How Long Is Refrigerated Egg Salad Safe To Eat?

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Egg salad is a quick and easy (usually) lunch classic. It can be saved in the fridge until it's ready to use on a sandwich with a side of potato chips or enjoyed with some greens for a full-on salad. But if you just prepared an egg salad and have some leftover to store in the fridge, it's important to know how long it can stay there. According to FoodSafety.gov, your egg salad can last in the fridge for three to five days when stored at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below. If the temperature is too high, you'll fall in the "danger zone" between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit when bacteria reproduce more quickly, significantly adding to food spoilage. And once the bacteria have taken hold, you don't want anything to do with the stuff.

To keep your egg salad as fresh as possible, you'll want to keep it covered in an airtight container to avoid the circulating air in the fridge (this can increase the possibility of airborne mold or bacteria contamination). Bacteria and mold require oxygen to grow, so the less oxygen your egg salad is exposed to, the better. If you want to have an egg salad on deck but aren't sure when you'll eat it, you can always stock the fridge with hard-boiled eggs, because they'll last up to a week in the shell, and you can simply shell them and mix them with your favorite ingredients to create a quick egg salad right whenever you're ready to eat it.

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Now let's help you prep that egg salad. For starters, you might want to add a bit of olive oil in the water to boil your eggs because it will make them much easier to peel. Beyond the eggs, the regular ingredients are often mayo and yellow mustard. But you can kick it up with some spicier Dijon mustard and a little white vinegar, hit it with a little hot sauce, or try a Lee Kum Kee Sriracha Mayo with the heat already packed in. Depending on the direction you want to go, some dried herbs, diced green onions, or even a little smoked paprika and sour cream (for the deviled eggs) treatment can dial in the flavor exactly where you want it.

When left in the fridge for a few days, even in an airtight container you should give your egg salad the sniff test to make sure it smells fresh — we all know the smell of a bad egg. If the color is a bit off or it's overly watery or slimy, you should throw it out. But when you get your egg salad recipe just right, and properly store it in an airtight container, it will be so tasty that you'll simply eat it up before it has time to go bad.