20 products under $20 that help organize your fridge

CNN —  

If the popularity of the #fridgeorganization hashtags on TikTok and Instagram is to be believed, people are obsessed with having a picture-perfect refrigerator.

Kristen Hong, who documents her beautifully organized and meal-prepped fridges on Instagram, is an author and blogger. Her upcoming book, “Fridge Love: Organize Your Refrigerator for a Healthier, Happier Life,” is a guide to refrigerator organization, meal prep and nutrition. To help you get the organized fridge of your dreams, we enlisted Hong and some of our other favorite organizing experts and asked them to help us pick out 20 of the absolute best products for keeping a refrigerator clean and organized, all priced under $20.

“Glass Mason jars are my favorite fridge food storage containers,” Hong says. “The clear glass helps you easily see what you have available in the fridge, and the jars are stackable so you maximize vertical space.” She uses the 16-ounce size for storing homemade dips and sauces, fresh herbs and chopped produce for use in what she calls her “in-fridge salad bar.”

Another thing about Mason jars Hong loves is that they come in a variety of sizes, so you can amass a collection that works for a lot of different food storage needs. She uses 32-ounce Mason jars for storing homemade soups and prepared salads as well as for pantry storage. “This size Mason jar also works very well for dry pantry storage for dried beans and grains,” Hong says.

“One of the easiest places to start when you’re organizing your fridge is with your condiments,” Hong says. She likes this clear plastic turntable because it’s small enough for her to grab from the fridge and place right on the table at dinnertime, so her family can easily choose their favorite condiments.

Hong found a perfect solution to storing drinks in narrow refrigerator doors: “I love the shape and height of this pitcher,” she says. “You can decant store-bought beverages, or I like to use this pitcher for infused waters or homemade oat milk.”

“I’ve had these stackable bins since I first started organizing my fridge back in 2016,” Hong says. She praises the handle design, which she says “is durable and user-friendly even for my kids,” and the versatility of the bins.

Hong calls this bin her “favorite for side-by-side configuration fridges, because it utilizes vertical space so efficiently.” She uses them in her freezer to store boxed or bagged items to prevent what she calls “inadvertent avalanches.”

Hong recommends these wire bins to people looking for an alternative to plastic refrigerator containers. She also gives them high marks for versatility, as they can work in the fridge, freezer or pantry.

People who cook regularly know how quickly small wrapped items — half a lemon here, a quarter of a red onion there, all those little pieces of cheese, etc. — can become a forgotten jumble of moldy foodstuffs. A divided lazy Susan is a great way to keep those organized and, because it’s clear, you’ll be less likely to forget to use up those little dribs and drabs.

If your refrigerator is on the smaller side, a lazy Susan may not be the best use of space. Reusable silicone storage bags can also help to keep those smaller items, like loose produce or leftovers, organized and in plain sight. And, because they’re reusable, they’ll save you money on disposable, single-use storage bags.

Another item to know about if you’re looking to cut down on waste and save money over time is beeswax wrap. It takes the place of plastic wrap and tin foil, and can be used to cover bowls or baking dishes, or for wrapping loose food. This set comes with three wraps of various sizes, and the wraps can be rinsed clean with water and reused over and over again.

Check out our review of Bee’s Wrap here.

If drawer space in the refrigerator is limited, extra plastic bins are a big problem solver. Unlike plastic refrigerator storage bins that sit on top of a shelf, these are designed to hang under shelves to maximize space. The drawers are on rails, so they slide out like regular crisper drawers for easy access.

Lisa Kron, who documents the process of making her small home functional and stylish on the site Smallish Home, loves these multipurpose bins for storing food in the fridge or freezer as well as for use in the pantry, or even to hold cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink.

Ann Lightfoot, a professional organizer and co-founder of Done & Done Home, calls this basic storage bin “one of our versatile essentials for organizing in pantries, kitchen cabinets and refrigerators.”

Busy households with many little hands (read: children) will love these super-durable food storage containers. The set of four bins has snap-on lids, so they can be stacked, and large handles that make it easy to grab — and, because they’re made of soft plastic, they can survive being dropped without cracking or chipping.

These large-capacity BPA-free plastic bins have an attached flip-up lid, making them perfect for storing fruit like apples, oranges, grapes, etc. in an easy-to-reach container that keeps the contents protected while being stored. This food storage bin works equally as well in a pantry as in a refrigerator.

People with smaller refrigerators needn’t feel left out of the organizing craze: Look for styles designated as “slim,” which are designed for use in smaller spaces. Just as with virtually any organizing job, the refrigerator is a place where you should look to use as much vertical space as possible; these stackable bins allow you to do that.

Drinks can take up a lot of space in a refrigerator, and if you find that you never have enough room for large bottles of water, soda or wine, this horizontal bottle holder can help. Home organization expert Nonnahs Driskill, founding organizer at Get Organized Already!, says of these bottle holders: “Buy two or more to use in the fridge for wine and water bottles, or in a cabinet for empty water/sports bottles.”

If you typically buy canned drinks like soda, seltzer or beer rather than bottled ones, these storage bins will allow you to stack them to maximize space. They have high sides to prevent cans from toppling over, and a flat top that allows you to stack more than one bin on top of the other to maximize vertical space in the refrigerator.

The tall, skinny can is becoming increasingly common — if you’re a fan of hard seltzers you’re familiar with these types of cans. If your go-to drink comes in a tall can, this organizer is designed specifically to accommodate them.

If cleaning the refrigerator is a dreaded chore, refrigerator mats can be a real sanity saver. This set of five mats can be cut to fit the specific size and design of your refrigerator shelves, and makes cleaning up spills as easy as pie. And, because the mats are made of a food-safe material, you can store unwrapped fruits and vegetables directly on them.