This Is How Long Hard-Boiled Eggs Last in Your Fridge (2024)

FAQs

This Is How Long Hard-Boiled Eggs Last in Your Fridge? ›

Hard cooked eggs can be stored in the refrigerator up to seven days, either left in their shells or peeled. Make sure eggs are refrigerated within two hours after cooking, and don't leave refrigerated cooked eggs out at room temperature for more than two hours.

The FDA recommends consuming hard-boiled eggs within a week, and two weeks is well past that deadline. Since spoiled hard-boiled eggs can make you sick, it's best to be safe and toss out any leftover hard-boiled eggs that have been in the fridge for more than one week.

“If the egg is discolored or has a greenish ring around the yolk, it's likely gone bad.” A bad hard-boiled egg may also have a sulfuric smell, adds Marcus. The bottom line on hard-boiled eggs: “If the egg is slimy, mushy or smells bad, toss it,” says Steele.

The shell will help to protect the egg from bacteria, and can help prevent them from absorbing odors from other foods in your refrigerator. A quick beginner's tip is that hard-boiled eggs can be preserved up to 7 days in the refrigerator.

With their shells on, hard-boiled eggs will stay good in the fridge for up to a week. Once you peel them, though, their shelf-life decreases to about three days (at the most).

Hard-cooked eggs, which have been quickly cooled and placed in the refrigerator in their shells should be consumed within seven days. Peeled hard-cooked eggs stored in the refrigerator should be consumed within 48 hours due to the moist egg white surface being exposed and the potential of microorganism growth.

Hard cooked eggs can be stored in the refrigerator up to seven days, either left in their shells or peeled. Make sure eggs are refrigerated within two hours after cooking, and don't leave refrigerated cooked eggs out at room temperature for more than two hours.

Risks of Eating Bad Eggs

Salmonella is common in eggs, whether they are good or bad. However, salmonella is cooked out of eggs with heat. As eggs go bad, they develop other types of bacteria like E. Coli that lead to severe illness.

HARD-BOILED EGGS

Remove the pan from the heat and let the yolks stand, covered, in the hot water about 12 minutes. Remove the yolks with a slotted spoon, drain them well and package them for freezing. It's best not to freeze hard-boiled whole eggs and hard-boiled whites because they become tough and watery when frozen.

When shell eggs are hard cooked, the protective coating is washed away, leaving bare the pores in the shell for bacteria to enter and contaminate it.

What happens if you boil eggs too long? ›

The longer you cook the egg, the more likely you are to end up with a rubbery white and a green yolk.

If you throw your eggs out once the date on the carton has passed, you may be wasting perfectly good eggs. With proper storage, eggs can last for at least 3–5 weeks in the fridge and about 1 year in the freezer. The longer an egg is stored, the more its quality declines, making it less springy and more runny.

Hard-boiled eggs provide you with antioxidants, potassium, and good cholesterol that can help manage blood pressure and cholesterol levels and keep your heart healthy. Protects eye health: Eggs contain antioxidants including lutein, zeaxanthin, and selenium that protect the eyes against oxidative damage.

Peeled or unpeeled, hard-boiled eggs should be stored in a sealed, airtight container. Unless you purchased them hard-cooked, never put them back in their original container, which can lead to cross-contamination, Peterson says.

Never leave cooked eggs or egg dishes out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours or for more than 1 hour when temperatures are above 90° F. Bacteria that can cause illness grow quickly at warm temperatures (between 40° F and 140° F).

A slimy or chalky shell can indicate bacteria or mold growth, while a brown shell is a sign of spoilage. If any of these signs are present, toss the egg to be safe. And as stated, a foul odor is also a sign of rottenness, so you should discard the hard-boiled egg to avoid getting sick.

According to the FDA, refrigerated hard-boiled eggs, peeled or unpeeled, last for exactly one week. This means it's safe to cook a batch of hard-boiled eggs for your weekly meal prep—but cook no more than you and your family will consume in a week.

"Those expiration dates are on some egg cartons to make sure that retailers don't keep eggs on shelves past a certain date," Maloberti says. "However, eggs can be safely eaten two to three weeks past that date. Depending on where [you live], the expiration date may be labeled as Sell By, Use By, Exp. By or Best By."

“As long as the egg hasn't gone bad, there's no reason you can't still enjoy it,” says nutritionist Keri Gans, RD, author of The Small Change Diet. That's right: You do not have to trash that carton of eggs just because it's past the sell-by date. You'll save money and eliminate food waste.

But they're not that different from "homemade" hard-boiled eggs, which last a week in the refrigerator, if left unpeeled. Pre-shelled hard-boiled eggs have a "best-by" date, which is usually seven days after the package has been opened. But always check the package to be sure.