Once opened, for how long will spaghetti sauce with meat, kept in the fridge, be safe to eat?
Common sense: If it looks Ok, smells Ok and hasn’t been in there “too long,” heat and simmer “a while,” then if it tastes Ok, eat it and and you’ll probably be fine. There are no hard and fast rules about these things.
Food service mantra: When in doubt, throw it out.
Made up on the spot totally arbitrary dictum: 5 days.
Take your pick.
When I make spaghetti sauce with meat I usually try to eat or freeze it before a week is up, and I think I’ve been ok. YMMV with the premade stuff.
I buy the stuff. Too lazy to make my own. Since meat must be eaten within a day or two after being refrigerated, I try to use the sauce within two days; however, the sauce probably gives an extra time as it contains some vinegar and other acidic foods.
3-4 days maximum.
five days No mention if meat would shorten that time.
Until it gets fuzzy (well, that’s more-or-less the rule in my house). I put unused sauce in the freezer right away, too, though - it freezes beautifully.
Man, if you have to ask, toss it out.
Nothing like a visit to the Emergency Room, having to explain why you are there and if that does not convince you, the bill will.
My question was proactive, not reactive. Half a jar of spaghetti sauce is good for one spaghetti meal for me. Now, I’m left with half a jar. I wanted to know how long I have before I have to either use it or discard it.
Is this like Ragu? “With Meat” means there’s probably a tablespoon of hamburger mixed in there. Not that a small amount can’t go bad as does a large amount. I digress. My rule has always been, use by the the fourth day. Spaghetti sauce, I wouldn’t be afraid to keep it for a week, it’s acidic and can last a good week. Why don’t you freeze the leftover sauce? Pour it in a ziplock bag or two, seal, freeze flat.
It depends on a lot of variables. There is no way to know for sure. If your refrigerator sits at a balmy 53˚, you probably have one day. If it runs at a chilly 33˚, at least a week.
Honestly, I would freeze it, and not worry about he problem.
These people saying a week or less are being super conservative IMHO. I’ve kept spaghetti sauce in the fridge for weeks and used it with no problems.
Years ago roommates and I had a regular Friday night spaghetti dinner for all of our friends, never knew who would show up. We cooked a big pot of sauce, served dinner, put the pot in the fridge and used as a ‘starter batch’ for the next week.
At some point, we must have been serving at least some sauce that had been in the fridge for weeks if not months.
No one got sick.
I was working as a microbiologist at the time - IIRC, nothing really nasty (just ugly fuzzies) will grow at fridge temps. The key is to not let things sit out too long or keep it on a warmer for hours - that makes a nice incubator for the nasty stuff.
I didn’t know you could freeze it - or just never thought of that. That’s what I’ll do.
That’s only for ground meat and poultry. Other meats are typically 3 - 5 days. Here’s a handy chart (it doesn’t include spaghetti sauce, though). I personally keep spaghettis sauce until we eat it, which means up to 2 weeks.
I am so not the person to ask about this, since I’ll leave a half-jar of sauce in the fridge for weeks, but I also eat a lot of dumpstered food that’s already expired when I get it.
Just last night I used half a jar of ‘Ragu with Meat’, that was at least a month old, maybe more. It looked and smelled perfectly fine and it had spent no time at room temp since it was opened. I simmered it with frozen meatballs for 30 mins or so and have noticed no ill effects.
I asked the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education since I had a link saved to it. I have taken the liberty to quote their reply in full:
Gotta agree with that. The question should be, “After how many months should I toss my sauce?”
I Disagree. So does the FDA.
In addition to “How old is it?” you should ask yourself the following questions:
At what temperature is it stored at?
How many trips has it taken through the temperature danger zone?
Has it been properly heated and/or cooled during those trips?
Has it been properly stored in a non-reactive, covered container?
Is it a potentially hazardous food?
And in the case of store bought products:
Are there preservatives in it?
Remind me to NEVER eat anything cooked by jasg.