How Long Can Cooked Chicken Stay in the Fridge? Everyone enjoys a tasty or delicious chicken meal. Or perhaps a satisfying mid-afternoon chicken nibble. It is no surprise that chicken is a staple in many refrigerators, given its versatility and delectability. How long, though, can cooked chicken be stored in the fridge?
The processing and preparation of the chicken will determine how long it will keep in your refrigerator.
Chicken salad, patties and nuggets, and leftover cooked (roasted, sautéed, or fried) chicken can last in your fridge for three to four days, according to FoodSafety.gov, a federal consumer resource on food safety.
Due to their increased sodium content, fully cooked chicken sausage and lunch meat can survive up to one week. This is because salt preserves these foods for a little longer.
How to Defrost Cooked Chicken
Unfortunately, pulling chicken out of the freezer is easier than defrosting it. Here are a few tried-and-true techniques for thawing chicken fast and safely.
Transferring the chicken to your refrigerator is the quickest way to thaw it. Plan your meals properly because it usually takes a day for food to defrost after being placed in the refrigerator.
To eliminate potentially harmful microorganisms, immediately cook the chicken after defrosting until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
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How to Tell if Refrigerated Cooked Chicken is Still Safe to Eat
While cooked chicken may be kept in the fridge for three to four days, it may spoil sooner. Look for these indicators to determine whether it’s time to throw the chicken away.
Appearance
When the hue of cooked chicken meat has turned gray or green, it has deteriorated. Additionally, a sign of rotting is a grayish-green mold on the surface of the meat.
Smell
If the chicken flesh was marinated or prepared with herbs, spices, or sauces, it could be challenging to determine whether it has gone bad.
Sometimes, rotten chicken meat may be completely undetectable. It may have the same appearance, flavor, and smell.
The three- to four-day timeline is your best bet for guidance. However, ruined cooked chicken has a strong, unpleasant aroma that is difficult to overlook if you give it a good whiff.
Texture
A spoiled cooked chicken could appear slimy. Unfortunately, washing or reheating the cooked chicken does not always eliminate the poisons or microorganisms that cause them.
Instead of reducing contamination, cleaning it could contaminate other foods and utensils and raise the risk of food poisoning. Slide it in the trash if it’s slimy.
What Happens if I Eat Cooked Chicken that Has Gone Bad?
If you’ve consumed chicken that has gone bad or been out for three to four days, don’t freak out. You might be fine. However, spotting and getting rid of any ruined cooked chicken in your fridge is a good idea.
Cooked chicken can also result in foodborne illness (also known as food poisoning), especially in small children, the elderly, pregnant women, and anyone with weakened immune systems.
Food poisoning can cause a number of unpleasant symptoms, such as chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and bloody stools. Consult a doctor if any symptoms last longer than 12 to 24 hours.
What are the Risks of Eating Spoiled Chicken?
Food poisoning, or a foodborne sickness, can be contracted by eating rotten chicken. Chicken may be contaminated with bacteria like Campylobacter, Salmonella, and more, increasing the risk of food poisoning.
These bacteria are typically destroyed when fresh chicken is completely cooked. Cooking and eating rotten chicken must still be avoided.
While reheating or cooking can eradicate surface germs, it won’t eliminate some toxins that bacteria create, which might cause food poisoning if consumed.
High fevers (over 101.5°F or 38.6°C), chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stools, and dehydration are among the painful and occasionally severe symptoms of food poisoning.
Severe food poisoning occasionally necessitates hospitalization and can potentially be fatal. Don’t consume your chicken if you think it might be ruined. It’s advisable always to throw away chicken you think has gone rotten.
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How Do You Use Cooked Chicken?
If you need to use cooked chicken within the next couple of days, there are many possibilities. Recipes for chicken salad are a traditional method to use up leftover chicken.
But you can use your cooked chicken for something else thanks to our many shredded chicken and rotisserie chicken recipes.
- To add protein, shred some chicken and convert your favorite soup recipes into chicken soup recipes.
- Add chicken to a green salad to make a side salad for dinner.
- Your preferred pasta dish can be made with cooked chicken. With a vodka or pesto sauce, it functions very well.
- Mixing shredded chicken with buffalo sauce may make buffalo chicken tacos. Blue cheese and lettuce shaves should be added to each taco.
- To create chicken sandwiches with barbecue sauce, dress the meat.
- For chicken quesadillas, place cheese and chicken on a tortilla and reheat.
Bottom Line
After cooking your chicken, store it in the fridge within two hours, and make sure you have a plan for utilizing it within three to four days.
Check the “best if used by” date and watch for spoiled food indicators, including color, texture, and smell changes.
