How to Organize A Bottom Freezer

Bottom Drawer Freezer

Bottom drawer freezers can easily get unorganized and messy. Here are some systems and products to help you organize a bottom freezer.

When we remodeled our kitchen and bought a brand new, gleaming French-door refrigerator with a bottom drawer freezer, I figured I’d love it.

Then the drawer devolved into one deep, cold, random pile that I dug through every day to locate what I needed.

After too many years of digging, I finally came up with a system that works well for us. Maybe it will work for you too!

You might also like: How to Organize a Chest Freezer

How to Organize a Bottom Freezer

1. Clean, sort & purge. 

Take everything out of your freezer (stash things in coolers to keep them chilled), wipe it down to remove spills and messes, and get rid of anything with freezer burn or that you no longer want.

Bottom freezer

2. Create zones:

Using the plastic divider that our drawer freezer came with, I created one big section for dinner items: frozen leftovers, ingredients like chicken broth frozen into cubes, jars of homemade pesto,  chicken breasts, bags of frozen pasta. The other smaller section is for lunch items: the insulated lunch bags my husband and younger son use, cold packs for my older son’s lunch, and other lunchbox-friendly foods (like their favorite veggie patties). You could create zones based around meals or around like items, such as meats or freezer meals.

Bins in a bottom freezer

3. Corral items into bins:

Putting two bins in the top, slide-out drawer of the freezer has been a game-changer. You can use bins for like items or items you frequently use together. I designated one bin for frozen vegetables. The other is for all the ingredients I use for smoothies and oatmeal, two things I make almost daily. Now I don’t need to root through the pile every morning for frozen fruit or chopped nuts, which makes the morning a little bit easier.

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Bin for freezer

4. Wrap packages with rubber bands: 

I roll each package down and wrap it tightly with a rubber band. This simple step instantly save space and makes everything feel neater and more manageable.

Free Freezer Inventory Printable

5. Use what you have:

It goes without saying but actually using what you have in your freezer is critical to staying organized. If your freezer looks like you’re prepping for a zombie apocalypse, take stock of what you have and make a plan for using it. Grab my free Freezer Inventory Printable to figure out what you’ve got already, then use my free Meal Planning Worksheet to map out your week using some of those foods.

Products To Help:

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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16 Comments

  1. This is exactly what I needed! I just bought a French door refrigerator with a bottom freezer and I have been wondering how to organize it.

  2. Great tips! When I was in the market for a new fridge a year ago I wanted a pullout drawer one so bad. I had several people tell me they were a bottomless pit. I finally decided to go with a side by side. I think a lot of people that have those drawers have challenges! Love that you highlighted how to help! I’ll share these with my MIL!

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  4. Love this post! I’ve had both side by side and top / bottom refrigerators and although I do find the top/bottom to be a bottomless pit sometimes, I think it works better for so many things I put in the freezer (frozen pizza did NOT fit in my side by side). I’ll use some of these tips to organize it better! I see the glass jars it looks like you’ve re-purposed for other items. Is that what you use to freeze sauces, etc? I usually use ziploc bags but would love to find an alternative. Thanks!

    1. Yes, I use a lot of jars for sauces, both glass jars and the Ball plastic freezer jars. Plastic bags are definitely more space-saving!

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  6. This was extremely helpful, thank you! Today I finally reached my breaking point with this bottom freezer! Now I have an idea how to organize it better. Thanks!

  7. Thank you so much….this is exactly what I needed! I’ve been hating my bottom drawer since I got it but now I feel like I have the upper hand 😉

  8. I have a bottom freezer with a sloped back like the one in your first picture. The length of the narrowest part of the drawer (the bottom) is 9″ front to back.. What containers/bins can you recommend for that size/configuration that might work?

  9. I use mesh bags with zipper tops in my bottom freezer to sort. Works great!