A good set of dry food storage containers will help keep ingredients fresh longer and help keep cabinets and countertops organized and clean.
Over the years, we have put 19 sets of containers through rigorous testing, dropping them off their racks and leaving them outside to spend the night among the reptiles.
The Rubbermaid Brilliance Pantry Food Storage Container was the clear winner of all the models we tested. They’re durable, seal well, and come in a variety of convenient sizes.
These durable, well-sealed plastic containers fit easily in most cabinets. They come in a variety of sizes, are safe to stack, and are easy to scoop or pour.
These containers, designed for restaurant kitchens, are extremely durable. They come in capacities ranging from 2 to 22 quarts. But they are larger and better suited for people with more space.
We sampled Goldfish crackers stored in these containers for three weeks, eating quite a few stale crackers in the process.
We filled all the plastic containers with water and then turned them upside down to check for leaks.
We filled containers with a mixture of water and sugar and placed them outside to see if they would keep the bugs out.
These durable, well-sealed plastic containers fit easily in most cabinets. They come in a variety of sizes, are safe to stack, and are easy to scoop or pour.
The durable Rubbermaid Brilliance Pantry food storage containers withstood multiple drop tests and are dishwasher safe. Impressively, the lid is completely waterproof, making it one of the most airtight containers we tested. Goldfish crackers stayed crispy in them for nearly three weeks, longer than any other container we tested, and when they were left outdoors overnight filled with sugar water, no bugs got inside. The slim design makes them easy to stack and fit efficiently in kitchen cabinets. They’re also easy to pour and scoop with a measuring cup. They can be purchased individually or in a set, and they’re less expensive than some of the more flimsy models we tried.
These containers, designed for restaurant kitchens, are extremely durable. They come in capacities ranging from 2 to 22 quarts. But they are larger and better suited for people with more space.
Rubbermaid Commercial Space Saver Food Storage Containers are tough workhorses built to withstand heavy use in commercial kitchens. They’re similar to the Cambro containers, a brand most often found in restaurant kitchens, but Rubbermaid’s version has some advantages. Unlike the Cambro line, Rubbermaid’s 2- and 4-quart containers have the same footprint as the 6- and 8-quart containers (so they all use the same lids and stack easily), and they all have handles. The lids are also tighter, though this can make them difficult to put on and take off, especially when new. The wide mouth not only makes scooping easier, but it also makes these containers better suited to larger pantries or shelves with plenty of space.
For that guide in 2016, we spoke with three experts: Sarah Carey, then the editorial director of food and entertaining at Martha Stewart Living; Toni Hammersley, founder of the home-organization blog A Bowl Full of Lemons and author of The Complete Book of Home Organization and The Complete Book of Clean; and Maria Speck, author of Simply Ancient Grains and Ancient Grains for Modern Foods. To update our guide for 2022, we consulted Melissa Clark, a New York Times food writer and author of several cookbooks, most recently Dinner at a Time. We also reviewed other editorial reviews and forum posts about dry-food containers.
Since 2016, the Wirecutter Kitchen Team’s writers and editors—all baking enthusiasts, some of whom previously worked as professional bakers—have tested a range of storage containers in the Wirecutter Test Kitchen and in their own homes. We also solicited feedback from staffers who have used the products featured in this guide over the years.
Without the right set of dry storage containers, your kitchen pantry can quickly become cluttered. If you currently store pantry items haphazardly in jars and Tupperware containers, a single set of containers will help keep your cabinets tidy and easier to find. An organized pantry also saves time and money in the long run: it allows you to see everything (and how much) at a glance, quickly access ingredients, and makes it easy to scoop or pour any ingredient without creating a mess. Good containers can also prevent pests from growing in food, which can help prevent food safety issues.
If you frequently buy ingredients in bulk, you’ll need a set of storage containers. The paper or plastic bags you fill at the grocery store aren’t ideal for storing dry ingredients: They tear easily, are difficult to pour out, and create a mess on the shelf. Frequent bakers, in particular, may find it quicker and easier to scoop and spoon ingredients like flour into wide-mouth containers rather than use them straight from the package.
