By following these basic food safety guidelines, you and your family can be feasting on Christmas leftovers for days and weeks to come:

Wash your hands

Before handling leftovers, wash your hands in warm, soapy water to prevent the spread of bacteria.

Label and date

Avoid playing leftover roulette: Label and date everything with permanent marker and masking tape or adhesive labels.

Chill out

Bacteria can increase at room temperature, so it’s important to quickly cool your food. Be sure to refrigerate or freeze foods within 2 hours of cooking, and toss anything that has been sitting out longer than that.

Store leftovers in 5cm shallow layers in containers (don’t pile too high to avoid trapping heat) and use an ice bath to rapidly cool hot liquids, like soup, before refrigerating or freezing.

Follow our guide for properly storing these common Christmas leftovers:

Note: Cooked egg whites, cabbage, lettuces, custards and puddings do not freeze well.

Reheat the right way

Solid leftovers should be heated to 75°C. Soups and other liquids should be brought to a rolling boil.

Use the 4-day rule

As a general rule, keep leftovers in the fridge for 4 days — max. (The exception is stuffing and gravy, which only keep for 2 days.) Freeze anything you don’t think will be eaten within that time. And if you have no idea how long something has been in the fridge, throw it out!

Leftover storage time limits:

Food

Refrigerator

Freezer

Cooked meat and poultry

3 to 4 days

2 to 6 months

Soups, stews

3 to 4 days

2 to 3 months

Salads (potato, pasta)

3 to 4 days

Not recommended

Gravy, meat broth

1 to 2 days

2 to 3 months