How Long Does Spaghetti Sauce Last in the Fridge?

Have you ever found a half-forgotten jar of spaghetti sauce at the back of your fridge and felt guilty for keeping it there for so long? If this is the case, you may be wondering if it is still safe to eat or whether you should toss it out and start again.

How long can you keep spaghetti sauce in the fridge? It varies on the components in the sauce, but many commercial pasta sauces can keep for 5 to 10 days before becoming harmful to consume. Since tomato is highly acidic, and commercial sauces include preservatives, pasta sauce typically keeps well if refrigerated shortly after opening.

How Long is Spaghetti Sauce Good For in the Fridge?

The shelf life of spaghetti sauce is determined by the sauce’s components. Sauces made entirely of vegetables will likely survive longer than meat-based sauces. Cream-based sauces must be consumed considerably more rapidly. Nonetheless, most tomato spaghetti sauces should stay in the fridge for at least 5 days, and maybe longer.

Your estimate should be based on the chemical with the lowest lifetime. A basic tomato sauce with simply veggies, for example, should be acceptable for at least 5 days, but if the sauce incorporates things like shrimp or chicken, you should use it up sooner.

Keeping the sauce cold helps extend its shelf life, so put it in the fridge as soon as possible. If it’s in a can, you may want to decant it into another container. Tomatoes may react with the can and develop an odd taste, even though they are still edible.

Put the sauce to a clean, airtight container, cover with a lid, and place it in the refrigerator as soon as you open it. Keeping the sauce at room temperature will cause it to spoil considerably faster and might make it dangerous to consume within a few days.

If the room temperature is over 90 degrees F, the sauce must be refrigerated within 2 hours.

What Ingredients Make Spaghetti Sauce Go Bad More Quickly?

Sauces with meat, cream, or cheese will not survive as long as sauces with simply vegetables. If the sauce contains any of these components, it should be OK to consume after a couple of days of refrigerated, but use it up within three days.

Avoid warming the sauce repeatedly; the heating and chilling procedure might promote the development of hazardous microorganisms. Instead, simply heat what you need at a time and keep the remainder refrigerated to keep germs at bay.

How Long Will Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Last?

It is crucial to note that homemade spaghetti sauce often lacks some of the preservatives present in commercial spaghetti sauce, and it will not keep as long in the fridge. If you make your own sauce, aim to finish it within three to five days.

While tomatoes are acidic and can keep for a long time in the fridge, they are not typically safe to store for longer than this. Homemade sauce, like commercial sauce, should be stored in an airtight container and chilled as quickly as possible, with little warming and chilling.

Can You Freeze Spaghetti Sauce?

Most spaghetti sauces freeze well, so if you have a jar or can left over, decant it into an airtight container and store it in the freezer. Unfortunately, sauces containing dairy may not freeze as well since the freezer will destroy the texture of the dairy.

Both homemade and commercial spaghetti sauce may be stored in the freezer for months without spoiling, so this is an excellent approach to decrease waste if you regularly open sauces but seldom consume them all. Just decant any leftover sauce into a jar and keep it in the freezer with a cover on it.

Refrigerate frozen spaghetti sauce overnight to defrost. If you need it to thaw faster, place it in cold water and replenish the water every half hour until the sauce has defrosted. You may also thaw it in the microwave, as long as the container is microwave safe.

How Can You Tell If Spaghetti Sauce Has Gone Bad?

A weird fragrance, flakes of mildew on the top, or an unusual taste are all indicators that spaghetti sauce has gone bad. Sauce that has separated severely may also be dangerous to consume, so keep this in mind.

If you have any doubts about your spaghetti sauce, the best thing to do is to thoroughly scrutinize it. Warm it up a bit and take a sniff. Is there a rotten or sour stench that you wouldn’t expect to find in tomatoes? If this is the case, it is no longer safe to consume.

Similarly, if you detect mold specks floating on the top or on the container’s edge, the sauce is no longer safe to ingest. Even if the mold seems to be limited, it must be disposed of. Spores will have distributed across the remaining sauce.

You may not realize the sauce has gone bad until you taste it. If you start eating sauce that has been kept in the fridge and discover that it has a sour or strange flavor, discard it. Nevertheless, don’t rely on your sense of taste to alarm you without first inspecting the sauce’s look and smell.

Final Thoughts

The shelf life of spaghetti sauce in the fridge varies depending on the components, but in general, spaghetti sauce lasts well and may be stored in the fridge for up to ten days.

When this date approaches, make sure you properly inspect it before ingesting it in case it has begun to spoil. Any unusual odor, flavor, or visual appearance should serve as a warning not to consume the sauce.