Are you wondering how long cranberry sauce lasts in the fridge and if it matters if it's homemade or from a can? The answer to your second query is a resounding "Yes" and, to the first, "That depends."
It's probably been a while since you've been in the cranberry game, so consider this a sauce-focused Thanksgiving food safety refresher. We cover everything you need to know about the storage and longevity of cranberry sauce: homemade and canned, refrigerating and freezing, and when you have to throw it out.
When to Toss Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce will last for two hours at room temperature. Homemade cranberry sauce will last in the fridge for 10 to 14 days. Canned cranberry sauce that has been opened will last up to a week in the fridge.
We hear you: After a long day of cooking, hosting, and celebrating, something's bound to get overlooked. If you've inadvertently left cranberry sauce on the kitchen counter overnight—whether it's homemade or store-bought—throw it away, no matter how painful.
You can safely leave a container of cranberry sauce on the kitchen counter at room temperature for up to 2 hours. After that, your cranberry sauce—and most other perishable foods, especially those containing eggs and dairy—enters the Danger Zone, the USDA's term for the temperature range between 40 and 140 degrees F, in which bacteria quickly multiply.
Perhaps you're unsure how long your cranberry sauce has been sitting out, or you don't remember how long it's been hiding at the back of the fridge. When in question, summon your senses to determine if your cranberry sauce is bad or spoiled, and this goes for homemade and canned: If it has an "off" smell, flavor, or appearance—or if mold appears—toss it.
How to Store Homemade Cranberry Sauce
When it comes to storing your homemade cranberry sauce, you have options: the refrigerator or the freezer:
- To refrigerate, transfer to a covered glass or plastic container, and it'll keep for 10 to 14 days.
- To freeze, transfer to a covered, airtight container or freezer-safe bag, and it'll stay fresh-tasting in your freezer for about 1 month. Beyond that, it's still safe to eat (though less fresh-tasting) for up to a year.
How to Store Canned Cranberry Sauce
It may not matter to your guests if you serve homemade or canned cranberry sauce, but when it comes to food storage, it does make a difference. Of course, it also matters if the can has been opened or not.
Unopened Cranberry Sauce
As long as an unopened can of cranberry sauce is stored in a consistently cool pantry, it'll keep and taste good for at least a year beyond the date stamped on the can. (That date is the manufacturer’s estimate of how long the cranberry sauce will remain at peak quality and is not a safety-related expiration date.) After a few years, if the can is intact, the cranberry sauce’s texture, color, or flavor may change, but it likely won’t be dangerous.
Regardless of a can's date, toss out any cranberry sauce cans that are leaky, rusted, bulging, or severely dented. If the top of the can is rounded instead of flat, the cranberry sauce has most likely gone bad. If you open the can and anything is brown or black, toss the can and its contents ASAP!
Opened Cranberry Sauce
If you need to store cranberry sauce from a can that's been opened, you really just have one option: the refrigerator. Start by transferring your cranberry sauce from the can to an airtight container, and then you can safely leave it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Freezing canned cranberry sauce isn’t a good idea because it turns watery. While not recommended, it's not unsafe to freeze it, and it'll stay good in the freezer for a month.
To avoid having to throw that cranberry sauce away, there are plenty of ways to use leftover cranberry sauce outside of your holiday feast. Smear it as a condiment on a leftover turkey sandwich, mix some into your morning bowl of oatmeal, or warm it up to use as a decadent tangy topping for vanilla ice cream.
