How long does ground meat last in the refrigerator?

There are many ways to use a kilo of ground beef. From burgers and meatballs to pasta with meat sauce, pastitsio and moussaka! Depending on your appetite, the options are many.

The key question, however, is how long ground beef can be kept in the refrigerator if you don’t want to cook it right away. Unfortunately, it has a short shelf life, so you should keep all of the following in mind when buying ground beef from your butcher.

How long raw ground beef lasts in the refrigerator

Raw ground beef can be kept in the refrigerator for only one to two days, according to FoodSafety.gov. However, there are a few additional steps you can take to try to extend the shelf life of your ground beef.

First, the quality of the ground beef you buy will inevitably affect its shelf life. The best thing to do is buy high-quality ground beef for a longer shelf life.

Another thing to pay attention to is how you store it. Keep it in the packaging you bought it in, and store it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator toward the back.

How long cooked ground beef lasts in the refrigerator

For example, if you’ve cooked a kilo of ground beef to serve with your pasta, it can be kept in the refrigerator for three to four days, like almost all leftovers.

How to freeze ground beef

The only sure way to make your ground beef last longer than two days is to freeze it. When kept in the freezer (at -17), ground beef and other types of minced meat keep for three to four months.

To freeze ground beef, leave it in its original packaging and wrap it in heavy-duty aluminum foil, plastic wrap, freezer paper, or place it in a freezer-safe plastic bag to prevent freezer burn. If you’ve already opened the package, you can transfer the ground beef to a freezer-safe bag and write the date it was frozen on it.