How Long Is Thanksgiving Turkey Good For? Leftovers Chart

How long is Thanksgiving turkey good for? Cooked turkey keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge, as long as it went in within 2 hours of the meal. After a Thursday dinner, that means eat it by Sunday, or Monday at the latest. Most other Thanksgiving leftovers have a shorter window: gravy and stuffing 1 to 2 days, pumpkin pie 2 to 3, mashed potatoes 3 to 4. Cranberry sauce lasts longest, about 5 to 7 days. Anything you can’t finish inside its window goes in the freezer, not back on the table.

Every figure below comes from a university extension chart we loaded and read, and each row says which. They do not always agree. Where they differ, we print the shorter time.

Thanksgiving leftovers chart

The “eat or freeze by” column counts from a Thursday, November 26 dinner.

Leftover	Fridge time	Eat or freeze by	Where the figure comes from
Turkey, sliced or carved	3 to 4 days	Sun 29 (Mon 30 at latest)	Every chart we loaded agrees
Turkey stored in gravy	1 to 2 days	Sat 28	Illinois: meat with sauce or gravy
Gravy	1 to 2 days	Sat 28	Illinois (both charts), Cornell
Stuffing	1 to 2 days	Sat 28	Illinois leftovers chart (others say 3 to 4)
Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes	3 to 4 days	Sun 29	Illinois general leftovers rule (others say 3 to 5)
Green bean casserole, cooked vegetables	3 to 4 days	Sun 29	Cornell (Illinois says 3 to 5)
Ham	3 to 4 days	Sun 29	Cornell (Illinois says 3 to 5 for baked ham)
Cranberry sauce	5 to 7 days	Tue Dec 1	Illinois (others say up to 2 weeks)
Pumpkin pie	2 to 3 days	Sat 28 (Sun 29 at latest)	Illinois (others say 3 to 4)
Apple pie, baked	2 to 3 days	Sat 28	Cornell (Illinois says 3)
Soup made from the leftovers	2 to 3 days from the day you make it	Count from soup day	Illinois, Cornell

The sources are University of Illinois Extension’s turkey storing-leftovers chart and its using-leftovers chart, the extension’s general leftovers page, Cornell Cooperative Extension’s holiday leftovers chart, and NC State’s Safe Plates program, whose Thanksgiving leftovers tips say not to eat refrigerated leftovers “past four days”.

Notice that gravy and stuffing are the first things to go, not the turkey. The meal everyone plans around is the turkey sandwich on Saturday. The stuffing that goes with it needs eating by the same day.

The 2-hour clock starts at dinner

Every number in the chart assumes the food reached the fridge in time. Safe Plates says perishable food “should be refrigerated within two hours”, and that “the clock starts ticking the moment food is set out”. So the clock starts when the turkey comes to the table, not when the dishes are cleared. In a warm kitchen above 90°F, Safe Plates says aim for one hour.

That changes what you do at the end of the meal:

• Clear the food before the dessert, not after. Turkey, gravy and stuffing sitting on the table while everyone has pie is how the 2 hours slip by.
• Use shallow containers. Illinois Extension says to divide large quantities into “several shallow containers”, because small amounts chill faster. Spoon the stuffing out of its deep dish rather than refrigerating it in one block. Lidded glass containers such as the Pyrex Simply Store 9-piece set also let you see what is in the fridge, which helps on day three.
• Carve the bird before it goes in. Illinois Extension’s turkey FAQ says to take the turkey off the bone and remove any stuffing from the cavity first.
• Check the fridge is cold enough. Safe Plates puts it at 40°F or lower. A Rubbermaid fridge/freezer thermometer on the middle shelf tells you, and it is worth checking once the fridge is packed with holiday dishes.

Food left out overnight is not covered by any of these times. Safe Plates lists “leave leftovers out overnight” as a don’t. Throw it out, whatever it looks like.

Can’t finish it in time? Freeze it on day one or two

The fridge window is short, so make the freezer decision early. Illinois Extension says not to wait until cooked turkey has been in the fridge for 4 days before freezing it, because freezing holds the quality you have and does not improve it.

Turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pies all freeze; green bean casserole doesn’t. The freezer times and the way to pack each one are in our guide to freezing cooked turkey and the rest of the table. Do it on Friday, while Thursday’s leftovers are still at their best.

If there is always too much, buy less next year. Our turkey per person chart has a with-leftovers column and a without one.

Reheating leftovers safely

Three rules from the loaded sources cover it:

• Reheat to 165°F. That is the minimum on Illinois Extension’s leftovers page, and Safe Plates says the same. An instant-read thermometer in the thickest piece settles it.
• Bring gravy to a rolling boil. Safe Plates singles out gravies and sauces, which “should be brought to a rolling boil when reheated”. Stuffing and casseroles have to reach 165°F all the way through.
• Reheat once. “If there are still leftovers after reheating, it’s safest to discard them.” Warm what you will eat now and leave the rest cold.

For keeping turkey moist (carve first, broth, covered dish, low oven), see our guide to reheating a cooked turkey. Mashed potatoes need their own method, with the milk added back; that is in our post on how to reheat mashed potatoes.

A leftovers plan for Thanksgiving weekend

Eat the leftovers in the order they expire, not the order you fancy them:

• Friday: turkey with the gravy and stuffing, while all three are inside their window. Freeze any turkey, gravy and stuffing you won’t finish by Saturday.
• Saturday: the last of the gravy and stuffing, and the pie.
• Sunday: turkey sandwiches, soup or a casserole from what is left, plus the mashed potatoes and the vegetables.
• Monday: the last day for plain turkey. Anything still in the fridge after that goes in the bin.
• The following week: cranberry sauce, which is fine until about Tuesday.

FAQ

How long is Thanksgiving turkey good for in the fridge?

3 to 4 days, if it went into the fridge within 2 hours of the meal. After a Thursday dinner, that is Sunday or Monday. Turkey stored in gravy has a shorter window, 1 to 2 days, according to Illinois Extension’s leftovers chart.

Is turkey still good after 5 days?

Not by any of the charts we checked. Every one gives cooked turkey 3 to 4 days, and Safe Plates says not to eat refrigerated leftovers past four days. If you want it after that, it should have gone in the freezer by day two.

How long is pumpkin pie good for after Thanksgiving?

Two to 3 days in the fridge, by the shortest figure we found (Illinois Extension); Cornell and Washington State say 3 to 4. Keep it in the fridge: Washington State University’s holiday leftovers advice groups pumpkin pie with custard pies and says to throw both out after three to four days.

Does stuffing last as long as turkey?

No. Illinois Extension’s leftovers chart gives stuffing 1 to 2 days, compared with 3 to 4 for turkey. Store it apart from the turkey, never inside the bird, and reheat it to 165°F throughout.