A bowl of hot chicken soup is the perfect way to warm up on a cold night. It’s annoying to discover that the chicken soup you stored in the fridge has gone bad. Chicken soup has a rather lengthy shelf life, but people want to know how long it will keep in the fridge so they don’t waste time trying to eat it before it goes bad.
Chicken soup, whether homemade or from a can, may be kept fresh in the refrigerator for three to four days.
What happens if chicken soup spoils in the fridge? Besides freezing, what other options do I have for storing my chicken soup?
Any questions you had about how long chicken soup lasts in the fridge or whether it goes bad in the fridge are answered here. For your next pot of chicken soup, we’ve included some helpful hints as well.
How Long Is Chicken Soup Good In The Fridge?
Chicken soup, whether from a can or your own kitchen, keeps well in the fridge for three to four days.
Chicken soup, however, has a shelf life of up to 6 days, but at a lower nutritional value. Because of this, chicken soup is best consumed within three to four days of preparation to ensure the full flavour and nutritional value.
Keep your chicken soup at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) to keep it fresh. If you heat your chicken soup any higher than these temperatures, harmful microorganisms may be able to grow in it. Food poisoning is most commonly caused by these microorganisms.
Freezing Your Chicken Soup
Even while chicken soup can be kept for a few days in the fridge, you’ll get much more use out of a batch of frozen chicken. Chicken soup will last for about three months in the freezer if stored properly.
Chicken soup freezing instructions are provided.
- Your homemade chicken soup will freeze well after it has cooled. To cool the chicken soup, transfer it to an airtight container and either place it in the fridge or an ice bath.
- Put the chicken soup in a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze it.
- In order to freeze the soup, split it into individual servings. Chicken soup is best for freezing when made in small batches. When you freeze your chicken soup in individual servings, the flavour is preserved even if the soup freezes unevenly.
- Squeeze out as much air as you can from the plastic bag before placing it in the freezer. Before securing the plastic bag, make sure there is at least an inch of space. Prepare for stacking by laying the plastic bags flat before freezing.
- To avoid any confusion, please clearly identify the contents of the plastic bag. This information will be useful in figuring out when the offer will run out.
Why Does Chicken Soup Get Bad In The Freezer?
Chicken soup can go bad if stored in the fridge or freezer, so don’t do it just because it’s the easiest method to keep it fresh. Chicken soup can go bad in the fridge for the following reasons:
- If the power has been down for more than 10 hours and the soup hasn’t been warmed, throw it out.
- There is a higher risk of spoilage if hot chicken soup is refrigerated.
- Putting your chicken soup near the fridge door is a certain way to have it spoil. This is because the refrigerator door causes temperature fluctuations inside the appliance.
How to Know When Your Chicken Soup Has Gone Bad
Here are some tell tale symptoms that your chicken soup has turned bad: Indicators that your chicken soup has gone bad include a change in colour, texture, and overall look.
The most obvious symptoms are the presence of mould and slime in your chicken soup.
If your chicken soup has developed a foul odour, it has likely gone bad and needs to be thrown away. If you smell something off in the chicken soup, it’s best not to try any anyhow to avoid possible food poisoning.
Tips For Your Chicken Soup
Apply these hints and you’ll be eating chicken soup like a pro in no time:
- Chicken soup from the freezer needs at least 24 hours to thaw in the fridge before being reheated.
- If your chicken soup is in a jar, you should not reheat it in the microwave. Transfer the contents to a microwave-safe bowl or saucepan before cooking.
- To ensure that no bacteria survive in your chicken soup, reheat it to at least 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Never let your chicken soup freeze and spoil. A freezer burn occurs when food is not stored in an airtight container before being burned. It causes the food to dry out. Freezer burn can be recognised by the chicken soup’s dry, shrivelled appearance and the presence of ice crystals on its surface. Freezer burn will ruin both the taste and consistency of your chicken soup.
- Chicken soup should be kept away from the fridge’s entrance, in the back.
- When reheated, chicken soup might lose some of its flavour, but adding spices and vinegar can bring it back to life.
- Add flavour to your food with some homemade chicken stock or broth.
- Keep your fridge and freezer closed at all times to maintain a consistent temperature.
Final Note
However, even if you refrigerate your chicken soup, it still has a short shelf life and needs to be preserved. If you want to keep your chicken soup for a longer time, you should freeze it.
If you want to freeze homemade chicken soup, you can use the guidelines we provided.
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