How to keep food fresh for longer

Make delicious new discoveries, save money and make your food last longer. We serve you our best tips on how to care for, use and reuse kitchen staples.

Kitchen worktop with various produce kept in hanging and standing baskets, like KUNGSFORS nets and RISATORP baskets.

The hanging gardens of your kitchen

A combination of moisture and air is ideal for keeping produce fresh over time. Leave a bowl of water on the windowsill and hang fruits and vegetables in naturally ventilated baskets and nets above it. Asparagus? Keep it wrapped in a damp towel. Now everything is close to your cooking area – and looks beautiful too.

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A dark-coloured kitchen worktop with various produce kept in hanging and standing steel mesh baskets and one net bag.

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Recipes for preservation

Some kitchen companions deserve a little extra attention. Like a skewer-made basket partition to keep the aubergines on top from bruising the ones underneath. Also, storing carrots in moist sand helps preserve their crisp freshness.

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A RISATORP basket, cube-shaped, full of aubergines, and perforated by skewers to create a shelf or partition halfway up.

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Save food with fridge reminders

Keeping track of expiration dates – solved! Dedicate part of your fridge for the things you feel (or read) need to be used soon. Besides working as food-saving reminders, the combining and grouping of shelf content may well inspire new dinner recipes.

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An open fridge with neatly organised food and drink with labels on to show what to consume first.

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From waste to taste

Peelings and scraps from vegetables are perfect to throw – in a pot. Add water, reduce in a light boil, strain and season with salt. You’ve just made a flavourful broth that can be used as a base in other dishes. (This works just as well with meat and seafood.) Use right away, or freeze as ice cubes to have handy for later.

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PLASTIS ice-cube trays on a kitchen worktop. The top one is being filled with veggie broth poured from a glass beaker.

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The egg freshness test

Eggs often stay fresh well beyond the expiration date. If you’re unsure, here’s an easy test. Place the egg in water. If it rests on its side on the bottom, it’s good. If it sinks but stands up straight, use it soon. If it floats, discard it.

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Two eggs on a plate, where one egg lies at the bottom of a water-filled DRÖMBILD glass mug.

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We love to see our customers get creative with our products. Go for it! But please note that altering or modifying IKEA products so they can no longer be re-sold or used for their original purpose, means the IKEA commercial guarantees and your right to return the products will be lost.