Last week, you made some great tuna salad and have some leftovers in the fridge. How long does tuna salad last before it goes bad? Should you eat it or not?
It can be a pain not knowing whether you should eat the rest of your tuna salad or not. Or you’re in pain after eating tuna salad that has gone bad.
Making food is all about knowing the right stuff and managing it, the same for tuna salad.
In this article, we will cover all you need to know about tuna salad, its shelf-life, how to store it and spoilage.
Enjoy the read!
How Long Can Tuna Salad Last
We will start with a short table with the indicative periods for tuna salad.
Tuna salad | Pantry | Refrigerator |
---|---|---|
Any tuna salad | / | Up to 5 days |
As you can imagine, tuna salad is a very delicate and perishable product. It’s quite simple: all the tuna salads, homemade or not, will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator if stored correctly.
Tuna salad is a salad. Salads are quick and light meals, all with delicate products. This salad is made from tuna. Canned tuna doesn’t last very long in the refrigerator. You can imagine that this isn’t good news for tuna salad.
It is not advised to eat tuna salad older than 5 days. We didn’t even look at the other ingredients from the tuna salad, as they will also have an impact on the taste and shelf-life and you might need to discard them sooner.
Normally, when you use ingredients like mayonnaise, cocktail sauce, mustard, and so on, you’ll be just fine because they’ll last longer if stored correctly, even homemade mayonnaise.
Most salads will contain some dressing, meaning it can also negatively influence the lifespan of your salad. Try to store this dressing separately and add them right before you’ll consume the salad and mix everything well.
It’s not a great idea to use all of the dressing in your salad, because this will decrease the quality of the salad, thus spoiling faster.
With salads, try to finish them within a day or two, this way, you’ll normally have no issues when it comes to food poisoning. But always check for any signs of spoilage.
How should you store your tuna salad properly?
How To Store Tuna Salad
This is a no-brainer: always store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator.
It doesn’t matter what tuna salad it is, storebought or homemade. Always store in the fridge and sealed tight.
As we say with other products like sauces, try to store them at the back of the fridge, closer to the cooling elements because they won’t have as much contact with the outside. The further from the door, the better. Of course, this is different from fridge to the fridge and what you’ve already stored in it.
What some people don’t do, is get whatever they need from the container. Just transfer it from the container to your plate or bowl and put the rest back in the fridge. This way, it won’t spoil as fast. Try to use a clean spoon for this.
Can You Freeze Tuna Salad
Yes, you can freeze the tuna salad but we don’t advise you to do this.
Freezing tuna salad means thawing the tuna salad. This might result in a change of texture and flavor. If you use mayonnaise or other sauces, or dressings, they might separate or become watery.
If you do opt for freezing tuna salad, try to freeze them in single-serve portions and put them in separate containers. You can also use a freezer bag, or 2 plastic bags (double-bag them) or put a portion in a plastic bag and put those in the container. Don’t expect great results. Test it with small portions.
Generally, on GoodOrGoneBad, we’re not a fan of freezing salads just like we don’t like to freeze mayonnaise. Salads should be fresh and high quality.
There are so many options that you can do with tuna salad: use it on a sandwich, use in avocado, integrate it in a tuna burger and make a healthy burger, and so on…
How Can You Tell If Tuna Salad Has Gone Bad
As you might realize already, tuna salad doesn’t need much to spoil fast.
Guidelines to check whether your tuna salad has gone bad or not:
- It goes without saying that you don’t even have to look for telltale signs if you already know that your tuna salad is older than 5 days. Discard it away immediately.
- Are there any discolored marks in the salad or container? This can also be a sign of mold. Don’t hesitate and discard it right away.
- Does the tuna salad have an unusual smell? If you smell something funny or unpleasant, toss it away.
- How is the taste? Does it taste odd? Please get rid of it immediately.
There are a lot of factors that can contribute to the spoilage of your tuna salad: dressings, vegetables, sauces, sitting out at room temperature, not sealed tight…
Always check the salad and make a personal decision. We on GoodOrGoneBad, keep saying that it’s not wise to take unnecessary risks as you don’t want to get food poisoned. The advantages don’t weigh up with the possible disadvantages, but that’s your call to make.
When there’s doubt, just discard it.
Enjoy your Tuna Salad!