What this chart is for
This chart helps you decide quickly whether food in your refrigerator should be eaten, frozen or thrown away. It is for anyone who cooks or stores food at home, including people who cook for a child, an older adult, a pregnant person or someone with a weakened immune system.
The times are federal food-safety guidance for home kitchens. For the reasons behind them, and for step-by-step cooling and reheating, see How long do leftovers last in the refrigerator?
How to use it
- Print this page and keep it where you put food away, for example taped inside a cabinet door.
- Find the food in the charts below. Read the refrigerator column for safety. Read the freezer column for quality.
- Count from the day the food was cooked or opened, not the day you last reheated it.
- Write the food and the date on the container, or in the label log at the end of this page.
- If you are not sure, throw it out. You cannot see, smell or taste most of the germs that cause food poisoning.
Four rules that apply to everything on this page
- Keep it cold. Refrigerator at 40°F or colder. Freezer at 0°F or colder. An appliance thermometer on a middle shelf shows the real temperature.
- Refrigerate fast. Put food away within 2 hours of cooking, or within 1 hour if it sat somewhere hotter than 90°F, such as a hot car or an outdoor party.
- Reheat to 165°F. Check the center with a food thermometer. Bring soups, sauces and gravies to a rolling boil.
- Freezer times are about quality, not safety. Food kept frozen at 0°F the whole time stays safe indefinitely, but it can dry out or lose flavor.
The storage times below only work if the first three rules were followed. They do not make up for food that was left out too long.
Chart 1: Cooked leftovers
| Food | Refrigerator (40°F or colder) | Freezer (0°F), best quality |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked meat or poultry | 3 to 4 days | 2 to 6 months |
| Chicken nuggets or patties | 3 to 4 days | 1 to 3 months |
| Pizza | 3 to 4 days | 1 to 2 months |
| Soups and stews, with vegetables or meat | 3 to 4 days | 2 to 3 months |
| Egg, chicken, ham, tuna or macaroni salad | 3 to 4 days | Does not freeze well |
| Casseroles with eggs, after baking | 3 to 4 days | 2 to 3 months |
| Quiche with filling, after baking | 3 to 5 days | 2 to 3 months |
| Pumpkin or pecan pie, after baking | 3 to 4 days | 1 to 2 months |
| Custard or chiffon pie, after baking | 3 to 4 days | Do not freeze |
| Fresh (uncured) ham, cooked | 3 to 4 days | 3 to 4 months |
| Other cooked leftovers: rice, pasta, beans, cooked vegetables, mixed dishes | 3 to 4 days | 3 to 4 months |
The last row uses USDA's general rule for leftovers. The other rows come from the FoodSafety.gov cold storage chart.
Chart 2: Deli meats, hot dogs, bacon, sausage and ham
| Food | Refrigerator (40°F or colder) | Freezer (0°F), best quality |
|---|---|---|
| Deli or lunch meat, opened package or sliced at the counter | 3 to 5 days | 1 to 2 months |
| Deli or lunch meat, unopened package | 2 weeks | 1 to 2 months |
| Hot dogs, opened package | 1 week | 1 to 2 months |
| Hot dogs, unopened package | 2 weeks | 1 to 2 months |
| Bacon | 1 week | 1 month |
| Sausage, raw (chicken, turkey, pork or beef) | 1 to 2 days | 1 to 2 months |
| Sausage, fully cooked | 1 week | 1 to 2 months |
| Ham, cooked and store-wrapped: slices, half or spiral cut | 3 to 5 days | 1 to 2 months |
| Ham, cooked and store-wrapped: whole | 1 week | 1 to 2 months |
| Ham, fully cooked, vacuum-sealed at the plant, unopened | 2 weeks or the package "use by" date | 1 to 2 months |
People who are pregnant, 65 or older, or have a weakened immune system should heat deli meat, cold cuts and hot dogs to 165°F or until steaming hot before eating them, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises.
