MyListResortHow long does cheese last?
Storage tips
- Keep dairy on the coldest shelf, sealed, and never on the door.
- Reseal cheese well; wrap hard cheese so it can breathe without drying out.
Every kind, and how long it keeps
| Kind | Fridge | Pantry | Freezer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheese, hard such as cheddar, swiss, block parmesan | 6 months | — | 6 months |
| Cheese, parmesan; shredded or grated | 12 months | — | — |
| Cheese, processed slices | 3 to 4 weeks | — | — |
| Cheese, shredded; cheddar, mozzarella, etc. | 1 month | — | 3 to 4 months |
| Cheese, soft such as brie, bel paese, goat | 1 to 2 weeks | — | 6 months |
Also here, and different enough to keep their own windows: Cottage cheese, Cream cheese, Nacho cheese, store bought, Pimento cheese, packaged, String Cheese, Vegan Cheddar Cheese.
How can you tell if cheese has gone bad?
- Mold on cheese or yogurt. On hard cheese you can cut well around a spot; on soft cheese or yogurt, discard the whole thing.
More on dairy & eggs shelf life and storage.
Common questions
How long does cheese last?
How long cheese keeps depends on which one you have, so each is listed below with its own window. These are estimated quality windows from the USDA FoodKeeper, not food-safety determinations; follow the label and official guidance.
Track it in your list
The average American family of four throws away about $1,500 of food a year, per the EPA, and most of it is opened items nobody remembered.
Add the cheese you actually bought to a MyListResort grocery list and set your own reminder from the table above, free. Or scan its barcode to add it without typing.
Track this for free← All foodsSee how freshness tracking works, read the guide to tracking once-opened food, or see what a shared grocery list does for a household.
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.