In some kitchens, dry storage containers can be used as decoration, placed on countertops or open shelves. Unfortunately, after testing several beautiful glass and ceramic containers, we found that they do not keep food as fresh as the plastic containers we tested, and they are generally not as practical or durable. But if you are thinking about adding a touch of sophistication to your kitchen and prefer glass or ceramic containers to more practical plastic ones, we recommend using these stylish containers to store the ingredients you use most often in your everyday life, such as salt, sugar, or tea.
After years of using and abusing food storage containers, we recommend the Simply Store 18-Piece Pyrex Glass Set and the Snapware Total Solution 20-Piece Set.
A good dry food storage container should be durable, seal well, easy to clean, and easy to scoop or pour. It should be stackable, fit easily in a cupboard, and be available in a variety of sizes. Here’s what we think a good dry food storage container set should include, and what we looked for during our testing.
Sealing the lid: Most of the experts we spoke to stressed the importance of a good seal. Airtight lids will help protect cereals, grains, and snacks from spoiling, and they’ll keep brown sugar or delicate raisins from hardening. They also keep out pests like moths, which can squeeze through very tight spaces and multiply quickly. As Maria Speck, author of Ancient Grains and Modern Diets, points out, moths sometimes hide in bags of store-bought grains or flour. “I’ve heard from so many people that their cupboards are now infested with moths,” she said. But if you make a habit of transferring all your dry goods into containers with secure lids, these thieves won’t get out of hand.
Transparency: Clear plastic containers make it easy to check the contents and quantities. (It would be even better if the measuring scale was printed on the outside.) If the container is opaque, you may have to fiddle with labeling, and there’s a good chance you’ll forget about those expensive old beans you bought.
Practical Shapes: We looked for containers that would fit neatly in a cabinet or on a shelf, favoring square or rectangular containers because they use space more efficiently than round ones. (Though we also tested some round containers.) We also looked for containers with openings wide enough to easily scoop food with a one-cup measuring cup.
Choose from a variety of sizes: To stay organized, Tony Hamersley, author of The Complete Book of Home Organization, recommends using three sizes of containers: a large one for bulk ingredients like flour, a medium one for snacks like pretzels, and a small one for nuts, etc. Those with a well-stocked pantry may need one or two more sizes of containers. Container sizes vary by brand, but most of the containers we tested were large enough to hold a 5-pound bag of all-purpose flour, which is about 4 to 5 quarts (depending on how compacted or aerated your flour is).
Stackability: Experts are divided on whether plastic containers should be stackable. Hammersley said stacking is “a nuisance” and makes ingredients “hard to access.” However, Carey noted that stacking can be helpful “if you have a lot of stuff.” We think it’s good to have containers that can be safely stacked, especially if pantry space is limited, so we focused on containers that look stackable.
Durability: Not all plastics are created equal, so among the plastic containers we tested, we looked for models that wouldn’t break if dropped, wouldn’t lose their shape in the dishwasher, and wouldn’t bend too much when squeezed.
Easy to clean: Although it depends on what foods you’re storing, you may not need to wash your dry food storage container very often. We still tend to choose containers that are easy to clean and don’t have any tricky crevices. Ideally, both the lid and base should be dishwasher safe, although we’ve tested some models that aren’t dishwasher safe. We don’t think hand-washing only should be a deal breaker for dry food storage containers, as dry food storage containers generally don’t require daily or even weekly cleaning.
Note that the only containers that really meet all of our requirements are plastic. Glass and ceramic containers are fragile, heavy, often not very large, don’t stack well, and don’t seal well. That’s why we’ve chosen not to test glass and ceramic containers in the past. But glass and ceramic containers are generally more attractive than plastic, which is important to some people, so we tried a few of them for the first time in 2022. None of them satisfied us enough to make a final choice, but you can read our reviews of a few of our favorites below.
