How Long Does Stuffing Last in the Fridge?

How Long Does Stuffing Last in the Fridge?

Did you know that Americans throw away food worth billions of dollars every year? Thanksgiving dinners take a massive chunk of that number, amounting to almost $300 million. Thanksgiving is always filled with memories with enough food to go around.

In fact, Thanksgiving dinner is incomplete without the traditional stuffed turkey. When Thanksgiving rolls away, what do you do with all that leftover stuffing? How long will it last?

How long does stuffing last in the fridge? Stuffing will only last for three to four days in the fridge after making it. If that isn’t enough time for you, freezing is another option that will keep it at its best quality for a month.

If you want to relive the memories of thanksgiving by munching on your delicious stuffing for the next few days to come, the fridge is your best bet. Before you eat it again, make sure you reheat it to a minimum internal temperature of 165 °F.

How Long Does Stuffing Last at Room Temperature?

What exactly do you do with leftover stuffing? While you wonder what to do with it, remember that stuffing shouldn’t stay out for too long at room temperature; otherwise, it goes bad.

As soon as your stuffing is done, the clock starts ticking. You shouldn’t let your stuffing sit at room temperature for 2 hours or more to prevent the growth of bacteria.

Freezing your food will keep the bacteria in your food on pause, while extreme heat will exterminate them. If you let your stuffing sit for too long between these two extremes, which is the comfort zone for bacteria to multiply, you might make yourself sick.

You always want to refrigerate your stuffing within two hours of making it. Once you are done eating and notice you have some leftovers, take them straight to the fridge.

How to Tell if Stuffing Has Gone Bad

One of the exciting things about Thanksgiving dinner is the excessive amount of food you are left with for days or weeks if you are adept at preserving it. You might try to hold onto that stuffed turkey or the stuffing for longer than you are supposed to. How do you tell if it has gone bad?

The best way to tell if your stuffing is still good is to make use of your sense of sight and smell.

A Noticeable Smell

If you pull your stuffing out the fridge, and you can’t tell just by looking at it if it has gone bad, or you are just being skeptical and hoping it’s still good, take a whiff.

A common trait to look for to know that stuffing that has gone bad is a sour smell. This is because the meat juice that gets soaked into the stuffing while you are cooking will be the first thing that goes bad.

If you notice an off smell, you should throw it out immediately, don’t even attempt to eat it.

Appearance

Don’t taste stuffing to determine if it has gone bad or not. It can affect your well-being by making you sick. But another way you can tell if stuffing has gone bad or not is to take a good look at it.

If it looks odd and off-color, you should probably try smelling the stuffing to be sure. But if you notice the appearance of mold, chuck it into the waste bin and look for something else to eat.

How Can You Store Stuffing to Last Longer in the Fridge?

Like many other food items, just placing your food in the fridge isn’t enough to make sure it lasts for the slated 3 or 4 days. You need to take some extra measures to ensure that it stays for as long as possible at its best quality throughout its stay in the fridge.

How Do You Store Stuffing?

The Food Network recommends that you store cooked food in thin, airtight containers. Stuffing falls under the category of cooked food, which means you can’t store it in a large open bowl.

Airtight freezer or Ziploc bags will do the trick. Suppose you feel you’ll be visiting the stuffing in the fridge several times before it runs out of shelf life in the fridge. In that case, you can divide the entire batch into serving-sized portions and store them in different containers.

This way, you can avoid bringing the entire batch out of the fridge just to eat some.

Where Do You Store Stuffing?

The door of the fridge is not suitable for your stuffing. That place is probably meant for drinks. The temperature in that area of the fridge will not be constant.

Especially if you live in a house with many occupants and the fridge gets open often, your stuffing can go bad within a day or two.

Can You Freeze Your Stuffing to Last Longer?

You can easily freeze stuffing, whether cooked or uncooked. Once cooked, frozen stuffing can last in the freezer for 1 to 3 months.

Just place it in an airtight container and keep it away from intensely flavored foods, so it doesn’t absorb foreign flavors. Your frozen stuffing can be retrieved from the freezer, reheated, and enjoyed like freshly made stuffing.

Final Thoughts

A holiday meal is never complete without stuffing or dressing, depending on what you want to call it. Not everyone agrees to the ingredients for making stuffing, but it makes a great addition to meals.

Holiday meals are always elaborate, and you will, in most cases, have some food items leftover. Now, you know that stuffing can last in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.