Cooking can be messy. If you’re really getting into it, you’ve probably got a bunch of different ingredients and components going at once, which is why it’s important to keep your cooking area as prepared and organized as possible (chefs call this mise en place, or “everything in its place.”). When I’m not careful, I’ll emerge from the mania of making a meal to find that I’ve made such a mess that I wonder if I should have just ordered pizza again. Luckily, having worked in professional kitchens and cooked on my own for years, I know a couple of kitchen organization tricks for keeping my counter pretty clean day to day. 

Wondering what’s the easiest, most affordable, and, frankly, most attractive way to keep your kitchen counter clean? It involves repurposing a single piece of cookware, instead using it as a tray for your most used ingredients. All you need is an eighth sheet pan, like this bestselling $13 one from Nordic Ware.

Nordic Ware Eighth Sheet Pan

Basically, what I do is keep the pan immediately next to my stove, so it’s within arm’s reach at all times. Using it like a tray, I keep my salt cellar, pepper grinder, and olive oil squeeze bottle lined up in the front; in a row behind them, I keep some stacked measuring cups and a little measuring spoon set. By doing this, I’m effectively keeping my three most-used ingredients and two of my most necessary tools handy at all times. 

But beyond saving myself the trouble of getting these items from my spice rack and drawer every time I need them, I’m also preventing a huge amount of potential mess. Some salt falls out of my hand as I’m grabbing a pinch? Olive oil drips after I sloppily douse some vegetables? A few rogue morsels break free after I grind some fresh black pepper into a dish? My sheet pan is there to catch it all, and after a quick rinse, it’s ready to jump back in the game. 

You can certainly use any small sheet pan or tray for this, but I’ve found that an eighth pan is the perfect size, Measuring 10.1 by 7 by 1.1 inches, this compact option from Nordic Ware is the real deal. On Amazon, it has over 50,000 five-star ratings, with customers loving it for baking, food prep, freezing fruit, and even marinating protein. 

Truly, this is one of the most versatile pieces of cookware I own — and I’m not even recommending it for cooking (though for the record, it’s great). Once you pick up this $13 sheet pan, all you need to do is score a cool salt cellar and a legendary pepper grinder to put on it.

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