To test the airtightness of each plastic container, we filled each container with a small amount of water, sealed the lid, and then turned it upside down. We repeated this process after each container had been washed in the dishwasher several times to ensure that the plastic lid had not become warped or lost its seal. Since the pressure of the water leaking out of the container is greater than the pressure of the air entering, this test is not completely accurate. However, a large amount of water leaking out is likely a sign that the lid is not tight enough to keep food fresh or to protect it from pests. We did not repeat these tests on ceramic or glass containers, since many lids easily fall off when the container is turned upside down when empty.
We repeatedly closed and opened the lids of each container, checking for ease of use and looking for signs of wear. We also tested ease of use by filling each appropriately sized container with 5 pounds of flour and 4 pounds of sugar. We used a 1-cup measuring cup to try scooping flour from each brand of container both when it was full and when it was nearly empty.
To test their durability, we filled each plastic container with 2 pounds (about 9 kilograms) of beans and slid it off the kitchen counter onto the floor so it landed on its side. We also dropped them from waist height at other angles (upright, upside down, and in corners) to see if they would break or the lids would fall off. We didn’t test the ceramic and glass containers equally because that didn’t seem fair; all of these containers would easily break if dropped.
We’ve added two new tests for the models included in the 2022 update. First, to test whether they’re insect-resistant enough, we fill each container with mud mixed with powdered sugar and water. Then, in the springtime in rural Texas (a season known for its riot of crawlers), we set them outside overnight. The next day, we open each container and check for insects.
Second, to test the effectiveness of plastic containers at keeping them fresh, we filled each model with Goldfish brand crackers. Over the course of three weeks, we periodically tasted the cookies and observed which containers were most likely to spoil them.
These durable, well-sealed plastic containers fit easily in most cabinets. They come in a variety of sizes, are safe to stack, and are easy to scoop or pour.
The Rubbermaid Brilliance Pantry Food Storage Container is the best dry food storage container we’ve ever tested. The lids and containers in this set are very sturdy and seal well, holding up even after repeated dishwasher cycles. Their rectangular design is narrow enough to fit neatly in a cabinet but wide enough to accommodate a 1-cup measuring cup. The 10-pack we tested comes in nine sizes to fit three different lids. We also like that the containers can be purchased individually or in sets.
What sets Rubbermaid’s containers apart is their excellent seal. The gasket around each lid, coupled with two latches that snapped shut tightly, didn’t allow a single drop of water to escape when we filled the container with water and turned it upside down. Other jars we tested, like the OXO Pop Big Square Container and ClickClack Cube Storage Container, continued to drip when filled with water. While we don’t recommend storing liquids or leftovers in these containers (we have a separate guide on storing those foods), their watertight seal shows how well they keep dry ingredients fresh. In fact, in our 2022 testing, these were the only containers that kept Goldfish crackers crispy for a full three weeks. When we left the containers filled with powdered sugar outside overnight, not a single bug was able to penetrate the seal (though that was true of every plastic container we tested).
Rubbermaid’s Brilliance jars are relatively narrow and designed to fit side by side in a cabinet. They also feature clear lids, making it easy to see what’s inside, even if they’re in a deep drawer or on a low shelf. And stacking the containers is a breeze: A thin lip around the lid keeps the containers from sliding and helps keep them in place—a feature not found on all the containers we tested.
While the Rubbermaid Brilliance containers are a bit narrow, the 1-cup measuring cup fits easily through the openings of all but the smaller containers (1.3 and 1/2 cups), leaving plenty of room to maneuver when scooping from the bottom of the container. The narrow, rounded-end container was generally comfortable to hold and pour with one hand (depending on the weight of the contents), whereas most of the other containers we tested required both hands. The 16-cup Brilliance container easily holds 5 pounds of flour, while the 12-cup container holds 4 pounds of sugar. We find these two sizes to be the most practical for storing most dry ingredients.
The largest container holds 19.9 cups, which is perfect for a large box of cereal, while the smaller containers (1.3 and 0.5 cups) are perfect for nuts or granola for lunch. The 8.1-cup jar is for pasta and is a little awkward to use because it’s tall and narrow. But we like its height, which makes it easy to reach even in deep cabinets.
