9 Things Experts Say You Should Toss From Your Pantry ASAP

Expired Spices and Condiments

As it happens, spices and condiments do expire, and then they're just wasting space. Expert organizer Tina Priestly notes that a simple smell test will let you know if your spices are too old to use and should be tossed. “Do you think it will add taste to your dish if you open the jar and there is no aroma?” she asks. Priestly notes that fresh spices are the essence of a meal and recommends storing them in tiny, sealed containers and swapping them out regularly.

Duplicates

It is easy to accumulate duplicate items when grocery shopping, especially without an itemized list of everything that's already at home or due to bulk deals. But downsizing duplicates will not only keep your pantry orderly, it will allow space for new items and ingredients you'll actually use. “Just because something was on a great sale doesn’t mean it all needs to live in your pantry,” says Rivera. “Your pantry should really be for your everyday needs,” she says.

Rivera recommends storing excess items that are guaranteed to be used in overflow storage, like in a closet or a utility shelf. However, if you know instinctively that you won’t use the items before their expiration dates, it’s best to donate them or share them with a neighbor. This both reduces food waste and helps your community.

Old Yeast and Baking Powder

If yeast and baking powder have been sitting in your pantry for some unknown amount of time, it's recommended to discard and replace them. “They just won’t rise and work properly if they have been in your pantry for too long,” explains Laurie Hise, CEO of Passionate Penny Pincher. “You’ll risk wasting all your time and possibly ending up with dense, flat baked goods.” 

Hise recommends testing a bit of your yeast by combining it with warm water and sugar, or mixing your baking powder with hot water, before tossing. If they fizz, it's still usable. If not, they're trash-bound.

Expired Canned Goods and Boxed Mixes

The expiration dates on canned goods are easy to overlook. “Yes, they are technically shelf-stable—but they don’t last forever,” says Hise. She recommends checking the expiration dates regularly and rotating them from oldest to newest. To streamline, Hise suggests writing the month and year with a Sharpie on your canned goods. Anything expired should be promptly tossed.

The same goes for those boxes of cake, muffin, or pancake mixes you may have picked up for emergencies and then never used. “Check the expiration dates, as the ingredients do lose their potency over time,” Hise adds.

Open Bags of Dried Goods

Even bags that are closed with chip clips or tightly wound with a rubber band can still have small openings through which air can travel and accelerate the process of drying, eventually leading to mold growth and spoilage. Additionally, bugs can enter these openings, ruining your food.

“Bags of rice, pasta, cereal, cookies, or flour that are partially open invite bugs,” says Priestly. “Although they might not be visible at first, they can soon spread and destroy your entire pantry.”

Toss open bags and invest in reusable airtight containers to store dry goods in the future.

The Maybe/Someday Ingredients

The fixings for chocolate fondue, the leftover colored sugar from your daughter’s cotton candy machine days—it might be time to get rid of these rarely used items. Rivera uses the six-month rule. “Know yourself,” she says. “If you’ve had an ingredient sitting there for over six months … it’s probably time to release it.”

Stray Tea Bags

While they are non-perishable, instant tea bags do lose their aroma, freshness, and flavor over time. And if not stored properly, they can absorb moisture, which can affect their taste, warns Hise. Your best bet is to discard any stray, single tea bags. Store identifiable bags and freshly purchased tea in airtight containers in cool, dark spaces.

Stale Snacks

Once those family-sized bags of snacks are opened, contact with the air begins to affect the state of the food. “Stale snacks like pretzels, chips, crackers, and almonds are only taking up room and might go bad sooner than you expect,” says Priestly. 

Always check the expiration date. Short of that, if the food tastes off, it probably is. “To ensure that everything stays fresh and is used, a straightforward solution is to purchase smaller packs [or] store them in airtight containers,” suggests Priestly.

Gifts You Won't Use

Specialty boxes of teas, cookies, spice blends, or honey are thoughtful gifts, but if you won't actually use them, you run the risk of both spoiling and taking up precious pantry space.

The gesture was surely thoughtful, but you may be betting off donating it to a local food pantry. “There’s someone out there who would love it,” says Rivera.