Can you eat cooked leftover chicken?

How to store cooked chicken in the fridge

Place leftover chicken in a sealable container before storing it in the fridge. The Australian Chicken Meat Federation says you have to wait for the steam to evaporate before storage. They advise “dividing [chicken] into smaller portions” to speed up the cooling process. But don’t leave chicken out to cool for too long, especially if you live some place warm.

Cooked chicken shouldn’t be left out at room temperature for longer than two hours. When the temperature is anywhere above 32°C, food should be stored in the fridge within an hour of cooking.

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Love Food Hate Waste recommends keeping cooked chicken on the top shelf of your refrigerator and away from raw meats.

How to store cooked chicken in the freezer

If you want to store cooked chicken in the freezer, the best way to go about it is to place the chicken in reusable ziplock bags. Try to remove as much air as you can before sealing off the bags. It's a good idea to divide chicken into smaller bits so you can decide how much chicken you want to thaw out later. Frozen chicken takes about 12 hours to thaw completely in the refrigerator.

How to tell if chicken is off

There are three easy tests you can do to find out if chicken has gone bad: the colour test, the smell test, and the touch test. First, check if the chicken has changed colour. When chicken goes bad, it usually turns greyish green due to the growth of mould. Next, smell the chicken. If it smells sour, don’t eat it. Lastly, the touch test. Spoiled chicken can get slimy or fuzzy.

What to do if you eat spoiled chicken

If you suspect you may have eaten rancid chicken and are experiencing food poisoning symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and fatigue, here’s what you should do:

Visit a doctor

A doctor will be able to diagnose if what you have is food poisoning. They will know what kind of medicine or care you will need depending on how badly the food poisoning has affected you. Some people may be sent home right away if their symptoms aren’t so bad, while others may need to be kept at the hospital for monitoring, especially if they’re experiencing dehydration.

Drink lots of water

If you can’t see a doctor right away, stay hydrated. Vomiting and diarrhea will cause you to lose a lot of water, so make sure to replenish your body’s supply. 

Avoid eating

If you’re experiencing food poisoning, your body will probably reject anything coming in. Save yourself the trouble of making an extra trip to the bathroom by keeping your food intake to a minimum. Healthline suggests letting your stomach settle for a few hours, so try to avoid eating. If you’re really hungry, try eating bland foods like cereal, rice, saltines, toast, bananas, and oatmeal.

Tips for maintaining chicken freshness

Should you wash raw chicken?

According to the CDC, washing raw chicken is a no-no. "During washing, chicken juices [which contain bacteria] can spread in the kitchen and contaminate other foods, utensils, and countertops”. 

Thaw chicken outside of the fridge

Remember, chicken shouldn’t be left out at room temperature. Bacteria in the meat itself or its environment can multiply if chicken is left to defrost in warm temperatures. Thawing chicken in the refrigerator overnight or placing it in a bowl of cold water or the microwave is recommended.

Whether it was roasted on a rotisserie, fried in a skillet, or baked in the oven, any type of cooked chicken is a good thing to have on hand in the refrigerator. Even if the rest of the fridge is almost bare, you can still cobble together a simple chicken salad out of cooked chicken and a few pantry staples. Shredded rotisserie chicken can also upgrade your usual tossed salad from side dish to entrée. And if you haven't experienced the joy of eating a piece of cold fried chicken straight from the fridge, you should fix that right now.

Just make sure you know how long the chicken has been in there. If stored properly (in a ziplock storage bag or sealed container), the USDA says that cooked chicken can last three to four days in the refrigerator. And that goes for any type of cooked chicken—store-bought, homemade, or restaurant leftovers.

Freeze It.

If you have a lot of leftover chicken and don't think you will eat it within four days, your best bet is to freeze it. Place the chicken in a ziplock freezer bag and press out as much air as possible before sealing it. Then freeze the chicken for up to four months. If frozen properly, the chicken will be edible indefinitely, but the longer it sits in the freezer, the higher the chance that the flavor and texture will deteriorate.

Defrost It.

Defrost frozen chicken overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stovetop or in the oven as needed. You can also reheat the chicken in the microwave. Cut the chicken into smaller pieces if possible and spread a single layer on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with a lid or damp paper towel before reheating.

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