The Rubbermaid Brilliance Lunch Boxes are made of durable Tritan plastic that’s dishwasher safe. They failed in our drop test, while other, more expensive competitors like the OXO Lunch Boxes shattered on the first drop. While Rubbermaid claims these containers are also microwave safe, we’ve read some reviews of them warping or breaking when exposed to high temperatures. We tried microwaving it and had no such issues. But since we only recommend these for storing dry foods, we don’t think this issue would be as severe as it would be with food containers that hold leftovers.
Wirecutter senior writer Caitlin Wells bought a set of containers after discovering grain weevils and ants in her pantry. She found the product to be much better at sealing than other brands she’d previously purchased, and is pleased to have kept her cabinets bug-free since. She’s used the large and medium Rubbermaid containers for flour, sugar, cereal, rice, and pasta, but found the smaller ones to be of limited use: “they barely fit eight nuts” (even though that’s what she used them for). She also stores lemon juice in the small containers, which she says won’t leak even if knocked over in the fridge. She noted that sometimes dry ingredients like sugar will stick to the silicone lid seal, making a mess when closing the container, which is “a little annoying.”
Wirecutter contributor Mackenzie Green has had her Brilliance cooking set for five years and describes it as “rock solid,” even after multiple dishwasher runs. However, the lid on her lunch box cracked (she thinks someone used too much force to put it on the lunch box), and she couldn’t find a replacement lid to replace the broken one. (Rubbermaid doesn’t offer replacement parts.)
As mentioned above, we’ve seen plenty of customer reviews online that say the Rubbermaid Brilliance containers warp, crack, discolor, or leak after microwaving. But since we only recommend using these containers for storing dry ingredients and not leftovers, we weren’t too concerned about these issues (read our guide to the best food storage containers for storing leftovers). We’ll also continue to use these containers in our test kitchen to see if any issues arise.
If the Brilliance container hits the floor first, it may fall over. Since the container did not break or tear on impact in our tests, we don’t think this will be a problem, but it could be a nuisance.
We wish these containers had measuring scales on the side, like the Rubbermaid Commercial Space Saver Food Storage Containers, so you could always estimate how much of a particular ingredient you’re using. But since most of the containers we tested didn’t have this feature, we don’t think it’s a deal-breaker.
The plastic tabs on the Brilliance lid require multiple openings and closings compared to container designs that have a single-use peel-off lid. Sometimes the tabs fall off, but they usually snap back into place easily. Additionally, the silicone strip around the lid has many crevices, making it difficult to clean by hand. But for most people, we think the benefits of a leak-proof lid more than make up for this drawback.
If any part of your container set breaks, we can’t find replacement containers or lids sold separately. When we asked about replacement parts, Rubbermaid customer service responded that in addition to the one-year warranty, they will consider replacing damaged parts on a case-by-case basis for free. But instead of sending just the lid or bottom, they will send a whole new container. We wish it were a little easier to replace individual parts, although this was true for all the containers we tested.
If you plan to nest the containers when not in use, keep in mind that they can be tall (for example, the 16-cup and 19.9-cup containers are about 14 inches tall when stacked). But this is only an issue if your cabinets are short. Sometimes the containers tend to stick together when they are nested, but since most people rotate their dry storage containers all the time, we don’t think this is a big deal.
These containers, designed for restaurant kitchens, are extremely durable. They come in capacities ranging from 2 to 22 quarts. But they are larger and better suited for people with more space.
For those with a spacious pantry or who often buy ingredients in bulk, the Rubbermaid Commercial Space Saver Food Storage Containers are a great choice. This container is Rubbermaid’s version of the Cambro, a storage container found in virtually every restaurant kitchen in America. Like the Cambro containers, they are durable and can withstand countless knocks, drops, and repeated use in the dishwasher at high temperatures. The outside of the container is clearly etched and marked in quarts and quarts, and the capacity ranges from 2 to 22 quarts.