way back in 1842.

The clip-top and rubber seal keeps air out, meaning your food stays fresher for longer. Made out of glass, this jar if easy recyclable if you ever choose to throw it out – but why on earth would you?

Stop basil, mint and coriander leaves from wilting before you get a chance to use them with this nifty box, which keeps herbs in their prime. Fitted with three removable drawers and air vents, this herb keeper can prolong the lifespan of your leaves by an incredible 10 days.