How long do deli and prepared foods last?

Reviewed by the MyListResort team · Data from the USDA FoodKeeper · Updated July 30, 2026

Prepared and deli foods are ready to eat and can spoil quickly. Once opened, their refrigerated quality window is usually short, so date them and follow package and official storage guidance. Smell, appearance and texture cannot establish safety.

What are common spoilage signs for deli & prepared?

• A slimy or tacky surface on deli meats or prepared salads.
• A sour, off or fermented smell.
• Any mold, discoloration or liquid pooling that was not there before.

Storing deli & prepared

• Refrigerate immediately and keep tightly sealed on a cold shelf.
• Use within a few days of opening; when unsure, throw it out rather than taste-test.
• Keep raw and ready-to-eat items separated so nothing cross-contaminates.

Deli & prepared shelf life, food by food

Tap a food for its once-opened window, full shelf-life table and storage tips.

• Canadian bacon, sliced
• Canadian bacon, whole
• Casseroles
• Chicken salad
• Chicken, pre-packaged, luncheon/deli meat
• Coleslaw, homemade, prepared
• Commercial brand vacuum-packed dinners, with USDA seal
• Cooked pasta
• Cooked rice
• Egg salad
• Fruit, cut
• Guacamole
• Ham salad
• Ham, pre-packaged, luncheon/deli meat
• Hummus, commercial (pasteurized, with preservatives)
• Hummus, traditional (no preservatives, not pasteurized)
• Kugel, homemade
• Leftovers, pizza
• Leftovers, with meat, fish, poultry, or egg
• Leftovers, without meat, fish, poultry, or egg (such as cooked vegitables, rice, or potatoes)
• Luncheon meat or poultry, pre-packaged
• Luncheon meat or poultry, store-sliced
• Main dishes or meals, hot or refrigerated
• Meats, covered with gravy or broth
• Olives, from olive bar
• Pasta salad
• Pate
• Potato salad
• Poultry pieces, covered with gravy or broth
• Salami, pre-packaged, luncheon/deli meat
• Salsa, fresh
• Salsa, homemade, fresh
• Seafood salads, (tuna salad, shrimp salad, salmon salad, mixed seafood salad, etc.)
• Soup, stews
• Turkey, pre-packaged, luncheon/deli meat
• Vegetable soup, homemade

Shelf-life windows come from the USDA FoodKeeper, published by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (public domain); we vendor the FSIS FoodKeeper dataset and refresh it in place. These are quality estimates, not food-safety determinations or guarantees: actual condition depends on storage and handling, and harmful bacteria may not have obvious signs. Follow package and official guidance; when in doubt, throw it out. See our food safety notice and terms.