An open jar of pasta sauce can make midweek meals much easier, but how long can you safely keep it in the fridge? While it might be tempting to save the rest of a jar for next week's pasta night, food safety experts recommend using opened shop-bought pasta sauce much sooner.
Once opened, jarred pasta sauce should generally be used within about four days when refrigerated at 4°C or below, according to Dr Darin Detwiler, a food safety expert, author and professor emeritus of food policy at Northeastern University.
“An opened jar is no longer a sealed, shelf-stable product,” Dr Detwiler explains. “Each use can introduce microorganisms from the air, utensils, hands or contact with food. Refrigeration slows their growth, but it does not stop it.”
Tomato-based sauces may be more forgiving because of their acidity, particularly compared with lower-acid, dairy-based sauces. However, that doesn’t mean they can be stored indefinitely. Refrigerate all opened sauces and follow the recommended storage timeframe.Signs your pasta sauce has gone off
Before using leftover sauce, check for signs that it has gone off, including mould, bubbling, gas pressure, a swollen lid, a sour or fermented smell, sliminess, discolouration or visible yeast growth. Separation, particularly when accompanied by an unusual smell, can also indicate a problem.
However, don’t rely on appearance or smell alone to determine whether your sauce is safe to eat. As Dr Detwiler warns, “‘Looks fine’ is not a reliable food safety control.”
Some harmful bacteria don’t produce noticeable changes in a food’s appearance, smell or texture. That means a jar of sauce can look and smell normal and still be unsafe if it’s been refrigerated for longer than the recommended timeframe. Never taste sauce to check whether it’s gone off. When in doubt, throw it away.
What to read next
How to store an open jar of pasta sauce safely
To keep your pasta sauce fresh for as long as possible, refrigerate it promptly after use and keep the lid tightly closed. Always use a clean spoon to take out what you need, and avoid dipping cooked pasta directly into the jar, as this can introduce additional microorganisms.
It also helps to label the jar with the date you opened it so you can keep track of how long it’s been in the fridge. For more consistent cooling, store the sauce in the coldest part of the fridge rather than in the door, where temperatures can fluctuate.
Proper storage can reduce the risk of contamination, but it can’t make opened pasta sauce last forever. Stick to the four-day guideline and throw away any sauce that’s past the recommended timeframe, even if it looks fine.
Rosamelia is a writer at Good Housekeeping, covering everything related to Gen Z, lifestyle, and online trends. She’s a graduate of NYU's Magazine and Digital Storytelling program. In her free time, you can find her reading and reviewing books on her bookstagram: amelias_biblioteca.
Stacey looks after all food and drink reviews — from coffee pods and veg boxes, to natural wine and tequila. Stacey is also founder of Crummbs, where she’s written nearly 2,000 restaurant and hotel reviews since 2013. Prior to this, Stacey wrote hundreds of in-depth buying guides for the Independent, i newspaper and BBC Good Food, as well as reviewing restaurants and interviewing celebrities in her column at Balance Magazine. Stacey has also appeared in BAFTA-nominated BBC documentary Blood, Sweat & Takeaways, where she investigated South East Asia's food production industry, appearing on both Newsnight and BBC World Service to share her findings. Regularly checking out the latest restaurants, bars and product launches, Stacey also loves experimenting with recipes at home, and is a WSET-certified wine and spirits expert, with over 10 years of experience in the business. You can follow Stacey on Instagram @crummbs_uk
