Pantry Storage

Pantry Storage: Keep Honey, Nuts, Coffee & More Fresh

The Pantry Playbook: Cool, Dry, Dark and Sealed

The pantry is where food lasts the longest, and where it quietly goes stale or rancid when it is stored wrong. Honey keeps for years, but shelled nuts only last a few weeks at room temperature. This section brings together the guides for everything that lives in your cupboard, from coffee beans to chocolate, with the official US storage times.

Browse 7 guides Food storage chart

On this page: The Four Pantry EnemiesPantry, Fridge or Freezer?Jump Directly to the Pantry Guides

A jar of honey in the pantry
Some pantry foods last for years.

Pantry staples are expensive and easy to forget about. A bag of walnuts or a tin of coffee looks the same after two months, but the taste tells a different story. The storage times below come from the USDA FoodKeeper, and every guide in this section explains one food in detail.

The Four Pantry Enemies

Almost every pantry problem comes down to heat, light, moisture and air. Keep the pantry cool and dark, away from the stove and the dishwasher, and move food into airtight containers once the package is open. For ground coffee the FoodKeeper even calls an airtight container critical. The same simple rules keep chocolate, coffee beans and honey at their best.

Pantry, Fridge or Freezer?

Not everything that is sold on a shelf should stay there. Shelled peanuts last 4 weeks in the pantry but 12 months in the fridge and 24 months in the freezer, according to the FoodKeeper. Walnuts and pecans follow the same pattern, which is why the fridge or freezer is the best home for nuts. Opened syrup belongs in the fridge too, and fresh herbs keep 7 to 10 days in the refrigerator.

7 guides

Marleen’s advice: pantry

Explore the pantry guides below. Every guide covers one pantry food: how long it lasts, where to keep it and how to tell when it has gone off.

Pantry Shelf Life at a Glance

USDA FoodKeeper storage times for the pantry staples covered on this site.

In the Pantry

FoodPantry
Honey2 years
Chocolate, solid1 to 2 years
Syrup, unopened1 year
Dried herbs1 to 2 years
Whole coffee beans3 to 5 months
Shelled peanuts4 weeks
Walnuts, pecans2 to 4 weeks

Better in the Fridge or Freezer

These pantry foods last much longer when they are kept cold:

  • Nuts: peanuts 12 months in the fridge, walnuts 9 to 12 months, pecans 9 months; all of them up to 24 months in the freezer.
  • Opened syrup: 6 months in the fridge.
  • Opened ground coffee: 1 month in the fridge in an airtight container, 6 to 12 months in the freezer.
  • Fresh herbs: 7 to 10 days in the fridge, 1 to 2 months in the freezer.

A Simple Pantry Routine

Put new purchases behind the older ones, close every opened bag in an airtight container, and write the date on anything you decant. Once a month, check nuts, coffee and flours and throw out anything that smells stale or rancid. For long-term staples like rice and flour, see the bread and bakery storage guides.