How Long Is Chicken Salad Good For?

Chicken salad is an all-time favorite item as it is a healthy and delicious dish. You can take this dish when you travel, serve it at celebrations, or make some on a boring Sunday afternoon. 

Chicken salad is also a combination of many vegetables alongside the cooked chicken. Hence, all the items must be stored correctly to retain their shelf life. 

You can keep chicken salad at room temperature for a maximum of 1 hour. If you preserve it in the fridge, you can store it for up to 3 days. However, some protocols must be followed to store the chicken salad in the fridge.

In today’s article, we will discuss all aspects of storing chicken salad along with other protocols that must be followed to preserve the chicken salad. Let us get into details instantly.

Taking It From Store To Home

When you visit a store to buy a pre-prepared chicken salad, you must be particular about how long the chicken salad can sit out. The reason why many foods cant sit out for a longer time is that it tends to attract lots of bacteria and microorganisms.

Eating those dishes will make you sick and cause food poisoning. It is always safe to refrigerate the food after about two hours of it being out.

Sometimes when you buy the chicken salad ready-made from the shop, it is safe to bring it home and keep it in the fridge for 2 hours. If the temperature exceeds 90 degrees F, it is better to refrigerate the food for an hour.

The longer you delay keeping the food in the fridge, the higher the risk it gets spoiled.

How Long Can Chicken Salad Sit Out?

Chicken salad has many other ingredients, and it cannot sit out for a long time. Keeping it in the fridge might be somewhat safer, for the shelf life will be extended to some extent. However, how long can it sit out?

The chicken salad can be kept out for at least two hours and not even a minute more. If the temperature in the room is anywhere close to 90 degrees F, then it is better to cut down the window period to one hour.

Freezing the chicken that has been out at room temperature does not serve the purpose either.

The Safer Temperature For The Chicken

The warmth of the room temperature is bound to get the chicken spoiled sooner than you think. The safer temperature will be the gap of 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F.

However, if the temperature is above 90 degrees F, then it can only be kept out for an hour and not more than that. If the temperature is a little cooler, then the chicken can be kept out but not any longer.

How Long Can Chicken Salad Last In The Fridge?

Storing the chicken salad in the fridge entails preserving it the right way and storing it in an airtight container. If you store it right, it can last for 5 days without any issues.

However, it is better to take a look at it after 3 days. The chicken salad in the refrigerator should be stored at 40 degrees F and less than that.

Anyway, check it once on day four or day five if it does not smell or has any rough patches on the exterior surface.

How To Store It In The Fridge?

The salad should be kept in an airtight container or in a sealed bag where there are no possible holes for external air to intrude.

This will keep the salad fresh and taste better for the intended time, irrespective of how long it is. It can also be preserved in a sealed bag with no gaps, so the chicken does not lose its flavor.

Can A Chicken Salad Be Frozen?

The answer to this question depends on what ingredients are mixed in the salad. If you have mayonnaise, celery, and eggs, it is not a good idea to freeze the salad.

Mayonnaise, when frozen, becomes too diluted and unfit for mixing. Celery, on the other hand, can actually lose its crispness if frozen.

Eggs will also lose their texture when frozen; hence, the salads bereft of the above ingredients can be frozen, but the duration can be at least three months.

Duration Of The Salad To Be Frozen

The chicken salad that is frozen is good to be used for the span of three months. It must be immediately thrown out if it has stayed more than three months.

The faster you use it, the higher the chance that the chicken is good enough to be consumed. The later you take to eat it, the more you risk having spoiled chicken by all means.

How To Tell If The Chicken Salad Has Gone Bad?

1. The chicken salad that has been preserved in the fridge for more than 3 days needs to be validated if it has gone bad. If you have kept it for 4 or 5 days, then it is better discarded.
2. A chicken salad that has been placed at room temperature for more than 2 hours also goes through an evaluation before it is eaten. 
3. The frozen chicken salad also has to be monitored for quality before consumption.
4. The smell of the chicken salad is a good indicator to know it has gone bad. There will be a funky odor which is more repulsive in nature.
5. If the color of the chicken is changed or something is growing on the surface, then the chicken salad is best thrown out without a second thought.
6. If the chicken salad has a slimy texture or roughness, it should no longer be eaten.

Conclusion

Chicken salad encompasses many items at best and the amount of time it will last depends on what items it constitutes. At best, it can sit out for up to 2 hours.

If the temperature is hot, reduce the duration by an hour. If you keep it in the fridge, it is still good only for 3 days, after which you need to have a tab on its freshness.

Freezing it could work if the fellow components of the chicken are not very sensitive to freezing. All the above timelines would hold well if it is preserved right with encompassing vacuum and no air intrusion. 

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs)