How Long Can Spaghetti Sauce Last In The Fridge?

It took many hours to make a mouth-watering homemade spaghetti sauce, but the leftover needs to be in the refrigerator. You must be wondering how many days it can remain fresh. Well, it takes almost five days or less until your spaghetti sauce starts to smell. But these days can vary depending upon the type of the sauce you made. Five days is only an average.

Following are some essential tips to give you an insight while storing your pasta sauce. So the next time you save it, you don’t let it turn bad. And nothing goes wasted.

Can Spaghetti Sauce Smell Bad?

It can go wrong over time because the spaghetti sauce made in homes has a high acidic level because of tomatoes added in it. Yet, that doesn’t imply that they are resistant to momentary rack deterioration. The spaghetti sauce despite everything starts to develop germs which spoil the whole food and leads it to decay.

Spaghetti sauce does not start to smell bad all of a sudden. It is a slow and gradual process which often makes it difficult for everyone to spot it out whether it is still fresh or not. First, it starts to change its colour and afterwards it changes its form. That is the stage when it becomes visible that your spaghetti sauce has gone wrong.

How To Point Out That The Spaghetti Sauce Has Gone Bad

The perfect pasta sauce has a sharp red colour, and if you have prepared an authentic Italian seasoning, then it would somehow have an orange shade. For sure they seem mouth-watering, but the changes in colour would be the first sign to spot that the sauce has started to rot.

When you see that your spaghetti sauce is changing its colour to maroon or dark red, that’s when it’s coming to an end. As you open your sauce jar and have a look it in the mid directly, you will notice a good contrast.

The middle part of the sauce might have the exact colour when it was fresh, but its sides will have turned into a darker colour. The sauce starts to go wrong from the outsides. So if you have noticed something different around the edges, you still have time to save the rest of the sauce and consume it immediately.

For How Many Days Can Spaghetti Sauce Survive In The Refrigerator?

First of all, you must lookout for any kind of preservatives in your spaghetti sauce. If you have prepared the sauce through fresh ingredients, which are definitely free of any type of chemicals, such flavourings won’t, unfortunately, don’t have a longer life span as compared to the canned spaghetti sauces.

But still, there some options to make your spaghetti sauce last for a long time. You must make sure that they are kept at a suitable temperature. And the homemade pasta sauce usually survives for five days in the fridge.  

Guidelines For Storing Pasta Sauce

How Should The Spaghetti Sauce Be Stored?

You may carry out the same procedure for storing the pasta sauce as they do in Italy. In the rural areas, more specifically in the southern places, they take many days to make the sauce from the tomatoes they’ve harvested. They place the sauce carefully in the sterilized glass jars.

In case glass jars aren’t available, you may store your pasta sauce in a different container as long as it can be adequately sealed allowing no air in. Place the jar directly in the refrigerator after you’ve sealed it. Make sure not to leave them in a warm place.

Use Date Tags While Preparing Spaghetti Sauce.

Although there are only five days before your pasta sauce will start to rot. But if you tend to forget the date of preparation, then you must utilize stickers on your jars with dates on them. This way, you will keep track of how many days you have to use your pasta sauce.

Let Them Cool At Room Temperature Before You Refrigerate.

Refrigerating the pasta sauce is the most important thing to do. Whether it is a canned sauce or homemade, it must be appropriately stored in the fridge. But, it would help if you did not place the hot boiling sauce directly into the jar and straight into the refrigerator. It’s a big no!

Once you are done preparing the sauce, it needs at least four hours before it reaches the room temperature and becomes suitable for refrigerating, before the microbes have developed to the extent making the food dangerous to eat.

This is due to the immediate cooling of the fridge that directly targets the outside portions of the food, whereas the inside temperature of any meal is quite warm or hot.

The hot food can easily extend the microbes to the cold meal, which will spread the bacteria rapidly and will lead to rotting. If you allow the sauce to let cool at room temperature, then this risk can be reduced to a great extent.

Can You Freeze Spaghetti Sauce?

Yes, you can freeze your spaghetti sauce. You just have to pour all the sauce in a freezer sack or jar which will preserve its real taste for about six months. And at the time of the use, place it in room temperature and let it defrost for a couple of hours. Once it is adequately melted, you can add it your pasta and enjoy the same fresh taste!

Are There Some Other Spaghetti Sauces Better To Store?

Widely speaking, the sauces having tomatoes as their main ingredients stay fresh for quite a long time. This is because of the high acidity level in the tomatoes, which acts as a preserving agent. If compared to the dairy-based sauces, they last longer. Such sauces are the best when consumed the day they are made. 

Although the pasta sauces survive in the fridge after some days, they will start to change their taste and texture. So if you plan to make pasta sauce in a large quantity, select those who are more likely to last longer in the fridge.