Aldi Has The $10 Solution To Your Messy Spice Cabinet

Any home cook is familiar with the sinking feeling you get when you have to admit that the spice cabinet has won the battle. It starts off with you reaching in for a jar of ground cilantro; you can't quite find it, and then all of a sudden there's an avalanche of spice jars all rolling towards you. That's when you know it's time to get organized. Aldi's Kirkton House bamboo spice rack lands at just the right moment to offer your spice cabinet the closest thing to a truce — and for just $10. At the current time of writing, this perfectly priced gem is sold out on the Aldi website, but our fingers are crossed that it returns once again to the Aldi Finds section of the store. It's just that useful.

Kirkton House also produces a turntable-style version of its spice rack, but we prefer this three-tier, expandable bamboo rack with no spinning parts or complicated setup. It's just a smart stretch of shelving that gives scattered jars a place to stand without wobbling or hiding. It manages to be really functional without slipping into that over-engineered territory, which is helpful for shoppers who keep meaning to learn what to look for in a spice rack but never actually do it. And the staggered layout gives every jar its own little spotlight where labels sit in their own space, helping you see what you've got from the moment you open the door. By keeping every jar visible like that, it becomes easier to remember to replace your ground spices every few years instead of totally forgetting that you ever bought a jar of nutmeg at some point in the last century. 

The thing with most spice cabinet setups is that they encourage the dreaded "default seasoning trap." Yes, that's a term we've just made up, but work with us. It's the trap when you keep using the same three jars on repeat because they're just the ones easiest to reach. Setting your spices up on a surface like the Aldi Kirkton House spice rack will automatically create a situation which allows you to reach beyond the basics for all those blends you forgot you had. No, it won't magically gift you the ability to be a better cook, but it will give you more opportunity for creativity and curiosity, and that's really all we can ask from a humble spice rack. This will also trickle out onto grocery shopping in an unexpected way, because instead of guessing what's at home and buying duplicates, you will actually get a clearer sense of what you have.

And while it may be just one of many small-kitchen spice-storage ideas, this expandable bamboo rack stands out for how truly uncomplicated it is — you don't need fancy, matching jars or adorable handwritten labels. It'll just take what you already have and create some order, which is absolutely perfect for small homes and busy lives.