Chart 3: Raw meat, poultry and seafood
| Food | Refrigerator (40°F or colder) | Freezer (0°F), best quality |
|---|---|---|
| Ground beef, turkey, chicken, pork, veal, lamb or mixtures | 1 to 2 days | 3 to 4 months |
| Steaks, chops or roasts (beef, veal, lamb, pork) | 3 to 5 days | 4 to 12 months |
| Chicken or turkey, whole | 1 to 2 days | 1 year |
| Chicken or turkey, pieces | 1 to 2 days | 9 months |
| Fatty fish, such as salmon, catfish, mackerel or tuna | 1 to 3 days | 2 to 3 months |
| Shrimp or crayfish | 3 to 5 days | 6 to 18 months |
| Fresh crab meat or lobster | 2 to 4 days | 2 to 4 months |
Chart 4: Eggs
| Food | Refrigerator (40°F or colder) | Freezer (0°F), best quality |
|---|---|---|
| Raw eggs in the shell | 3 to 5 weeks | Do not freeze in the shell. Beat yolks and whites together, then freeze. |
| Raw yolks or whites, separated | 2 to 4 days | 12 months (yolks do not freeze well) |
| Hard-cooked eggs | 1 week | Do not freeze |
| Liquid egg substitute, opened | 3 days | Do not freeze |
| Eggnog, store-bought | 3 to 5 days | 6 months |
| Eggnog, homemade | 2 to 4 days | Do not freeze |
After thawing
| How you thawed it | What to do next |
|---|---|
| In the refrigerator | Cooked leftovers: use within 3 to 4 days. Raw ground meat, stew meat, poultry or seafood: cook within 1 to 2 days. Raw roasts, chops or steaks: cook within 3 to 5 days. Any of these can be refrozen without cooking, though quality may drop. |
| In cold water, sealed in a leak-proof bag | Change the water every 30 minutes. Cook or reheat it right away. Cook it before refreezing. |
| In the microwave | Cook or reheat it right away, to 165°F. Heat it before refreezing. |
| On the counter | Do not thaw food this way. The outside can warm into the unsafe range while the center is still frozen. |
After a power outage
- A closed refrigerator keeps food safe for up to 4 hours. Keep the door shut as much as you can.
- A full freezer keeps food frozen for about 48 hours, and a half-full freezer for about 24 hours, if the door stays closed.
- Throw out refrigerated perishable food, including leftovers, after 4 hours without power, or if it has been at 40°F or warmer for more than 2 hours.
- Never taste food to find out whether it is safe.
Get help now
If someone who ate food that may be unsafe has trouble breathing, confusion, a stiff neck with fever, or trouble seeing, speaking or swallowing, call 911. For questions about something swallowed, call Poison Help, free and open 24 hours: 1-800-222-1222.
Container label log
Write one line for each container you put in the refrigerator or freezer. For most cooked leftovers, the "eat by" date is 3 days after the day it was cooked, and no later than 4 days. For other foods, use the time in the charts above.
Example (fictional): A pot of lentil soup is cooked on a Sunday. Eat it by Wednesday, and no later than Thursday. Anything you will not finish by then goes into the freezer by Wednesday, labeled with the date it was cooked.
| Food | Date cooked or opened | Eat by (refrigerator) | Date frozen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Refrigerator thermometer check. Read the thermometer on a middle shelf. If it shows above 40°F, turn the control colder and check again the next day.
| Date | Refrigerator reading | Freezer reading | Change made |
|---|---|---|---|
Limitations
- Home kitchens only. Restaurants, schools, child care sites and other food businesses follow their own food-code rules, which this chart does not cover.
- The times assume safe handling. They apply only to food that was refrigerated promptly and kept at 40°F or colder the whole time. Food that sat out too long is not made safe by these times.
- Package directions come first where a row says so, and for any product with its own storage instructions.
- Recalls override this chart. If a food matches a recall notice, follow the notice, even if the food is within its storage time. FoodSafety.gov keeps a list of recalls and outbreaks.
- Not every food is here. This chart does not cover produce, dairy, condiments, canned or shelf-stable foods, home-canned foods, infant formula or breast milk. Those have separate guidance.
- People at higher risk of serious food poisoning (pregnant people, adults 65 and older, children younger than 5, and people with weakened immune systems) may want to use the shorter end of each range.
- Guidance can change. FoodSafety.gov gives September 19, 2023 as the last review date of the chart used here. If the agency revises it, its times take precedence over this page.
- This is general information, not medical advice. If someone becomes ill after eating, ask a clinician or pharmacist, or call Poison Help.
Sources
- Cold Food Storage Chart — FoodSafety.gov (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), last reviewed September 19, 2023; accessed October 21, 2026.
- Leftovers and Food Safety — USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, last updated July 31, 2020; accessed October 21, 2026.
- Refrigeration and Food Safety — USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service; accessed October 21, 2026.
- Freezing and Food Safety — USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service; accessed October 21, 2026.
- The Big Thaw — Safe Defrosting Methods — USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service; accessed October 21, 2026.
- "Danger Zone" (40°F–140°F) — USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service; accessed October 21, 2026.
- 4 Steps to Food Safety — FoodSafety.gov, last reviewed September 18, 2023; accessed October 21, 2026.
- Food Safety During Power Outage — FoodSafety.gov, last reviewed August 8, 2024; accessed October 21, 2026.
- Keep Food Safe After a Disaster or Emergency — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, November 24, 2025; accessed October 21, 2026.
- Preventing Listeria Infection — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last reviewed January 16, 2025; accessed October 21, 2026.
- People at Risk of Food Poisoning — FoodSafety.gov, last reviewed August 14, 2025; accessed October 21, 2026.
- Poison Help — Health Resources and Services Administration; accessed October 21, 2026.
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